Misplaced Pages

#542457

103-518: Conservative CDU/CSU West German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer and the Western Allies characterized Stalin's offer of reintegration as an aggressive action that attempted to stall the reintegration of West Germany. The readmission of 18.5 million eastern German citizens in the GDR to the voter rolls would have pulled West Germany's 51 million citizens leftward politically. There was debate on whether

206-653: A vascular problem that was not further identified. His death was followed by a minute of silence at the Congress of People's Deputies to commemorate him. The Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union ( TASS ), the central news organ in the USSR, called him one of the country's most "prominent leaders". President of the United States George H. W. Bush sent his condolences to Gromyko's son, Anatoly. Gromyko

309-575: A 1988 interview, he further described Kennedy as nervous and prone to making contradictory statements involving American intentions towards Cuba. Gromyko, in addition to John F. Kennedy, held important political discussions with Dean Rusk , a former United States Secretary of State, in regards to the Cuban Missile Crisis. He defended his state's actions, stating that the Soviet Union had every right to be present in Cuba, especially considering

412-505: A commission of the occupying powers could oversee the elections but insisted for the commission not to be made up of government officials but impartial participants. The matter of dispute remained: free elections first (West) or peace treaty negotiations first (Soviet Union). A day before the official signing of the European Defence Community (EDC), the Soviet Union sent a third note, on 24 May 1952. Stalin criticised

515-592: A communist so-called "world peace bloc". In the end, East German goals for German reunification pressed on a sweeping communist reform on a unified Germany, which could be seen by at least a few in West Germany and the West as a ploy by Moscow to gain all of Germany into the communist fold. The West was not completely surprised by the proposition offered by the March note because Stalin had not yet tried to interfere with

618-595: A course that allied West Germany with the Western Bloc , particularly in relationship to military policy. Specifically, Adenauer felt that West Germany should maintain an army, which could be integrated into a larger West European military force. The European Defence Community Treaty was signed in May 1952, after the rejection of the Stalin Note, but the proposed European Defence Community never came into being because

721-524: A diplomat and was an academic. Having been a person of considerable stature during his life, Gromyko held an unusual combination of personal characteristics. Some were impressed by his diplomatic skills, while others called Gromyko mundane and boring. An article written in 1981 in The Times said, "He is one of the most active and efficient members of the Soviet leadership. A man with an excellent memory,

824-466: A diplomat". Gromyko's work influenced Soviet and Russian ambassadors such as Anatoly Dobrynin . Historians Gregory Elliot and Moshe Lewin described Gromyko's main characteristic as his "complete identification with the interest of the state and his faithful service to it", helping to explain his so-called "boring" personality and the mastery of his own ego. West German politician Egon Bahr , when commenting on Gromyko's memoirs , said; He has concealed

927-612: A government coalition with the small DP , when two former ministers asked to speak, Thomas Dehler (FDP) and Gustav Heinemann (first CDU, now SPD). Both of them had left the government in the dispute with Chancellor Adenauer and accused him of not having done enough for reunification. The debate came again in the 1980s, when the western archives were opened for historians. The archives of the Soviet Union and East Germany were still not accessible to researchers. The historian Rolf Steininger asked in his article "Eine Chance zur Wiedervereinigung?" ("A Chance for Reunification?") in 1985, which

1030-578: A harder line than his superiors. When Brezhnev's ability to govern was impaired following a stroke in 1975, Gromyko effectively dominated Soviet policymaking alongside KGB Chairman Yuri Andropov, Defense Minister Andrei Grechko , and Grechko's successor, Marshal Dmitry Ustinov , for the rest of Brezhnev's rule. After Brezhnev's death in 1982, Andropov was voted in as General Secretary by the Politburo. Immediately after his appointment, Andropov asked Gromyko if he wanted to take over Brezhnev's old office of

1133-675: A keen intellect and extraordinary endurance [...] Maybe Andrey is the most informed Minister for Foreign affairs in the world". Gromyko's dour demeanor was shown clearly during his first term in Washington and echoed throughout his tenure as Soviet foreign minister. Ambassador Charles W. Yost , who worked with Gromyko at the Dumbarton Oaks Conference, the UN founding conference, and at the United Nations, recalled that

SECTION 10

#1732764665543

1236-474: A larger Western coalition. East Germany appealed to the four powers to allow for negotiations of the peace treaty for Germany. After about two months, in August 1951, Stalin presented his first draft of the plan for a peace treaty. After working through numerous corrections and basic conceptual changes, the final version was ready seven months later. On 10 March 1952, Andrei Gromyko gave a diplomatic note about

1339-509: A legitimate chance for reunification had been missed; six years after the exchange, two West German ministers, Thomas Dehler and Gustav Heinemann , blamed Adenauer for not having explored the chance of reunification. There is ongoing debate over the sincerity of the note, though declassified documents from the former Soviet archives indicate that there was an intention to incorporate the German Democratic Republic into

1442-500: A meager student stipend. Borisevich assured him that on finishing the program, his salary would be at the party's top pay grade – "a decent living wage". Gromyko accepted the offer, moving his family to Minsk in 1933. Gromyko and the other post-graduates were invited to an anniversary reception at which, as recounted in Gromyko's Memoirs : We were amazed to find ourselves treated as equals and placed at their table to enjoy what for us

1545-727: A meeting with West Germany. However, West Germany refused to hold talks with the SED because that would have meant the actual recognition of East Germany as an equal country. Contact was always maintained through the Western Powers. Instead, West Germany wanted a commission of the United Nations to see if free all-German elections were possible. The endeavours of the Western Powers made the commission meet in December 1951. East Germany refused to let it enter, however, and stated that

1648-636: A member delegate Gromyko later became the head of the Soviet delegation to the San Francisco conference after Molotov's departure. When he later returned to Moscow to celebrate the Soviet victory in the Great Patriotic War , Stalin commended him saying a good diplomat was "worth two or three armies at the front". Gromyko was appointed Permanent Representative of the Soviet Union to the United Nations (UN) in April 1946. The USSR supported

1751-507: A political motive since many of the traditional supporters of the SPD were in the East. Unification would give Germany more Protestants and more Social Democrats than West Germany had. In essence, the debate had two peaks: at the end of the 1950s and then again after the opening of the Western Powers' archives in the mid-1980s. Newer research since the 1990s has also taken into account the archives of

1854-568: A political party in El Salvador Technology [ edit ] Control display unit , a device used in remote operated gasfields Control display unit , a device used to access an aircraft Flight Management Computer Counter display unit , a retail display unit normally sited on a shop counter to encourage consumer impulse purchases Crude oil distillation unit, a processing unit in an oil refinery Other uses [ edit ] Cam and Dursley railway station ,

1957-496: A poor peasant family in the neighbouring city of Zhelezniki. She attended school only for a short period of time as, when her father died, she left to help her mother with the harvest . Gromyko grew up near the district town of Vetka where most of the inhabitants were devoted Old Believers in the Russian Orthodox Church . Gromyko's own village was also predominantly religious, but Gromyko started doubting

2060-774: A private online Roman Catholic university in Charles Town, West Virginia. Cebu Doctors' University , a medical university in the Philippines Charles Darwin University , a university in Darwin, Australia Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science , a university in Willowbrook, California, USA Chengdu University , a university in Chengdu, Sichuan, China Organizations [ edit ] CentrumDemokraternes Ungdom ,

2163-566: A prominent member of the Brezhnev leadership, was one of the men who had led the USSR into the crisis. Gromyko was promptly defended as "a man respected by the people" in a note by an anonymous delegate. After discussing it with his wife Gromyko decided to leave Soviet politics for good. Gromyko recounts in his Memoirs that before he made it official he told Gorbachev that he wished to resign. The following day, 1 October 1988, Gromyko sat beside Gorbachev, Yegor Ligachev and Nikolai Ryzhkov in

SECTION 20

#1732764665543

2266-662: A rather abstract goal. Specifically, his administration wanted to focus on the re-establishment of Germany into a capitalist Europe, and he felt that reunification was not possible until West Germany was securely established in Western Europe. He even believed that reunification could happen only at the same time as a radical change in Eastern Europe. If the integration of West Germany into the Western Alliance could not be managed, West Germany would come under

2369-426: A real chance for reunification had been missed in 1952. The publicist Paul Sethe and the historians Wilfried Loth , Josef Foschepoth , Karl-Gustav von Schönfels and especially Rolf Steininger belong to the sceptics. Their views are answered by Hermann Graml  [ de ] , Gerhard Wettig  [ de ] and Gottfried Niedhart  [ de ] . There are two main disputes: Above all, there

2472-624: A researcher and lecturer at the Soviet Academy of Sciences . His area of expertise was the US economy , and he published several books on the subject. Gromyko assumed his new job would be a permanent one, but in 1939 he was called upon by a Central Committee Commission which selected new personnel to work in diplomacy . (The Great Purge of 1938 opened many positions in the diplomatic corps.) Gromyko recognised such familiar faces as Vyacheslav Molotov and Georgy Malenkov . A couple of days later he

2575-467: A reunified Germany to have the borders outlined by the Potsdam Conference and that even more generally, an armed Germany could not be in an alliance that was directed aggressively against other states. In the second Western note of 13 May 1952, it was again emphasised that a freely-elected all-German government must participate in the treaty negotiations. Additionally, the West accepted that

2678-475: A station in Gloucestershire, England with code CDU Clinical Decisions Unit , a short-stay department in some hospitals Camden Airport (New South Wales) , IATA airport code "CDU" Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title CDU . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to

2781-592: A united Germany. In addition, a united Germany had to orientate itself with the East German five-year plan. Finally, Walter Ulbricht , the general secretary of the central committee of the SED, unmistakably spoke of the interpretation of the note. It should be understood as an action against the "general war treaty" (the Germany Treaty), through which Germany would become dependent on the West. However, Germany could not develop freely and peacefully except in

2884-430: A veritable treasure-trove from future generations and taken to the grave with him an inestimable knowledge of international connection between the historical events and major figures of his time, which only he could offer. What a pity that this very man proved incapable to the very end of evoking his experience. As a faithful servant of the state, he believed that he should restrict himself to a sober, concise presentation of

2987-480: A visit or two to an American church and listen to their sermons. Priests usually speak correct English with good accents. Do you know that the Russian revolutionaries, when they were abroad, always followed this practice to improve their skills in foreign languages?" Gromyko was quite amazed about what Stalin had just told him but he never visited an American church. Gromyko had never been abroad before and, to get to

3090-790: A youth organization in Denmark Country Development Unit , a non-governmental organization in Afghanistan Political parties [ edit ] Cameroon Democratic Union , a political party in Cameroon Caribbean Democrat Union , an alliance of centre-right political parties in the Caribbean Christian Democratic Union of Germany , Christlich Demokratische Union , a German political party CDU/CSU , political alliance of

3193-525: Is debate about the behaviour of West Germany and that of the Western Powers. The sceptics alleged repeatedly that Adenauer, who came from the mostly- Catholic Rhineland , did not want reunification with the mostly- Protestant Prussia . During the Weimar Republic , he had wanted an independent Rhineland within the German Empire , which was used against him. Also, Adenauer could have had

Stalin Note - Misplaced Pages Continue

3296-562: The ABM and SALT I treaties in 1972, and the Agreement on the Prevention of Nuclear War in 1973. During his 28 years as Minister of Foreign Affairs Gromyko supported the policy of disarmament, stating in his Memoirs that "Disarmament is the ideal of Socialism". Throughout his career, Gromyko explicitly promoted the idea that no important international agreement could be reached without

3399-608: The ABM Treaty , the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty and the SALT I & II , among others. When Brezhnev suffered a stroke in 1975 impairing his ability to govern, Gromyko effectively dictated policymaking alongside KGB Chairman Yuri Andropov , Defense Minister Andrei Grechko and Grechko's successor, Marshal Dmitry Ustinov . Even after Brezhnev's death, Gromyko's rigid conservatism and distrust of

3502-770: The Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet . However, Gromyko turned down Andropov's offer, believing Andropov would eventually take the office for himself. Ever since being appointed Foreign Minister in February 1957, Gromyko never challenged the authority of those chosen to lead the Soviet Union by the Central Committee. However, this changed when the ailing Konstantin Chernenko rose to become

3605-543: The Communist Party of Byelorussia offered him an opportunity to do post-graduate work in Minsk. Gromyko traveled to Minsk for an interview with the head of the university, I.M. Borisevich, who explained that a new post-graduate program had been formed for training in economics; Gromyko's record in education and social work made him a desirable candidate. Gromyko advised Borisevich that he would have difficulty living on

3708-484: The Free Democratic Party (FDP) felt that they should at least seriously test Stalin's proposal so that public opinion would not be that reunification failed because of West Germany. It would also quickly prove whether Stalin really meant to keep his offer; otherwise, his deceit would be quickly revealed. However, Adenauer felt that a "test" would have significant disadvantages: Adenauer, his ministers,

3811-576: The Supreme Soviet to make his resignation official: Such moments in life are just as memorable as when one is appointed to prominent positions. When my comrades took farewell to me, I was equally moved as I had ever been when I was given an important office. What I thought most about was that I had finished my duties towards the people, the Party and the state. This memory is very precious to me. Gorbachev succeeded Gromyko in office as Chairman of

3914-854: The United Nations Security Council . Gromyko's political career started in 1939 in the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs (renamed Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1946). He became the Soviet ambassador to the United States in 1943, leaving that position in 1946 to become the Soviet Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York. Upon his return to Moscow he became a Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and later First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs . He went on to become

4017-494: The supernatural at a very early age. His first dialog on the subject was with his grandmother Marfa, who answered his inquiry about God with "Wait until you get older. Then you will understand all this much better". According to Gromyko, "Other adults said basically the same thing" when talking about religion. Gromyko's neighbour at the time, Mikhail Sjeljutov, was a freethinker and introduced Gromyko to new non-religious ideas and told Gromyko that scientists were beginning to doubt

4120-432: The "difference between a poor farmer and a landowner, a worker and a capitalist". Gromyko was voted in as secretary of his party cell at his first party conference and used most of his weekends doing volunteer work. Gromyko received a very small stipend to live on, but still had a strong nostalgia for the days when he worked as a volunteer. It was about this time that Gromyko met his future wife, Lydia Grinevich . Grinevich

4223-509: The "humorless" Soviet ambassador "looked as though he was sucking a lemon." There is a story that Gromyko was leaving a Washington hotel one morning and was asked by a reporter; "Minister Gromyko, did you enjoy your breakfast today?" His response was "Perhaps." During his twenty-eight years as minister of foreign affairs Gromyko became renowned by his peers for being consumed by his work. Henry Kissinger once said "If you can face Gromyko for one hour and survive, then you can begin to call yourself

Stalin Note - Misplaced Pages Continue

4326-1230: The CDU and Christian Social Union parties in Germany Christian Democratic Union (East Germany) , former political party in East Germany Christian Democratic Union (Netherlands) , former political party in the Netherlands Christian Democratic Union (Ukraine) , a political party in Ukraine Croatian Democratic Union , a conservative political party in Croatia led by Andrej Plenković United Christian Democrats , Cristiani Democratici Uniti , former Italian political party Unitary Democratic Coalition , Coligação Democrática Unitária , leftist political coalition in Portugal United Democratic Centre , Centro Democrático Unido ,

4429-758: The Eastern bloc and to blame the division of Germany on the Western occupying powers. After the Second World War ended, Germany was divided into what became eventually a Western Zone and an Eastern Zone. By 1949, Germany had a parliamentary democracy in the West, called the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG, commonly " West Germany "), and a communist state in the East, called the German Democratic Republic (GDR, commonly " East Germany "). Opportunities to reunify both halves appeared unlikely from

4532-514: The ID "interfered in the activities" of Gromyko and his ministry countless times. Gromyko disliked both Ponomarev and the power sharing between the ID and the foreign ministry. However, even in the midst of such political infighting, Gromyko presided over many key junctures in the Soviet Union's diplomacy throughout his tenure as Foreign Minister. One of his first tests as his country's chief diplomat came in 1958 when he addressed Mao Zedong 's request for

4635-461: The Potsdam borders, but Kaiser took the Soviet offer very seriously. In a radio address on 12 March 1952, he stated that the note had an important political significance, but he still thought it was important to approach it with caution. He asked for the Soviet suggestions to be carefully explored so that no opportunity for reunification would be missed. Similarly, other ministers and also members of

4738-485: The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet. Gromyko held the office of the Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet ; although de jure he was head of state, in practice this was a largely ceremonial role and his influence in ruling circles diminished. A number of First World journalists believed Gromyko was uncomfortable with many of Gorbachev's reforms, however, in his Memoirs Gromyko wrote fondly of Gorbachev and

4841-621: The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet. After his resignation Gorbachev praised Gromyko for his half-century of service to USSR. Critics, such as Alexander Belonogov , the Permanent Representative of the Soviet Union to the United Nations , claimed Gromyko's foreign policy was permeated with "a spirit of intolerance and confrontation". After retiring from active politics in 1989 Gromyko started working on his memoirs. Gromyko died on 2 July 1989, just 16 days before what would have been his 80th birthday, after being hospitalised for

4944-608: The SED, Neues Deutschland ("New Germany"), greatly emphasised that "the Soviet Government gives the patriotic forces of the German people the possibility of starting a wide offensive against the enemies of the peaceful reunification of Germany", ("patriotic forces" meant principally communist forces). This was largely a result of the strong and heavy Soviet influence in East Germany, whose leaders were subordinated to

5047-405: The Soviet Union stood by its position that negotiations for the groundwork of a peace treaty and for the creation of a unified German government to begin. Stalin accepted that free elections could be the groundwork for a unified German government but insisted for the four occupying powers, rather than the United Nations, to supervise the elections. On the other hand, Stalin stayed firm on his idea for

5150-515: The Soviet Union to back his planned war with the Republic of China . During their discussions, Mao flabbergasted Gromyko by telling him that he was willing to sacrifice the lives of "300 million people" to bring about the Republic of China's annexation. Gromyko affirmed to Mao that his proposal would never get the approval of the Soviet leadership. Upon learning of this discussion, Moscow terminated

5253-401: The Soviet Union's involvement. Towards this end, one accomplishment he took particular pride in was the signing of the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty whose negotiation could be traced back to 1958. Additionally, in 1966, Gromyko and Alexei Kosygin persuaded both Pakistan and India to sign the Tashkent Declaration , a peace treaty in the aftermath of the Indo-Pakistan war of 1965 . Later in

SECTION 50

#1732764665543

5356-406: The Soviet ambassador to the United Kingdom in 1952. As Foreign Minister of the Soviet Union, Gromyko was directly involved in deliberations with the Americans during the Cuban Missile Crisis and helped broker a peace treaty ending the 1965 Indo-Pakistani War . Under the leadership of Leonid Brezhnev , he played a central role in the establishment of détente with the United States by negotiating

5459-444: The Soviet-Chinese nuclear program along with various industrialization projects in the People's Republic of China. Years later during the Cuban Missile Crisis , Gromyko met U.S. President John F. Kennedy while acting under instructions from the current Soviet leader, Nikita Khrushchev . In his Memoirs , Gromyko wrote that Kennedy seemed "out of touch" when he first met him, and was more "ideologically driven" than "practical". In

5562-400: The Soviets and their political goals and ideological directions. East German Prime Minister Otto Grotewohl , indicated how the draft treaty was interpreted by East Germany in a government declaration on 14 March. He described East Germany as a democratic and free state and West Germany as undemocratic and fascist. Anti-peace and anti-democratic groups, however, could not be allowed to exist in

5665-412: The UN that Gromyko became known as Mr Nyet , literally meaning "Mr No". During the first 10 years of the UN, the Soviet Union used its veto 79 times. In the same period, the Republic of China used the veto once, France twice and the others not at all. On 14 May 1947, Gromyko advocated the one-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict , and the two-state solution as the second best option in

5768-432: The US and contributed to deteriorated relations between the US and the Soviet Union during the Cold War . In discussions on reunification, East Germany stressed the importance of a peace treaty, while West Germany focused on the importance of free elections for all of Germany. West German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer did not believe that reunification was possible under the given conditions. He and his administration pursued

5871-413: The US and the USSR" and that Steinhardt's predecessor Joseph Davies was more "colourful" and seemed "genuinely interested" in improving the relations between the two countries. Davies received the Order of Lenin for his work in trying to improve diplomatic relations between the US and the USSR. After heading the Americas department for 6 months, Gromyko was called upon by Joseph Stalin . Stalin started

5974-449: The United States, he had to travel via airplane through Romania , Bulgaria and Yugoslavia to Genoa , Italy , where he boarded a ship to the United States. He later wrote in his Memoirs that New York City was a good example on how humans, by the "means of wealth and technology are able to create something that is totally alien to our nature". He further noticed the New York working districts which, in his own opinion, were proof of

6077-436: The West continued to dominate the Soviet Union's foreign policy until Mikhail Gorbachev's rise to power in 1985. Following Gorbachev's election as General Secretary, Gromyko lost his office as foreign minister and was appointed to the largely ceremonial post of Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR . Subsequently, he retired from political life in 1988, and died the following year in Moscow. Gromyko

6180-402: The Western Powers had conceded to allowing the occupying powers to oversee the elections, the Soviets suddenly refused any international election commission. Instead, both sides of Germany should be responsible for the creation of a commission with equal representation although the West had rejected that in 1951. The West answered on 23 September 1952 with the repetition of its previous views and

6283-516: The Western standpoint. The Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) feared losing power if free elections were held. Germany had still not signed a peace treaty for the war because of animosity between the three Western Powers and the Soviet Union. The peace treaty with Germany, the Two Plus Four Agreement , was signed only in 1990. In early 1950, the United States began negotiations for a peace treaty with Japan , which granted long-term US military bases in Japan. The Korean War (1950–1953) surprised

SECTION 60

#1732764665543

6386-415: The case that "relations between the Jewish and Arab populations of Palestine ... proved to be so bad that it would be impossible to reconcile them". Gromyko was appointed Soviet ambassador to the United Kingdom at a June 1952 meeting with Joseph Stalin in the Kremlin . Stalin paced back and forth as normal, telling Gromyko about the importance of his new office, and saying "The United Kingdom now has

6489-475: The changes in the East German justice system that the SED had passed. The note stated that the conference should not negotiate a peace treaty yet but decide on a commission to oversee the elections first. There was still a difference of opinion over whether Potsdam could be the basis for negotiation, which contradicted all of the developments since 1945. On 23 August 1952, the Soviet Union sent its last note, which repeated its main positions and accusations. Although

6592-507: The conversation by telling Gromyko that he would be sent to the Soviet embassy in the United States to become second-in-command . "The Soviet Union," Stalin said, "should maintain reasonable relations with such a powerful country like the United States, especially in light of the growing fascist threat". Vyacheslav Molotov contributed with some minor modifications but mostly agreed with what Stalin had said. "How are your English skills improving?," Stalin asked; "Comrade Gromyko, you should pay

6695-418: The country's de jure ruler. Unimpressed by the new leader's feeble grasp of foreign relations and weak standing in the Politburo, Gromyko aggressively asserted control over Soviet diplomacy to the point of regularly interrupting and contradicting Chernenko in front of other world leaders. Thus, despite Chernenko's interest in reviving détente , the longtime Foreign Minister's distrust of "the West" meant there

6798-421: The creation of the EDC, which – according to the Germany Treaty – should be in effect even after reunification, and accused the West of delaying the negotiations for a peace treaty. In addition, the all-German government must remain under the control of the occupying powers during the treaty negotiations. On 10 July 1952, the West criticised the centralisation, the collectivisation and

6901-502: The election of the first Secretary-General of the United Nations , Trygve Lie , a former Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs . However, in the opinion of Gromyko, Lie became an active supporter of the "expansionist behaviour" of the United States and its "American aggressionist" policy. Because of this political stance, Gromyko believed Lie to be a poor Secretary-General. Trygve's successor, Swede Dag Hammarskjöld also promoted what Gromyko claimed as " anti-Soviet policies". U Thant ,

7004-427: The existence of God. From the age of nine, after the Bolshevik revolution , Gromyko started reading atheist propaganda in flyers and pamphlets . At the age of thirteen Gromyko became a member of the Komsomol and held anti-religious speeches in the village with his friends as well as promoting Communist values. The news that Germany had attacked the Russian Empire in August 1914 came without warning to

7107-438: The fact that the United States had established their own missiles in Turkey . To Gromyko it seemed ironic the Soviet Union was blamed for their presence in Cuba, yet America had established countless of foreign military bases worldwide. After several negotiations, Gromyko mentioned: "By Rusk's behavior it was possible to observe how painfully the American leaders are suffering the fact that the Soviet Union decisively has stood on

7210-445: The former Eastern Bloc and thus raised further discussion. Finally, a book on the analysis of the Stalin Notes was published in 2002. During reunification in 1989 and 1990, the debate about the Stalin Notes played no part. The American historian Ruud van Dijk remarked that in the later discussions, much more sincerity was attributed to Stalin than in 1952. The clearer it became that the chances for German reunification were dwindling,

7313-415: The influence of the Soviet Union. He felt that Germany alone would not be able to afford an army that could provide for the security of a neutral Germany. Thus, he assumed that two German states would co-exist for an indeterminate amount of time and he followed that goal in the background. For those reasons, Adenauer saw the note as an annoyance and wanted to continue proceedings with the Western Powers as if

7416-633: The inhumanity of capitalism and of the system's greed. Gromyko met and consulted with most of the senior officers of the United States government during his first days and succeeded Maxim Litvinov as ambassador to the United States in 1943. In his Memoirs Gromyko wrote fondly of President Franklin D. Roosevelt even though he believed him to be a representative of the bourgeoisie class . During his time as ambassador, Gromyko met prominent personalities such as British actor Charlie Chaplin , and British economist John Maynard Keynes . Gromyko

7519-508: The intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=CDU&oldid=1217454485 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Andrei Gromyko Andrei Andreyevich Gromyko ( Russian : Андрей Андреевич Громыко ; Belarusian : Андрэй Андрэевіч Грамыка ; 18 July [ O.S. 5 July] 1909 – 2 July 1989)

7622-487: The local Komsomol chapter at the beginning of 1923. Following Vladimir Lenin 's death in 1924, the villagers asked Gromyko what would happen in the leader's absence. Gromyko remembered a communist slogan from the heyday of the October Revolution: "The revolution was carried through by Lenin and his helpers ." He then told the villagers that Lenin was dead but "his aides, the Party, still lived on." When he

7725-553: The local population. This was the first time, as Gromyko notes, that he felt " love for his country ". His father, Andrei Matveyevich, was again conscripted into the Imperial Russian Army and served for three years on the southwestern front, under the leadership of General Aleksei Brusilov . Andrei Matveyevich returned home on the eve of the 1917 October Revolution in Russia. Gromyko was elected First Secretary of

7828-541: The matter in case he had any small changes that he wished to make. Although he mistrusted the note, he asked that it not be outright rejected in the answer since he wanted to avoid creating the impression that the West had brusquely refused it. On 25 March 1952, the first note from the British, French and American governments was sent to Moscow and included the following points: In the second Stalin Note, sent on 9 April 1952,

7931-565: The negotiations. Graml interpreted the note itself and the "planned" failure of the negotiations as evidence that the Soviet Union more or less wanted to create an alibi to push on East German integration to the Eastern Bloc. CDU [REDACTED] Look up CDU in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. CDU may refer to: Education [ edit ] Catholic Distance University ,

8034-403: The note had not existed. Adenauer's view that Stalin's offer was not serious was widely shared. However, there were other views about how to react to the offer. The Minister of All-German Affairs , Jakob Kaiser , had a "bridge theory" which suggested that Germany could be the mediator between the East and the West. He agreed with Adenauer about the importance of free elections and the refusal of

8137-476: The notes were. Thus, he saw the neutralisation of Germany as an appropriate price for reunification. He completed his thesis of missed chances in his book Von Bonn nach Moskau ( From Bonn to Moscow ) and so he lay the cornerstone for a debate about the notes that lasted for decades. The idea of the missed chance received attention through a debate in the Bundestag on 23 January 1958. The CDU / CSU were in

8240-504: The opportunity to play a greater role in international politics. But it is not clear in which direction the British government with their great diplomatic experience will steer their efforts [...] This is why we need people who understand their way of thinking". Gromyko met with Winston Churchill in 1952 not to talk about current politics but nostalgically about World War II. Gromyko met Churchill again in 1953 to talk about their experiences during World War II before returning to Russia when he

8343-407: The opposing Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) and most of the population in West Germany agreed that Stalin's proposal was not sincere and that the demand for free elections had to be maintained. However, there was still some uneasiness that West Germany could not do anything against the division of Germany. In East Germany, the note was officially received with excitement. The party organ of

8446-414: The peak of his power and influence, his approach to diplomacy began to suffer from the same qualities that underpinned his early career -his "exceptional memory and confidence in his experience" now made him inflexible, unimaginative and "devoid of a long-term vision" for the USSR. By the time Yuri Andropov and Konstantin Chernenko rose to the Soviet leadership, Gromyko frequently found himself advocating

8549-480: The policy of perestroika . Gromyko believed that perestroika was about working for the construction of a socialist society and saw glasnost and perestroika as an attempt at making the USSR more democratic. During a party conference in July 1988, Vladimir Melnikov called for Gromyko's resignation. Melnikov blamed Brezhnev for the economic and political stagnation that had hit the Soviet Union, seeing that Gromyko, as

8652-525: The possibility of free elections should be investigated by a commission of the four occupying powers. At a conference in Paris , the SED emphasised the importance of the two German states discussing a potential peace treaty. The Soviet leaders also encouraged the discussion of a peace treaty with the Western Powers because they were afraid of the push for the integration of the West German armed forces into

8755-464: The renewal of its suggestion to form a nonpartisan commission of the four powers. After the first Western note, the lack of success of the exchange of notes had already been internally determined in the East and the West. This view was also publicly expressed by the rather polemic contents of the last four notes. The signing of the two treaties with the West, on 26 May and 27 May 1952, emphasised it even more. There have been several debates about whether

8858-636: The same year, he engaged in a dialogue with Pope Paul VI , as part of the pontiff's ostpolitik that resulted in greater openness for the Roman Catholic Church in Eastern Europe despite heavy persecution of Christians in the Soviet Union itself. In 1973, Gromyko was promoted to a full voting member of the Politburo , the Soviet Union's highest decision-making body. According to Christian Schmidt-Häuer, upon Gromyko reaching

8961-543: The side of Cuba", showing Rusk's "weak character". Later, under the leadership of Leonid Brezhnev , Gromyko played a key role in the establishment of détente , a new phase of Soviet–American relations characterized by a significant reduction of tensions which lasted until 1979. In furtherance of this new arrangement, he oversaw the signing of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons on 1 July 1968,

9064-478: The solution of the "German problem" to representatives of the three western occupiers (the United States, the United Kingdom and France ) and called for a four-power conference. The note included the following points: West Germany's priorities were different from East Germany's. Chancellor Adenauer considered his main priority to be the integration of West Germany into the West, and he saw reunification as

9167-574: The stronger the debate about whether or not an important chance had been missed in 1952. According to Manfred Kittel  [ de ] , the discussion increased in extent as the chances for reunification decreased. Among journalists, it was Paul Sethe who most sharply criticized Adenauer's rejection of Stalin's offer. He was the co-publisher of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung in the early 1950s and had always spoken out in his commentaries for at least seeing how serious

9270-475: The third Secretary-General, once told Gromyko that it was "close to impossible" to have an "objective opinion of the USSR" in the Secretariat of the United Nations because the majority of Secretariat members were of American nationality, or "supporters of the United States". Gromyko often used the Soviet veto power in the early days of the United Nations. So familiar was a Soviet veto in the early days of

9373-606: The treaty was rejected by the French National Assembly . Stalin and East Germany condemned the treaty, although East Germany had created a pseudo-military force called the Kasernierte Volkspolizei . The Stalin Notes could be seen as a way to draw out the East German propaganda efforts so that reunification would fail. On 15 September 1951, East Germany offered to discuss holding elections at

9476-535: The western integration of West Germany. However, the Western Powers did not want to begin negotiations with the Soviet Union until West Germany had been securely integrated into the West. Therefore, the western response was to delay the start of negotiations for the Peace Treaty. After the foreign ministers of the Western Occupation had finished their response, they asked Adenauer for his opinion on

9579-473: Was a Soviet politician and diplomat during the Cold War . He served as Minister of Foreign Affairs (1957–1985) and as Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet (1985–1988). Gromyko was responsible for many top decisions on Soviet foreign policy until he retired in 1988. In the 1940s, Western pundits called him Mr Nyet ("Mr No"), or Grim Grom , because of his frequent use of the Soviet veto in

9682-542: Was a Soviet delegate to the Tehran, Dumbarton Oaks , Yalta and Potsdam conferences. In 1943, the same year as the Tehran Conference , the USSR established diplomatic relations with Cuba and Gromyko was appointed the Soviet ambassador to Havana . Gromyko claimed that the accusations brought against Roosevelt by American right-wingers, that he was a socialist sympathizer, were absurd. While he started out as

9785-498: Was a sumptuous feast. We realised then that not for nothing did the Soviet state treat its scientists well: evidently science and those who worked in it were highly regarded by the state. After that day of pleasantry, Gromyko for the first time in his life wanted to enter higher education , but without warning, Gromyko and his family were moved in 1934 to Moscow , settling in the northeastern Alexeyevsky District . In 1936, after another three years of studying economics, Gromyko became

9888-543: Was appointed Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs . During his initial days as Minister of Foreign Affairs, Andrei Gromyko devoted most of his time battling the International Department (ID) of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union under Boris Ponomarev . Ponomarev advocated an expanded role for the ID in Soviet foreign relations but Gromyko flatly refused. A top Soviet official, Valentin Falin , said

9991-463: Was based predominantly on Western sources, if an important chance had been missed. Steininger and others disputed if it would have led to a divided Germany and if Adenauer did the best possible thing. Steininger's argument was based on three assumptions: However, the historian Hermann Graml  [ de ] justified the actions of the Western Powers. Also on the basis of the western archives, he attached little importance to Adenauer's influence on

10094-586: Was born to a poor "semi-peasant, semi-worker" Belarusian family in the Belarusian village of Staryye Gromyki, near Gomel , on 18 July 1909. Gromyko's father, Andrei Matveyevich, worked as a seasonal worker in a local factory . Andrei Matveyevich was not a very educated man, having only attended four years of school, but knew how to read and write. He had fought in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905. Gromyko's mother, Olga Yevgenyevna, came from

10197-504: Was no attempt to return to such a policy. After Chernenko's death in 1985, Gromyko nominated Mikhail Gorbachev for the General Secretary on 11 March 1985. In supporting Gorbachev, Gromyko knew that the influence he carried would be strong. Upon being elected, Gorbachev relieved Gromyko as foreign minister and replaced him with Eduard Shevardnadze . Subsequently, he was appointed to the largely honorary position of Chairman of

10300-781: Was offered a grave in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis , but at the request of his family he was not buried near the Moscow Kremlin Wall but instead at the Novodevichy Cemetery . Gromyko met his wife, Lydia (1911–2004) in Minsk where they were both studying agriculture at the Minsk Institute of Agricultural Science. They married in 1931. They had two children: a son, Anatoly , and a daughter, Emilia. Anatoly (1932–2017) served as

10403-597: Was the daughter of a Belarusian peasant family and came from Kamenki , a small village to the west of Minsk . She and Gromyko had two children, Anatoly and Emiliya. After studying in Borisov for two years, Gromyko was appointed principal of a secondary school in Dzyarzhynsk , where he taught, supervised the school, and continued his studies. One day, a representative from the Central Committee of

10506-790: Was transferred from the Academy of Sciences to the diplomatic service . In early 1939, Gromyko started working for the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs in Moscow. He became the Head of the Department of Americas, and because of his position Gromyko met with United States ambassador to the Soviet Union Lawrence Steinhardt . Gromyko believed Steinhardt to be "totally uninterested in creating good relations between

10609-557: Was young, Gromyko's mother Olga told him that he should leave his home town to become an educated man. Gromyko followed his mother's advice and, after finishing seven years of primary school and vocational education in Gomel, he moved to Borisov to attend technical school . Gromyko became a member of the All-Union Communist Party Bolsheviks in 1931, something he had dreamed of since he learned about

#542457