From the American point of view, the British expectations did not present much of a problem, but Soviet aspirations were a concern. It was clear that it would be impossible for one of the three to “have it all”, that compromises would have to be reached. (It is a myth that the presumably deeply isolationist Americans just wanted to withdraw from Europe: the country’s political, military, and economic leaders had urgent reasons for maintaining a presence on the old continent.) The other big victorious powers, Britain and the Soviet Union, also looked to pursue their interests. When the war against Germany came to an end, however, Uncle Sam occupied a seat at the table of the victors, ready and eager to look after his interests, to achieve what one might call the American war aims. And the Americans only started to make a major contribution to the victory against Germany with the landings in Normandy in June 1944, that is, less than one year before the end of the hostilities in Europe. The United States had entered the war rather late, namely in December 1941.
The victors, the Big Three, now faced the complex and delicate problem of the postwar reorganization of Europe. With the German capitulation in early May 1945, the war in Europe was over.
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