Eastern Europe was not "granted" to the Soviet Union by the Allies. I don't know why you would use that terminology. It was what was possible to agree on at the Yalta Conference. When the smoke cleared, they were under Soviet occupation. It was a fait accompli. They were not going to relinquish them. We were in no position to do anything about it. And the Soviets had the atomic bomb by 1949.
I'm just being a realist. The Soviet Union was no fun for anyone, but by all accounts it was not as bad in the Eastern Bloc countries. That may be tiny consolation.
Like I said, the final phase of the war was an Allied race to the East, to get as far as possible before encountering Soviet forces. Once they met, that would be the end of the race. And the Soviets were racing, too.
I really don't want to argue with you over this. I have come to appreciate your posts and we are clearly both unhappy with how it turned out for Eastern Europe. It had to be a power play or the Soviets would have taken more than they did.
Eastern Europe was not "granted" to the Soviet Union by the Allies. I don't know why you would use that terminology. It was what was possible to agree on at the Yalta Conference. When the smoke cleared, they were under Soviet occupation. It was a fait accompli. They were not going to relinquish them. We were in no position to do anything about it. And the Soviets had the atomic bomb by 1949.
I'm just being a realist. The Soviet Union was no fun for anyone, but by all accounts it was not as bad in the Eastern Bloc countries. That may be tiny consolation.
Like I said, the final phase of the war was an Allied race to the East, to get as far as possible before encountering Soviet forces. Once they met, that would be the end of the race. And the Soviets were racing, too.
I really don't want to argue with you over this. I have come to appreciate your posts and we are clearly both unhappy with how it turned out for Eastern Europe. It had to be a power play or the Soviets would have taken more than they did.
thx fren!