Tim Bucknall
26 Nov 2012
History / Memos show US hushed up Soviet crime against Poland [97]
sadly I'm afraid bankrupt and knackered Britain couldn't do much to help Poland in 1945 imo- we were no longer a first rate world power
the only way we'd have been able to change things is if we'd cleared North Africa quicker launched D-Day earlier and reached Central Europe before the Red Army
Roosevelt could have applied some pressure but he was so unwell as to be unfit for office by 1945. the guy didn't have enough blood flow to his brain to think properly and he was obsessed with getting the UN off the ground- for which he needed Stalin
he did at least raise the matter of Lvov with Stalin (which surprised me) but didn't pursue it
it goes without saying that the useless talking shop of the UN wasn't worth abandoning Poland
Churchill has stated that he did "love bomb" Stalin because he didn't want Stalin to be able to blame the US & UK for not keeping his promises on Polish elections etc
regarding Polands pre-war behaviour, (this thread is going to converge with the highlanders thread!) you could make make a moral case for most of the territory they wanted due to the large Polish population. IMO so much trouble was caused because the Versailles treaty stated there should be a Polish state without defining its borders. so there was bound to be conflict with its neighbours
i think it goes without saying that any promises from Hitler or Stalin would have been worthless
if anyone wants a readable but fairly accurate account of the Yalta conference. you might consider Michael Dobbs novel "Churchills Triumph"- yes unfortunate title and crass ending but he did his homework and judging by the user names on this board a few people here have read it
sadly I'm afraid bankrupt and knackered Britain couldn't do much to help Poland in 1945 imo- we were no longer a first rate world power
the only way we'd have been able to change things is if we'd cleared North Africa quicker launched D-Day earlier and reached Central Europe before the Red Army
Roosevelt could have applied some pressure but he was so unwell as to be unfit for office by 1945. the guy didn't have enough blood flow to his brain to think properly and he was obsessed with getting the UN off the ground- for which he needed Stalin
he did at least raise the matter of Lvov with Stalin (which surprised me) but didn't pursue it
it goes without saying that the useless talking shop of the UN wasn't worth abandoning Poland
Churchill has stated that he did "love bomb" Stalin because he didn't want Stalin to be able to blame the US & UK for not keeping his promises on Polish elections etc
regarding Polands pre-war behaviour, (this thread is going to converge with the highlanders thread!) you could make make a moral case for most of the territory they wanted due to the large Polish population. IMO so much trouble was caused because the Versailles treaty stated there should be a Polish state without defining its borders. so there was bound to be conflict with its neighbours
i think it goes without saying that any promises from Hitler or Stalin would have been worthless
if anyone wants a readable but fairly accurate account of the Yalta conference. you might consider Michael Dobbs novel "Churchills Triumph"- yes unfortunate title and crass ending but he did his homework and judging by the user names on this board a few people here have read it