Source 13:
This war is not as in the past; whoever
occupies a territory also imposes on it his
own social system. Everyone imposes his
own system asfar as his army has power to
do so. It cannot be otherwise.
Source 14:
"Poland has borders with the Soviet Union
which is not the case with Great Britain or
the USA. I do not know whether a truly
representative government has been
established in Greece. The Soviet Union was
not consulted when this government was
being formed, nor did it claim the right to
interfere because it realizes how important
Greece is to the security of Great Britain."
1. Read Source 13. At Yalta, Churchill and Roosevelt had agreed with Stalin that eastern Europe would be a Soviet 'sphere of influence'. Do you think Source 13 is what they had in mind?
I think that Churchill and Roosevelt agreed with Stalin before they had the chance to find out what specifically Stalin had in mind with his "sphere of influence."Stalin probably told Churchill and Roosevelt part of what he originally wanted but left out an important part of it. Stalin knew that if he told Churchill and Roosevelt his origins plans, then they might not have agreed to Stalin's plan and how eastern Europe would be Soviet's "sphere of influence."
2. Would they agree with Stalin's views expressed in Sources 13 and 14? Explain your answer.
No, they would not agree with Stalin's views expressed in Sources 13 and 14 because the Soviets are trying to establish Communist government into the countries in which it occupies. In Source 13, Stalin says how any country who possess another country, has the right to influence its own idea and morals onto that country and establish the country their way. USA and Britain are both anti-communist so they will probably not agree with what Stalin because he is doing something that neither of them believe in. Stalin, in source 14, tries to justify his actions by saying that he only occupied Poland because he's afraid that Germany will invade Russia again and that Britain occupied Greece for the same security reasons.
3. Explain how each of the three developments described in the text might affect relationships at Potsdam.
With the Soviets invading Poland, USA having a new strong anti-communist leader and the Allies testing out an atomic bond, tensions will arise at Potsdam. The Soviets have done something in which both England and USA do not approve of. In addition, President Roosevelt had dies and his VP, Harry S. Truman took the presidency. President Truman was a lot anti-communist than Roosevelt and did not fully trust Stalin based on past actions. President Truman will need to learn to cope with working with the other two world powers. After President Truman's inauguration, he informed Stalin that he successfully tested out an atomic bomb in a desert site. This action will make Stalin nervous and make him fear the US even more now that they were able to successfully test the atomic bond. With the combination of all three events, there will definitely be disagreement between the three world powers.
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