In October 1944, before the official end of WWII, but once fighting had ceased in Europe, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin met secretly in Moscow and divided up control of eastern and southern Europe. Churchill acted prematurely and without his "special relationship" partner, the United States, because of concerns surrounding Britain's declining power in the world, US criticisms of British imperialism, and British interests in maintaining influence in the Balkans and Mediterranean.1 Churchill presented his proposal to Stalin in an effort to get ahead of what he viewed as an inevitable "spheres of influence" arrangement that would occur upon resolution of the war. In 1958 when Churchill published the agreement, the Soviet government vehemently denied agreeing to such an imperialist division of Europe, calling the document "dirty and crude".2 This document reveals the inter-workings of post-war territory agreements as often secretive, imperialistic, and focused on determining a balance in world power among the victors.
Percentages Deal (October 9, 1944) - Written by Churchill and checkmarks allegedly made by Stalin as a sign of agreement.
"Let us settle about our affairs in the Balkans. Your armies are in Rumania and Bulgaria. We have interests, missions, and agents there. Don't let us get at cross purposes in small ways. So far as Britain and Russia are concerned, how would it do for you to have ninety per cent predominance in Rumania, for us to have ninety percent of the say in Greece, and go fifty-fifty about Yugoslavia?" While this was being translated I wrote out on a half-sheet of paper:
Rumania
Hungary 50_50%
Bulgaria
"Let us settle about our affairs in the Balkans. Your armies are in Rumania and Bulgaria. We have interests, missions, and agents there. Don't let us get at cross purposes in small ways. So far as Britain and Russia are concerned, how would it do for you to have ninety per cent predominance in Rumania, for us to have ninety percent of the say in Greece, and go fifty-fifty about Yugoslavia?" While this was being translated I wrote out on a half-sheet of paper:
Rumania
- Russia 90%
- The others l0%
- Great Britain (in accord with U.S.A.) 90%
- Russia 10%
Hungary 50_50%
Bulgaria
- Russia 75%
- The others 25%"
Document Analysis Questions
1. According to the document, who would have the majority of control in eastern and southern Europe?
2. In the quote from Churchill that precedes the percentage breakdown, what does it appear Churchill's objective is in dealing with Stalin?
1. According to the document, who would have the majority of control in eastern and southern Europe?
2. In the quote from Churchill that precedes the percentage breakdown, what does it appear Churchill's objective is in dealing with Stalin?
Sources Referenced
- Resis, Albert. "The Churchill-Stalin Secret "Percentages" Agreement on the Balkans, Moscow, October 1944." The American Historical Review 83.2 (1978): 368-70. JSTOR. Web. 10 Apr. 2015.
- Van Dijk, Ruud, William Glenn Gray, Jeremi Suri, Qiang Zhai, and Svetlana Savranskaya. "Encyclopedia of the Cold War." Google Books. Routledge, n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2015.