The Growth of American Power Through Cold and Hot Wars 301was important because it lay between Germany and the Soviet Union and had
provided a pathway for German invasions of Russia in 1914 and 1941, and
because there was a significant Polish population in the U.S. that was loyal to
the Democrats and supported Roosevelt, who did not want to lose their votes.
At the same time, the Russians had occupied Poland, and many other parts of
Eastern Europe, and the reality was that those countries now had Communist
governments backed by the Soviet military. Thus, Roosevelt’s options were
seriously limited; he could either give in to Russian control of Poland or take
some kind of strong action to prevent it. The Soviets, however, were allies, and,
although conservatives attacked Roosevelt for “selling out” Poland, the idea
of ending a war with Germany and starting one with Russia over Poland was
not realistic. So the Americans and Russians agreed that Poland would have
“fair and free” elections and choose their own government. The Soviet-backed
parties, not surprisingly, won those elections and Poland remained in
Communist hands.
Germany was another story–and far more important to the U.S. Just as
the question of “what to do with Germany” dominated the peace conference
FIGuRE 6-3 Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Joseph Stalin at
Yalta, February 1945