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The "Big Three" at the Yalta Conference, Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin.

The Yalta Conference, sometimes called the Crimea Conference and codenamed the Argonaut Conference, was the wartime meeting from February 4, 1945 to February 11, 1945 between the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union — Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin, respectively.

Overview

On the 4th of February 1945 the Big Three (Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin) convened at Yalta, on the Crimean Peninsula. It was the second of the large war time conferences, preceded by Tehran in 1943, and succeeded by Potsdam (after Roosevelt's death) later in 1945.

The Soviet leader refused to travel farther than the Black Sea Resort of Yalta in the Crimean Riviera for the next meeting and, once again, Churchill and Roosevelt took long trips to attend the Yalta summit.

Each of the three powers brought his own agenda to the Yalta Conference. Roosevelt was lobbying for Soviet support in the Pacific War concerning the invasion of the Empire of Japan; Churchill was pressing for free elections and democratic institutions in Eastern Europe (specifically Poland), while Stalin was attempting to establish a Soviet sphere of influence in Eastern Europe which the Soviets thought was essential to their national security. Additionally, all three of them were trying to establish an agenda as to how to govern post-war Germany. In 1943 a thesis by William Bullitt prophesied the “flow of the Red amoeba into Europe” and ironically enough, Stalin had the military advantage. The Soviet Union was physically in control of most of Eastern Europe. While the Allies had their hands full with the invasion of France, at great cost the Soviet Red Army had penetrated the eastern borders of the Third Reich. At the time of Yalta, Russian Marshall Zhukov was only forty miles from Berlin. Moreover, Roosevelt hoped to obtain a commitment from Stalin to participate in the United Nations. Concerning the first topic on the Soviets' agenda — Eastern Europe — the subject of Poland immediately arose. Stalin was quick to state his case with the following words:

"For the Russian people, the question of Poland is not only a question of honor but also a question of security. Throughout history, Poland has been the corridor through which the enemy has passed into Russia. Poland is a question of life and death for Russia."

Accordingly, Stalin made it clear that some of his demands regarding Poland were not negotiable: the Russians were to keep territory from the eastern portion of Poland and Poland was to compensate for that by extending its Western borders, thereby forcing out millions of Germans. Stalin promised free elections in Poland, notwithstanding the recently installed Communist puppet government. However, it soon became apparent that Stalin had no intentions of holding true to his promise of free elections. The elections, which were held in January 1947 and resulted in the official transformation of Poland into a socialist state by 1949, were widely considered rigged in favour of communist parties.

Roosevelt was clearly concerned about the USSR entering the Pacific War on the side of Allies. One precondition for the USSR's declaration of war against Japan was the agreement, between USA and USSR, recognising Mongolian independence from China. This agreement was made with no diplomatic negotiations with China. Soon after Yalta Conference finished USSR formally declared war against Japan and Soviet troops seized northern parts of Japanese archipelago. Later, this caused a dispute between Russia and Japan, since Russia did not sign the San Francisco Peace Treaty with Japan and no separate peace treaty has been signed between Russia and Japan until now.

Roosevelt met Stalin's price, hoping that the USSR could be dealt with through the U.N. Some Americans later considered Yalta to be a 'sellout,' because it encouraged the Soviets to expand their influence into Japan and Asia and also because Stalin eventually violated the terms by forming the Soviet bloc. Furthermore, the Soviets agreed to join the United Nations given the secret understanding of a voting formula with a veto power for permanent members in the Security Council, thus ensuring that each country could block unwanted decisions. Some critics suggested that Roosevelt's failing health (Yalta was his last major conference before he died from a cerebral hemorrhage) was to blame for his seemingly poor judgment. At the time, the USSR had troops in much of Eastern Europe with a military about three times as large as Eisenhower's forces.

The Big Three had ratified previous agreements about the postwar division of Germany: there were to be three zones of occupation, one zone for each of the three dominant nations (France would later get a portion when the USA and Great Britain divided up parts of their zones and gave them to France). Berlin itself, although within the Soviet zone, would also be divided into three sectors, and would eventually become a major symbol of the Cold War because of the division of the city due to the infamous Berlin Wall, constructed and manned by the Soviet-backed Communist East German government.

The Big Three had further decided that all original governments would be restored to the invaded countries and that all civilians would be repatriated. Democracies would be established, all territories would hold free elections, and order would be restored to Europe, as declared in the following official statement:

"The establishment of order in Europe and the rebuilding of national economic life must be achieved by processes which will enable the liberated peoples to destroy the last vestiges of Nazism and fascism and to create democratic institutions of their own choice."

Location

This conference was held in Yalta, a resort town on the Crimean peninsula in the Soviet Union (now in Ukraine). The American delegation was housed in the Tsar's former palace, while President Roosevelt stayed at the Livadia Palace where the meetings took place. The British delegation was installed in Prince Vorontsov's palace in Alupka. Key members of the delegations were Edward Stettinius, Averell Harriman, Anthony Eden, Alexander Cadogan, and Vyacheslav Molotov. According to Antony Beevor, all the rooms were bugged by the NKVD. Stalin arrived by train on February 4. The meeting started with an official dinner that evening.

Major points

Key points of the meeting are as follows:

There was an agreement that the priority would be the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany. After the war, Germany would be split into four occupied zones, with a quadripartite occupation of Berlin as well, prior unification of Germany.
Stalin agreed to let France have the fourth occupation zone in Germany and Austria, carved out from the British and American zones. France would also be granted a seat in the Allied Control Council.
Germany would undergo demilitarization and denazification.
German reparations were partly to be in the form of forced labor. (see also Eisenhower and German POWs)
Creation of an allied reparation council with its seat in Moscow.
The status of Poland was discussed, but was complicated by the fact that Poland was at this time under the control of the Red Army. It was agreed to reorganize the Provisionary Polish Government that had been set up by the Red Army through the inclusion of other groups such as the Polish Provisional Government of National Unity and to have democratic elections. This effectively excluded the Polish government-in-exile that had evacuated in 1939.
The Polish eastern border would follow the Curzon Line, and Poland would receive substantial territorial compensation in the west from Germany, although the exact border was to be determined at a later time.
Citizens of the Soviet Union and of Yugoslavia were to be handed over to their respective countries, regardless of their consent.
Roosevelt obtained a commitment by Stalin to participate in the United Nations once it was agreed that each of the five permanent members of the Security Council would have veto power.
Stalin agreed to enter the fight against the Empire of Japan within 90 days after the defeat of Germany. The Soviet Union would receive the southern part of Sakhalin and the Kurile islands after the defeat of Japan.
A "Committee on Dismemberment of Germany" was to be set up. The purpose was to decide whether Germany was to be divided into several nations, and if so, what borders and inter-relationships the new German states were to have.
A new organization, (the United Nations) should be set up to replace the failed League of Nations.

Legacy

Yalta was the last great conference before the end of the war in Europe and the death of President Roosevelt, and the last trip Roosevelt took abroad. To observers he appeared already ill and exhausted. Arguably, his most important goal was to ensure the Soviet Union's participation in the United Nations, which he achieved at the price of granting veto power to each permanent member of the Security Council. Another of his objectives was to bring the Soviet Union into the fight against Japan, as the effectiveness of the atomic bomb had yet to be proven. As a reward, Soviet Union was allowed to seize Sakhalin and Kuril Islands, which used to be under Japanese sovereignty, and some other privileges in colonial China remained intact.

The Red Army had already removed Nazi forces from most of Eastern Europe, so Stalin obtained his goals: a significant sphere of influence as a buffer zone. In this process, the freedom of small nations was sacrificed for the sake of stability, which meant that the Baltic countries of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia would continue to be annexed by USSR.

Allegations about Yalta would play a significant role in United States politics during the Cold War. American conservatives alleged that decisions reached at Yalta were a betrayal of the Eastern European nations that resulted in their domination by the Soviet Union. During the McCarthy period, Yalta was a centerpiece of accusations that the Democrats were "soft on communism."

The alternative opinion is that there was little Roosevelt or Churchill could have done to prevent Stalin from dominating the Eastern European nations short of war with the Soviet Union, since the Red Army already controlled those Eastern European territories. With the war in the Pacific theatre far from over, and the atomic bomb still two months from completion, Roosevelt likely wanted to improve his negotiating position once the atomic bomb was introduced. Stalin had agreed at Yalta to the principle of a liberated Europe, which stated that liberated peoples would have the right to democratic self government. Stalin also agreed that Poland would hold democratic, free elections as soon as feasible. In the alternative opinion, the problem was not the Yalta Conference Agreement itself, but rather Stalin's violation of the Yalta Conference Agreement.

Yalta has often been assessed with hindsight. Historians have often committed that Stalin had shown himself to be immoral, as demonstrated in his purge of the Russian army in the 1930s and, more recently, his reluctance to help the insurrection in Warsaw in 1944, and therefore could not have been trusted. However, in October 1944, Stalin and Churchill had agreed in the Percentages Agreement how to divide their respective spheres of influence. Stalin would keep to the majority of this agreement including, most profoundly, denying Soviet support for communist guerillas in Greece, which Stalin had agreed was part of the British sphere of influence in that agreement. There was also the fact that, at the end of the day, Stalin could have chosen not to allow the Allies into Berlin. It was well within Soviet territory, and he could have said no if he wanted to. The argument that he did so because he wanted to avoid war is flawed, since there was a much chance of a war between the Soviet Union and the Western Allies over Poland. Therefore, at the time, there was nothing to suggest for certain that the situation would turn out the way it did.

Bibliography and References

Best, Geoffrey. Churchill: A Study in Greatness. London: Hambledon and London, 2001.
Black, Conrad. Franklin Delano Roosevelt: Champion of Freedom. Cambridge, MA: Perseus Books Group, 2003.
Clemens, Diane S. "Yalta Conference." World Book. 2006 ed. vol. 21. 2006, 549.
"Cold War: Teheran Declaration.". CNN. 1998. 26 March 2006.
Meacham, John. Franklin and Winston: An Intimate Portrait of an Epic Friendship. New York: Random House Inc., 2003.
O’Neil, William L. World War II: a Student Companion. New York: Oxford UP, 1999.
Perisco, Joseph E. Roosevelt’s Secret War. New York: Random House, 2001.
“Portraits of Presidents: Franklin D. Roosevelt.” School Arts Magazine February 1999: 37. Student Research Center. EBSCO Host. Philadelphia. 2 Apr. 2006. Keyword: FDR.
Snyder, Louis L. World War II. New York: Grolier Company, 1981.
Sulzberger, C L. American Heritage New History of World War II. Ed. Stephen E. Ambrose. New York: Viking Penguin, 1998.
Waring, J. G. A student's experience of Yalta
“Yalta Conference.” Funk and Wagnalls New Encyclopedia. World Almanac Education Group, 2003. SIRS DISCOVER. Philadelphia. 2 April 2006. Keyword: Yalta Conference.

External links

Foreign relations of the United States. Conferences at Malta and Yalta, 1945
Protocol of proceedings of Crimea Conference
The Yalta Betrayal
Mr Bush and the Riga axioms (Positive view on Yalta)
MilitaryHistoryOnline Yalta Conference
How good was the Good War?
The Division of Europe Online Documents Collection
The Real Myths of Yalta
Special German series 2. The Committee on Dismemberment of Germany Allied discussions on the dismemberment of Germany into separate states, March 29, 1945. The commite was ordained at Yalta.
Yalta casts its shadow 60 years on, BBC, February 7, 2005

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 Yalta has often been assessed with hindsight.  Historians have often committed that Stalin had shown himself to be immoral, as demonstrated in his purge of the Russian army in the 1930s and, more recently, his reluctance to help the insurrection in Warsaw in 1944, and therefore could not have been trusted.  However, in October 1944, Stalin and Churchill had agreed in the Percentages Agreement how to divide their respective spheres of influence.  Stalin would keep to the majority of this agreement including, most profoundly, denying Soviet support for communist guerillas in Greece, which Stalin had agreed was part of the British sphere of influence in that agreement.  There was also the fact that, at the end of the day, Stalin could have chosen not to allow the Allies into Berlin.  It was well within Soviet territory, and he could have said no if he wanted to.  The argument that he did so because he wanted to avoid war is flawed, since there was a much chance of a war between the Soviet Union and the Western Allies over Poland.  Therefore, at the time, there was nothing to suggest for certain that the situation would turn out the way it did.
-[[Media:Example.ogg]]
 == See also ==