741.13/8–1054: Telegram
No. 451
The Ambassador in the United Kingdom
(Aldrich) to the Department of
State
709. Limit distribution. I have had conversations in last few days with Salisbury, Heald, Kirkpatrick and Lloyd ending with a long talk with Macmillan yesterday afternoon which lead me to following conclusions regarding Churchill’s plans for retirement and general situation in Cabinets.
Cabinet greatly disturbed by continued preoccupation of Churchill with top-level meeting with Russia which amounts almost to an obsession. Article Time magazine August 9 very accurate as to what happened in Cabinet discussions regarding such a meeting. Churchill does not believe Russians appreciate what would happen to them in case of war and he has overwhelming desire to crown his career by persuading Russians to do certain things, such as signing Austrian peace treaty and consenting to free elections in Germany, which would lead to relaxation of existing tensions. Situation in Cabinet extremely delicate because, although many members are opposed to further conferences with Russians at this time, Churchill holds, as Macmillan said to me yesterday, “every card in his hands” and he has apparently actually threatened to form a coalition [Page 1055] government with the opposition for the purpose of insuring peace if his present colleagues should be unwilling to support him in what he should consider necessary steps. There is little doubt the opposition would join such a government because of existing fears in Britain of result to this country of atomic warfare. Churchill himself would be unwilling to go to Russia and Cabinet generally believes there is no chance Russians agreeing to meet outside of Russia. Moreover, as Selwyn Lloyd expressed it to me, Russians in their last two notes have played the game of “those of us in the government who are opposed to any conference at top level such as desired by Prime Minister,” but danger to lonely pilgrimage would arise again if Russians should agree to meet outside of Russia.1
Churchill assured Eden several months ago that he would not make any changes in the Cabinet until he himself retired. He has evidently forgotten this commitment and although retirement of Lyttleton was necessary because business appointment he wished to accept could no longer be held open and Dugdale was forced to retire because of Crichel Down, it was not necessary to make the other appointments of Boyd-Carpenter as Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation, Low, Minister of State Board of Trade, and Brook as Financial Secretary to the Treasury in July. This source of additional unrest regarding Churchill in Cabinet.
Kirkpatrick told me yesterday that in his opinion Churchill would probably not retire until after the general election in the fall of 1955 that he would state in September, that he had decided to remain in office until his birthday and on his birthday he would say that he had decided to stay until the end of the year and that after the first of the year he would announce that too little time remained before a general election for him to retire but that he would not remain as Prime Minister after the general election. Macmillan tells me that when Churchill is feeling ill he decides he must retire and as soon as he feels well again he changes his mind.
Churchill presently acting Foreign Secretary staying at Chartwell and is apparently in good health and I am hoping to see him next Monday before I leave on vacation.
- It is not clear whether Lloyd is referring to Molotov’s two notes in July (see Document 443 and enclosure 2, supra) or to the Soviet notes, Mar. 31 and July 24, concerning European security (see the editorial note, vol. vii, Part 1, p. 1232).↩