Wartime+Conferences

=//Wartime Conferences// (Yalta and Potsdam) =

By Jean Pierce and Cassidy Nendick

**﻿Yalta Conference:**
 * Held towards the end of World War II (February 1945)
 * On the surface it seemed successful
 * The Crimea Conference- the heads of the United States of America, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Socialist Republics
 * Took place from February 4-11
 * The "Big Three" met there to decide the fate of post-war Europe
 * The United States was represented by Franklin D. Roosevelt, Great Britain was represented by Winston Churchill, and Josef Stalin spoke on behalf of the Soviet Union
 * The main goals were to discuss many aspects of the time:
 * The division of Germany
 * The formation of the United Nations
 * Germany's war reparations
 * The entry of the Soviet forces into the Far-Eastern front (Japan)
 * The most difficult issue- the future of Poland

//Source A //

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Crimean Conference 1945

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">The Yalta Conference of 1945 was held in the month of February, 1945, on the Crimean peninsula in Russia. It was a meeting of political leaders to discuss what was happening in World War II. This was actually the second in a series of three meetings,and this particular conference taking place from February 4-11 at Yalta, among the three main Allied powers: the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union. The three representative leaders for these countries were President Roosevelt, Prime Minister Churchill, and Premier Stalin. The earlier conference was known as the Tehran Conference, and the one to follow it would be called the Potsdam Conference. The goal of these conferences was to establish an agenda for post-war Germany and how to best deal with the ending of the most horrific war the war had ever experienced.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Yalta, 1945 Summit

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Each country had its own ideas coming into the conference, and this made the workings of the conference more difficult. Roosevelt desired the Soviets to assist the US in the Pacific war against the Japanese. Churchill sought the spread of democracy and free elections in Europe with the aid of the other two superpowers. Stalin wanted Soviet influence in Eastern European politics to secure Russian interests as a matter of national security for his country. In addition to thier agenda was the decision of what to do with Germany. This made for a difficult conference with much to be accomplished in a short time period.

//<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Source B //

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">The countries represented at Yalta naturally wanted to divide Germany into parts. They could not risk another power surge by Germany and World War. Germany had to be limited. Everyone had a different idea as to how Germany should be divided. The United States representative felt that Germany should be divided into five constituent parts. However, Churchill felt that a division into Prussia and Austria-Bavaria with the German heartland of the Ruhr and Westphalia under international controlwas best. The British representative also pushed for a zone occupation of France, which was initially opposed by Stalin, but he later accepted it. It was then decided that the exact boundries should be left up for future discussions. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">The next item on the agenda was the formation of the United Nations. President Roosevelt offered the idea that the UN should have a security council with four permanent members. These members would be: The United States, Great Britain, China, and the Soviet Union. Each of these members would have a veto. Churchill accepted this proposal. However, at first Stalin wanted all 15 Soviet republics to have a seat on the United Nations. Later, Stalin offered that the two main republics (Ukraine and Belorussia), as well as the Soviet Union, have a seat. Roosevelt and Churchill accepted this offer, which was an obvious improvement from the previous disposition. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Next on the agenda was the war reparations to be paid by the Germans. Josef Stalin wanted the Germans to pay twenty billion dollars, half of which would go to the Soviet Union. The British representative did not want any war reparations. Churchill pointed out that it was the extensive reparations after World War I that led to the rise of Hitler. Eventually, the topic was abandoned, and the representatives agreed to refer the matter to a reparations commission. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Then U.S. Secretary of State, Edward Steitinius, proposed a "Declaration of Liberated Europe". This declaration stated that the three powers pledged to:
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Establish conditions of internal peace
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Carry out measures for the relief of distressed peoples
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Form intern governmental authorities broadly representative of all democratic elements in the population and pledged to the earliest possible establishment through free elections of governments responsive to the will of the people.
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Facilitate where necessary the holding of such elections.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">This declaration was basically accepted by all the powers with challenge, and it was later used by the United States and Britain to claim that the Soviet Union has broken its agreement by virtue of its actions in Eastern Europe. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">The entry of Soviet forces into the war against Japan was almost exclusively between Roosevelt and Stalin. President Roosevelt was strongly opposed to increased British involvement in the war, because he knew Churchill would demand more colonies. At the same time however, he knew that he needed help on that front because the atomic bomb had not yet been tested. Therefore, the Soviet Union seemed to be the only logical alternative. Stalin agreed to enter the war on the side of the Allies within three months after the fall of Germany. In return, Roosevelt promised Stalin that he would have certain strategic lands. In the end, Stalin entered the war EXACTLY 3 months after the fall of Germany. Two days after the first atomic bomb was dropped, Stalin rushed a declaration of war against Japan. The Soviet leader waited so long because he wanted to gain the most, with the least amount of expenditures. The next day the second atomic bomb was dropped, and Japan surrendered. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">The final and most difficult item on the list was the future of Poland. Stalin wanted Poland to be under Soviet control, but both of the Western powers were vehemently opposed to this. Winston Churchill pointed out that the British people originally went to war when the sovereignty of Poland was at risk. The British leaders also pointed out that Britain "could never be content with ant solution that did not leave Poland a free and independent state". Neither side budged, but eventually Stalin promised to hold free elections within the month. From this point on, relations between the Soviet Union and the Western powers deteriorated.


 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Potsdam Conference: **
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Was held during July-August of 1945
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Purpose: to decide the future of Europe
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Attending: Truman, Atlee, and Stalin; they represented the three nations- Soviet Union, United Kingdom, and the United States
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Relations between the powers had worsened since Yalta
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Stalin invited the non-communist Polish leaders to meet him, and arrested them
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">May 1945, the British Joint Planing Group had drawn plans for 'Operation Unthinkable' -total war
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Roosevelt had died and Truman had come to power; however, he inclined to 'get tough' with the Russians
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Meanwhile, the Americans had a military advantage over everyone else-they had tested the first atomic bomb-this meant Truman did not need Stalin's help in Japan
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Truman's main aim at the conference was to find out what day the Russians indented to enter the war in the Pacific-this is something Truman,unlike Roosevelt, did not want
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">During the conference the following was agreed:
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">4 'Zones of Occupation' were to be set up in Germany
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Nazi party, government, and laws were to be destroyed
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">German education shall be so controlled in order to eliminate Nazi and militarist doctrines
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">To bring Nazi war-criminals to trail
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">To recognize the Polish Provisional Government of National Unity and hold 'free and unfettered elections' as possible
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Russia was allowed to take reparations from the Soviet Zone and also 10% of the industrial equipment of the Western Zones as reparations. American and Britain could take reparations from their zones if they wished.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Document:

//<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Source C // <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">This cartoon was published in the Soviet magazine Krokodil on 30 July 1945, <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">three days before the end of the Potsdam Conference.

//<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Source D // <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">The Russians only understand one language - ‘how many armies have you got?’ <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">I’m tired of babying the Soviets. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">President Truman, writing in January 1946

//<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Source E // <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Truman Statement on Displaced Persons: <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Washington, Dec. 22—The text of President Truman's statement on admission to this country of displaced persons and refugees in Europe, and his directive to Federal agencies on the matter were as follows: <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Official Statement: <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">"The war has brought in its wake an appalling dislocation of populations in Europe. Many humanitarian organizations, including the United Nations Relief and the Rehabilitation Administration, are doing their utmost to solve the multitude of problems arising in connection with this dislocation of hundreds of thousands of persons. Every effort is being made to return the displaced persons and refugees in the various countries of Europe to their former homes. The great difficulty is that so many of these persons have no homes to which they may return. The immensity of the problem of displaced persons and refugees is almost beyond comprehension. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">A number of countries in Europe, including Switzerland, Sweden, France and England, are working toward its solution. The United States shares the responsibility to relieve the suffering. To the extent that our present immigration laws permit, everything possible should be done at once to facilitate the entrance of some of these displaced persons and refugees into the United States. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">In this way we may do something to relieve human misery and set an example to the other countries of the world which are able to receive some of these war sufferers. I feel that it is essential that we do this ourselves to show our good faith in requesting other nations to open their doors for this purpose…. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">I hope that by early spring adequate consular facilities will be in operation in our zones in Europe, also that-immigration can begin immediately upon the availability of ships. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">I am informed that there are various measures now pending before the Congress which would either prohibit or severely reduce further immigration. I hope that such legislation will not be passed. This period of unspeakable human distress is not the time for us to close or to narrow our gates. I wish to emphasize however, that any effort to bring relief to these-displaced persons and refugees must and will be strictly within the limits of the present quotas as imposed by law…. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">The attached directive has been issued by me to the responsible Government agencies to carry out this policy. I wish to emphasize above all, that nothing in this directive will deprive a single American soldier or his wife or children of a berth on a vessel homeward bound, or delay their return. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">This is the opportunity for America to set an example for the rest of the world in cooperation toward alleviating human misery."

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Questions:
 * 1) <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">According to Source A, what were the main issues which arose during the Yalta Conference? How did this affect the proceedings? Explain.
 * 2) <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Source D and E both are statements Truman has made. Compare and contrast these two sources.
 * 3) <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Compare Origin, Purpose, Value, and Limitations for sources C and E.
 * 4) <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">With reference to Source B, explain how the aspects discussed at the Yalta Conference contributed to the Cold War.