23 August 1943, No. 107

August 23, 1943. In contrast to the previous cable, Wilgress here notes increased Soviet suspicion and mistrust towards the Western allies. He offers two reasons to account for this shift in relations. The allies’ failure to open a second front in the West put, as the Soviets interpreted it, undue burden on the resources and abilities of the eastern front to hold off the Nazis. Second, Wilgress notes the tendency of the United Kingdom to side with the United States, thereby excluding the Soviet Union. In Wilgress’ analysis, this increasingly bilateral arrangement effectively isolated the Soviet Union and negatively affected any earlier rapprochement between the three powers. Wilgress alludes briefly to the future challenges the shift in relations would entail. The Canadian delegation was aware already in 1943 of tensions in the wartime alliance and foreshadowing of postwar issues.