Poland fought against Hitler, together with the Allies on all European fronts - by land, sea, and air - from the very beginning until Germany was defeated. Poland won the war but lost the peace because Roosevelt and Churchill chose to appease Stalin at Teheran and Yalta. Was the Polish war effort adequate, therefore, considering Poland's capabilities? Was the effort of the Western leaders who negotiated with Stalin adequate, considering their advantage of nuclear monopoly from 1945 until 1949? That advantage was squandered in the European theater, and nearly 100 million people from eastern and central Europe were abandoned to the Soviets.

After forty-four years of communist domination, Poland finally achieved freedom and sovereignty. Poland's Solidarity movement led the way, creating a vortex of ideas and events which pulled in the neighboring countries and eventually led to the collapse of the Soviet Union.