Bringing together the work of scholars from Eastern and Western Europe, this volume re-examines the crucial moments in the five years leading up to the Cold War. With the aid of evidence from the official records of former Communist countries, this analysis of diplomatic relations, economic imperialism, and cultural influences on great, middle and small rank European powers, reveals how and why the victors failed to reach an agreement of postwar order in Europe, a failure that resulted in a conflict that shaped the second half of the 20th century.