Robert P. Carter
Abstract: By examining the history of Poland, along with the political and diplomatic events that took place in the months between the Yalta Conference in February 1945 and the Postdam Conference in July 1945, this article assesses the reasons why Poland did not become independent from Soviet influence at conclusion of World War II. Through this analysis, the article also discusses how the brief period of harmony between the United States and the Soviet Union during the months spanning the Yalta Conference and Postdam Conference devolved into a distrustful and hostile relationship. During the negotiations of the Yalta Conference, one of the main objectives was finding a way to merge the London and Lublin Polish government groups. However, conflicting ideological and geopolitical interests of the United States and the Soviet Union set the stage for the Yalta Conference and Postdam conference negotiations, and greatly influenced their proceedings. At the conclusion of the negotiations, while the United States and British governments believed that there should be a freely elected, independent Polish government that would maintain a friendly relationship with the Soviet Union, the long history between Poland and the Soviet Union made it evident that such a relationship could not be established without the direct intervention of the Soviet Union. Thus, this article concludes that Soviet dominance in Poland following World War II is best explained as an outcome of the war itself, rather than the result of the negotiations that followed it.
Keywords: Poland, Soviet Union, Yalta Conference, Warsaw, communist, puppet government, United States, negotiations, diplomacy, World War II
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