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The “Polish Problem”
YALTA, The Price of Peace
by S.M. Plokhy
Viking, 2010, 480 pp., notes, maps, index, $29.95
Plokhy provides a fascinating history on the ending of World War II and the events of the Yalta Conference. The
Big Three consisted of an American president who was ill and distant, a Brit who was concerned with getting reelected and did not have much hope that a final agreement would be reached and a Russian who won many of
his arguments, beginning with the location. Churchill and Roosevelt did not always agree and Stalin took advantage of it to take control of the conference.
As far as Stalin was concerned, Poland would not have been on the agenda, considering it was already under
Soviet control. But this did not happen. Its borders and government were discussed endlessly, Churchill and Roosevelt agreed that Poland should harbor no hostile design or intrigue against the USSR. Churchill wanted
the Poles to be in a position to be free and live their own lives as they wished. After all, the Allies had gone to war against Germany that Poland should be free and sovereign. And they believed Stalin when he said
Poland would be free to govern themselves.
The “Polish problem” — the borders of the state and the composition of the government was one
of the last items on the agenda, after debating the boundaries and future of all Europe, Nazi war criminals, prisoners of war and more. The British and America recognized the London-based government and Soviets
wanted the Lublin coalition to govern. Churchill put his trust in Stalin’s proclamation that Poland would be independent and free, and did not consider it a problem at the conference. He had stated “It
was for this that we went foward against Germany, that Poland would be free and sovereign.”
The meetings included interpreters, delegates, advisors ambassadors and foreign ministers, yet there is no
official record of the Yalta conference. Personalities of the many who took part create an interesting read.
There is new and valuable information on the events and discussions of the Big Three in this book that is
worthy of the extensive research Plokhy undertook. This is the first comprehensive account of the Yalta Conference since the end of the Cold War. Using formerly unavailable Soviet documents, published and
unpublished diaries, as well as comments from Churchill’s doctor and Roosevelt’s daughter, helps bring all the characters to life. Here is a scholarly book for academics and the general public.
ROME’S MOST FAITHFUL DAUGHTER: The Catholic Church and Independent Poland 1914-1939
by Neal Pease
Ohio University Press
2009. Index, illustrations, bibliography, notes,
312 pp., hardcover $49.95, paperback $26.95
In creating this book, Pease describes and explains the significance of Catholicism in Polish politics in the inter-war period and the state of Poland in the wider Catholic world. The book title is as contradictory as Poland itself.
Poland was off to a shaky start when the Second Polish Republic was created in 1921. The inter-war government was tremulous, with Marshall Jozef Pilsudski pulling and tugging at the Catholic Church. His behavior was a poor example of a dedicated Catholic.
The Church looked at independent Poland as a troublesome country. The Pope hoped, with the unification and conversion of all of Poland’s people to Catholicism, it could extend its reach into Russia.
The Republic had its own problems in reuniting the three divided territories with a mix of Catholic, Protestant
and Orthodox population and nationalities. The Second Republic would not cooperate with Rome in accepting the Pope’s candidates for bishop and challenged him on his new East-Slavic Rite. The Second Republic,
the Catholic hierarchy in Poland and the Holy See had their own set of agenda and interests. By the 30s the Polish government elected to go its own way, outlasting the Vatican over the future of Christianity in east
European, claiming they would not support the Church’s directives. Ironically, the experiences in World War II and Communism made the Catholic Church in Poland an acknowledged representative and moral voice of
the Polish nation.
Historians and academics will value the substantial amount of information on this fragile time in Poland. Pease
is an associate professor of history at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and author of several books. This is the 10th volume of the Polish and Polish-American Studies by the Ohio University Press.
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