Americans think of World War II as “The Good War”, a moment when
the forces of good resoundingly triumphed over evil. Yet the war
was not decided by D-day. It was decided in the East, by the Red
Army and Joseph Stalin. While conventional wisdom locates the
horrors of World War II in the six million Jews killed in German
concentration camps, the reality is even grimmer. In 13 years,
the Nazi and Soviet regimes killed 13 million people in the
lands between Germany and Russia. "Stuck between mad men" When
Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill met in Yalta in February 1945,
Hitler's armies were on the run and victory was imminent. The
Big Three wanted to draft a blueprint for a lasting peace - but
instead set the stage for a 44-year division of Europe into
Soviet and western spheres of influence. After fighting side by
side for nearly four years, their political alliance was rapidly
fracturing. By the time the leaders met again in Potsdam in July
1945, Russians and Americans were squabbling over the future of
Germany