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The Yalta Conference (February 1945)
It was clear that Germany was losing the European War, so the Allied leaders met at Yalta were the Big Three; Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill agreed on some important matters. -
Agreements at Yalta 4
Japan: Stalin agreed to enter the War against Japan once Germany had surrendered. -
Agreements at Yalta 1
Germany: They agreed that Germany would be divided into four zones: American, French, British and Soviet. -
Agreements at Yalta 2
United Nations: The Big Three all agreed to join the United Nations organisation, which would aim to keep peace after the war. -
Agreements at Yalta 3
War Criminals: As allied soldiers advanced through Germany, they were revealing the horrors of the Nazi Concentration Camps. The Big Three agreed to hunt down and punish war criminals who were responsible for the genocide. -
Agreements at Yalta 5
Elections: They agreed that as countries were liberated from occupation by the German army, they would be allowed to hold free elections to choose the government they wanted. -
Agreements at Yalta 6
Eastern Europe: The Soviet Union had suffered terribly in the war. An estimated 20 million camps. Soviet people had died. Stalin was therefore concerned about the future security of the USSR and specifically the risk of another invasion from Europe. The Big Three agreed that eastern Europe should be seen as a ‘Soviet Sphere of Influence’. -
Disagreements at Yalta (Poland) 1
Stalin wanted the border of the USSR to move westwards into Poland. Stalin argued that Poland, in turn, could move its border westwards into German territory. -
Disagreements at Yalta (Poland) 2
Churchill did not approve of Stalin's plans for Poland, but he also knew that there was not very much he could do about it because Stalin's Red ARMY was in total control of both Poland and eastern Germany. -
Disagreements at Yalta (Poland) 3
Roosevelt was also unhappy about Stalin's plan, but Churchill persuaded Roosevelt to accept it, as long as the USSR agreed not to interfere in Greece where the British were attempting to prevent the communists taking over. Stalin accepted this. -
The Potsdam Conference (July 1945)
A number of changes has taken place after 5 months of the Yalta Conference. -
Changes since Yalta 1
Stalin's armies were occupying most of eastern Europe: Soviet troops had liberated country after country in eastern Europe, but instead of withdrawing his troops Stalin had left them there. Refugees were fleeing out of these countries fearing a communist take-over. Stalin had set up a communist government in Poland, ignoring the wishes of the majority of Poles. He insisted that his control of eastern Europe was a defensive measure against possible future attacks. -
Changes since Yalta 2
America had a new president: On 12 April 1945, President Roosevelt died. He was replaced by his vice-president, Harry Truman. Truman was a very different man from Roosevelt. He was much more anticommunist than Roosevelt and was very suspicious of Stalin. Truman and his advisers saw Soviet actions in eastern Europe as preparations for a Soviet take-over of the rest of Europe. -
Disagreements at Potsdam 1
Germany: Stalin wanted to damage Germany completely to protect the USSR against future threats.Truman did not want to repeat the mistake of the Treaty of Versailles -
Disagreements at Potsdam 2
Reparations: Twenty million Russians had died in the war and the Soviet Union had been devastated. Stalin wanted compensation from Germany. Truman, however, was once again determined not to repeat the mistakes at the end of the First World War and resisted this demand.