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WORLD WAR II HAD ENDED in the a g heat of the atomic mb and the fire in Hitler's bunker. But though much of Europe had n devastated, the prevailing m w hopeful cau of the apparent cordia ty existing among the victorious lied power the United States, Great Bri d the Soviet Union No Ver illes Co erence was needed after World War . Instead the "Big Three," as they were called, had worked out a eements at conferences during the war. The world l ked fo ard to twar c ration as sm th as the c peration during the war.
Po ar ro
In Febru y 1 5, shortly fore the war ended, U.S. President Fr R vel British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and viet dic tor J ef S in had met in the shabby, disea -ridden town of Yalta in southern Ru ia. Stalin was a clever and strong-willed man, able to exert great influence over R velt, who at this time was quite ill, and even over Churchill, who normally was extremely strong-willed him lf. R velt was al under the influence of one of his advi rs, Alger Hi , who was later proved to a mem r of the Communist Party.
At the Yalta Conjere e R velt and Churchill agreed to give Ru sia a dominant uence over Poland and Easte Europe, in retu for Stalin's help in winning the war against Japan and for his support of the U ted Nation It w not a very fair t de. Great Britain had originally gone to war against Germany to preserve Poland's inde ndence. Now its