As Churchill mentions, “Poland had indeed been the most urgent reason for the Yalta Conference,” as Poland figured in every inter-Allied dispute before and after war. On one side of the dispute, the U.S. and Britain recognized the exiled Polish government in London, while Stalin recognized the Polish Provisional Government in Warsaw. Also in contention were the boundaries of Poland on both front, guarantees of free elections, and oil deposits in East. With Stalin preventing Western-supported Polish delegations from arriving at the Conference and large numbers of troops stationed within Poland, the Soviet Union had more bargaining power throughout the deliberations. By the final day of the conference, an essentially Soviet-American proposal had been drawn, recognizing a favorable Soviet-drawn eastern Polish border, territorial accessions to the North and West decided upon by a provisional government, and a final Western border to be decided by the war’s end. Given the weak British/American bargaining position, Churchill left the Conference feeling the stipulations for Poland were, “the best I could get.”
