I am looking forward to giving my talk about the end of World War II in Sussex this week. There is so much material, it will be hard to keep focused, but I do wish to dedicate the time to those who paid the ultimate sacrifice, including the last men to be awarded the Victoria Cross and commemorate all those who contributed to the war effort.
There are many lessons from the immediate aftermath of Victory in Europe. The United States and Russia emerged from the war as the two most powerful nations of the globe. The big three (Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin) had already met at Tehran and Yalta to carve out the new world order and set up the international monetary system and the United Nations. However, by the end of the third UK, USA, USSR conference, held at Potsdam between 17 July and 2 August 1945, neither Churchill nor Roosevelt were leading their countries.
Under Stalin’s dictatorship, there were many victims of Yalta (including the Cossacks) and this reneging of his commitments as much as anything caused the Alliance to break up and the Cold War to begin.
American and Russian Soldiers make friends on the banks of the Elbe at Torgau – 25 April 1945
Rupert Wieloch 