As countries in Europe were being freed from German occupation rival groups in each of those countries fought for control. This happened in Poland, Italy, France, Yugoslavia and Greece. In France de Gaulle had a lot of support so there was little doubt that he would form the new government. In Yugoslavia General Tito emerged as the victor. In Italy democracy prevailed. Poland was a special problem because of the various groups and that was the country that caused the British and French to declare war on Germany. Greece was a problem with the old monarchy in exile, and communist groups and democracy groups fighting each other as much as the Germans. The British stepped in to defeat the communist groups. The press in Britain and the US were very critical of what was seen as British intervention in the internal affairs of Greece but they contended that the communist groups were attempting to take over the government against the wishes of the people. The Russians did not object and refrained from criticizing the British. There was a good reason…Churchill and Stalin had reached an ‘understanding’ that the Ally power that was responsible for the country being freed would have the most say in helping set up that government. This allowed them to be responsible for places like Romania and Bulgaria. Roosevelt was not very supportive of this agreement but eventually gave in with the understanding that it was a temporary solution and would not result in ‘spheres of influence’. It appears in hindsight that Roosevelt’s fear was well founded.

(Book – The Second World War – Winston S. Churchill)