Yalta Conference 1 The Conference All three leaders were attempting to establish an agenda for governing post-war Europe. They wanted to keep peace between post-world war countries. On the Eastern Front, the front line at the end of December 1943 re- mained in the Soviet Union but, by August 1944, So- viet forces were inside Poland and parts of Romania as part of their drive west.[1] By the time of the Conference, Red Army Marshal Georgy Zhukov's forces were 65 km (40 mi) from Berlin. Stalin’s position at the conference was one which he felt was so strong that he could dic- tate terms. According to U.S. delegation member and future Secretary of State James F. Byrnes, "[i]t was not a question of what we would let the Russians do, but what Yalta Conference in February 1945 with (from left to right) we could get the Russians to do.”[2] Moreover, Roosevelt Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin. Also hoped for a commitment from Stalin to participate in the present are Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov (far left); United Nations. Field Marshal Sir Alan Brooke, Admiral of the Fleet Sir Andrew Cunningham, RN, Marshal of the RAF Sir Charles Portal, RAF, Premier Stalin, insisting that his doctors opposed any (standing behind Churchill); General George C. Marshall, Chief long trips, rejected Roosevelt’s suggestion to meet at the of Staff of the United States Army, and Fleet Admiral William Mediterranean.[3] He offered instead to meet at the Black D. Leahy, USN, (standing behind Roosevelt). Sea resort of Yalta, in the Crimea. Stalin’s fear of flying also played a contributing factor in this decision.[4] Each leader had an agenda for the Yalta Conference: Roosevelt wanted Soviet support in the U.S. Pacific War against Japan, specifically invading Japan, as well as Soviet par- ticipation in the UN; Churchill pressed for free elections The Yalta Conference, sometimes called the Crimea and democratic governments in Eastern and Central Eu- Conference and codenamed the Argonaut Conference, rope (specifically Poland); and Stalin demanded a Soviet held from February 4 to 11, 1945, was the World War II sphere of political influence in Eastern and Central Eu- meeting of the heads of government of the United States, rope, an essential aspect of the USSR's national security the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union, represented by strategy. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Premier Joseph Stalin, respectively, for the Poland was the first item on the Soviet agenda. Stalin purpose of discussing Europe’s post-war reorganization. stated that “For the Soviet government, the question of The conference convened in the Livadia Palace near Yalta Poland was one of honor” and security because Poland in Crimea. had served as a historical corridor for forces attempt- ing to invade Russia.[5] In addition, Stalin stated regard- The meeting was intended mainly to discuss the re- ing history that “because the Russians had greatly sinned establishment of the nations of war-torn Europe. Within against Poland”, “the Soviet government was trying to a few years, with the Cold War dividing the continent, atone for those sins.”[5] Stalin concluded that “Poland Yalta became a subject of intense controversy. To some must be strong” and that “the Soviet Union is interested in extent, it has remained controversial. the creation of a mighty, free and independent Poland.” Yalta was the second of three wartime conferences among Accordingly, Stalin stipulated that Polish government-in- the Big Three. It had been preceded by the Tehran exile demands were not negotiable: the Soviet Union Conference in 1943, and was followed by the Potsdam would keep the territory of eastern Poland they had al- Conference in July 1945, which was attended by Stalin, ready annexed in 1939, and Poland was to be compen- Churchill (who was replaced halfway through by the sated for that by extending its western borders at the ex- newly elected British Prime Minister Clement Attlee) and pense of Germany. Comporting with his prior statement, Harry S. Truman, Roosevelt’s successor. Stalin promised free elections in Poland despite the Soviet 1 2 1 THE CONFERENCE sponsored provisional government recently installed by ets had already liquidated most of the governments; and him in Polish territories occupied by the Red Army. Poland whose government-in-exile was also excluded by Roosevelt wanted the USSR to enter the Pacific War with Stalin) and that all civilians would be repatriated. the Allies. One Soviet precondition for a declaration of war against Japan was an American official recognition 1.1 Key points of Mongolian independence from China (Mongolian Peo- ple’s Republic had already been the Soviet satellite state in The key points of the meeting are as follows: World War One and World War Two), and a recognition of Soviet interests in the Manchurian railways and Port • Arthur (but not asking the Chinese to lease), as well as Agreement to the priority of the unconditional sur- deprivation of Japanese soil (such as Sakhalin and Kuril render of Nazi Germany. After the war, Germany Islands) to return to Russian custody since the Treaty of and Berlin would be split into four occupied zones. Portsmouth; these were agreed without Chinese represen- • Stalin agreed that France would have a fourth oc- tation, consultation or consent, with the American desire cupation zone in Germany, but it would have to be to end war early by reducing American casualties. Stalin formed out of the American and British zones. agreed that the Soviet Union would enter the Pacific War three months after the defeat of Germany. Stalin pledged • Germany would undergo demilitarization and to Roosevelt to keep the nationality of the Korean Penin- denazification. sula intact as Soviet Union entered the war against Japan. • German reparations were partly to be in the form of forced labour. (see also Forced labor of Germans after World War II and Forced labour of Germans in the Soviet Union). The forced labour was to be used to repair damage that Germany inflicted on its victims.[6] • Creation of a reparation council which would be lo- cated in the Soviet Union. • The status of Poland was discussed. It was agreed to reorganize the communist Provisional Government of the Republic of Poland that had been installed by the Soviet Union “on a broader democratic basis.” • The Polish eastern border would follow the Curzon A Big Three meeting room Line, and Poland would receive territorial compen- sation in the West from Germany. Furthermore, the Soviets had agreed to join the United • Stalin pledged to permit free elections in Poland, but Nations, given the secret understanding of a voting for- forestalled ever honouring his promise. mula with a veto power for permanent members of the Security Council, thus ensuring that each country could • Citizens of the Soviet Union and of Yugoslavia were block unwanted decisions. to be handed over to their respective countries, re- At the time, the Red Army had occupied Poland com- gardless of their consent. pletely and held much of Eastern Europe with a military • Roosevelt obtained a commitment by Stalin to par- power three times greater than Allied forces in the West. ticipate in the UN. The Declaration of Liberated Europe did little to dispel the sphere of influence agreements that had been incor- • Stalin requested that all of the 16 Soviet Social- porated into armistice agreements. ist Republics would be granted UN membership. All three leaders ratified previous agreements about the This was taken into consideration, but 14 republics post-war occupation zones for Germany: three zones of were denied; Roosevelt agreed to membership for occupation, one for each of the three principal Allies: The Ukraine and Byelorussia while reserving the right, Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States. which was never exercised, to seek two more votes [7] They also agreed to give France a zone of occupation, for the United States. carved out of the U.S. and UK zones. • Stalin agreed to enter the fight against the Empire Also, the Big Three agreed that all original governments of Japan “in two or three months after Germany has would be restored to the invaded countries (with the ex- surrendered and the war in Europe is terminated,” ception of France, whose government was regarded as and that as a result, the Soviets would take pos- collaborationist; Romania and Bulgaria, where the Sovi- session of Southern Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands, 3 the port of Darien would be internationalized, and that the three would assist occupied countries to form in- the Soviet lease of Port Arthur would be restored, terim government that “pledged to the earliest possible among other concessions.[8] establishment through free elections of the Governments responsive to the will of the people” and to “facilitate • Nazi war criminals were to be hunted down and where necessary the holding of such elections.”[9] brought to justice. The agreement called on signatories to “consult together • A “Committee on Dismemberment of Germany” on the measures necessary to discharge the joint respon- was to be set up. Its purpose was to decide whether sibilities set forth in this declaration.” During the Yalta Germany was to be divided into six nations. Some discussions, Molotov inserted language that weakened the examples of partition plans are shown below: implication of enforcement of the declaration.[10] Regarding Poland, the Yalta report further stated that the • The eventual partition of Germany