I'm John Bachelor with Professor Paul Thomas Chamberlitt.

Scorched Earth is the book,

A Global History of World War II.

At the Yalta Conference in February of 1945,

Roosevelt's at the table,

Stalin's at the table,

Churchill's at the table,

and their staffs, their general chiefs of staffs are around them, Navy and Army.

Marshall's there, for example.

We're looking at the post-war world, and we talk about the American Empire looking at the Russian Empire.

But the British Empire saw very much that there were deals that could be made with Russia.

And Churchill was keen-minded to maintaining the British Empire, but also offering to Russia

Eastern Europe are parts of Eastern Europe.

I've never been sure what Churchill's ambition was in trading.

Can you help me, Professor?

So Churchill, at Yalta, recognizes, as you said before, he has a weak hand.

The British Empire has been eclipsed by these two superpowers.

This has become increasingly evidenced over the course of the war.

And at this point in time, it's very clear to everyone at Yalta that it's the Americans and the Soviets that are going to be

the most important players in the post-war world. That being said, there's still a lot of details

to be worked out. Perhaps the most contentious issue is the question of Poland. And Poland is incredibly important for the war. It's incredibly

important for Churchill, because after all, Poland and the German invasion of Poland, which was

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