Scott Beaudry

Yalta Conference
Final
In February 1945 the three major leaders of the Allies met at Yalta, a resort in Crimea on
the Black Sea. This meeting between the United States, Soviet Union, and Great Britain would
become one of the most important meetings in history. The leaders would discuss the progress of
the Second World War and the post war world. This meeting and the promises made would end
up leading to the increased tensions of the cold war. In order to fully understand the Yalta, we
first have to look at the events leading up to the conference and the leaders that went to the
conference.
The leader who felt they were in the best position was Joseph Stalin the dictator of the
Soviet Union. Stain had been the leader of the country since 1929 and he ruled with absolute
power. Under his rule Stalin made sure that no one challenged him by eliminating anyone that
opposed him. Before World War II broke out Stalin signed a treaty with Germany to keep the
Soviets out of the war. Germany would later break the agreement and invade Russia. For the
most part Russia had been the main country fighting with Germany. At a previous conference in
Tehran in 1943, Stalin had made the rest of the Allies promise to open up a second front in
Europe to take some of the pressure off the Soviets. The Soviets had managed to turn back the
Germany army after years of brutal fighting. The Soviets had pushed back Germany deep into
their own country. Coming into Yalta, Stalin was very confident due to the position his army was
in. Stalins main goal at Yalta was for the Eastern European counties to be used as a security
blanket to protect the USSR. Stalin wanted a strong Poland to prevent another country from

invading them again. Stalin had three principal aims at Yalta. First, he needed massive
economic aid for his devastated nation. He wanted secondly to regain rights and territory lost
during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. His third and most important goal was British and
American agreement to a Russian sphere of influence in Eastern Europe to ensure Russian
security.1 Stalin wanted to get Germany to pay reparations similar to how they did after the First
World War
Winston Churchill was the man who had helped lead Britain through the war. For the first few
years Britain held on as the only opposition to Germany. Once the French surrendered Britain
was the only major European country that stood against Nazi Germany. Germany would launch a
massive bombing campaign against the British. Britain would holdout until Germany gave up
and moved on to Russia. Britain would continue to fight on mainly with the Americans.
Churchills main goal at Yalta was to see all of the Soviet occupied Eastern European countries
freed and elections held. Churchill believed in self determination, the belief that countries had
the rights to choose their own form of government. Churchill was concerned primarily with the
postwar structure of Europe. While he supported the establishment of the United Nations, he felt
that the future of Europe was more important. The United Nations could help maintain an
existing peaceful order, he argued, but it could never create political stability. Churchill
concentrated on a series of European problems: the status of Germany, the future role of
liberated France, and the status of Poland. Churchill also wanted to clarify Britain's position in
Iran and the Balkans. Unlike Roosevelt and Stalin, Churchill had little interest in the war effort
against Japan.2 Churchill believed that this was one of the principle reasons that Britain had
1 World History in Context
2 World History in Context

gone to war against Germany in the first place. It was Germanys invasion of Poland that caused
Britain and France goes to war. Churchill did not want to see the war end just the have Eastern
Europe, the area they joined to protect, occupied by another country. For this reason Churchill
saw getting Stalin to hold free elections in Eastern Europe as his number one priority.
For America President Roosevelt would make the trip out to Yalta. America entered the war in
1941 when they were attacked by Japan. Germany soon declared war on the U.S after the attack.
The Americans had been fighting the Germans all over the world with large campaigns in North
Africa, Italy and then finally France. The U.S was fighting a two front war, also engaged in the
Pacific against Japan. At the Tehran Conference Roosevelt had promised Stalin he would open a
second front by invading France and also agreed that the war in Europe needed to be ended first
before they focused on the Pacific. Roosevelt, like Churchill, wanted to free elections in Poland
but he also wanted to get the Soviets to agree to attack Japan after Germany had surrendered.
Roosevelt was particularly interested in gaining Russian troop support in the war effort in the
Far East. Because the war in the Pacific appeared far from over at the time, the United
States wanted the Red Army to help in the American invasion of Japan.3 He also wanted to get a
Soviet agreement that they would join the United Nations, a new postwar organization designed
to prevent future wars.
In 1945 World War II was still raging but the end was in site. By the time of Yalta the
Russia army was only 40 miles out of Berlin and getting closer every day. The Americans had
already opened up the second front and they were also pushing toward Berlin. In the Pacific the
United States was slowly making progress toward Japan. The war was coming to an end by May

3 World History in Context

Germany would surrender and by August the war would end with the surrender of Japan. Most of
the discussions at Yalta were about the post war world for this reason.
The meeting lasted eight days and the leaders came to a bunch of agreements. First off
they agreed that they would only accept the unconditional surrender of Germany. At the time this
seemed like the best option for Germany and it probably was but this divide would ended up
being the dividing line of all of Europe for years to come. The United Kingdom, the United
States of America, and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics shall possess supreme authority
with respect to Germany. In the exercise of such authority they will take such steps, including the
complete disarmament, demilitarization, and the dismemberment of Germany as they deem
requisite for future peace and security.4 They also agreed they would occupy Germany and split
it up into four zones with Berlin also being spit up. Each of the countries would take a zone and
the fourth would be given to France. It was agreed that a zone in Germany, to be occupied by
the French forces, should be allocated to France. This zone would be formed out of the British
and American zones and its extent would be settled by the British and Americans in consultation
with the French Provisional Government.5
There really wasnt much debate about post war Germany with the exception of
reparations. Stalin wanted $20 Billion from Germany to repair the war torn Soviet Union.
Churchill was against putting a number value until they could figure out what Germany could
afford. Churchill wanted to avoid destroying the society of German. He didnt want to create a
situation where a radical leader like Hitler could take over Germany. They instead created a

4 Yalta Agreement
5 Yalta Agreement

commission in Moscow to look at the issue. Stalin was allowed to take reparations in form of
equipment and supplies from Germany.6 They also decided to hold off on making a decision
about the German war criminals.
They agreed on the border lines between Poland and Russia. Roosevelt and Churchill
agreed to recognize the communist government that the USSR set up. In exchange Stalin agreed
to hold free elections in Poland. A new situation has been created in Poland as a result of her
complete liberation by the Red Army. This calls for the establishment of a Polish Provisional
Government which can be more broadly based than was possible before the recent liberation of
the western part of Poland. The Provisional Government which is now functioning in Poland
should therefore be reorganized on a broader democratic basis with the inclusion of democratic
leaders from Poland itself and from Poles abroad. This new government should then be called the
Polish Provisional Government of National Unity.7 The United States and Great Britain agreed
to recognize the Soviet government in Poland with assurances that they would hold the elections.
Stalin agreed to join the United Nations as well. Stalin also agreed to join the war against Japan
three months after Germany surrendered.
Both Churchill and Roosevelt stressed to Stalin the need for free elections in Eastern
Europe. They both said that countries had the rights to choose their own governments. 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. This is a principle of the

6 The Yalta Agreement

7 The Yalta Agreement

Atlantic Charter the right of all peoples to choose the form of government under which they
will live the restoration of sovereign rights and self-government to those peoples who have
been forcibly deprived of them by the aggressor nations.8 They wanted to help aid and rebuild
the war torn nations and then let them be free. Stalin told the other leaders that he agreed and
they believed him.
One of the first big things to come out of Yalta was the establishment of the United
Nations. The UN was a more modern version of the failed League of Nations that was created
after WWI. The UN was designed to prevent future wars. The purpose of the UN was stated in
the charter as To maintain international peace and security, and to that end: to take effective
collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace, and for the
suppression of acts of aggression or other breaches of the peace, and to bring about by peaceful
means, and in conformity with the principles of justice and international law, adjustment or
settlement of international disputes or situations which might lead to a breach of the peace9. The
UN was made up of any country that wanted to join. Each country would get a vote in the
general assembly. They also had a security council that had more power. In this council they had
permanent members in which the U.S and the USSR were a part of.
When you read the agreements these leaders came to its hard to see why Yalta is such a
high debated subject. But what Roosevelt and Churchill didnt realize that Stalin had no
intentions of giving up any influence in Eastern Europe. There were never any free elections held
and if they were they were rigged to let the Soviet communist government win. Stalin never

8 Yalta Agreement
9 UN Charter

moved any troops out of any of those countries. Basically the agreements made at Yalta created
the Iron Curtain that would divide Europe for over 50 years.
What more could Roosevelt have done to prevent Stalin from taking Eastern Europe?
This has been the biggest point debated. Many think that Roosevelt was too soft with Stalin and
that he was foolish to trust Stalin on his word. Once it became clear that Stalin wasnt going to
hold the elections Roosevelt could have challenged him more. Churchill had wanted Roosevelt to
challenge Stalin more when it came to Eastern Europe. Historians like Arnold Beichman have
argued that Roosevelt failed to contain communism. Beichman questions the way in which
Roosevelt approached the issues at Yalta. Beichman says from the time he took office in 1933,
FDR ignored informed assessments from within the State Department of the nature of Soviet
diplomacy and that, consequently, the peoples of Central Europe for some four decades paid the
price10 He criticizes FDR for being ignorant in his thinking that he could charm and control
Stalin. W. Averell Harriman, Roosevelts ambassador to the Soviet Union, was also critical of
the president, describing him as a statesman who had no conception of the determination of the
Russians to settle matters in which they consider that they have a vital interest in their own
manner, on their own terms. . . . The President still feels he can persuade Stalin to alter his point
of view on many matters that, I am satisfied, Stalin will never agree to. 11 He points out that
Roosevelt foolishly believed that Stalin would keep up his end of the Yalta agreement. By the
time FDR realized he had failed at Yalta, it was too late to do anything about it. On March 23,
1945, nineteen days before he died, President Roosevelt confided to Anna Rosenberg, Averell is
right. We cant do business with Stalin. He has broken every one of the promises he made at
10 http://www.hoover.org/research/roosevelts-failure-yalta
11 http://www.hoover.org/research/roosevelts-failure-yalta

Yalta. In other words, FDR had really believed that Stalin would keep his promises and treaty
engagements.12 He ends his easy by sayingCausality in history is not easy to prove, certainly
not with any conclusiveness and not without the risk of oversimplification. Still I think we can
say with some justification that Roosevelts negotiations with Stalin had little to do with the
eventual liberation of the Soviet satellite states in the late 1980s. If anything, FDR unwittingly
helped Stalin enforce his domination over Central and Eastern Europe.13 Beichman points out
all of criticism that has come out since the Yalta conference ended.
At the same time defenders of Roosevelt point out that Roosevelt didnt let the Soviets
take Eastern Europe that the Soviets already had it. Defenders of the agreement point to the
facts on the ground: the Red Army controlled Poland and was 40 miles from Berlin, while the
Allies in the West had yet to cross the Rhine. ''Roosevelt didn't give Stalin Eastern Europe; Stalin
had taken Eastern Europe,'' said James MacGregor Burns, a Roosevelt biographer. ''They had the
bodies on the soil.'' In the view of Roosevelt's admirers, his bargaining stance was constricted not
just by the position of the Red Army but also by his need to win Stalin's cooperation in realms
beyond Eastern Europe. Roosevelt, who did not know whether the atomic bomb would work, felt
he would need Soviet help against Japan as well as Germany. Roosevelt was also determined to
secure Stalin's participation in the nascent United Nations. In that context, Roosevelt's defenders
say, securing Soviet endorsement of free Polish elections was the best he could do. 14The Soviet
troops took over Eastern Europe as they pushed the Germany army back. 15 Others say that the
problem was that Stalin was too invested in getting Stalin to agree to join the UN. Roosevelt in
12 http://www.hoover.org/research/roosevelts-failure-yalta
13 http://www.hoover.org/research/roosevelts-failure-yalta
14 NY Times

turn surrendered Eastern Europe. You also have to take into account that the allies really did
believe that Stalin would keep his promise. Up to that point they had no reason not to believe
him. So its hard to blame Roosevelt for Yalta. He had no way of knowing what would happen.
Other historians such as Arthur Schlesinger Jr. have long defended Roosevelt. The Soviets would
eventually move out of Europe but it would not be for another 40 years. Schlesinger says that the
counter rebellions of the 1980s were Roosevelts aim at Yalta the whole time.
The timing of Yalta as didnt help. America was still heavily involved on two fronts.
Roosevelt knew that despite the Germans weak state that Japan was still fighting hard. The
pacific front was still causing a large number of casualties. Roosevelt would not live very long
after this conference, dying on two months later so its unclear if he would have eventually tried
to force Stalin to hold to his word. It has also been thought that Roosevelt might not have been
able to think clearly due to his medical state.
At the time getting Stalin to sign the agreement was really the best thing he could have
gotten. The Soviet army was pretty well dug into Europe not to mention the size of the army was
much larger than the allies at that time. Its hard to imagine that the Soviets would have just
walked out of Europe if the Americans had asked them to. The more information that has come
out since the end of the war shows that Stalin never had any plans to give up Eastern Europe. Its
hard to imagine that a war with Russia over Eastern Europe right after ending the worst war in
history would have been popular. That kind of war would be extremely unpopular with the
American public and would probably not have much support in Congress. I dont even think that
Truman would have been bold enough to try this strategy. Based on this Im not sure what else
could have been done to stop Russia. Critics point out that it was foolish of Roosevelt to trust
15 NY Times

Stalin and it was but what else could he have done? Roosevelt probably should have taken
Churchills advice and challenged Stalin but there is a good amount of evidence that Stalin was
not going to move his troops without a threat of war and I dont think that was realistic option for
America coming off such a brutal war as WWII.
Yalta has for a longtime been considered the start of the cold war. After Yalta Harry
Truman would become president and he wouldnt have the same attitude toward the Soviets as
FDR. Roosevelt had believed that the best way to deal with Soviets was to try and work with
them. Truman did not have the same ideas. Truman wanted to oppose the Soviets any chance he
got. This is along with the United States dropping the atomic bombs on Japan would cause the
rising tensions between the two super powers. Yalta is where the stage was set for the cold war.

" The Yalta Agreement," Annals of American History.

<http://america.eb.com/america/article?articleId=387017&query=Yalta+Conference+>
[Accessed November 9, 2015].
This is a primary document from the Yalta Conference. This is the agreement that the allies came
to at the end of the Yalta agreement. This document lays out all of the decisions the leaders came
to. I will use this document to show evidence of what happened at the Yalta conference.
"Yalta Conference." The Cold War--1945-1991. Gale, 1992. World History in Context. Web. 9 Nov.
2015.
This is a web page summarizes the events of the Yalta conference. This is a secondary source that
I will use for general knowledge about the event. This is a secondary source that I will use as a
reference.
" Charter of the United Nations," Annals of American History.
<http://america.eb.com/america/article?articleId=387008&query=Yalta+Conference+>
[Accessed November 9, 2015].
One of the biggest things to come out of Yalta was the establishment of the United Nations. This
is the charter that was signed by the allies. It shows the goals of the UN as well as the rules they
would follow to run the organization. I will use this primary source when discussing the UN and
their formation.
Deparle, Jason. "THE WORLD; The Bitter Legacy of Yalta: Four Decades of What-Ifs." New
York Times26 Nov. 1989. World History in Context. Web. 9 Nov. 2015.
This is a news article written about the legacy of the Yalta Conference written 40 years after the
conference. This article breaks down the conference and how the decisions made affected the
world. The author also talks about the mistakes made. If different decisions were made then
maybe cold war tensions would have never been escalated. I will use this article to support my
argument about the legacy the Yalta has left behind.
Beichman, Jason Roosevelts failure at Yalta Hoover Institution. October 30, 2004.
http://www.hoover.org/research/roosevelts-failure-yalta
This is an article written about the conference at Yalta. The author is very critical of
President Roosevelts actions at the conference. This is a very important point of
view when looking at the history of Yalta and the debate that has raged on about
the effects of Yalta and the cold war.