Question

read closely: shifts
paying attention to words
that indicate a change is
coming, such as \however\
will help you see how events
are shifting. what do you
think the significance is of
this paragraph beginning with
\however\?

however, the agreement reached at yalta concerning the status of the eastern
european countries occupied by soviet forces did not stand up. when pressed by
truman on the subject of free elections in poland, romania, hungary, and
bulgaria, stalin adamantly refused. the two countries lacked trust in one another
and began the aggressive rhetoric that would develop into the cold war.
developments through 1949
the big three conferences produced plans for how the peace should be
administered in europe. however, events on the ground between 1945 and 1949
challenged these plans.

soviet occupation of eastern europe in a speech delivered in fulton,
missouri, in march 1946, winston churchill famously assessed the worsening
situation of the countries of eastern europe. he declared that \an iron curtain
has descended across the continent\ of europe. the metaphor of the iron
curtain described the split between eastern and western europe. the soviets
were determined to make the governments of eastern europe as much like the
soviet government as they could. therefore the soviets directed east germany,
poland, hungary, romania, and bulgaria to develop five - year economic plans
focused on developing industry and collective agriculture at the expense of
consumer products. in addition, they outlawed all political parties other than
the communists.

Explanation:

The word "however" signals a sharp shift from the assumed post-war cooperation (implied by the Yalta agreements) to a breakdown of trust and the start of hostile tensions between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. It highlights that the planned post-war order for Eastern Europe failed, directly paving the way for the Cold War.

Answer:

The "however" indicates a critical shift from planned post-war cooperation (via the Yalta agreement) to a breakdown of trust between the U.S. and Soviet Union, as Stalin rejected free elections in Eastern Europe. This shift marked the start of hostile rhetoric that evolved into the Cold War, undermining the agreed-upon post-war peace plans for Europe.