1945-1953 De la guerre mondiale à la guerre froide

Friday, April 13, 1945. America is in shock. The Second World War is not yet over, and US President Franklin Roosevelt has just died. Roosevelt was a great craftsman of peace. More than anyone else, he embodied the hope of seeing the world rebuilt on a better basis. As the silent crowd watches the funeral procession go past, the whole planet is asking itself, Without Roosevelt, Will the Soviet bloc in the West manage to build bridges and build a lasting peace? April 12, 1945. The White House in Washington. Three years after Roosevelt’s death, Harry Truman becomes the new president of the United States. He makes his first appearance in a world riven by chaos. In April 1945, America is still at war with Hitler and the Japanese. to add to the complications truman has been vice president for just three months and he never seemed to be predestined to be the new president of the usa he’s a former shirt and tie salesman from missouri he went into politics late in life and was elected to the senate for the first time 10 years ago When Roosevelt selected him as his vice president, it wasn’t for his abilities. He considered him clueless. He chose him purely for electoral reasons. It’s very common in the US. Vice presidents are not necessarily selected for their intelligence. It’s often because they can win votes from important areas. Overnight. The former shopkeeper from Missouri has been propelled to the head of the world’s biggest superpower. He himself is flabbergasted and doesn’t try to hide it. The front pages scream out what Truman has told journalists. Boys, if you ever pray, pray for me now. I don’t know whether you’ve ever had a load of hay fall on you, but when they told me what happened, I felt like the moon, stars, and all the planets had fallen on me. Even today, President Truman’s grandson remembers that his grandfather never tried to pretend that he was the man for the job. He was not ready for that at all. He actually said, there must be a million people, a million men better qualified to do this job than I am, but it’s mine to do, so I’m going to do it. He was the kind of man who, when given a job, did it. The task promises to be Herculean. He will have to build the world of tomorrow on solid bases, but Truman has no experience of international politics. In the three months he has been vice president, Roosevelt has only met him in private twice. Truman has been told nothing. I assault my grandfather for not trying to bring him more into the picture. I wonder how much energy my grandfather had. I think he was well aware of his diminishing energy. And to bring Truman into the picture may have been more than he could face. Two months before his death, Roosevelt had met with Stalin and Churchill at Yalta. It was there, in Crimea, that the Big Three had laid the foundations for future peace. But the deals concluded were complex and full of ambiguity. each of the allies having played his own hand. Truman was not privy to these discussions. He needs to familiarize himself with all the dossiers. He is pragmatic and hardworking, so he has countless briefings with his advisors. But will his relentless work be enough? Can this small-time Thai salesman from Missouri hold his own against the formidable Stalin? One month after Truman accedes to the White House, the Allies win the war in Europe. All over the continent, people are jubilant. Outside Buckingham Palace in London, a human tide greets Winston Churchill. The British Prime Minister is lauded as a hero. But even at this euphoric moment, Churchill looks drawn. The smile on his face looks a little forced. In his memoirs, he writes, What could seem so terrible that it could darken such a moment? Problem Churchill has goes by the name of Stalin. Now the war in Europe is won. The British Prime Minister is convinced that Stalin will seize this opportunity to install communist regimes everywhere he can. Already, contrary to the pledges made at Yalta, the Soviet leader has established a communist regime in Romania. In Poland, six non-communist ministers have been allowed to join the government, but they have a little less power every day. Stalin wanted all of Europe to become communist. It was an ideology. But also because he had the mindset of an emperor, a dictator with an emperor’s mindset. The British Prime Minister tries to warn Truman. But the new American president is not interested. For now, Truman has taken the tack that he will honor the agreements made by Roosevelt. He will not have a word said against his communist ally. Churchill can only wait and hope that Truman will see the Soviet leader’s true colors for himself. The opportunity soon arises. July 16th, 1945. Berlin airport. The U.S. President’s plane has just landed. Truman is in Europe for a peace conference. This is his opportunity to meet his allies and make up his own mind about them. Talks are to take place at Potsdam, a few miles from Berlin. In order to get there, Truman has to go through the former capital of the Third Reich. Berlin is nothing more than a land of ruins. A few bone-weary people wander around aimlessly. The scene of desolation upsets Truman and convinces him that he needs to help Germany get back on its feet. That evening, he writes in his diary, Never have I seen such a sorrowful and depressing sight. We saw old men, old women, and young women carrying what they could of what they had left, to nowhere in particular. The conference begins on the next day, July 17th. Here at Cecilienhof Castle, Truman, Stalin, and Churchill meet for the first and only time. As Truman expected, Churchill seems charming, but his advisors keep telling him that Stalin is not to be trusted. However, the new president quickly sizes up the man with whom he’ll have to negotiate. I can deal with Stalin. He is honest, but cunning as hell. Stalin, on the other hand, has no concerns about Truman, whom he just sees as a small-time shopkeeper from Missouri. Stalin knows very little about Truman because he was a bit-pot player. His spies hadn’t really spoken about him, and what they had said led him to believe that he was insignificant and weak and could be made to agree to anything. But Truman is a man who sticks to his guns. For against all expectations, despite his lack of experience, the American president knows how to stand firm. He’s in no way cowed by Stalin. A matter of character, certainly, but not only that. Truman feels he’s in a strong position. Because he’s waiting for a piece of information that could make him the most powerful man on the planet. At that precise moment in the United States, a top secret event is being prepared. While he’s negotiating, the president is keenly anticipating some news. On day two of the negotiations, he finally receives a telegram in coded language. Doctor has just returned most enthusiastically and confident that the little boy is as husky as his big brother. The light in his eyes is discernible from here to Highhold, and I could have heard his screams from here to my farm. The little boy in question is the first atomic bomb. For the last four years, the planet’s finest scientists have been working in the greatest secrecy to develop what could be the ultimate weapon. The operation is codenamed Trinity. The first nuclear test in history is an unqualified success. The explosion is the equivalent of detonating 21 kilotons of TNT. Never before has such destructive power been achieved. A single weapon now has the power to annihilate all of humanity. After hesitating, Truman decides to forewarn Stalin. This is obviously seen as bad news. It means that henceforth the Soviet Union is in a position of inferiority. Everyone was watching out for Stalin’s reaction. And Stalin, who was a good actor, said, Oh, well, I’m pleased for you, and I hope you’ll use it against Japan. But was Stalin really in the dark? Despite the drastic measures taken by the Americans to protect the secrecy of their project, Russian spies have managed to infiltrate the Los Alamos base where the atomic bomb was being developed. Among them is Klaus Fuchs, a German physicist who has fled the Nazis. But Fuchs, a fervent communist, is also a spy in the pay of the Soviet Union. For the last two years, the scientist has been passing on all of the plans for the atomic bomb to the Russians. Thanks to this information, Soviet Union has begun to develop its own nuclear bomb. Despite this, on July 24th, when Stalin finds out the American bomb is ready, he becomes anxious. There is nothing Stalin hates more than feeling vulnerable. He called together his entire Potsdam entourage, and he asked them to tell the scientists and everyone else working on the atomic project that he wanted them all to speed up the creation of the Russian atomic bomb as much as possible. The bomb would become an obsession for Stalin. Until he has his own atomic bomb, the Supreme Leader will not feel confident facing the Americans. His relationship with Truman is about to become fraught. Potsdam will also be the backdrop for another conflagration. In mid-conference, Churchill leaves the negotiating table to head for London to receive the result of the general election. A passionate Democrat, the British Prime Minister has thrown his hat in the ring once again. He’s acclaimed throughout Britain in the weeks he spends campaigning. But as the day dawns on the morning of the election, he has a feeling of foreboding. I woke suddenly with a sharp stab of almost physical pain. The power to shape the future would be denied me. Churchill’s intuition is correct. And to general amazement, he loses the election. Rather than their war hero, the British people have opted for a new man, the labour leader Clement Attlee. The day after his triumph, Attlee settles into Churchill’s still warm seat. Around the table, there is a general sense that there has been a casting error. Clement Attlee is a man who seems truly insignificant. L’Otto used to say he was a sheep in sheep’s clothing. Or, an empty car stops outside Downing Street and Attlee gets out of it. A modest man with much to be modest about. And this leaves Stalin puzzled. Because he was convinced that Churchill had all he needed to be able to rig the election, which in Stalin’s eyes is what any politician worth his salt would do. Faced with a lost and awkward Attlee, Stalin takes matters into his own hands. He’s the last man standing of Yalta’s Big Three. Under Attlee, Great Britain is now on the sidelines. There are only two superpowers left in the world, the USA and the USSR. Truman and Stalin meet face to face. Very quickly, the differences between the two men turn sour and become genuinely contentious. Five days after Potsdam, Truman makes a decision which will have significant consequences. The USA will use its atomic bomb against Japan. This ratchets up the tension with Stalin. August 6, 1945. In the early hours of the morning, the American bomber Enola Gay flies towards the Japanese archipelago. At 815, little boy is dropped on Hiroshima. A huge mushroom cloud billows over the city. The temperature on the ground reaches 4,000 degrees. 70,000 people die instantly. The city is nothing more than a wasteland of ash and dust. Three days later, on August 9th, it’s Nagasaki’s turn to be bombed. The whole world is in shock. Stalin sees the atomic bomb as provocation. He thinks that Truman is trying to intimidate him. He doesn’t understand why America has launched its bombs when, on the 8th of August as promised, the USSR joined the war against Japan alongside the USA. The way we saw it was that the U.S. was sending a clear message in using the atomic bomb against Japan. The aim was not to achieve a quick victory against the Japanese, but to intimidate the Soviet Union in order to be able to dictate American conditions. Obviously, Truman wanted to end the war as quickly as possible and save American lives. But it is also a clear message to Stalin, because Truman fully intends to let him know that he is now in the driver’s seat. From then on, Stalin wants to know how much leeway he will get with Truman. and decides to test him. In Yalta, Stalin was promised territory in exchange for joining the war against Japan. Sakhalin Island, the Kurian Islands, Dairen, Port Arthur, and a Manchurian railway line. But now, Stalin demands to be allowed to occupy Hokkaido Island. In a telegram to Truman, Stalin explains, Russian public opinion would like to see our troops get an occupation zone in part of the archipelago. Anything to the contrary would be seriously offensive. I hope my modest request will be satisfied. He then rethinks and adds in his own hand. We’ll meet with no objection. The American president is outraged. His response is unequivocal. No. Period. Grandpa expected people to be straightforward and honest. He does the kind of people he, that’s how he was. He expected people to be truthful with him, to be upfront. And when he discovered that they weren’t, and he discovered that Stalin wasn’t, he very quickly got his back up and began to deal with Stalin more roughly, more directly, and more confrontationally. Stalin has also decided to move things forward and press his advantage in Europe. rigged elections, coups. Wherever he can, Stalin establishes communist regimes. Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Bulgaria in turn all fall into Soviet hands. The rampant Stalinization of Europe worries Truman, but he’s still unsure how to approach the situation. The telegram which lands on his desk on February 22, 1946, changes everything. Its author is George Kennan, an ordinary diplomat posted in Moscow. Kennan has had time to observe how Stalin operates. He has seen that Stalin wants to take control of Eastern Europe and is convinced that the only way to stop him is to stand firm. In a long telegram to Washington, he describes the Soviet apparatus. At the bottom of Kremlin’s neurotic view of world affairs is a traditional and instinctive Russian sense of insecurity. Russians are impervious to the logic of reason and very sensitive to the logic of force. Kremlin explains that it’s pointless to try and appease Stalin. In any case, he cannot and will not be appeased, because that allows him to justify dictatorship. But on the other hand, we should be firm with Stalin, because he understands how the balance of power works, and that when the West stands firm, he’s ready to back down. Kennan’s analysis confirms everything that the U.S. president had intuitively foreseen. His change of tack is then drastic. Truman jettisons Roosevelt’s former advisors, whom he considers too lenient with regards to the Soviet Union, and appoints some new men. Kennan is soon called to the White House as a special advisor. Truman is still left with a problem, that of explaining this turnaround to the American public. This will be a delicate operation, as in the eyes of America, Stalin is a great ally, the man who helped win the war against Hitler. The press has consistently hailed him as a hero. They’ve been exposed to four years of war propaganda, which has shown Stalin as a friend to all children, and the great ally who will help America win the war. The propaganda was successful and Stalin is very popular in the USA. The American president then has an idea. He will make use of the former British prime minister and let him deliver the bad news. Churchill still has considerable prestige and no one will dare to doubt his word. Also, he would surely be delighted to pay a visit to the States. Since losing the election, he’s been in a period of deep depression. On March 5th, 1946, everyone in the small town of Fulton, Missouri has hung out their flag to welcome the former British leader. It’s a beautiful sunny day. Truman welcomes Churchill to his home territory, wreathed in smiles. Truman is quite aware that Churchill is about to drop a bombshell, but does not let on that he knows anything. A few minutes later at Fulton University, Churchill gives a speech that will stun his audience. and dismay the whole world. From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the continent. The iron curtain speech provokes an outcry. The Americans are shocked. Good old Uncle Joe? This strategy of Truman’s is very clever, in that he lets Churchill make the speech where he mentioned the Iron Curtain, because it shows America, and the rest of the world, that this change is possible. change in America’s policy is not just down to Truman or a few isolated advisers, but that as significant a figure as Churchill was thinking the same way as the American president.” Soon, Stalin’s former admirers in the US start to consider him a dangerous tyrant. in the soviet union the fulton speech is seen as a stab in the back stalin is said to be furious intellectuals and those close to the kremlin stand united against churchill churchill churchill was our country’s sworn enemy He was the leader of the world’s most anti-Soviet nation in the West. He spent his whole life trying to put one over on the Soviet Union. Henceforth, European countries will have to nail their colors to either the communist or the capitalist mast. In this race to divide up the world, Stalin has a head start. He’s already got his hands on countries in Eastern Europe and is making ground in the West. Communist ministers have already found their way into the French and Italian parliaments. How far will Stalin manage to extend his sphere of influence? This question haunts Truman. He understands full well that in this arm-wrestle with Stalin, one thing adds weight to his opponent, poverty. Almost two years after the end of World War II, Europe has still not got back on its feet. The old continent is staring into the abyss. Truman is perfectly aware that this deprivation makes a perfect breeding ground for communism. But before he can act, he needs a clear view of the situation. In early 1947, Truman sends Montana Senator Mike Mansfield to Europe with a brief to evaluate the situation. His report is horrifying. In every country visited, there was evidence of malnutrition, tuberculosis, and disease. The greater part of the Italian population is subsisting on a bread ration from 75 to 125 grams a day. Very little in addition is eaten. When he reads the report, a new conviction awakens in Truman. If he does not come to Europe’s help, he will leave Stalin a free reign on the continent. Truman then decides on a rescue plan for Europe and entrusts it to Secretary of State General George Marshall. Raw materials, machine tools, tons of equipment make their way across the Atlantic. But behind this facade of generosity, the Marshall Plan is also vital as a tool to relaunch the U.S. economy. It was also a way to bring a new vigour to American trade. Because you can’t be rich on your own in the world, you need rich partners too. So by extension, if the USA, who had profited from the war, could not trade with other countries, because those countries couldn’t afford to buy anything, then America’s wealth would go into decline. The Marshall Plan is also a political stratagem designed to destabilize Stalin, because American aid is on offer to all European countries, including those in the East. And of course, the Eastern nations, who are under the protection of the Soviet Union, are also in great need, like Poland and Czechoslovakia, who are both offered the Marshall Plan. But ultimately, the conflict of ideologies wins the day. The Marshall Plan was perceived as an American imperialistic ploy to subjugate Western Europe. This was completely unacceptable to Stalin. Those Eastern European countries tempted by the idea of American aid were soon brought into line. In total, 16 countries, all Western, take part in the Marshall Plan. France, the United Kingdom, and Italy are the greatest beneficiaries. By mid-1947, Churchill’s Iron Curtain has become a reality. One city will bear the brunt of this new battle of wills between the West and the Soviet Union. Berlin. The German capital lies at the very heart of the Russian zone of occupation. But the city itself is occupied by four allied powers. The USA, Great Britain, France, and the Soviet Union. Between them, they have the task of putting Germany back on its feet, but the Allies are unable to agree on a course of action. The Soviet priority is to get their war reparations. The USSR is broke. As predicted by the peace agreements, the Russians take their compensation in kind and dismantle Germany’s industry. Entire factories are dismantled and taken to the Soviet Union to be reassembled. Meanwhile, the Americans rebuilt. As promised in the terms of the Marshall Plan, the Americans gave Germany $16 billion. We, on the other hand, gave nothing. But we were in no position to give anything. We had nothing. We couldn’t compete. In the West, life gradually goes back to normal, while Berlin’s eastern sector goes to rack and ruin. The Americans want to go further and introduce sweeping reforms to help revitalize the German economy. But Stalin objects. He wants to maintain the status quo. What Stalin wants is a comparable level of suffering on both sides of Berlin, and that the isolated inhabitants of West Berlin end up falling under the influence of East Germany. This capitalist enclave in the middle of a communist sea is unbearable. In order to get through this impasse, the Western powers see only one solution. To merge their occupation zones. This will, without a doubt, infuriate Stalin. But to what extent? Could Stalin start a war? Before proceeding, the West needs information. And there’s only one way to get it. Espionage. Unfortunately, in these early days of the Cold War, the American secret services are to all intents and purposes non-existent. Literally, it’s worth noting that during World War II, in 1942, the Roosevelt administration created the OSS information service, but it was no longer active after the war ended in 1945. So, between 1945 and 1947, The United States had no intelligence services as such. Therefore, in the summer of 1947, Truman decides to found a new intelligence agency which will soon be known the world over, the CIA. Former Admiral Henry Hillenketter is named as its head. He has the difficult task of recruiting and training spies in a very short space of time. The problem is that he will need to find Russian-speaking spies. And other than the Russians themselves, not many people speak Russian. For this former British Secret Service operative, this was a major hindrance. The problem was how far could you trust someone who was Russian-born with big secrets, because you could never guarantee that they weren’t actually on the other side working for the Russians. Helen Katter wastes no time. Pragmatically, he realizes that it is among recent enemies that he will find his spies. Reinhardt Galen, a former Nazi and the Wehrmacht’s head of intelligence in the East, is recycled by the CIA. Galen knows the communist world extremely well. He becomes the brains behind American espionage in Germany. He helps recruit hundreds of former Nazis to the CIA. The Americans have no qualms about this. The only thing that matters to Truman is blocking Stalin’s way. The logistics have changed. In the Cold War, the enemy wasn’t Germany, but the Soviet Union. So, ultimately, why not make use of people who are fervently anti-communist? And obviously, those former Nazis hated communists with a passion. So why not? At this point, we’re in the middle of genuine real politic. The CIA’s opponents, Russia’s GRU and KGB, are also very active. But they have a considerable head start, as their intelligence services have existed since the First World War. Berlin will become the world’s espionage capital. In the street, the civil service, in the armed forces, there are spies everywhere. All of them, regardless of which side they’re on, have the same objective. To decipher their opponents’ plans and to get one step ahead of them. Espionage was almost certainly a new style of warfare because you needed no guns. and it penetrated right into the center of the other side’s world view. As Truman has requested, Galen and his men try to discover what Stalin’s reaction would be if the West merged its various zones in Berlin. In the late spring of 1948, the German spies think they may finally have the answer. On June 9th, a telegram from Helen Ketter warns Truman. According to the head of the CIA, if the West were to bring all of their zones of occupation together as one, Stalin’s reaction would be… The USSR may be expected to continue its hindrance of Western powers in Berlin and elsewhere in Germany by any means short of military force. This is the green light the Allies were waiting for. Four days after Hillenketter’s telegram, the Americans, British, and French create a new currency for their zone, the Deutschmark. Stalin sees this currency as a symbol of capitalism and a provocation. He has to react. As the German spies had predicted, the Soviet leader then decides on economic retaliation. On June 24, 1948, he cuts off all supply routes to West Berlin. The roads which link West Germany to West Berlin are blocked. 2.5 million inhabitants of Berlin are trapped. Without supplies, they will be unable to survive for long. In Washington, some of Truman’s advisors are urgent to respond with force. But the U.S. president decides on another option, to replenish the city’s provisions from the air. He didn’t want open warfare between the U.S. and the Soviets. That was the last thing he wanted. But he also didn’t want to appear weak, like we were going to do nothing. Because if you let the Soviets get away with closing off Berlin, then they take something else. And I don’t think that the idea for the airlift was his, but he agreed to it. Because it made sense. Four days after the blockade starts, huge British and American cargo planes fly over Berlin. Within their bellies, tons of food and goods and the famous care packages. Assembled by the American NGO CARE, these parcels contain everything the Berliners need to survive. Bacon, margarine, powdered eggs, chocolate. The taste of America. What Stalin hadn’t accounted for at all was that the Americans, the English and the French together had the wherewithal to keep West Berlin supplied for 11 months to the tune of 6,000 tons a day. Every day, a cargo plane would land on one of Berlin’s three aerodromes every 30 seconds. For a year, Berlin citizens lived their lives to the rhythm of the aircraft flying back and forth over their heads. But despite American aid, daily life remains difficult. In order to survive, everyone does whatever they can. Sowers start appearing in the heart of the city. Soon, vegetables start growing through the tarmac. They also show themselves resourceful where heating is concerned. The Americans are not sending enough coal, so Berliners find wood wherever it is available. Trees are uprooted. Not one bench in the city has any slats left. At the markets, people trade with anything they have, coats, bags, shoes. Berliners want for everything, but they survive. The Americans, too, are determined to stand fast, whatever the cost. And as predicted by Galen, Stalin does not give the order to shoot down the American planes. He was unprepared to go to war because the Americans had the atomic bomb. The Soviet Union would not have been able to endure another war when 20 million Russians died during World War II. Realizing that he had lost the political arm wrestle, Stalin lifts the blockade on May 12, 1949. All over West Berlin, people rejoice. For the communist leader, this is a humiliating defeat. This small-time shopkeeper from Missouri has got the upper hand over the most feared man on the planet. In his memoirs, Truman can barely hide his delight. He knows that he has scored a crucial point in his battle against Stalin. The blockade had sharply turned them against communism. Germany, which had been waiting passively to see where it should cast its lot for the future, was veering towards the cause of the Western nations. This was the exact opposite of what Stalin wanted. which was to sow discord between the Allies. It actually sealed reconciliation and friendship between the German and American people. They formed a close bond and were responsible for ensuring the survival of West Berlin. Fifteen days after the blockade is lifted, the Western powers create the Federal Republic of Germany. The Soviet Union responds by founding the Democratic Republic of Germany. The allies of yesteryear are now officially enemies. At the White House, Cannon is terrified. He is farsighted and writes, All in all, our policy on the continent takes us along a street to which there are only three outlets. A Russian collapse, disintegration of our own position, or a terrible war. The threat of a terrible war hangs a little more heavily on the world every day. Stalin has still not recovered from the blockade debacle and wants to regain the upper hand. His efforts eventually allow him to turn the tables once more. to the horror of the western powers on august 29 1949 the russians detonate an atomic bomb in kazakhstan The information provided by Fuchs and his comrades who infiltrated Los Alamos has finally borne fruit. The Soviet intelligence services helped us to accelerate the creation of a Soviet atomic bomb. And they allowed us to save a lot of resources. Our scientists believe that the information provided by our intelligence services enabled us to reduce the development time for the bomb from 10 to 5 years. This comes as a great shock to Truman. He could never have imagined that the Soviets, crippled by war, could develop a nuclear weapon so quickly. Stalin feels empowered again. The Soviet Union is once more the equal of the United States. The world teeters on the brink of terror. Raymond Aron summed up this Cold War perfectly when he said, War is impossible. Impossible because it would be nuclear. Peace is improbable. War is impossible. Peace is improbable. Conflicts are not long in breaking out. But they will remain localized and be fought by proxy. Because neither American nor Soviet blood should ever be spilt, as that would cause widespread chaos. The first of these post-World War II conflicts to erupt is in a small country that few Russians or Americans would be able to identify on a map of the world, Korea. Since 1945, Korea, which formerly belonged to Japan, has been occupied on both sides of the 38th parallel. To the south by the Americans, to the north by the Soviets. Since then, North Korea’s communist leader Kim Il-sung has sought to reunite his country. He has on several occasions asked Stalin for help. But the Soviet leader has always refused. However, on January 12th, the Supreme Leader changes his mind. And it is all because of a tiny little sentence uttered by Dean Acheson, the American Secretary of State. That day, in his speech on America’s military ambitions, Acheson writes, This defensive perimeter runs along the Aleutians, then to Japan, then to the Rios, and the Philippines. He forgot about Korea. The worst mistake he could have made. There was Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, everything you like, except Korea. It wasn’t clever. Which is surprising for someone as experienced as Acheson. But he made a big blunder. Stalin took this as an encouraging sign that the Americans had softened again. Stalin then gives Kim Il-sung a green light to spring into action. At 4 a.m. on June 25, 1950, North Korean forces crossed the 38th parallel. The news is immediately broken to Truman, who is spending the weekend in his home in Missouri. The American president does not hesitate for a moment. Force must be met with force. His memoirs recall. If this was to go unchallenged, it would mean a third world war, just as similar incidents had brought about the second world war. The Americans were not prepared for an attack on Korea, and they have virtually no troops there. The North Koreans make ground with alarming ease and seize Seoul in less than a week. Truman is deeply concerned. How will it all end? He writes to his wife. I hope we can contain it, and not have to order our terrible weapon turned loose. Truman will not need to use the atomic bomb as he has another secret weapon in the form of a man, General MacArthur. The great hero of the war in the Pacific is in charge of the occupation of Japan. He knows Asia very well and is a peerless tactician. In just a few months, he succeeds in regaining the advantage over the communists. By November 1950, the Americans have invaded almost all of North Korea and are close to the Chinese border. The Cold War is suddenly looking likely to become very hot, because neighboring China became communist in 1949. Mao sends 500,000 Chinese volunteers to help his North Korean brethren. Here again, you see the prudence of Mao in this conflict, in that he doesn’t want China to be seen intervening as a state. So he uses this stratagem of Chinese volunteers to intervene corruptitiously. There is certainly an empirical rather than theoretical mastery of the Cold War. Everyone makes their move, but does so in a controlled way, to ensure that the Cold War doesn’t become a general, global and nuclear war. For Truman, these months of intense tension are psychologically exhausting. In his journal, he writes, It is hell to be the president of the most powerful nation on earth. I would rather be the leader of my village. The American president only ever refers to the White House as the White Prison. The Korean conflict is becoming a war of attrition. But it is a completely unexpected event which brings the war to an end. Stalin Disappears March 1, 1953 Klinsevel Dacha, near Moscow This is where Stalin now lives as a recluse. The man who struck fear in the hearts of the world and locked himself away in a cage of delusional paranoia. He fears he’s going to be assassinated. When Stalin goes to bed that night, he’s had a lot to drink. During the night, he suffers a cerebral hemorrhage. For ten hours, as he lies dying, no one dares to open his door. Everyone is too afraid of the possible reprisals. He died alone, and all those who could have helped him, such as his doctor, well, he was imprisoned. He could have made a recovery. But when his cronies arrived, like Khrushchev, Beria, Malenkov, they didn’t do anything in case it’s held against them. So doctors were called, but those doctors were scared. They didn’t even dare make a diagnosis, because the KGB behind them is saying, be careful what you write and what you discover, comrade. After four days of death throes and no adequate treatment, Joseph Stalin dies on March 5th, 1953. As soon as the news is out, 5 million people’s blood towards Moscow. They all want to see the remains of the man who, over a quarter of a century, decided whether they lived or died. Many people who hated Stalin said, thank God, he snuffed it at last. Many others saw him as a kind of demigod and were stunned to find out that he turned out to be mortal. But the third and the most important concern for everyone was, what happens now? The whole world is reeling from the shock. While Molotov and others close to Stalin carry the coffin, each of them is thinking about the future. In Moscow, just as in London and Washington, people hope that the end of the Soviet dictator will also mean an end to political tensions. Their hopes will soon be dashed. Eight years of continual latent conflict between the USA and the Soviet Union have shaped the world in such a way that there is no easy way to turn back. Stalin and Truman’s Cold War will dominate the world and chill the hearts of humanity for nearly 40 years. I’m going to go ahead and turn it off. I’m going to go ahead and turn it off. February 1945. For the last six years, Europe has been one vast battlefield. Millions of men are dead. But now, there is a certainty that Nazi Germany will be defeated, and the Allies are already looking to the future. Because it is now, as the battles still rage, that peace must be broken. Therefore, Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill decide to get together. The meeting takes place in a small resort in the south of the Soviet Union. It is here in Crimea that these three giants will together dream up the post-war world. at one of the greatest conferences of all time, the Yalta Conference. This photograph is Yalta’s memento of history. But what paths led to this moment? Why are the faces of Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin so tense? United in war, the Allies will show themselves to be at loggerheads in peace. For eight days, between the 4th and 11th of February 1945, the three greats will engage in a merciless struggle dictated by their opposing interests and ideologies. Yalta is the last time they will all meet. Each one of them is at a crucial stage of his own destiny, while this conference will soon plunge the world into a new darkness. February 3, 1945. After a seven-hour flight, British and American aircraft, which took off by night, land on the frozen runway of Saki Airport in Crimea. As he alights from the plane, Winston Churchill is stiff and has a raging fever. But the British Prime Minister puts on a brave face. Even unwell, he is ready to write a new page of history. U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt is also ready, despite his extreme fatigue. Diplomats and servicemen greet each other on the runway. Many of those present at Yalta keep logs. Thanks to their revelations, we know exactly what happened during the conference. Their writings tell the stories that the official history doesn’t. Stalin has not seen fit to come and greet his guests at Saki. This absence is an early gambit in his power game. Negotiations are well and truly underway. It falls to Molotov, Stalin’s faithful right-hand man, to meet Roosevelt and Churchill off the plane. Ravaged by polio, Roosevelt can no longer walk. Walking beside him, Churchill seems to be in a position of inferiority. This strange scenario is not lost on Churchill’s personal doctor, Lord Moran, who protests in his diary. The Prime Minister walked alongside the President like an Indian attendant accompanying Queen Victoria’s phaeton in old age. But this is not the last time that Churchill will appear to be Roosevelt’s attendant. The war is not yet over, and the British Empire’s glory is already beginning to fade. The USA and the Soviet Union are the century’s new giants. Yalta will be Churchill’s struggle for survival. Yalta is 150 kilometers from Saki. The journey takes no less than five hours because of the poor state of the winding road. A whole new ordeal begins for Roosevelt. …paralyzed. So even in an automobile, he sat in the back seat with two cushions behind him here to give, to brace. his back and some support for his legs which were useless. And so it was a very difficult trip. With the war still ongoing across Europe, the road to Yalta is kept under close surveillance. 160 fighter planes patrol the sky. Roosevelt’s daughter, Anna Betteger, who is his traveling companion, is startled to observe how the Soviets operate. In her diary, she writes, All along the road from Saki to Yalta, soldiers were posted every 300 meters. Each time a car passed by, those without rifles saluted us. All of these Russian soldiers, women included, were smart and erect. Through the windows, Roosevelt and Churchill witness a scene of devastation. Crimea was won back from the Germans less than a year ago. Over 20 million Russians lost their lives. 70,000 Soviet towns and villages were destroyed. The USSR is profoundly scarred by the war, and Stalin himself has designed the itinerary so that his guests do not miss a single detail of devastation. This allows Stalin, very skillfully, to lay the burden of guilt on his two counterparts, mainly Roosevelt. We have lost many people, the subjects being that we’ve lost many people because you didn’t come to help us. After an interminable five-hour trip, Roosevelt and Churchill finally reach Yalta in the early evening. Roosevelt is exhausted. His journey started 12 days ago, when he crossed the Atlantic by boat before catching a plane from Malta. The American president has covered 8,500 kilometers, while Churchill has covered 3,200 kilometers. Stalin’s journey by train was a mere 1,500 kilometers. It is as if there is some significance to the number of kilometers, and that Roosevelt was prepared to make the greatest effort, and Stalin the least. The Bay of Yalta has lost none of its charm. In the 19th century, it was a kind of Soviet Riviera where Tsars and aristocrats came to spend their holidays. The conference delegates would be put up in palaces that are still intact today. Before negotiations began in February 1945, they were completely refurbished. In anticipation of the conference, the palaces were very quickly refurnished with things brought from Moscow in great convoys, in order to give them a homely feel. They had been terribly neglected for a very long time. It was Stalin who decided to have the conference at Yalta, and he wanted to ensure that his guests had nothing but good memories. He greets them with opulence, reserving them the two finest villas, Livadia Palace for Roosevelt, where the negotiations took place, and Vorontsov Villa for Churchill. It is a clear night over Yalta. Each of the big three gathers his strength for the coming marathon. February 4th, 1945. Day one of the negotiations. Before the debates get underway… Stalin pays a courtesy visit to his guests. He starts with Churchill. The two men have not seen each other since they met in Moscow four months ago. They are pleased to see one another and take stock of the military situation. Stalin’s reunion with Roosevelt is just as cordial. The Russian and the American share a martini. Roosevelt’s guilty pleasure. And there’s no lemon. Stalin makes a note of this, and the next time, he has a huge lemon tree delivered. This makes quite an impression on the British and the Americans because a lemon tree in the middle of the war is quite remarkable. They’re dazzled. And at the same time, it shows off Stalin’s power. Because in the field, Stalin is in a dominant position. Since the spring, the Soviet steamroller has been on the move, and the Red Army is regaining territory from the Germans. It’s time for Stalin’s war efforts to pay dividends. Negotiations finally begin at 5 p.m. The Lavaliers’ ballroom has been prepared for the conference. Everything is ready. Ministers and diplomats talk amongst themselves as they wait for the three great leaders. Churchill is the first to arrive with his daughter Sarah. The Prime Minister is in good spirits and is wearing a Russian cap in tribute to his host. he feels better after a good night’s sleep his temperature has fallen stalin is the next to arrive in front of the cameras the two men make a show of their camaraderie roosevelt is already at the negotiation table having made a discreet entrance this ritual will be repeated for the next eight days He has banned cameras from filming his arrivals, deeming them too humiliating. He has to get from that wheelchair into a chair, which is not easy, when you are paralyzed from the waist down. Each of the big three has his advisors around him. They will not be negotiating alone. Churchill is accompanied by Anthony Eden, his foreign minister, along with diplomat Alexander Cadogan, an expert on Poland. Roosevelt leans on Harry Hopkins, his friend and right-hand man, the man he trusts more than any other. But also his foreign minister, Edward Stettinius. Stalin also has two main advisors. Vyacheslav Molotov is foreign minister and the diplomat. Ivan Maisky. There are four large dossiers on the table. The fate of defeated Germany, that of Poland, the United Nations, and the war against Japan. The positions of the different Allied armies will have a significant influence on these dossiers. Since December, the Red Army has liberated Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, and Poland. The Russians are a mere 80 kilometers from Berlin. The Anglo-American forces, however, have been hampered by a German counterattack and are yet to cross the Rhine. You can certainly say from a military point of view the Soviets are clearly ahead of their Western allies. And that gives them the high ground from a diplomatic perspective. Added to this imbalance in the field, there is also an ideological disparity. Churchill and Roosevelt are two capitalists facing a communist. But this is not to say that they will present a united front to Stalin, far from it. In fact, the two men espouse quite differing ideologies. Roosevelt respects Churchill as an old warhorse who stood alone in Europe and admires this fellow who is still capable of remarkable performances. At the same time, he has a degree of contempt for him, because he sees him as an old colonialist throwback, while he himself considers he has modern ideals, such as decolonization of the world. Roosevelt needs Stalin more than he needs Churchill. At this time, the US is fighting a war against Japan in the Pacific. The battles are incredibly violent. And the Japanese have no hesitation in using kamikaze suicide jets against their foes rather than surrender. Without help from the Russians, the war could go on and on. Roosevelt also needs Stalin to participate in the future United Nations organization, which he’s trying to assemble. Without the USSR, the UN will be just an empty shell. In order to move the project forward, Roosevelt is prepared to jettison Churchill, a long-standing ally, but with nothing to offer. Churchill takes this very badly. For him, it is a disaster to arrive separately in the knowledge that Stalin will fully exploit any divergence between the American and the Briton. The British Prime Minister suspects that Stalin will try to establish communist regimes in all of the countries liberated by the Red Army, and he knows that without Roosevelt’s help, he will have no chance of stopping him. During the first day, only military matters are discussed. Each watches the others. As the tactical game begins, Stalin takes the lead. He suggests that Roosevelt preside over the plenary sessions. By being made president, he’s being ingratiated, but also rendered powerless, because… He will be constrained to being master of ceremonies, during which time others will be able to plot and negotiate behind his back. This is a very clever ploy on Stalin’s part. The first session was just a warm-up, with no significant decisions being made. But the Westerners are clearly aware that it will not be easy to make their voices heard against Stalin. So, come the evening… Each of them hones his strategy for the next day. Churchill ponders calmly, alone, gazing at the portraits of British aristocrats that Stalin has thoughtfully had hung on the walls for his enjoyment. Roosevelt develops his battle plan with Harry Hopkins. Day 2. Churchill is once more first to arrive. While Stalin again is fashionably late. This time, serious matters will be discussed. The German question is to be debated. What will be Germany’s fate once she has lost the war? How will the country be managed? What reparations will be appropriate? The Allies have differing positions on all of these questions. Discussions begin with the issue of Germany’s imminent occupation. As early as 1944, the plan was that once conquered, the country would be divided and governed in three zones, American, British, and Soviet. But now, Churchill requests a fourth zone, for France this time. He no longer wants to stand alone against these two giants who have something of an axe to grind with imperial powers. He wants an alliance with another colonial power. Finally, Stalin magnanimously says, the French didn’t really fight much during the war, so we don’t see why. They collaborated. They gave up very quickly in 1940. They don’t deserve it. But I’m a reasonable man. All right then. But you can share your own occupation zone with them. The concession costs him nothing, and Stalin cedes quickly. But he takes the opportunity to demand something from his allies in return. He wants the maximum reparations possible from Germany. The Soviet Union is ruined. The Bosch must pay. This vengeful attitude worries Roosevelt and Churchill. On this occasion, the two Western leaders stand fast. If Germany is pillaged and starved to appease Stalin, how can she be put back on her feet? It will inevitably be funded by us. So ultimately, we will be the one paying Stalin’s reparations, which is clearly a bad thing. This refusal causes Stalin to dig his heels in. He’s vexed and becomes suspicious. He’s angry with his allies and becomes aggressive. Frankly, look me in the eye. Tell me, why do you not want the Soviet Union to be rebuilt? Is there some reason in the back of your Western minds why you would be against the legitimate reconstruction of our country? Why do you want to undermine us? First defiance, then the bluff. Stalin is about to play his trump card. And for that, he will need the support of his crony, Molotov. The two men form a peerless duo and are both masters of the dark arts of diplomacy. Molotov is the bad cop. Mr. Niet, he’s the one who isn’t any fun and will be immovable on the more difficult issues. And the point where Stalin intervenes is when he smooths the waters, as if he’s saying, you’re going too far. You don’t have to be so harsh. At this point, a total figure for reparations needs to be added to the German dossier. Nothing has yet been decided by the Soviet delegation, other than a minimum and a maximum figure. In his journal, Russian diplomat Ivan Maisky describes the scene. Molotov, sitting to Stalin’s right, leans towards him and asks in a worried tone, Should I give them a total? Yes, give them a total, replies Stalin. Which one? Five or ten? Ten, snaps Stalin. It’s a way of demonstrating that discussions are ongoing, that nothing has been finalized, and probably seems more reassuring for their counterparts across the table. 10 billion for the USSR. It’s agreed. No one says anything. Stalin assumes that the total has been accepted. The Westerners haven’t dared to react, but this decision will have severe consequences later on. Because Germany is incapable of paying such a vast sum, the Soviets will take payment in kind and dismantle Germany’s industry. Following this first round of negotiations, each of the big three will retire to his palace to recuperate. As usual, Stalin buries himself in dossiers and prepares for the next day’s debates. His office desk has been preserved exactly as it was then. In Livadia Palace, Roosevelt finds a little peace and serenity with his daughter Anna. For the last few years, she has been his confidante and goes everywhere with her father. She was not only good company in the sense of a daughter, but she was very bright. aware and informed. We were living in the White House so that she was, what should I say, like an assistant, not paid, very informal, but what we would call in English a right-hand man. Fifteen kilometers away at the Vorontsov, Churchill is with his daughter Sarah. The young woman is an actress and an auxiliary volunteer in the RAF. Churchill enjoys her cheerful presence at his side. The young women are delighted to be involved, and their fathers are happy to show off their daughters in uniform, showing that the whole family is taking part. And it makes a good impression on the entourage. And they can do those things that not everyone else can. For example, Churchill tends to get up late to work in bed. spends a lot of time in the bath. So you can’t send an aide-de-camp to get him out. That would just be impossible, but you can send in his daughter. Most evenings that week, one of the leaders invites the others to supper. This is an occasion for more informal negotiations. The first of these meals takes place at the Livadia. The Americans take care of the service, but the Russians provide the food. And Stalin has made it a point of principle to make it sumptuous. These are 15 30-course meals with… caviar, cream, all kinds of things. Cream is rationed in Britain. People have virtually forgotten what it is. Meanwhile, the Soviet people are starving to death. But Stalin isn’t interested in that. He only cares about showing off his power. This is Georgian and Russian hospitality. I’m your host. I will do anything for you. You only have to ask. Psychologically, this gives him the upper hand. I am both your master and your servant. It’s marvelous, both marvelous and menacing. Everything is dependent on Stalin’s goodwill. That is one of the defining aspects of Yalta. In order to make sure his guests feel at home and well disposed towards him, Stalin has thought of everything. At supper, the alcohol flows freely. It’s a well-known fact that if you want successful negotiations, you want the delegates to be at their ease. So, food and drink have always been part of the means at the hosting power’s disposal. This is a game in itself, seeing who can drink the most. By which I mean that alcohol clearly played a part at Yalta. The first supper brought the Allies together. A new sense of trust emerged. Negotiations began in a fresh atmosphere. To allow everyone to recover from these bibulous evenings, the plenary sessions were planned for late afternoon. But Stalin, Roosevelt, and Churchill’s cohorts spend their morning working on preparation for the debates. They ponder the possible compromises for each dossier. It will then be left to the big three to thrash it out. On day 3, February 6th, the Polish dossier is on the table. This is the prickliest part of the conference yet. It is also the most symbolic, as it was in Poland that the war began. The Allies must set up a new government. But they are unable to agree on anything. Stalin has always considered Poland a threat to his country. Because throughout history, it has always been through Poland that Russia has been invaded. Therefore, Stalin wishes Poland to be a friendly state. In fact, he wants to build a defensive buffer all around the Soviet Union so that she’ll never be attacked again. The Soviet Union would have those as buffer states. That was understood. And it was understood that for the Russians, that was an essential part of their foreign policy. And when you think about it, you wouldn’t want, if you were a big state like the Soviet Union was, to have a hostile state right on your border. No, you would want a friendly state. But what does a friendly state mean? Is it a country whose foreign policy is friendly towards the Soviet Union? and whose domestic policy is completely free? Or is it a country whose friendliness will be co-opted into communization? That’s the big question. The British view is that they certainly did not declare war against Hitler over Poland in order for it to become a communist state. Churchill wants post-war Poland to be free and independent. The British had a long tradition. of a friendly Poland. The British had a longstanding trading agreement, economic agreement, and they did not want to have a country as big as Poland with its natural resources and human resources under the influence of communism if they could help it. For Roosevelt, far removed from Europe, the Polish question is incidental, but it still has some importance for other reasons. Six million American citizens are of Polish extraction, and these citizens mostly support Roosevelt’s Democratic Party, so he is very conscious of the potential situation in Poland. These Polish citizens who took refuge in the U.S. are fervent anti-communists. Most of them came to America before the First World War, but they’ve never forgotten that Stalin and Hitler were in accord over the invasion of Poland. These Polish-Americans, along with the British, support Polish President Władysław Rokiewicz. who has been in exile in London since 1940. Problem is that another government, communist this time, opposes him. This Soviet-influenced government is headed by Boleslav Bierut. It has its headquarters in the center of Poland, at Lublin, and calls itself the Lublin Committee. The London and Lublin governments detest each other. Six months ago, an event took place which damaged their relationship beyond repair, August 1944. At this point in time, the Red Army is at the gates of Warsaw. From London, Rakovic decides to trigger an insurrection. He wants the Polish resistance to liberate their capital before the communists do, to give him the upper hand in the future government. But the German repose is ferocious. For 63 days, the resistance is relentlessly crushed. Stalin coldly allows this to happen and orders the Red Army to do nothing. The Nazis massacre 200,000 Poles. 90% of the Polish capital is destroyed. Two months later, Stalin reaps the benefits and installs a communist government in Warsaw. Stalin’s actions cast a pall over the Yalta negotiations. Churchill has never been able to stomach the fact that Stalin let the Warsaw insurgents perish without coming to their aid. At this point he understands that he’s not dealing with some avuncular good chap. but that he could not be fully trusted and was actually a dangerous hoodlum. And finally, that even if Hitler had to be removed first, they would have similar problems with Stalin after the war. But now in Yalta, the Allies must put suspicion and rancour aside and build Poland’s future government. The speculation is over which political model it will be based on. Obviously, the Anglo-American point of view is that they should build a united national government from Poland’s different anti-fascist political groups. The Soviets and Stalin see it simply as a matter of using the Warsaw government as it is. with the addition of a few members. A political arm-wrestle ensues. Stalin does not want to hear about the London-based governments. On the other hand, each time Churchill or Roosevelt try to compromise by suggesting potential members to bring into the Lublin administration, he refuses. And why would he agree? Stalin knows he is in a position of strength. The Soviet Union troops were in those countries, occupying those countries, although the word occupy is not used, but nevertheless, they were there. And the Soviet Union influence, in hindsight, you can say was inevitable. The Allies cannot find a way to agree. And little by little, things become heated. Stalin becomes increasingly agitated. At his side, Ivan Maisky is petrified. He describes the scene in his diary. Suddenly, Stalin got up and started gesticulating with his right arm. Such behavior was inappropriate for a conference of the Big Three. He started talking in an unusually overwrought manner. Stalin is a very taciturn and calm character, other than on a few occasions when he gets very angry. These occasions have a mounting influence on the debate. The fact that he will suddenly stand up and launch an impassioned tirade on a certain subject is a very clear way of showing his counterparts. that there are matters on which he’s not prepared to compromise. The Soviet leader’s tirade floors his allies. Hopkins, who witnesses the debacle, slips a note to the presiding Roosevelt. Why not end this here for the day? Let’s say we’ll talk further tomorrow at 7.15. Better to leave things as they are and start afresh the next day. The skill with which Stalin negotiates is obvious to everyone. Uncle Joe, as the Westerners know him, has a hypnotic hold over the delegations. In his room that night, the diplomat Alexander Cadogan writes, I must say I think Uncle Joe is the most impressive of the three men. He’s very calm and reserved. When he speaks, he never uses a superfluous word and gets straight to the point. The British Secretary of State, Anthony Eden, is no less impressed. By more subtle methods, he got what he wanted without having seemed too obdurate. However, Stalin’s success cannot merely be attributed to his negotiating talents. In fact, unknown to Eden and Cadogan, Uncle Joe’s apparatchiks had been spying on his allies. Before the altar conference even begins… He knew everything that was going on. Preparations for the Autoconference lasted several months. At the time, Russian information services were well implanted in England and the USA. Our agents were providing us with exhaustive details of how Churchill and Roosevelt were preparing for the conference. We knew exactly what they were planning to discuss and on which positions they were going to stand firm during negotiations. To ensure they did not miss a thing. The Russian Secret Service had also bugged the palaces. Churchill and Roosevelt knew this. What they didn’t realize, a little naively, is that when they went to the park to discuss confidential matters, everything was being picked up by multi-directional microphones, which were everywhere. They were in the trees, the bushes, and they captured any conversation in a radius of several meters. Stalin does not treat this information lightly. He does not want to miss a shred. He even insists that his spies personally report back to him everything they’ve heard. Stalin wanted to know how things were said. He even insisted that dialogues were repeated using the same intonations that Churchill and Roosevelt had used. The cards used in the Yalta poker game are marked. Stalin knows exactly what hands his opponents have. He knows exactly where he’s heading, while his allies are feeling their way around in the dark. Day four of negotiations, and the Polish dossier needs to be finalized. Thanks to the information gathered the previous day, Stalin knows that his allies are prepared to sacrifice Poland in order to get what they want from other dossiers. The UN and Japan are uppermost in Roosevelt’s mind. The dossier Churchill cares about most is not on the table at Yalta, but is an underlying issue. It’s Greece. Greece is a former British protectorate. It is an important strategic asset for the British, as Greece opens the path to the Suez Canal, which gives them access to their colonies. But for the last two years, Greece has been in the throes of a violent civil war. The communists are trying to overthrow the king, control the countryside, and are on the verge of taking power. If Greece were to fall to the Communists, the future of the entire British Empire could be at stake. Churchill dreads this terrible scenario. In order to avoid this, he makes the first move and becomes embroiled in perilous bargaining. In October 1944, four months before Yalta, the British Prime Minister meets Stalin face-to-face in Moscow. At the time, Roosevelt is in the midst of a re-election campaign. Churchill uses the opportunity of the American president’s absence to forge a secret pact with Stalin over Europe’s future. So when we talk about dividing up the world, it wasn’t done at Yalta, but when Churchill and Stalin met in Moscow. The document, scribbled on a scrap of paper in Churchill’s hand, is annotated by Stalin. Like two grocers, they have mutually agreed their shares of the East European crop. Russia gets 90% of Romania. The Soviets get 75% of Bulgaria. Britain gets 90% of Greece. When he gets to Yalta, Churchill is hoping that Stalin will remember this agreement. In order to ensure the Soviet leader leaves him a free hand in Greece, the British prime minister is prepared to hang Poland out to dry. This agreement on percentages is in sharp contrast with the idea of an immovable Churchill. He would never have agreed to compromise on any European zones or spheres of influence. To avoid upsetting Stalin, the Western powers end up being conciliatory on the Polish question. On the fourth day of negotiations, the American and the Briton drop Rokiewicz’s government in exile and recognize Bierut’s communist Lublin government. In exchange, Churchill and Roosevelt win places for non-communist ministers in the Lublin government. Stalin also commits to organizing free elections in post-war Poland, as well as in all of the other countries liberated by the Red Army. The phrase free elections sounds like a victory for the West, even though Stalin has given them no guarantees whatsoever. All they managed to get from Stalin was a declaration of good intentions, and formulas which would allow them to save face in their respective parliaments. They only just managed that, but what more could they do? But how were free elections conceivable when the country was completely occupied by the Red Army? This is where the Western leaders were deluded. For in exchange for these promises, the Western leaders have done Stalin a huge favor. They allow him to construct a defensive boffin by attaching part of Poland to the Soviet Union. In return, Poland will, at a later stage, gain German territories, allowing the country a gradual transition to the West. Stalin has got full marks for the Polish dossier. The Soviet leader has got everything he wanted. His allies hope that he will not forget this. It’s February 8th, and the sun shines brightly in the Crimean sky. Roosevelt is on edge, as the discussions are about to begin about Japan. The American president desperately needs Stalin’s support. To make sure things go in his favor, he invites Stalin to share a martini just before the plenary session. Churchill has not been informed of this twist. And the meeting takes place behind his back. Roosevelt is afraid that the impetuous Englishman will stop him negotiating freely and upset the apple cart. The U.S. president is also a great believer in heart to hearts. He believed in having a personal rapport with Joseph Stalin, and I think FDR felt that he could have influence on Joseph Stalin with a rapport that he was developing. But such things do not work with Stalin, no. He had no idea how cruel Stalin was. How devoid of human sentiment he was. At this time, the American campaign in the Pacific is suffering heavy losses against the fanatical Japanese army. The top brass estimates that without Russian help, the war could last for another year and cost the lives of more than half a million GIs. Roosevelt is determined to avoid this bloodbath. Stalin knows this and raises the stakes. In return for Soviet cannon fodder, he wants territory, and he is greedy. He demands Sakhalin Island and the Kuril Islands, but also control of Port Arthur, Dairen, and the Manchurian Railway. Negotiations don’t dwell on Kuril and Sakhalin as they belong to Japan, and the Americans are more than happy to hand over Japanese territory to the Soviets. But Dairen and Port Arthur are troubling because they belong to China. China means Chiang Kai-shek, and he’s an ally of the US. And he wasn’t invited to Yalta. So, Roosevelt could be censured, notably by the Senate, for making concessions to Stalin to the detriment of an ally. It’s a very delicate situation. But then Stalin, in his turn, tries to mollify Roosevelt. He will use his charm to find a solution and convince Chiang Kai-shek to accept the situation. Roosevelt’s interpreter, Charles Bolan, reports in his memoirs. Stalin said that it was clear that if his conditions were not met, it would be difficult for him and Molotov to explain to the people why the Soviet Union was entering the war against Japan. It was obvious that Roosevelt was bothered by what he was doing. Roosevelt wavers, but faced with Soviet intransigence, swallows his scruples. His main aim is to bring this war to an end. His Chinese allies are sacrificed, along with Dairen and Port Arthur. He’ll sort things out with Chiang Kai-shek once the war is over. The American president can be pleased with himself. He has achieved his objectives. Not just over Japan, but also the UN. The new organization, which Roosevelt wants to see, harbors the ambition for bringing peace to the world. Stalin has agreed in principle to be a part of this peacekeeping organization. The USSR’s de facto participation is far from in the bag, but it is a start. It’s quite a coup to get Stalin to admit that he’ll send Molotov to Dumbarton Oaks for preliminary negotiations. For Stalin, this is a big concession. And Stalin keeps saying, so this UN thing of yours, can I really send Molotov? I’m not sure. He’s playing a game of cat and mouse. And he’s good at it. Day 6 of negotiations. On February 9th, 1945, Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin can display their good humor for the throng of photographers. The UN, Japan, Germany, Poland, the big three have managed to reach compromises on each of these dossiers. And each of them has come away with what they wanted the most. Churchill has proved himself the equal of his two powerful counterparts and has hoisted France into the realm of the victors and got them an occupation zone in Germany. The American president has got a green light from Stalin over the UN and Japan. Along with Churchill, he has also got Stalin to agree to organize free elections on Poland and Eastern Europe after the war. But it is the Soviet leader who hits the jackpot. Without question, it’s the Soviet Union and Stalin who come out on top in the Yalta Conference. Stalin has got what he wanted regarding Poland, and pretty much what he wanted regarding Germany, certainly where reparations are concerned. This image of perfect harmony between the big three goes around the world. But the image is deceptive. at yalta stalin roosevelt and churchill made a point of trying to get along they wanted to preserve the alliance while the war was still going on but ultimately each of them defended his own world vision and his own interests the yalta agreements are precarious they are born of compromise and rest upon a fragile unanimity between three exceptional characters However, come the end of negotiations, everyone wants to believe. That evening, the delegations drink toasts to friendship between nations and peace for all humanity. But this hope will be short-lived. This entente, celebrated by the Big Three, will soon shatter. A mere three weeks after the end of the conference, Stalin rides roughshod over the Yalta Greens. With the Red Army still occupying Romania, he organizes a power grab by the Communists. In Poland, every time his allies put forward the name of a non-Communist minister to join the government, Stalin declines. The hitherto confident Roosevelt becomes anxious. Post-Yalta, Roosevelt became disillusioned. He realized that the Stalin he thought he knew bore little resemblance to the real Stalin. On April 1st, the American president sends a long telegram to his friend Stalin, seeking explanations. I cannot conceal from you the concern with which I view the development of events of mutual interest since our fruitful meeting at Yalta. Events in which our common interests were at stake. I frankly cannot understand why the recent events in Romania should not be regarded as not falling within the terms of that agreement. But Roosevelt’s warnings fall on deaf Soviet ears. Stalin ruthlessly follows through with his plan and keeps installing communist regimes in Eastern Europe. Roosevelt dies 11 days after sending the telegram, never to see the full extent of Stalin’s betrayal. Churchill, who to widespread shock loses the general election, can only sit powerless and watch their master plan unravel. The big three. did not bring a long-awaited global peace into the world at Yalta. The dream of brotherhood was nothing more than an illusion. Soon, these former allies would be enemies, fighting a new kind of conflict, the Cold War. Hello, I’m Charlie and I’m here to talk about the new technology that’s coming to the world of technology and I’m going to talk about the new technology that’s coming to the world of technology