The Yalta Conference

The conference at Yalta held in the Crimea on February 4-11, 1945 brought together the Big Three Allied leaders. During this conference, Stalin, Churchill, and Roosevelt discussed Europe s postwar reorganization. The main purpose of Yalta was the re-establishment of the nations conquered and destroyed by Germany.

Organizing the occupation of Germany was one of the top priorities. The Yalta Conference agreed to divide Germany into zones controlled by each of the three nations present. With the immense size of Stalin's army, Russia would take Berlin and control the eastern half of Germany upon its surrender. Great Britain suggested France as one of the occupiers. Initially, Stalin resisted but eventually accepted this idea. Poland was given back its independence and given its own national election in order to create a new, independent government. Yugoslavia was given its own government as well which consisted of mostly old members under a new system. In both cases, Nazi and Fascist leaders were specifically prohibited.

The Soviets reaffirmed their intention to fight Japan and in return expected to occupy areas in the East. The secret Yalta agreement was signed on February 11, 1945 by Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin in which Russia agreed to declare war on Japan in two or three months after the surrender of Germany, in return for: (1) Preservation of the status quo in Outer Mongolia, (2) return of Southern Sakhalin and adjacent islands, internationalization of Dairen, restoration of Port Arthur as a leased naval base, joint Chinese-Russian operation of the Chinese Eastern Railroad and the South Manchurian Railroad, which provides an outlet for Dairen ,China shall maintain full sovereignty in Manchuria (3) Kurile Islands are to be handed over to Russia. In this agreement, the United States and Britain also agreed to support Ukraine and White Russia as separate states in the UN. Moreover, the United States, Britain and Russia gave themselves supreme authority to take any steps deemed necessary to prevent future German aggression, including dismemberment of Germany.

One of the most significant things to come out of the Yalta Conference was the agreement of the need to create the United Nations. The charter for the UN was drafted two months after the Yalta Conference in San Francisco. They had hoped to create an organization that would maintain the peace and promote the reconstruction of underdeveloped countries.