Yet, there is one noteworthy thing about the reshuffle, which is significant not so much for the present as for the future: a trend that might have great consequences. I mean the new role of Churchill. He has been appointed president of a committee consisting of the war, naval and air ministers and the chiefs of staff. Churchill is thus theoretically responsible now for the conduct of war. But… Hoare has been made secretary of state for air in the latest reshuffle. That is, Chamberlain is putting his own man in the committee to sabotage Churchill’s activity. Yet the trend remains, and it will probably manifest itself fully earlier than we expect. In times of war all processes develop at a feverish pace. We shall see.

Churchill is better than Chamberlain from the point of view of Anglo-Soviet relations. True, he attacked communism in his recent speech on the radio (30 March), but this is not very important. Churchill has never been a friend of communism. Besides, his speech was broadcast in the United States and he had to play up to the American audience. What matters most is that Churchill regards Germany as Enemy No. 1, and proceeding from that position he is ready to do anything, even to improve relations with the Soviet Union.

Maisky was actively engaged in restoring Churchill’s standing in Moscow after his Finnish ‘relapse’; DVP, 1940, XXIII/1, doc. 110, telegram to Molotov, 5 April 1940.