NATIONAL SE;CURITY -POLICY


was little likelihood of any dissension, unless, in the event of war,
there were serious reverses suffered by the Soviet armies. On the other
hand, undoubtedly there are tensions and strains in the Body Politic,
which I hope we might find some means to exploit.
  We then touched on the military potential and I gave my view to
the effect that the size of the country was of itself a tremendous
advantage to them from the point of view of resisting attack. On the
other hand, the vast distances in Russia were a handicap to the Soviets,
as they have no road net in the ordinary sense of the word, and are
confined to single track and inefficient railroads. However, I went
on to say the matter of mass was a very serious one from a military
point of view because the Russians had so many more men under
arms, so many tanks, so many airplanes, so much artillery, that
Western forces had to be specially equipped to deal With the vast
numbers which would be flung against them.
  From here I went on to say that the Soviets only understood military
power when dealing with foreign nations-that to be effective with
them one had to be strong. The President said that was what he was
trying to do and had been trying to do ever since 1945. We agreed that
our troubles with the Soviet Union stemmed from the disbandment
of our immense military forces in middle Europe in- 1945. I pointed
out that historically the Soviets in their own writings, and in accounts
by others of their difficulties, had felt their own voice in international
affairs had always been weak when their military strength was weak,
such as after the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in 1917-18.
  We then touched on the industrial capacity of the Soviet Union
and I pointed out that'although it might take ten Russian workmen
to do what one American could accomplish with a good machine tool,
nevertheless in Russia they had the ten men. I said it was my belief
that conditions for the masses of the people in the Soviet Union had
been constantly improved in matters such as food, some consumer
goods, electrification, etc. Further, that although the use of the word
"free" in our sense of the word would not be understood in the
Soviet
Union, nevertheless, the Soviet people did feel that they had gained
a great deal of freedom under the Soviet regime and that in general
there was, if not contentment, at least a feeling that things were better.
  In conclusion, I said in my judgment the only way to deal with the
Soviets was to be strong, to be firm and to be consistent. In terms
of strength, I said in'my view we did not need to match them man
for man, gun for gun, and tank for tank, but that we must be so
strong as to make the Soviets pause and give careful consideration to
the risk that they would run in engaging in a general war with the
Western world.


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