ABSTRACT
On July 17, the Big Three met at Potsdam. On the second day of the Conference, Stalin asked for an immediate transfer to the Provisional Government of Poland, "of all stocks, assets and all other property belonging to Poland" which was still at the disposal of the Polish Government in London. The communists were pleased with the results of the Conference. They were determined to exploit those aspects of the Potsdam Conference which were convenient to them and to ignore those which bound them to a free election and other pledges. In accordance with the Potsdam Statement on the Polish Question, the British Government began to urge Poles, both military and civilian, to return home. On August 28, the Warsaw communists were called to Moscow where they were given instructions by Stalin on how to secure the "proper results" from the forthcoming elections, and were impressed with the necessity of ignoring Western "interference" into their internal affairs.
