上海交通大学通识核心课程“历史视野下的美国文化”结业论文 At Tehran,and at the next major conference of the Big Three at Yalta in 1945,the leaders of the US,UK, and USSR were able to reach a number of important agreements-settling border disputes,creating the United Nations,organizing the postwar occupations of Germany and Japan.But Poland remained a vexing problem.At Yalta,Stalin-insisting that "Poland is a question of life or death for Russia"-was able to win Churchill's and Roosevelt's reluctant acceptance of a Communist-dominated provisional government for Poland.In exchange,Stalin signed on to a vague and toothless"Declaration of Liberated Europe,pledging to assist "the peoples liberated from the dominion of Nazi Germany and the peoples of the former Axis satellite states of Europe to solve by democratic means their pressing political and economic problems."The agreements allowed Churchill and Roosevelt to claim they had defended the principle of self-determination,even though both knew that Poland had effectively been consigned to the Soviet sphere of interest.The provisional Communist government in Poland later held rigged elections(which it,not surprisingly,won),nominally complying with the Declaration of Liberated Europe even though no alternative to Communist rule ever really had a chance in the country. In the end,the Yalta agreements were not so much a true compromise as a useful (in the short term) misunderstanding among the three leaders.Stalin left happy he had won Anglo-American acceptance of de facto Soviet control of Eastern Europe;Roosevelt and Churchill left happy they had won Stalin's acceptance of the principle of self-determination.But the two parts of the agreement were mutually exclusive;what would happen if the Eastern Europeans sought to self-determine themselves out of the Soviet orbit?Future disputes over the problematic Yalta agreements were not just likely;they were virtually inevitable. And the likelihood of future conflict only heightened on 12 April 1945,when President Franklin D. Roosevelt unexpectedly died of a brain hemorrhage.Vice President Harry S.Truman-a former Missouri senator with only a high-school education,who had served just 82 days as vice president and had not been part of FDR's inner circle-suddenly became the President of the United States.Truman,who may not have ever known just how much Roosevelt had actually conceded to Stalin at Yalta,viewed the Soviets'later interventions in Eastern Europe as a simple violation of the Yalta agreements,as proof that Stalin was a liar who could never be trusted.Truman quickly staked out a hard-line position,resolving to counter Stalin's apparently insatiable drive for power by blocking any further expansion of the Soviet sphere of influence,anywhere in the world.Under Truman,containment of Communism soon came to dominate American foreign policy.The Cold War was on. So who started the Cold War? In the early days of the Cold War itself,American historians would have answered,nearly unanimously, that the Soviets started the Cold War.Josef Stalin was an evil dictator,propelled by an evil Communist ideology to attempt world domination.Appeasement hadn't worked against Hitler,and appeasement wouldn't work against Stalin either.An innocent America had only reluctantly joined the Cold War to defend the Free World from otherwise inevitable totalitarian conquest. 2上海交通大学通识核心课程“历史视野下的美国文化”结业论文 2 At Tehran, and at the next major conference of the Big Three at Yalta in 1945, the leaders of the US, UK, and USSR were able to reach a number of important agreements—settling border disputes, creating the United Nations, organizing the postwar occupations of Germany and Japan. But Poland remained a vexing problem. At Yalta, Stalin—insisting that "Poland is a question of life or death for Russia"—was able to win Churchill's and Roosevelt's reluctant acceptance of a Communist-dominated provisional government for Poland. In exchange, Stalin signed on to a vague and toothless"Declaration of Liberated Europe," pledging to assist "the peoples liberated from the dominion of Nazi Germany and the peoples of the former Axis satellite states of Europe to solve by democratic means their pressing political and economic problems." The agreements allowed Churchill and Roosevelt to claim they had defended the principle of self-determination, even though both knew that Poland had effectively been consigned to the Soviet sphere of interest. The provisional Communist government in Poland later held rigged elections (which it, not surprisingly, won), nominally complying with the Declaration of Liberated Europe even though no alternative to Communist rule ever really had a chance in the country. In the end, the Yalta agreements were not so much a true compromise as a useful (in the short term) misunderstanding among the three leaders. Stalin left happy he had won Anglo-American acceptance of de facto Soviet control of Eastern Europe; Roosevelt and Churchill left happy they had won Stalin's acceptance of the principle of self-determination. But the two parts of the agreement were mutually exclusive; what would happen if the Eastern Europeans sought to self-determine themselves out of the Soviet orbit? Future disputes over the problematic Yalta agreements were not just likely; they were virtually inevitable. And the likelihood of future conflict only heightened on 12 April 1945, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt unexpectedly died of a brain hemorrhage. Vice President Harry S. Truman—a former Missouri senator with only a high-school education, who had served just 82 days as vice president and had not been part of FDR's inner circle—suddenly became the President of the United States. Truman, who may not have ever known just how much Roosevelt had actually conceded to Stalin at Yalta, viewed the Soviets' later interventions in Eastern Europe as a simple violation of the Yalta agreements, as proof that Stalin was a liar who could never be trusted. Truman quickly staked out a hard-line position, resolving to counter Stalin's apparently insatiable drive for power by blocking any further expansion of the Soviet sphere of influence, anywhere in the world. Under Truman, containment of Communism soon came to dominate American foreign policy. The Cold War was on. So who started the Cold War? In the early days of the Cold War itself, American historians would have answered, nearly unanimously, that the Soviets started the Cold War. Josef Stalin was an evil dictator, propelled by an evil Communist ideology to attempt world domination. Appeasement hadn't worked against Hitler, and appeasement wouldn't work against Stalin either. An innocent America had only reluctantly joined the Cold War to defend the Free World from otherwise inevitable totalitarian conquest