Just to clarify, I believe we have a photographic copy of the document in CHUR 4/356 (used by Churchill when doing his history of the Second World War). I am not sure of the whereabouts of the original and would welcome news. Allen Director Churchill Archives Centre Churchill College Registered Charity: 1137476 (0)1223 336175
Churchill College 50th Anniversary - Building the future Personal data supplied in the course of an enquiry will be kept within Churchill College and may be used for administrative purposes within the terms of the Data Protection Act (1988). ________________________________ From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of David Turrell Sent: 22 July 2013 17:50 To: [email protected] Subject: RE: [ChurchillChat] Churchill and Stalin's Secret Agreement The document is in the Churchill Archives in Cambridge. CHUR 4/356 Churchill refers to the document in The Second World War: Volume 6 "Triumph and Tragedy" Book 1 "The Tide of Victory", Chapter 15 "October in Moscow". ________________________________ From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Chris Sterling Sent: Monday, July 22, 2013 12:42 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [ChurchillChat] Churchill and Stalin's Secret Agreement The gist of the story is absolutely true . . .the so-called "naughty" piece of paper story shows up in many respected sources. Churchill, of course, was negotiating with little leverage as the Red Army was already moving into Eastern Europe. WSC's chief concern was to protect Turkey and especially Greece where Communist underground forces were already gathering. And he worried about Poland, the invasion of which had begun the European war in September 1939. He "won" with Greece and Turkey, and "lost" with Poland and Czechoslovakia--but the latter were likely lost causes with or without any agreement, even one as totally informal and nonbinding as this one was. Chris Sterling Chris & Ellen Sterling [email protected] On Jul 22, 2013, at 12:24 PM, Daniel Ibarra wrote: Members of the list, is this a true story? Thank you. Daniel Churchill and Stalin's Secret Agreement chruchill-stalin <http://cdn1.warhistoryonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/chruchill-s talin.jpg> The so called 'Percentages Agreement' was an outcome of a secret meeting between the leaders of Britain and Russia that effectively sealed the fate of millions living in Eastern Europe. The meeting occurred in October 1944 as the realisation that the war was all but won dawned on the allied forces. Both Churchill and Stalin realised that it was imperative to secure a future whereby Germany would be unable to attack its neighbours and thus, potentially avoid a future world war. However the fear of invasion petrified Stalin. After two German invasions since 1914, Stalin knew that a military weak Germany and an array of 'buffer' states - that have also been referred to as Soviet 'satellite' states due to their sub-ordinance to Moscow, and the Eastern bloc- were necessary for his country. He also knew that due to the amount of fighting the Soviets had engaged in, he was entitled to serious reparations and influence in the outcome of Europe. During the meeting, Churchill slipped a piece of paper to Stalin with a list of European countries on it, followed by the percentage of influence he believed Britain and Russia were entitled to. The percentages proposed indicated Britain's loss of power in world affairs, with the Soviet Union given far larger stake in the affairs of the Eastern European nations - barring Greece, a traditional British sphere of influence. What Churchill perhaps did not realise at the time was that conceding Eastern Europe to Stalin would create a vast communist empire, that's expansionist tendencies would be a pivotal issue of the Cold War that would dominate European affairs for the best part of the next half-century. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "ChurchillChat" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/churchillchat. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "ChurchillChat" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/churchillchat. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "ChurchillChat" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/churchillchat. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "ChurchillChat" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/churchillchat. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
