All language subtitles for Warlords - Churchill vs Stalin WW2 Leaders Documentary Timeline

on August the 15th 1944 American and

British troops invaded the south coast

of France

[Music]

unlike d-day in Normandy ten weeks

before operation Dragoon as it was

called has passed by relatively

unnoticed

[Music]

yet behind it was a ferocious dispute

the landings had been angrily opposed by

the British Prime Minister Winston

Churchill he told the American president

Franklin Roosevelt they were the first

major strategic and political error for

which we too have to be responsible

the festering soul which underlay

Churchill's outburst was not about his

enemy Hitler but his ally the Soviet

leader Joseph Stalin

operation Dragoon is the final act in a

mental duel between Stalin and Churchill

in which each man secretly plotted to

impose his own will on the future of

post-war Europe as their duel progressed

Roosevelt entered the arena and also

started to plot behind churchand back

eventually he'd become the pivotal

figure upon whom the duels outcome with

the pennant

at stake was the future freedom and

independence of hundreds of millions of

people

[Music]

on the evening of Saturday June the 21st

1941 Winston Churchill held a dinner

party at checkers the Prime Minister's

country residence in the Chilton Hills

outside London conversation was

dominated by reports that Hitler was

about to tear up his pact with Stalin

and invade Russia among the guests was

Churchill's private secretary John

Calvin the PM says he will go all out to

help Russia I said that for him the arch

anti-communist this was bowing down in

the house of rimmon he replied that he

had only one single purpose the

destruction of Hitler and his life was

much simplified thereby if Hitler

invaded hell he would at least make a

favorable reference to the devil

in the small hours of June the 22nd

three million Nazi troops smashed their

way into Russia immediately the arch

anti-communist welcomes Stalin as an

ally but Stalin remains suspicious of

Churchill and believe that what he

really wanted was for Germany and Russia

to destroy each other

Churchill for his part feared that

Stalin would do another deal with Hitler

in December 1941 the British Foreign

Secretary Anthony Eden went to Moscow to

start negotiations for a formal treaty

with Russia which would try to dispel

these mutual suspicions

as Eden arrived the Red Army was

counter-attacking

but German forces remained dangerously

close to Moscow even so Stalin was

already thinking long term he intended

to exact his price for carrying the

brunt of the fight

particularly territory Eden noted

Stalin's demands January the 3rd 1942 as

regards the special interests of the

Soviet Union

Stalin desired the restoration of the

position in 1941 prior to the German

attack in respect to the Baltic States

Finland and Bessarabia Stalin also

wanted back the eastern part of Poland

in sum all the territory he'd grabbed

his part of the nazi-soviet pact of 1939

top of his list was the Baltic States

which had only gained their independence

from Russia after World War 1 Eden told

Churchill I am clear that this question

is for Stalin the acid test of our

sincerity nothing we in the United

States of America can do or say will

affect the situation at end of war the

Russians are victorious they will be

able to establish these frontiers and we

shall certainly not turn them out

[Music]

initially Churchill was horrified by any

thought of conceding to Stalin's demands

he replied to Eden the 1941 frontiers of

Russia were acquired by acts of

aggression in shameful collusion with

Hitler the transfer of the people of the

Baltic states to Soviet Russia against

their will will be contrary to all the

principles for which we are fighting

this war I know President Roosevelt

holds this view as strongly as I do

[Music]

these principles have been enshrined in

the Atlantic Charter which Roosevelt and

Churchill had agreed during their

meeting in Newfoundland in August 1941

most importantly they guaranteed the

future freedom and independence of the

nations conquered by Hitler but Eden

argued that what mattered more than

principles was Stalin's cooperation both

now and in the future probably Stalin's

demand is intended as an acid test to

see what value we attach to that

cooperation and what sacrifice of

principle we're prepared to make in

order to achieve it

in the coming weeks Churchill's attitude

began to be colored by disastrous turn

in the Far East

Singapore had fallen to the Japanese the

Battle of the Atlantic was grim

finally Churchill did an about-turn a

March the 7th 1942 he wrote to Roosevelt

that the Baltic states could be

sacrificed to keep Stalin onside the

increasing gravity of the war has led me

to feel that the principles of the

Atlantic Charter ought not to be

construed so it to deny Russia the

frontiers she occupied when Germany

attacked her the next day the British

ambassador to Washington Lord Halifax

was summoned to the White House to

discuss Churchill's cable Roosevelt

showed himself just as willing as

Churchill to sacrifice the Baltic States

though he preferred to do it more

furtively FDR's mind is already moving

along the only remaining line that is of

saying to Stalin that we all recognize

his need for security that to put

anything on paper now is impossible that

future of Baltic States clearly depends

upon Russian military progress and that

neither United States nor Great Britain

would or could turn them out why then

should Stalin worry

as early as March 1942 Churchill and

Roosevelt had shown themselves willing

to give away the future freedom of three

independent nations they've been driven

by the fear that Stalin and Hitler would

do another deal but though the thought

once or twice crossed the minds of both

dictators it was never a real

possibility their submission to Stalin

was unnecessary it was also the

beginning of a slippery slope in May

1942 Stalin's Foreign Minister the

artist left Molotov dashingly clad in

his flying gear landed in Scotland the

first trip to Britain by a top Bolshevik

since the revolution having nipped back

into his plane to change into his suit

he took the train down to London there

he was to finalize the treaty between

Britain and Russia which would conclude

the negotiations begun in Moscow five

months before Stalin had given Molotov

an extensive shopping list of territory

that Britain must agree was part of the

post-war Soviet Union

then suddenly while molotov was in

London Germany launched its summer

offensive in Russia three Soviet armies

were being smashed at the battle of

Kharkov Stalin's priorities instantly

changed he was desperate for military

help from the British and Americans he

cabled Molotov to sign the treaty and

stop arguing about territory that would

look after itself 24th of May 1942 the

question of future borders will be

decided by force

[Music]

the military relief Stalin wanted was a

cross-channel invasion of France as a

second front against Hitler but

Churchill believed it was premature and

would be a disaster against the heavily

defended French coast in August 1942 he

flew to Moscow to tell Stalin the

invasion had to be delayed

it was an epic dangerous journey some

forty hours flying in a stripped out

American bomber by Gibraltar Cairo and

Tehran for long overnight stretches

[Music]

his first steps on Russian soil came

with a two Chilean rallying cry we will

continue hand in hand like comrades and

brothers until every vestige of the

naughty Reagan had been bitten into the

ground

General Allen Brock the British chief of

staff accompany Churchill he recorded

this first ever face-to-face meeting of

any of the other warlords with Stalin

we'll risk the 13th 1942 the two leaders

Churchill and Stalin are poles apart as

human beings and I cannot see a

friendship between them such as exists

between Roosevelt and Winston Stalin is

a realist with little flattery about him

facts only count with him plans

hypotheses future possibilities mean

little at their first meeting Churchill

said the invasion of France must be

postponed until 1943

he then projected a vision of his

alternative plan

he told Stalin the first the Allies

would land in the northwest of Africa

and drive the Germans out then he drew a

map in the shape of the crocodile the

hard snout

he explained was the heavily defended

coast of France Churchill said that

rather than invade there he wanted to

attack Hitler in what he called the soft

underbelly of Europe the Adriatic and

the Balkans Stalin questioned him curtly

but politely

the next day Stalin's mood turned

vicious he accused the British of

cowardice you British are too afraid to

fight the Germans if you tried it like

us Russians you would not find it so bad

Churchill reacted with eloquent fury I

have come all round Europe in the midst

of my troubles

yes mr. Stalin I have my troubles as

well as you hoping to meet the hand of

comradeship and I am bitterly

disappointed I have not that hand

later that night Churchill told his

staff he would leave Moscow forthwith

but Stalin had been impressed by

Churchill's passion and on the third

light a banquet at the Kremlin broke the

ice from the beginning vodka flowed

freely and one's glass kept being filled

up the tables groaned under every

description of hors d'oeuvre and fish

etc Molotov was opposite Stalin and

started proposing toasts within five

minutes of our having sat down these

toasts went on continuously by the end

of the dinner and Stalin was quite

lively walking around the table to click

glasses with various people he was

proposing the health of he is an

outstanding man there is no doubt about

that

but not an attractive one whenever I

look at him I can imagine his sending

off people to their doom without ever

turning a hair during the dinner

Churchill made an aside that Stalin was

a peasant whom he could handle his aides

were horrified and later back in his

room warned him the Russians were

bugging everything Churchill said very

loudly the Russians I have been told are

not human beings at all they are lower

in the scale of nature than the

orangutan now then let them take that

down and translate it into Russian at

times it had been touch-and-go but by

the end of the visit

goodwill had broken out PM was somewhat

late and no wonder he went to see Stalin

for final visit at 7 p.m. and remained

with him until 3:00 a.m.

you had no time for bed and after a bath

came straight to the eardrum the band

played the Internationale god save the

king and the star-spangled banner during

which period we all stood to attention

and saluted

[Music]

as Churchill returned to his war-torn

country he believed he had at least

established a working relationship with

Stalin he wrote to Roosevelt on the

whole I am definitely encouraged by my

visit to Moscow now they know the worst

and having made their protest are

entirely friendly

but just two months later an

extraordinary message from Stalin to his

ambassador in London showed that

Churchill's optimism was illusory stalin

remained deeply suspicious of what he

saw as Britain's lack of military

support and repeated his long-held fears

of Churchill's secret motives we in

Moscow get the impression that Churchill

is aiming at the ultimate defeat of the

Soviet Union in order then to come to

some agreement with Germany at the

expense of our country Stalin even

suggested the Churchill's intending to

use Hitler's deputy Rudolf Hess who was

in British captivity as a negotiating

lever with the Nazis in the coming

months military success pushed political

suspicion for a while to one side

[Music]

rommel was beaten at the Battle of El

Alamein the Americans and British landed

successfully in the northwest of Africa

the Russian was defeated the Germans at

Stalin

wellit's who success was bringing the

post-war world nearer

[Music]

then in April 1943 a shocking discovery

put the shape of that world into sharp

relief Germany announced that the bodies

of thousands of Polish officers had been

found in cat in forest shot by the

Russians in the spring of 1940

[Music]

Moscoe angrily rejected the claims as

Nazi propaganda but as a private lunch

Churchill said alas the German

revelations are probably true

the Bolsheviks can be very cruel Kattan

had a devastating series of knock-on

effects the london-based Polish

government-in-exile the government for

which Britain had gone to war suspected

the Russians were guilty and demanded an

investigation by the International Red

Cross Stalin said that the man by the

London polls was a hostile act against

the Soviet Union

he already disliked them as they stood

for a free and independent Poland he now

used the row over cattle as an excuse to

break off relations with them

[Music]

Churchill was caught between his loyalty

to the London polls and his wish to

preserve good relations with Stalin in

Washington

Roosevelt's sense the tension chasm was

creating he secretly decided it was time

that he rather than Churchill became the

prime mover in the relationship with the

Soviet leader a May the 5th 1943 he

wrote Stalin a private letter asking for

an informal one-to-one get-together

the only question was where Iceland I do

not like because for both you and me it

involves rather risky flights and in

addition would make it quite frankly

difficult not to invite Prime Minister

Churchill at the same time therefore I

suggest that we could meet either on

your side or my side of the Bering

Straits Roosevelt dispatched an emissary

Joseph Davis who Dean is ambassador to

Russia in the late 1930s to hand deliver

the letter to Stalin while Davis was in

Moscow

Churchill was in Washington he spends a

fortnight with Roosevelt not once did

the president breathe the word of his

private approach to Stalin a May the

26th with Churchill safely gone

Roosevelt received the positive reply

from Stalin as I do not know how events

will develop on the Soviet German front

in June I shall not be able to leave

Moscow during that month I therefore

suggest holding the meeting in July or

August

but Roosevelt's secret plan was about to

hit a snag here in Churchill had decided

to postpone the invasion of France to

1944 they believed British and American

forces were still not strong enough to

beat the German defenses Stalin

responded angrily to his allies delay

the Soviet government cannot align

itself with this decision which was

adopted without its participation

Churchill was worried by Stalin's

hostile reaction and by now he had also

got wind of Roosevelt's secret letter he

tried to flush Roosevelt hours all this

makes me anxious to know anything you

may care to tell me about your letter

sent to Stalin by mr. Davis when the

answer which has been received from him

I will of course come anywhere you wish

to a rendezvous

Churchill still had no inkling he was to

be excluded finally Roosevelt came clean

on June the 24th his special envoy in

London Averell Harriman went to Downing

Street and told Churchill what had been

going on

Churchill was shattered he rang his

foreign secretary Anthony Eden went

round to see Winston at midnight at his

request

found him considerably upset by a

message from FDR that his projected

meeting will be ardor Churchill not only

felt personally betrayed he could also

sense the blow to British power and he

could see that Roosevelt in trying to

hijack the relationship with Stalin was

taking the first steps to an American

Russian partnership which would

determine the future world

the next day controlling his emotions as

best he could he wrote one of the most

important letters of his life former

naval person to president personal and

secret avril told me last night of your

wish for a meeting with Uncle Joe in

Alaska

you must excuse me expressing myself

with all the frankness that our

friendship and the gravity of the issue

warrant I do not under it the use that

enemy propaganda would make of a meeting

between the heads of Soviet Russia and

the United States at this juncture with

the British Commonwealth and Empire

excluded it would be serious and

vexatious and many would be bewildered

and alarmed thereby nevertheless

whatever you decide I shall sustain to

the best of my ability here

Churchill had been kept in the dark for

six full weeks by the ally he thought to

be his friend

[Music]

four days later Roosevelt replied with a

flatline I did not suggest to Uncle Joe

that we meet alone but he told Davies

that he assumed a that we would meet

alone and be that he agreed that we

should not bring staffs to what would be

a preliminary meeting in August

Stalin finally turned down Roosevelt's

request for a meeting claiming the

pressures of war as his excuse for the

moment

Roosevelt was thwarted

beyond the deceit and the powerplay the

distressing episode left Churchill with

a further troubling thought

up until now both he and Roosevelt had

handled Stalin with kid gloves but

Churchill was becoming split mind

on one side he believed that he as one

great man could deal with Stalin another

great man by face-to-face diplomacy but

on the other side the cat in massacre

had reawakened all his old fears of the

Bolsheviks

the nightmare was for me that Stalin was

at the head of a Russian Colossus which

would devour much of Europe before the

British and Americans could get there

and create a new totalitarian empire

[Music]

[Music]

Churchill had long feared that across

channel invasion against the heavily

defended French coast would bring

dreadful carnage instead he favored his

alternative strategy of attacking

Germany via the Adriatic and the Balkans

by the autumn of 1943 the British and

Americans had landed in southern Italy

Churchill's vision seemed to him

possible but Stalin had sent angry

cables demanding that the Allies

concentrate only on the invasion of

France

[Music]

Roosevelt's special envoy in Britain

Averell Harriman reported to the

president

Churchill's only explanation is that

Stalin wants us to become involved in

Western Europe to avoid our entry in the

Balkans Churchill was accusing Stalin of

trying to use military arguments to

further his political purpose of

controlling Eastern Europe and the

Balkans after the war later in his

memoirs Churchill denied that at that

stage when Hitler was still far from

beaten he too tried to bend allied

military strategy to his political

purposes in Churchill's case to keep

Stalin out of Eastern Europe and protect

British interests in the eastern

Mediterranean

but there is evidence the Churchill was

being less than frank about his motives

in the crucial last few months of 1943

in August 1943 the British and Americans

met a Quebec to decide the next stage in

the world

Church on you it would be faithful to

suggest to Roosevelt that they should

try to beat the Russians to the Balkans

in Eastern Europe for political reasons

to Roosevelt that would smack of the

European imperialism he loathed so

Churchill argued for his alternative

strategy on purely military grounds but

one chance remark revealed his inner

thoughts Stalin is an unnatural man

there will be grave troubles

[Music]

a Quebec Churchill reluctantly agreed to

the American view the preparations for

the invasion of France should take

precedence over his alternative strategy

[Music]

but back in London Churchill began to

reveal further evidence of his political

motives emerged at an extraordinary war

cabinet meeting in early October the

Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden gave an

account of what happened to Oliver

Harvey his private secretary the PM

spoke for three hours

he talked great nonsense and AE was

furious the PM kept saying such things

as we mustn't weaken Germany too much we

may need her against Russia the cabinet

colleagues were horrified at all this

Churchill's remark showed that Stalin's

suspicions of 12 months before had not

been so outlandish Churchill now

sanction the British operation against

the island of Rhodes capturing Rhodes

was a vital stepping stone in his

alternative strategy he hoped that it

would bring turkey into the war

providing an easy gateway to Eastern

Europe the American Chiefs of Staff

thought it a wasteful diversion

Churchill pleaded his case to Roosevelt

I am sure that the omission to take

Rhodes at this stage and the ignoring of

the whole position in the eastern

Mediterranean would constitute a

cardinal error in strategy a military

grounds

Churchill's chief of staff general

Brooke was not against the operation but

why risk our our would Roosevelt I am

slowly becoming convinced that in his

age

Winston is becoming less and less

balanced I can control him no more

he has worked himself into a frenzy of

excitement about the Rhodes attack has

magnified as important so that he can no

longer see anything else and has set his

heart on capturing this one island even

at the expense of endangering his

relations with the president

[Music]

while Churchill fanatically potted his

alternative strategy his foreign

secretary Anthony Eden was attending a

foreign ministers conference in Moscow

from there edan cable Churchill but

Stalin was continuing to insist his

allies must concentrate only on the

invasion of France Operation Overlord as

it was now called

Churchill was livid his doctor Charles

Morin

who kept contemporaneous notes of their

conversation which he later wrote up

into a diary recorded his reaction

October the 26th 1943 when I called at

number 10 this morning I found the PM

glaring over a telegram from Eden his

face was glum his jaw set misgivings

filled his mind

Stalin seems obsessed by this bloody

second front he muttered angrily I can

be obstinate too damn the fellow he said

under his breath

Churchill now ordered he didn't to tell

Stalin that the invasion of France might

need postponing in order to reinforce

his favorite campaign in Italy in

Washington there was fury a Church's

reckless disregard for agreed allied

strategy

the American War Secretary Henry Stimson

noted in his diary this shows how

determined Churchill is with all his lip

service to stick a knife into the back

of overlord and I feel more bitterly

about it than I ever have before in

Moscow Anthony Eden and his team were

just as angry the PM is untamable he

cannot leave well alone and he loathes

the Russians he would torpedo AIDS

Conference lightheartedly Churchill's

plotting was getting him nowhere and for

Stalin the Moscow conference had one

pleasing outcome it was agreed that all

liberated territories would be

administered by the occupying power

Stalin told his closest associates now

the fate of Europe is settled we shall

do as we like with the Allies consent in

November 1943 Churchill left Britain for

a long trip first to Malta amid the

acclamation he was angrier than ever his

campaign in the eastern Mediterranean

was failing German forces beat the

British out of the Greek island of leros

Churchill blamed it on the United States

refusal to supply enough resources

November the 18th 1943 PM gave long

tirade on evils of Americans and have

our losses in the Aegean and Dalmatian

coast

at this point Churchill's wife

Clementine hearing of her husband's vile

mood wrote him a long and soothing

letter my darling I'm afraid that so far

your journey has not been Pleasant or

refreshing your cold must have made you

miserable and uncomfortable and then I

know Lee Ross must cause you deep

unhappiness but never forget that when

history looks back your vision and your

piercing energy coupled with your

patience and magnanimity will all be

part of your greatness so don't allow

yourself to be made angry I often think

of your saying that the only worse thing

than a lies is not having allies

[Music]

from Malta Churchill flew to Cairo he

was feeling better

clementines letter helped to restore his

spirits Roosevelt had also traveled to

Cairo and once in his presence Churchill

as always succumbed to his charms he

told his daughter Sarah I love that man

but Roosevelt refused all Churchill's

pleased to discuss his alternative

strategy he continued to suspect

Churchill's imperialist motives and told

him Winston you have four hundred years

of a quiz ative instinct in your blood

and you just don't understand how a

country might not want to acquire land

somewhere even if they can get it a new

period is opened in the world's history

and you will have to adjust yourself to

it it was said teasingly but through

Churchill into the spur he told Harold

Macmillan the British Minister in North

Africa Germany is finished though it may

take some time to clean up the mess

the real problem is Russia I can't get

the Americans to see it

[Music]

the final destination was Tehran in the

first face-to-face meeting of the three

allied

[Music]

this would be the defining moments in

the Churchill Stalin duel with Roosevelt

the pivotal figure for the president the

problem was now Churchill and his

backsliding on the invasion of France

shortly before the conference began

chores Morin found himself talking to

Roosevelt's closest associate Harry

Hopkins Harry Hopkins thinks that the PM

is trying to get out of his commitments

sure we are preparing for a battle at

Tehran he threatened you will find us

lining up with the Russians what I find

so shocking is that to the Americans the

p.m. is the villain of the piece they

are far more skeptical of him than they

are of Stalin superficially Tehran was

full of pleasantries Churchill and

Roosevelt presented Stalin with a sword

to commemorate the victory at Stalingrad

Stalin handed it on to his army psychic

General varoshi LOF who promptly dropped

it

Churchill's birthday his 69th fell

during the conference

[Applause]

he hosted a splendid dinner and

Roosevelt gave him a valuable Kashem

bowl with a note with my affection may

we be together for many years in this

gathering of great man Churchill's

ambivalence toward Stalin re-emerged he

believed again he could do deals with

him and secretly agreed without telling

the London polls that Russia should have

the part of eastern Poland

it had gained under the nazi-soviet pact

Poland would be compensated with land

from Germany Roosevelt fearing the

potential reaction of poles in America

did not want to be directly involved in

the deal but privately went along with

it also Churchill and Roosevelt

confirmed to Stalin they would not

oppose the Baltic States becoming part

of the post-war Soviet Union but when it

came to the overriding issue of military

strategy from which Churchill believed

the rest of Eastern Europe's future

might depend he was out on a limb Stalin

and Roosevelt insisted there should be

no delay in Operation Overlord Roosevelt

then left Stalin the choice of which

supporting operation the British and

Americans should prepare the eastern

Mediterranean as Churchill wanted or a

follow-up invasion of southern France

Stalin declared our directive should

stipulate in conformity with the desires

of the Russians an invasion in the South

of France the operations in the

Mediterranean of which Churchill speaks

are merely diversionary

it was the killer blow that night after

he finally lost the argument Churchill

returned to his room with Charles Warren

now his other image of Stalin took over

again the future totalitarian oppressor

he pulled up abruptly so that he stood

looking down at me his eyes popping I

believe man might destroy man and wipe

out civilization Europe would be

desolate and I may be held responsible

until he came here the PM could not

bring himself to believe that face to

face with Stalin the democracies would

take different courses now he sees he

cannot rely on the president's support

what matters more he realizes that the

Russians see this too

Stalin will be able to do as he pleases

will he become a menace to the free

world another Hitler the PM is appalled

by his own impotence

Churchill was defeated events in the

coming months rub salt in his rooms as

the Red Army raced into Poland the

British and Americans were ground down

in a long hard slog in Italy

d-day the invasion of France which

Churchill had opposed for so long Jamia

he was a disappointed man May the 7th

1944 he looked very old and very tired

he said he could still always sleep well

eat well and especially drink well but

that he no longer jumped out of bed the

way he used to and felt as if he would

be quite content to spend the whole day

in bed I've never yet heard him admit

that he was beginning to fail

[Music]

then on June the 4th 1944 Rome finally

fell to the British and Americans with

Nazi resistance beginning to crumble

they headed north through Italy

[Applause]

Churchill's suddenly saw a last-gasp

opportunity

[Music]

d-day June the 6th 1944 the invasion of

France was underway with far fewer

immediate casualties than Churchill had

ever imagined possible

[Music]

two weeks later the Russian army

launched its summer offensive

[Music]

while the British and Americans slugged

their way through France has seemed

every prospect that all of Eastern and

Central Europe would fall to Stalin as

Churchill had long feared

[Music]

but now at the very last minute

Churchill saw one final chance to win

his duel with Stalin

[Music]

after the fall of Rome many of the

British and American troops in Italy was

supposed to be switching to the invasion

of southern France operation Dragoon

which had been agreed at Tehran and was

scheduled for mid-august but British

commanders in Italy now suggested a

break out by a Trieste and Ljubljana

into the Balkans and Central Europe the

very thing Churchill had always wanted

his alternative strategy to achieve the

overall Allied commander General

Eisenhower would have no truck with it

witheringly he cabled Roosevelt

wandering off overland via Trieste and

Ljubljana repeat Ljubljana is to indulge

in conjecture to an unwarranted degree

at the present time cables flew across

the Atlantic as Churchill and Roosevelt

fought out the Battle of strategies

finally Roosevelt confessed is

overriding concern I am mindful of our

agreement with Stalin as to an operation

against the South of France I cannot

accept without consultation with Stalin

any course of action which abandons this

operation

Churchill was enraged yet again Stalin

was dictating events the planned

invasion of southern France seemed to

him pointless on June 30th he drafted

the strongest words he had ever written

to the president

I cannot exaggerate the seriousness of

this issue the whole campaign in Italy

is being ruined if my departure from the

scene would ease matters by tendering my

resignation to the king I would gladly

make this contribution but I fear that

the demand of the public to know the

reasons would do great injury to the

fighting troops in the Mediterranean but

no one contemplated that everything that

was hopeful in the Mediterranean should

be flung on one side like the rind of an

orange in order that some minor benefits

might come to help the theater of your

command

so strong was the language the Churchill

having drafted it sat on the cable

[Music]

that night he met his military chiefs

general Brooke now realized the argument

would get the British know were June the

29th 1944 just back from a meeting with

Winston I thought at first we might have

trouble with him he looked like he

wanted to fight the president however in

the end we got him to agree to our

outlook which is all right if you insist

on being down fools

sooner than falling out with you which

would be fatal we shall be damned fools

with you and we shall see that we

perform the role of damned fools damned

well a new telegram was drafted

Churchill reluctantly conceded the told

Roosevelt the decision was the first

major strategic and political error for

which we too have to be responsible it

was the first time Churchill had

admitted to Roosevelt his ulterior

political motive and as for consulting

Stalin what would be the point as

Churchill put it with pained

understatement on a long-term political

view Stalin might prefer that the

British and the Americans do their share

in France in the very heart fighting

that is to come and that East middle and

southern Europe should fall naturally

into his control

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on August the 15th 1944 Allied forces

invaded southern France in operation

Dragoon

militarily the invasion was a success

reinforcing the push through France as

to whether Churchill's alternative

strategy could have been more successful

opinion is divided

but one man agreed with him Mark Clark

the top American general in Italy after

the war Clark wrote the weakening of the

campaign in Italy in order to invade

southern France instead of pushing on

into the Balkans was one of the

outstanding mistakes of the war Stalin

knew exactly what he wanted and the

thing he most wanted was to keep us out

of the Balkans a campaign that might

have changed the whole history of

relations between the Western world and

the Soviet Union was permitted to fade

away

whether or not Clark and Churchill were

right there was nothing physically the

British and Americans could now do to

stop the Russian army occupying the

nations of Eastern Europe and the

Balkans but what Stalin allow those

nations their freedom Roosevelt had

vetoed the use of military strategy to

block Stalin it would now be up to him

to persuade the Soviet leader to play

the Democratic game those would be the

final duel of the warlords and decide

what sort of Europe emerged from the

ashes

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