Looks like most of the entire continent of Europe was under Communism after World War 2. How did the Soviets get a free pass at this massive swath of land? Why couldn't Eastern Europe have fallen under the Anglo/American/French umbrella instead?
almost all of that was under either german or Italian occupation.
>>1402324
>How did the Soviets get a free pass at this massive swath of land?
Because Roosevelt believed Stalin and Churchill had less and less to say as the war progressed.
> Why couldn't Eastern Europe have fallen under the Anglo/American/French umbrella instead?
Patton and Churchill wanted to liberate those countries but retard Roosevelt already promised them to Stalin before he died.
>>1402324
Mostly due to indifference of Roosevelt's and later Truman's administrations. The Soviets actually promised free elections for example in Poland so what the only thing they had to do was to make sure that the Soviets observe their obligations. They chose not to, largely in favor of short-term goals (like having Stalin agree to the invasion of Manchuria, something he actually didn't need to be convinced for).
Before WW2 ended in Europe, America still had many ways to pressure Soviets with. Only after the Potsdam Conference the window of opportunity closed and the Soviets were bold enough to consider the Central and Eastern Europe as their exclusive playground.
Roosevelt was a crypto-communist and a complete fucktard who viewed the USSR as some kind of "United States of Eastern Europe" and thought most East Europeans genuinely love Stalin, not realizing they hate him even more than Hitler.
>>1402335
And also because starting a war with the USSR right after WWII would have been fucking retarded.
>>1402374
this. the retard roosevelt meme is bullshit.
also, the western allies could not liberate the eastern countries occupied by the axis before the USSR and they were so fast that arrived berlin much faster than the western expected ending the war.
>>1402520
As far as Czechoslovakia go, it was almost liberated by us army. They got into Pilsen while reds got into Prague. Thanks to this my country lived under terrible dictatorship.
>>1402324
Boots on the ground. If you have an army in a country, you can do whatever the fk you want.
The extent of EE communism is the extent of how far the red army advanced before germany surrendered (with the exception of norway and austria)
>>1402324
>How did the Soviets get a free pass at this massive swath of land?
Immense political acumen and foresight: you let the commies destroy the economies and societies there, so the countries on the western side of the Berlin Wall will be the ones that matter in the future.
>>1403471
>actually, seriously being this delusional
>>1402324
because there really wasn't much leverage the allies had to stop it.
By the time the Nazis surrendered, the Red Army easily made up more than 70% of the allied armies standing in Europe, and the US and England weren't in a real position to directly challenge the Soviets if they started setting up pro-Soviet governments in the lands they occupied.
What could be done? have another war right on the heels of a conflict that broke every major power bar the US and USSR? The Soviets were comfortable in knowing that their power couldn't be challenged.
Churchill did draw up Operation Unthinkable, but the military threw that out quickly because it would spell certain defeat for the Western Allies.
tl;dr: the Western allies were in no position to stop it from happening, and with all things considered, a Communist East was a result they could at least live with, more than a Fascist Europe anyway.
>>1402324
Russia is geographically closer. It's a lot easier to move in giant occupying armies when you share a border with those countries or share ethnic and cultural similarities with them.
Daily reminder that countries like Czechoslovakia weren't even considered Eastern Europe before WW2. It pretty began with Russian empire / USSR borders.
>>1403452
this simple
>>1402374
>right after WW2
>after
No need for even that. Patton could've taken Berlin and the entire Czechoslovakia but was told to back down.
>>1402335
>liberate
Not really. Just acquire.
>>1405088
So starting World War III during World War II.
That's even more retarded.
>>1405088
Muh Patton
>>1405098
Who is talking about war against Russia you fucking retard?
>>1402347
Outside of Ukraine and Poland, Stalin was more widely loved than Roosevelt or Churchill
>>1405109
Not true at all. Hungarians and Romanians absolutely loathed Stalin, so did the Baltic people.
>>1405110
That was my post you low IQ moron and I never even implied a war with the USSR, more like they should've let Allied generals conquer as much land from the nazis as possible and not back down because Rooselevet went full retard at Yalta.
>>1405088
Well, to be honest, so could have Zhukov if he was told to, but he stopped his offensive at the Oder and then waited 3 months, which was actually bad since they reinforced berlin in that time. Who took Berlin was a politically decided.
>>1405119
>"starting a war with the USSR right after WWII"
>"after"
>"no need for even that"
How does that not imply starting a war with the USSR?
>>1402324
Yugloslavia wasn't a Soviet puppet
