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Fdr churchill and stalin divided europe in 1945 { May 10 2005 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,200~20954~2860662,00.htmlBefore and during his trip to Latvia, Bush endorsed that historical interpretation. In a speech to Latvian leaders Saturday, he acknowledged that the United States and Britain shared some responsibility for the Soviet annexation of the Baltic nations through their participation in the 1945 Yalta agreement, in which Europe was carved up by Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and Josef Stalin. "This attempt to sacrifice freedom for the sake of stability left a continent divided and unstable," he said. "The captivity of millions in Central and eastern Europe will be remembered as one of the greatest wrongs of history."
http://www.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,200~20954~2860662,00.html
Article Published: Tuesday, May 10, 2005 - 12:00:00 AM PST
Putin stresses desire for unity
By Steven Lee Myers and Elisabeth Bumiller, The New York Times
MOSCOW -- President Vladimir V. Putin, joined by President George W. Bush and dozens of other leaders, commemorated the 60th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany on Monday with a resplendent military parade in Red Square that was steeped in Soviet symbols and new Russian pride.
Standing in front of Lenin's Tomb, not on it as Soviet leaders once did, Putin expressed no contrition for the Soviet domination of Eastern and Central Europe that followed the end of World War II, as some leaders from that region had hoped he would. Instead, he said the war's legacy demonstrated the need for unity with Russia against new threats.
"The lessons of the war send us the warning that indifference, temporizing and playing accomplice to violence inevitably lead to terrible tragedies on a planetary scale," he said. "Faced with the real threat of terrorism today, we must therefore remain faithful to the memory of our fathers. It is our duty to defend a world order based on security and justice and on a new culture of relations among nations that will not allow a repeat of any war -- neither cold nor hot."
Despite concerns here and abroad about Russia's commitment to democracy, Putin assembled one of the largest gatherings of world leaders in years -- part of the Kremlin's efforts to resurrect a sense of a great and powerful Russia.
Bush, customarily the center of attention even at international summit meetings, had a seat of honor next to Putin, but did not speak publicly, effectively ceding the stage to Putin and the day's pageantry.
Putin paid tribute to the veterans of all Allied nations but emphasized that the greatest sacrifices of the war were paid by the citizens of the Soviet Union, who persevered despite the deaths of 27 million people.
"Through the liberation of Europe and the battle of Berlin, the Red Army brought the war to its victorious conclusion," he said, indirectly but unmistakably brushing aside recent statements by leaders of Poland and the Baltics that Hitler's defeat did not result in liberation for them, but instead suppression under a different ideology.
Before and during his trip to Latvia, Bush endorsed that historical interpretation. In a speech to Latvian leaders Saturday, he acknowledged that the United States and Britain shared some responsibility for the Soviet annexation of the Baltic nations through their participation in the 1945 Yalta agreement, in which Europe was carved up by Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and Josef Stalin. "This attempt to sacrifice freedom for the sake of stability left a continent divided and unstable," he said. "The captivity of millions in Central and eastern Europe will be remembered as one of the greatest wrongs of history."
A senior White House adviser, Dan Bartlett, said Monday, though, that Bush had not raised the issue personally with Putin during meetings Sunday. "They didn't spend a lot of time having a history debate," he said.
The presidents of Lithuania and Estonia conspicuously refused the Kremlin's invitation in a sign of the resonance the issue still has in regional politics. So did President Mikhail Saakashvili of Georgia, whose popular uprising against Eduard A. Shevardnadze in November 2003 inspired similar ones following flawed elections in two other former Soviet republics, Ukraine last fall and Kyrgyzstan in March. The events in those countries have rattled the Kremlin.
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