However, on the question of Poland`s post-war status, the hostility and mistrust between the United States and the Soviet Union, which would characterize the Cold War, was most evident. Soviet troops already had control of Poland, a pro-communist provisional government had already been formed and Stalin insisted that Russia`s interests be recognized in that nation. The United States and Great Britain believed that the Polish government in exile, based in London, was the most representative of the Polish people. The final agreement called only for the formation of a government in Poland “broader than the public”. Free elections were called to determine Poland`s future for the future. Many U.S. officials were outraged by the agreement, which they said made Poland a communist future. Roosevelt felt however that there was nothing he could do at the moment, since the Soviet army occupied Poland. Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin met from February 4 to 11 in the crimean city of Yalta with their own conference agendas.
For Stalin, the main objectives were post-war economic assistance to Russia and recognition by the United States and Great Britain of a Soviet sphere of influence in Eastern Europe. Churchill had the protection of the British Empire in the foreground, but he also wanted to clarify the status of post-war Germany. Roosevelt`s objectives were consensual on the creation of the United Nations and the obtaining of the Soviet agreement to go to war with Japan after Hitler`s defeat. None of them left Yalta fully satisfied. There has been no definitive determination of financial aid to Russia. Many questions concerning Germany have been postponed for further discussions. As for the United Nations, Stalin wanted to represent the 16 Soviet republics in the General Assembly, but settled for three (the Soviet Union as a whole, Belarus and Ukraine). The Soviets, however, agreed to join the war against Japan, 90 days after Hitler`s defeat in Germany. “We now increasingly agree on the important facts of the time,” Brzezinski added, “although we still disagree on their implications.” With regard to Poland, the yalta report adds that the provisional government should “be obliged to hold free and unimpeded elections as soon as possible, on the basis of universal suffrage and secret ballot”. [18] The agreement could not mask the importance of adhering to the short-term pro-Soviet control of the Lublin government and eliminating the language that requires supervised elections. [19] The final agreement stipulated that “the provisional government, which is currently working in Poland, should therefore be reorganized on a broader democratic basis, including Polish and Polish democratic leaders abroad.” [18] Yalta`s language recognized the supremacy of the pro-Soviet Lublin government in a provisional government, albeit a reorganized one. [19] The Soviets, led by Oleg T.
Bogomolov of the Soviet Academy of Sciences, implicitly admitted that the Kremlin had violated the Yalta agreement`s promise to secure free elections in the six nations – Poland, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria – which became Soviet buffers from the Baltic to the Aegean Sea. The agreement calls on the signatories to “deliberate together on the measures necessary to fulfil the common responsibilities defined in this declaration.” During the discussions on Yalta, Molotov added language that weakens the implication of the application of the declaration. [19] Churchill defended his action in Yalta during a three-day parliamentary debate that began on 27 February and ended with a vote of confidence.
