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Posts by Blue Izzie  

Joined: 17 Oct 2011 / Female ♀ 		Last Post: 17 Oct 2011
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Blue Izzie   
17 Oct 2011
History / Do Poles really blame Britain for Poland becoming Communist after the war? [104]

I have heard on and off that Poles blame Britain and Churchill for Poland being Communist after the war, because Britain didn't stand up to Stalin at the Yalta conference.

I am honestly not trying to be offensive, but the only way to save Poland would have been another World War, and there was no way that Britain could have taken on Russia after the Second World War. Furthermore, Churchill was the only one who pushed for free elections in Poland, and Stalin did promise there would be free elections in Poland.

What did Poland expect Britain to do? I mean, if anyone should be in the firing line, surely it should be the USA -- they were the ones with all the money and the power. The Second World War broke Britain, and it's been broken ever since.

Again, I mean this in no way offensively, I really am just curious as to what course of action people think Britain could have taken to save Poland from being Communist.
Blue Izzie   
17 Oct 2011
History / Do Poles really blame Britain for Poland becoming Communist after the war? [104]

Poland meant nothing to Churchill. When he grew up, Poland didn`t exist (partitions) and didn`t matter. In result, he didn`t feel any moral obligation to help her later on.

I don't think it is so much a case of Poland meaning nothing to Churchill because it didn't exist while he was growing up; it meant nothing to Churchill because he was not Polish, but English, and had a moral obligation to his own people. To truly stand up to Russia over Poland would have meant another war, one which Britain could not possibly have won, and in which god knows how many Britons would have died. Plus, he did argue for free elections in Poland at the Yalta conference.

I am completely aware of the terrible suffering Poland underwent both during the war and after, but a leader has a moral obligation to their own people; imo, it is unfair to expect Britain to have fought another war (of which they had no hope of winning), and sent so many to their deaths, for the protection of another nation.

peter_olsztyn, thank you for your reply; it is nice to know that not all Poles feel this way about Britain. :)