The Post War Borders of Poland

Marshal Pilsudski, in his time as the de facto head of the pre-war Polish state, had been a firm proponent of a Poland with borders equating to the old pre- partition commonwealth of 1772 even though subsequent movements of peoples meant that in some areas there was no longer a majority of ethnic and cultural Poles . This led to an aggressive policy of territorial acquisition which resulted in the Polish Eastern border being established well beyond that agreed by the Inter-Allied Mediation Commission of 1919 and defined as the Curzon line .This policy had continued, with the annexation of Czech and Slovak territory in 1938 and 1939 . For many in the resistance and the Government in Exile the borders so established were regarded as sacrosanct. The more pragmatic leader of the Polish Government in Exile, General Sikorski, a PSL supporter, was prepared to be flexible both in terms of relations with the Soviet Union and in discussing possible border changes but after his death in 1943, in the crash of a Liberator bomber at Gibraltar, his successor Stanisław Mikolajczyk from the PPS, adopted a much more rigid attitude.
From the middle of 1943 to the start of the Warsaw rising in August 1944 the Poles were almost entirely dependent upon Britain both for support and contact with the rest of the Grand Alliance. Britain was becoming much less supportive. Although a confirmed Atlanticist with a history of active opposition to Bolshevism, Churchill was realistic enough to appreciate that the Red Army was a key element in the defeat of Germany, moreover senior Foreign Office officials were advising, possibly incorrectly, that Stalin had lost interest in spreading Bolshevism worldwide and was more focused on regaining the historic borders of the Russian Empire. In their view a Soviet dominated East was less of a threat to Britain than a Nazi dominated West and a price worth paying to avoid the latter . Churchill was therefore minded to accede to Stalin’s demand for Polish territory to the East of the Curzon Line in return for compensatory lands to the West as provisionally agreed to at Tehran. Persuading the Polish Government in Exile to negotiate on these terms proved impossible. Churchill became increasingly exasperated even describing the Polish rigid stance, to the US government, as suicidal

 

As Roosevelt was becoming more friendly with Stalin, and was afraid that he was left out of dividing Europe, he made a pact with Stalin without any discussion or negotiation with Roosevelt.

"In 1944, Winston Churchill jots down some notes on the division of influence between the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union in the Balkans. According to these notes, Romania was to be 90 % under Soviet influence and 10 % under British influence; Greece 90 % British and 10 % Soviet; Yugoslavia and Hungary 50 % British and 50 % Soviet; and Bulgaria 75 % Soviet and 25 % British."

The division of Europe, according to Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin (1944)

And, in 1944, Soviet forces began to take back Poland, and they were not supporting the Polish Home Army that was part of the Allied forces against Germany. This was a problem for Churchill since the U.K. had joined the war in 1939 largely in response to the invasions of Poland.

The division of Europe, according to Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin (1944)

BTW. I have read that Stalin only drank water as he wanted to see his officers getting drunk and those that talked bs or were against Stalin´s decisions were sent to camps. So why should he drink himself drunk with Churchill. Then again Winston drank whisky that was diluted with water in India so cannot see him either being too drunk unless Stalin made 20 toasts to the victory over Germany.

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Beria’s CNN interview reveals that at Yalta FDR was not free from bugging even when he went outdoors. While an attendant pushed his wheelchair and Churchill tagged alongside, the NKVD listened from afar. “As we already had a system for directing the microphones to a distance of 50 to 100 meters to listen, [and] as there was no background noise, everything was quiet,” Beria recounted, “all these conversations recorded very well, and later on were translated and processed.”45

At Yalta, Beria himself plied the microphones, which were more advanced than at Teheran. He recalled that FDR cut Churchill off when they met in private and refused to discuss issues with him, saying that they had already been decided. Stalin, Beria added, was no longer worried about the tone of voice and inflections of his bugged guests. He was confident that he had the upper hand and could dictate postwar terms to the lesser two of the Big Three.

How “Uncle Joe” Bugged FDR — Central Intelligence Agency

 

The position of General Secretary was modified by Stalin to greatly increase the power of the position.

Lenin always argued that he was not the head leader, he presented his position and the Politburo voted as they saw fit, at times going against Lenin

Well, there were only 7 members of the original Politburo - Lenin & Stalin died natural deaths, Trotsky was murdered, and the other four were kicked out of the Politburo & eventually killed in Stalin's purge.

 

Nobody truly knows if Stalin died a natural death. He was alone in his big room, and one day he did not come out. Because the people were afraid of him it took some two days before a servant was forced to to go inside. Stalin was found on th floor, and as I recall he had foam coming from his mouth, he had peed himself, and the other side of his body did not move which would suggest a brain stroke. He did not speak either. He was taken to doctors but his condition was so poor he died very soon in a day or two.

I have not read they had made an autopsy or made any blood samples. I read that he usead Marevan ( varfarin ), but no reason why. Perhaps he had atrial fibrillation or some other condition that required the antocoagulant. I think it was taken to use in lhe late 30´s and still is, but requires the checking of values every month. Some food items can cause the value can make the blood too thin and cause hemorrhage, and some that it does not make the blood enough thin.

Anyway, everybody feared Stalin, I know from books that Zhukov eas the only one who said "No" to some of Stalin´s plans like attacking in Kursk, Zhukov had change Stalin´s mind to create a 5-part defence line to exhaust the German forces and then make a counter attack with full force to beat the Germans far away.

 

An autopsy was performed, but only released to the Politburo, it was not publicly released until 2011. Beria claimed to have killed him, and some have claimed that Beria did it with Kruschev's knowledge.
Medical mystery: What killed Joseph Stalin?

 

Interesting, than you. Hoever I find it interesting that according to a big book on his life nobody dared to enter his room even though Stalin did not come out as it might lead to face the camp. After two days they sort of ordered one servant to go in, who found Stalin on the floor. He died soon after but was not aware of the around situation.

The difference in clinical circumstance is that the patient with stroke is quiet and usually half the body does not move. Hemorrhage makes you nauseatic, puking all over the place and being overactive. Big enough hemorrhage kills you instantly. Been there diagnosing people for 15 years.

 

The timeline from the guards' recollection was that Stalin went to bed at 4am, and a guard did not enter until 7pm-8pm. The guards thought something was wrong, but it had appeared Stalin had fallen back asleep and was snoring softly. Some time later they started making phone calls to alert everyone. Beria & Malenkov arrived around 3am. However doctors were not summoned until several hours later and did not arrive until 8:30am-9am.

The case for poisoning:
Stalin's mysterious death
and continuing by the same author
The death of Stalin – was it a natural death or poisoning?

 

Anyway, Beriya was one of the suspected killers. He had all the reasons to get rid of Stalin yet he was the first to be killed of the possible leadership as he was powerful and knew many things.

Lavrentiy Beria - Wikipedia

Khrushchev wrote in his memoirs that Beria had, immediately after Stalin's stroke, gone about "spewing hatred against [Stalin] and mocking him". When Stalin showed signs of consciousness, Beria dropped to his knees and kissed his hand. When Stalin fell unconscious again, Beria immediately stood and spat.[32] Stalin's aide Vasili Lozgachev reported that Beria and Malenkov were the first members of the Politburo to see Stalin's condition when he was found unconscious. They arrived at Stalin's dacha at Kuntsevo at 03:00 on 2 March, after being called by Khrushchev and Bulganin. The latter two did not want to risk Stalin's wrath by checking themselves.[33] Lozgachev tried to explain to Beria that the unconscious Stalin (still in his soiled clothing) was "sick and needed medical attention". Beria angrily dismissed his claims as panic-mongering and quickly left, ordering him, "Don't bother us, don't cause a panic and don't disturb Comrade Stalin!"[34] Calling a doctor was deferred for a full 12 hours after Stalin was rendered paralysed, incontinent and unable to speak. This decision is noted as "extraordinary" by the historian Simon Sebag-Montefiore but also consistent with the standard Stalinist policy of deferring all decision-making (no matter how necessary or obvious) without official orders from higher authority.[35]

Beria's decision to avoid immediately calling a doctor was tacitly supported (or at least not opposed) by the rest of the Politburo, which was rudderless without Stalin's micromanagement and paralysed by a legitimate fear he would suddenly recover and take reprisals on anyone who had dared to act without his orders.[36] Stalin's suspicion of doctors in the wake of the Doctors' Plot was well known at the time of his sickness; his private physician was already being tortured in the basement of the Lubyanka for suggesting the leader required more bed rest.[37]

After Stalin's death, Beria claimed to have killed him. This aborted a final purge of Old Bolsheviks Mikoyan and Molotov, for which Stalin had been laying the groundwork in the year prior to his death. Shortly after Stalin's death, Beria announced triumphantly to the Politburo that he had "done [Stalin] in" and "saved [us] all", according to Molotov's memoirs. The assertion that Stalin was poisoned by Beria's associates has been supported by Edvard Radzinsky and other authors.[38][37][39][40]

After Stalin's death, Beria's ambitions sprang into full force. In the uneasy silence following the cessation of Stalin's last agonies, Beria was the first to dart forward to kiss his lifeless form (a move likened by Sebag-Montefiore to "wrenching a dead King's ring off his finger").[41] While the rest of Stalin's inner circle (even Molotov, saved from certain liquidation) stood sobbing unashamedly over the body, Beria reportedly appeared "radiant", "regenerated" and "glistening with ill-concealed relish".[41] When Beria left the room, he broke the sombre atmosphere by shouting loudly for his driver, his voice echoing with what Stalin's daughter Svetlana Alliluyeva called "the ring of triumph unconcealed".[42] Alliluyeva noticed how the Politburo seemed openly frightened of Beria and unnerved by his bold display of ambition. "He's off to take power," Mikoyan recalled muttering to Khrushchev. That prompted a "frantic" dash for their own limousines to intercept him at the Kremlin.[42]

Beria was found guilty of:

1. Treason. It was alleged that he had maintained secret connections with foreign intelligence services. In particular, attempts to initiate peace talks with Hitler in 1941 through the ambassador of the Kingdom of Bulgaria were classified as treason, though Beria had been acting on the orders of Stalin and Molotov. It was also alleged that Beria, who in 1942 helped organise the defence of the North Caucasus, tried to let the Germans occupy the Caucasus. Beria's suggestion to his assistants that to improve foreign relations it was reasonable to transfer the Kaliningrad Oblast to Germany, part of Karelia to Finland, the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic to Romania and the Kuril Islands to Japan also formed part of the allegations against him.
2. Terrorism. Beria's participation in the Purge of the Red Army in 1941 was classified as an act of terrorism.
3. Counter-revolutionary activity during the Russian Civil War. In 1919 Beria worked in the security service of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic. Beria maintained that he was assigned to that work by the Hummet party, which subsequently merged with the Adalat Party, the Ahrar Party, and the Baku Bolsheviks to establish the Azerbaijan Communist Party.

Beria and all the other defendants were sentenced to death on 23 December 1953, the day of the trial. The other six defendants were shot immediately after the trial ended.[55] Beria was executed separately; he allegedly pleaded on his knees before collapsing to the floor wailing.[56] He was shot through the forehead by General Pavel Batitsky.[57]