Ext 6116/46(S) 'Secret Weekly Political Intelligence Summaries, nos 356-416, August 1946-November 1947' [‎6r] (11/978)

7
Austria should receive just those German
assets which should pass as reparations to
the Soviet Union, while the United States
suggested the transfer of German assets in
the western zone to American monopolies.
The article concluded that the Soviet
^Nion could not agree to the proposals in
fringing Austrian sovereignty and likely
to convert Austria into the patrimony of
the Anglo-American powers.
Nikolai Bulganin, Minister of the Armed
Forces of the U.S.S.R. and vice-chairman
of the Council of Ministers, has been pro
moted Marshal of the Soviet Union “ in
recognition of his outstanding services
during the great patriotic war.” Marshal
Bulganin holds several important Party
and State offices. It may be recalled that
he was appointed Minister of the Armed
Forces in succession to Generalissimo
Stalin last March and was made a deputy-
chairman of the Council of Ministers about
the same time. He is also a reserve member
of the Politburo and a member of the
Orgburo of the all-Union Communist
Party. In 1945 he was awarded the Order
of Suvorov, first class, for his war services.
The Soviet press references last month
to the twenty-fifth anniversary of the
“ liberation of the Soviet Far East from
the Japanese interventionists and White
Guardists ’ ’ did not fail (as has long been
the Soviet practice) to arraign British and
American intervention in this region in
equally opprobrious terms. “ The Great
October Revolution saved our regime from
becoming a servile colony of the British,
Japanese and U.S. imperialists,” stated a
group of Khabarovsk workers in a letter to
Stalin on this occasion. The rapid economic
progress of the Far Eastern regions under
Soviet rule were also strongly stressed and
the need to strengthen the local armed
forces as a ” defence for the Far Eastern
boundaries of the Socialist Motherland.”
It is known that in conjunction with the
development of local heavy industry in the
Soviet Far East, a munitions industry,
including factories for the manufacture of
aeroplanes, tanks and submarines, has been
built up there and considerably reinforced
during the recent war years.
Errata
Summary No. 415.—Page 5, line 3, for
” the treatment of it in ” read “ the treat
ment in it of ” ; page 7, line 7, column 2, for
“ expatriated ” read “ expatiated ”; page
8, column 1, line 40, for ” revolutionary ”
read “evolutionary.”
SCANDINAVIA
Denmark
The elections to the Folketing, or Lower
Chamber of the Rigsdag, did not produce
an absolute majority for any single party,
and failed in fact even materially to alter
the balance of power between the Govern
ment’s supporters and its opponents as it
existed prior to the 20th October. The most
striking features are the gains made by
the Venstre Party and the Social Demo
crats—at the expense of Conservatives and
Communists respectively—but neither is in
the position to form the new Government
without the support of other parties. Seats
in the Folketing are now distributed as
follows, with the 1945 election results with
in brackets:—
Conservatives... ... 17 (26)
Venstre (Liberals) ... 49 (38)
Radicals ... ... 10 (11)
Justice Union... ... 6 (3)
Social Democrats ... 57 (48)
Communists ... ... 9 (18)
The Radicals, it will be seen, continue
to hold the balance as neither a V enstre-
Conservative nor a Social Democrat-Com
munist coalition would in itself command
a majority in the Chamber. So far no news
has been received of the formation of a new
Government, but both the Venstre Party
and the Social Democrats are interpreting
their successes as public approval of their
respective South Schleswig policies.
Of the results themselves it may be
observed that the heavy Conservative losses,
which were expected, benefited the Venstre
and were to a large extent due to lack of
leadership and an effective programme
which has been characteristic of the Party
since the liberation. What influence M.
Christmas Moller’s resignation from the
Party leadership may have had upon Con
servative fortunes is difficult to determine,
but the present defeat should at least serve
the purpose of giving the lie to a statement
in which it was claimed that the Party’s
setback in the elections to the Upper Cham
ber, earlier this year, was due to M.
Moller’s views on South Schleswig. M.
Moller, who unlike other Conservatives
voted against the Government in the crisis
debate, consequently did not accept nomina
tion by his old Party and fought the elec
tion as an independent in a North
Schleswig constituency where he was
defeated. The leader of’the Danish Coun
cil in London during the war, and one of