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Royall Tyler to Robert Woods Bliss, July 14, 1950

67 rue de Lille67 rue de Lille, the former Hôtel Duret, constructed in 1872–1874 by David de Pénanrun. Beginning in January 1949, the building served as the Parisian headquarters of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

Paris VII

July 14, 1950

Dear Robert,

Many thanks for your letter of June 28, with reassurance about the HunkRoyall Tyler’s slang for “Hungarian.” Crown,In 1950, there was a rumor that the Hungarian government (then under the control of the Soviets) would release Robert Vogeler, a U.S. businessman who had been arrested on espionage charges, from a Hungarian prison in exchange for the Crown of Saint Stephen, which was being held by the U.S. Army in Germany. The Crown and Coronation Regalia had been turned over to the U.S. authorities in 1945 by the Commander of the Hungarian Crown Guard, Colonel Erno Pajtas, in the American occupation zone in Austria. The U.S. government returned the Crown of Saint Stephen and the Hungarian Coronation Regalia to Hungary on January 6, 1978. and your dates as far as California.

I have seen Allen several times since he arrived in Europe. He wants me to be in N.Y. for NCFE meetings of the European office to be held soon after his return, mid August. I have therefore reserved a passage on the “Liberté,”SS Liberté, built in 1929 as the SS Europa for the German Norddeutsche Lloyd line. After the Second World War, the French Compagnie Générale Transatlantique took ownership of the vessel as a replacement for the SS Normandie. The refurbished Liberté made her maiden voyage to New York on August 2, 1950. due to arrive at N.Y. on Aug. 23, and have a reservation for the return trip on the Ile-de-France,SS Ile de France, an ocean liner built in 1926 for the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique and launched in May 1927. leaving N.Y. on Sept. 6. It would be nice if you took that same boat! Anyway, I take it you’ll be in Washington and/or N.Y. by the last week in Aug., so we should be able to meet.

It may sound funny to be planning like this, regardless of Joe.Royall Tyler’s slang for “Soviet Russians,” probably derived from Josef Stalin. But, when there’s so much in the situation that is unknowable—at least to me—the only thing to do seems to be to go ahead with one’s plans. Also, I may be kidding myself, but I have a feeling that Joe has made a serious miscalculation by wounding our national feelings over such an issue as Korea.The Korean War, a war that began on June 25, 1950, and lasted until July 27, 1953, between the Republic of Korea (South Korea) and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea). If he really means to have a show-down with us, he’d have done better to bolster up our illusions, until the last moment, instead of warning us as he has done.

Elisina is at Antigny, and well.

Much love to both of you

Yrs

R. T.

 
Associated People: Allen Dulles
Associated Places: Paris (France)