The Big Three also agreed that democracies would be established, that all liberated European countries and former satellite countries of the Axis powers would hold free elections, and that order would be restored. [18] In this regard, they promised to rebuild the occupied countries through processes that would allow them to “create democratic institutions of their choice. It is a principle of the Atlantic Charter – the right of all peoples to choose the form of government under which they will live. [18] The resulting report states that the three occupied countries would help form a transitional government that “commits itself to establishing as soon as possible through free elections governments that respond to the will of the people” and “facilitate, where appropriate, the holding of such elections.” [18] Churchill defended his actions in Kanta during a three-day parliamentary debate on May 27. The month of February began and ended with a vote of confidence. During the debate, many MEPs criticised Churchill and expressed deep reservations about Kanta and their support for Poland, with 25 of them drafting an amendment to the agreement. [22] Four days later, on March 27, the Soviet People`s Commissariat for Internal Affairs (NKVD) arrested 16 Polish opposition leaders who had been invited to participate in the provisional government negotiations. [25] The arrests were part of an NKVD ruse that transported the leaders to Moscow for a subsequent show trial, followed by a gulag sentence. [25] [26] Churchill then argued to Roosevelt that it was “as simple as a pike stick” that Moscow`s tactic was to delay the deadline for holding free elections “while the Lublin Committee consolidates its power.” [25] The Polish elections of 16. January 1947 led to the official transformation of Poland into a communist state in 1949.
The agreement called on the signatories to “consult jointly on the measures necessary to fulfil the common responsibilities set out in this declaration”. During the discussions in Gleichalta, Molotov added language that weakened the impact of implementing the declaration. [19] Kanta was the second of three war conferences among the big three, preceded by the Tehran Conference in 1943 and followed by the Potsdam Conference in July 1945, attended by Stalin, Churchill (who was replaced halfway by the newly elected British Prime Minister Clement Attlee) and Harry S. .