Breaking News: FDR a Wily Negotiator
We admit we were skeptical at first, but The Huffington Post turns out to be everything its backers promised: conversational, witty, and up-to-the-minute. Why, here's an excerpt from the most recent entry, by noted historian Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.:
As for Eastern Europe, Stalin "held all the cards" in the words of Charles E. Bohlen, the Russian expert. But FDR managed to extract an astonishing document - the Declaration on Liberated Europe, an eloquent affirmation of "the right of all people to choose the form of government under which they will live." Molotov warned Stalin against signing it, but he signed it anyway. It was a grave diplomatic blunder. In order to consolidate Soviet control, Stalin had to break the Yalta agreements - which therefore could not have been in his favor.
The Declaration stands as the refutation of the myth, given new currency by the president of the United States , that Yalta caused or ratified the division of Europe . It was the deployment of armies, not negotiating concessions, that caused the division of Europe.
Got that, kids? And only sixty years after the fact! Keep refreshing The Huffington Post throughout the day: We understand that at some point Shelby Foote's going to pop up with a sweet exegesis on the battle of Antietam. AB
