February 4 - Yalta Conference

This Day in History: 4 February 2020

 

4 February 1945

 

75 years ago, today, the Yalta Conference took place, one of the first signs of the Cold War. Prime Minister Winston Churchill met with President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin to discuss diplomatic issues and the Allied war effort against Germany and Japan. This was the second meeting held between the Big Three, with the first being the Tehran Conference in November 1943. Some important agreements were made, such as the decision to split Germany into four zones after the war, each being controlled by a different power, and the Nazi party would be banned, and war criminals persecuted. However, there was no definite financial aid that the Soviets wanted, and as for the discussion of the United Nations, there was some disagreement. Stalin wanted all 16 Soviet republics to be admitted as individual memberships, but the US and France disagreed, and so only the Soviet Union, Belorussia and the Ukraine were permitted.

 

Poland proved to be the discussion point of the conference that caused the most mistrust and tension between the US and the Soviet Union. It was agreed that the borders of Poland would be returned to their position in 1921, which would increase the Soviet Union's gains, and there was to be free elections. However, Stalin expected these to bring about a pro-Communist government, but the British supported the non-Communist London Poles, who left Poland after the German invasion in 1939. Roosevelt, however, was pleased to secure the Soviet's participation in the war against Japan, but he soon died after the conference. The issue of Poland proved a difficult one to solve in future discussions.

 

Want to read more about the Yalta Conference, one of the first points of tension before the Cold War? Click here for more information, or click here to watch a video explaining the event.