Result of the Yalta and Potsdam Conferences
Yalta and Potsdam Conferences.
The Yalta and Potsdam conferences were called to help the Allies decide what would happen to Europe, and in particular Germany, at the end of the Second World War.
Yalta - February 1945:
When it was clear that Germany was losing to the European war, the Allied leaders met at Yalta to plan what would happen to Europe after Germany’s defeat.
It was held during the war and it seemed successful. The Allies (Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin) agreed to:-
• They would join the United Nations Organization. Their aim was to keep peace after the war.
• Once Germany was defeated, Stalin would join the war against Japan.
• Germany and Berlin would be divided into 4 zones (Britain, France, USA, USSR)
• They would hunt down war criminals.
• Eastern Europe would be seen as 'a Soviet sphere of influence.'
• All countries liberated from Germany would be allowed to hold free elections.
They only disagreed about Poland. Stalin wanted the western border of the USSR to move into Poland but Churchill and Roosevelt did not. Stalin also said Poland could move its border into Germany.
Churchill knew that he could not do much because of Stalin’s Red Army that had control over Poland and eastern Germany. Churchill and Roosevelt agreed as long as the USSR did not interfere in Greece where the British were trying to prevent the communists from taking over.
Potsdam - July 1945:
After Germany’s defeat, a second conference for the allied leaders was arranged. Many changes had taken place after Yalta. Stalin’s armies were occupying most of Eastern Europe because it was a defensive measure against future possible attacks.
Roosevelt had died and Churchill had lost the 1945 election so there were open disagreements. America had a new president, Harry Truman. He came away angry about the size of reparations and the fact that a communist government was being set up in Poland. Truman did not tell Stalin that he had the atomic bomb.
The Yalta and Potsdam conferences were called to help the Allies decide what would happen to Europe, and in particular Germany, at the end of the Second World War.
Yalta - February 1945:
When it was clear that Germany was losing to the European war, the Allied leaders met at Yalta to plan what would happen to Europe after Germany’s defeat.
It was held during the war and it seemed successful. The Allies (Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin) agreed to:-
• They would join the United Nations Organization. Their aim was to keep peace after the war.
• Once Germany was defeated, Stalin would join the war against Japan.
• Germany and Berlin would be divided into 4 zones (Britain, France, USA, USSR)
• They would hunt down war criminals.
• Eastern Europe would be seen as 'a Soviet sphere of influence.'
• All countries liberated from Germany would be allowed to hold free elections.
They only disagreed about Poland. Stalin wanted the western border of the USSR to move into Poland but Churchill and Roosevelt did not. Stalin also said Poland could move its border into Germany.
Churchill knew that he could not do much because of Stalin’s Red Army that had control over Poland and eastern Germany. Churchill and Roosevelt agreed as long as the USSR did not interfere in Greece where the British were trying to prevent the communists from taking over.
Potsdam - July 1945:
After Germany’s defeat, a second conference for the allied leaders was arranged. Many changes had taken place after Yalta. Stalin’s armies were occupying most of Eastern Europe because it was a defensive measure against future possible attacks.
Roosevelt had died and Churchill had lost the 1945 election so there were open disagreements. America had a new president, Harry Truman. He came away angry about the size of reparations and the fact that a communist government was being set up in Poland. Truman did not tell Stalin that he had the atomic bomb.