In this episode, we peel back the layers of one of the most controversial diplomatic maneuvers of World War II. While the Yalta Conference often gets the spotlight for dividing post-war Europe, the real blueprint was drawn months earlier in Moscow, during a secretive October 1944 meeting between Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin. We explore the infamous 'Percentages Agreement,' a scrap of paper where the British Prime Minister proposed dividing the Balkans into spheres of influence, assigning Soviet dominance in Romania and Bulgaria while reserving Greece for the West. This conversation examines the pragmatic cynicism behind these divisions, the role of Archibald Clark-Kerr as the translator who facilitated this shocking proposal, and how this secret deal laid the groundwork for the Iron Curtain that would soon divide the continent. We also look at the immediate aftermath, including the brutal suppression of democratic movements in Eastern Europe and the moral compromises made by Western powers in their rush to secure a peace with the Soviet Union.
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