Spheres of Influence: The Great Powers Partition in Europe, From Munich to Yalta [Paperback]

Lloyd C. Gardner (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1566630584 | ISBN-13: 978-1566630580 | Publication Date: August 1, 1994

The war within the war was the struggle among Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin for the shape of the world that would follow World War II. That delicate diplomacy is spelled out in Lloyd Gardner's brilliant reinterpretation of the negotiations that divided Europe and laid the foundations of the cold war. Mr. Gardner begins his story not conventionally in 1941 but with the British attempt to appease Hitler at Munich in 1938. Here, the author argues, were the roots of the territorial agreements that culminated at Yalta—the "spheres of influence" which the Americans sought to avoid as an Old World curse on the possibilities of a freer and more liberal world economy. Using the most recently opened sources, including those from Soviet archives, Mr. Gardner captures the heady atmosphere of these momentous events in deft glimpses of the major personalities and a persuasive analysis of the course of events. He shows how Roosevelt tried to avoid the partition of Europe that Churchill and Stalin wanted, but ultimately settled for it in the hope of keeping the Allies together to make a more lasting peace. Playing for time, FDR ran out of it. The result was the cold war—which Mr. Gardner concludes may have been preferable to World War III.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Comparing Russian- and English-language minutes of the Big Three meetings, Gardner calls for a reassessment of the criticism that Franklin Roosevelt's shallow grasp of Stalin's motives resulted in the "giveaway" of Eastern Europe at the end of WW II. Gardner highlights the American president's early opposition to Churchill's acquiescence to Soviet demands for the Baltic states as well as Roosevelt's reluctant concessions on Polish issues in the territorial agreements at the 1945 Yalta Conference. Gardner ( Approaching Vietnam ) argues that Roosevelt settled for the "spheres of influence" pattern to keep the Grand Alliance viable, and maintains--with hindsight that does not allow for other possibilities--that a divided Europe and the Cold War were preferable to another world war which was thus avoided.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

The ethnic and social unrest once again asserting itself in Central and Eastern Europe mimics in many respects the interwar period 1920-1939. Noted historian Gardner takes a fresh look at the negotiations among the United States, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union that partitioned Europe. Gardner traces the roots of the Yalta agreement to British attempts to appease Hitler in 1938. It was here that the British indicated that Eastern Europe could be sacrificed in order to avoid war. American reluctance to assert Roosevelt's desire for a free Europe also expressed the concern felt by all that continued war would be catastrophic. The spheres of influence affirmed at Yalta resulted in the Cold War, which, despite its cost, brought a kind of temporary security through threat of annihilation. Gardner uses new material available from Russian archives to document this period and to illuminate the personalities involved. Highly recommended for public and school libraries.
- C. Christopher Pavek, Putnam, Hayes & Bartlett, Inc. Information Ctr. , Washington, D.C.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 319 pages
• Publisher: Ivan R Dee (August 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1566630584
• ISBN-13: 978-1566630580
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #59,993 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Lloyd C. Gardner is the Charles and Mary Beard Professor of History at Rutgers University and the author and editor of more than a dozen books, including Three Kings and The Long Road to Baghdad. He lives in Newtown, Pennsylvania.