• This report was written in March 1948 and presented to the British Cabinet by the Foreign Secretary, Ernest Bevin.
• It was a very long report and the extract below is one section in which he sums up his view of Stalin's aims.
• The overall title of the report was 'The Threat to Western Civilisation'. That gives a clue to the general tone of his report!
• The Eurasian land mass means the land which makes up the Continents of Europe and Asia.
• The World Island means simply 'the world'.
• The Politburo is the Soviet equivalent of the British Cabinet - the leading politicians in the USSR.