HistoryExtra podcast How Stalin ran rings round the west
Jun 30, 2024
Author Giles Milton discusses the complex wartime alliance between Stalin, Churchill, and Roosevelt, marked by spats, backstabbing, and critical to victory over the Nazis. The podcast explores the evolving relationship between Churchill and Stalin, the challenges in forming the alliance, Avril Harriman's role, a different side of Stalin in the Kremlin, and the disagreements on post-war foreign policy.
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Averell Harriman: Roosevelt’s In-House Emissary
- Averell Harriman installed himself beside Churchill as Roosevelt’s trusted intermediary in London.
- Harriman later went to Moscow and became central to managing Lend-Lease and allied coordination.
Kathy Harriman’s Inside Letters
- Kathy Harriman lived alongside Churchill at Chequers and then worked inside the Kremlin in Moscow.
- Her hundreds of letters and cuttings gave an intimate, day-to-day view of the big three relationship.
Archie Clark Kerr’s Unlikely Friendship
- Archie Clark Kerr, flamboyant and eccentric, became unexpectedly close to Stalin in Moscow.
- Despite personal misgivings about Stalin, Kerr formed a working friendship that smoothed diplomatic contact.