“Why should we not cross the Elbe and advance as far eastward as possible?” Churchill cabled Eisenhower. The prime minister feared that if the Russians captured all of Austria and Berlin, this would “raise grave and formidable difficulties in the future.” The Soviets were allies, but from the prime minister’s point of view, the Anglo-Americans and the Red Army were in a race to fill the power vacuum left by the conquered Nazis.
Churchill was right
