Description

After the last shots of World War II were fired and the process of rebuilding Germany and Europe began the Western Allies and the Soviet Union each tried to obtain the services of the Third Reichs leading scientists especially those involved in rocketry missile technology and aerospace research Naturally this was a delicate affair due to the fact many of the German scientists were not only active Nazis but had helped the Nazi war machine terrorize the world At the same time by the late war period the AngloAmerican Allies formed a clear picture of the Soviet state Though forced to ally with the USSRs dictator Josef Stalin the West came to understand Communist Russia represented yet another hungry totalitarian power and thus a very real threat to an independent Europe British Prime Minister Winston Churchill realized the menacing character of the Soviets from the Katyn Forest Massacre of Polish army officers if not before while the Americans only gradually shed a nave assumption of continued Russian friendliness after the war