The Globalisation of War - Nicholas Browne

This volume is concerned with how the war was ended and how power was distributed. This was best seen at the Yalta Conference where the big three leaders met. What was remarkable about the conference was Stalin’s determination to extend his influence into Eastern Europe with the border on a Slav line and Roosevelt teaming up with Stalin to belittle the British Empire. Neither Roosevelt nor Stalin thought they ruled empires, they thought of themselves as leaders of a nation and the contiguity of their structure validated this. Roosevelt was very ill and it was a magnificent effort to get to Yalta but he came with one big objective which was to further the establishment of the United Nations. Here he was at odds with the British Empire who wanted several nations to be included as sovereign states. The Soviets wanted two extra places but sided with the US against the British. The big division was on Poland. The Lublin Poles were under the control of the Soviets and were not going to be undermined by the London Poles who wanted democratic elections to parliament. Stalin paid lip service to democracy but it did not engage him. At Yalta, Stalin got what he wanted, Roosevelt pushed on with the United Nations while Churchill felt isolated. The two leaders with territory that was on the whole contiguous, had ganged up on him. Roosevelt was intent on dismembering the British Empire and he was succeeding. The war ended in Europe in May 1945. It would continue in the east for another few months bought to an end by the atom bomb which is a remarkable story on its own.