WW II Behind Closed Doors
Something you may not know about me is that I have been interested in modern war history for over 20 years. So, lately when my choice of TV shows as I grow older and more selective, and I also have choice limited to me because I do not have digital TV, I have been watching SBS on Friday night at 8.30. There has been a selection of documentaries, the latest of which is Behind Closed Doors.
It's been fascinating. The Allied leaders at the end of the war met to discuss how to carve up Europe. Churchill and Roosevelt (until he died) and subsequently Truman met with Stalin and literally moved borders with a wave of the hand. The western allies had to keep Stalin on side, as they needed him to help them defeat Japan, so they had to ignore or hope that somehow a democratic government would be set up in countries like Poland and Bulgaria.
Of course, we know that didn't happen. It's just interesting to see why they didn't.
One of the other shocking facts was that the western allies lost 800,000 men fighting. But Russia lost 26 MILLION.
Easy to see why they felt so entitled.
And apparently, Stalin knew about the atomic bomb. The allies didn't want to invade Japan. They saw (and I think rightly) that Japan was going to die to the last man - the kamikaze pilots show this clearly.
It's been fascinating. The Allied leaders at the end of the war met to discuss how to carve up Europe. Churchill and Roosevelt (until he died) and subsequently Truman met with Stalin and literally moved borders with a wave of the hand. The western allies had to keep Stalin on side, as they needed him to help them defeat Japan, so they had to ignore or hope that somehow a democratic government would be set up in countries like Poland and Bulgaria.
Of course, we know that didn't happen. It's just interesting to see why they didn't.
One of the other shocking facts was that the western allies lost 800,000 men fighting. But Russia lost 26 MILLION.
Easy to see why they felt so entitled.
And apparently, Stalin knew about the atomic bomb. The allies didn't want to invade Japan. They saw (and I think rightly) that Japan was going to die to the last man - the kamikaze pilots show this clearly.
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