The most
important meetings of the Second World War were held between the
During these
meetings, Winston Churchill, representing the
After the
outbreak of the Second World War, the
Iosif Stalin first met Churchill and
Roosevelt in Teheran, November and December 1943. At this conference, it was
agreed that the
German forces were declining by the
time the
A few months after the
Before all three conferences, the powers made pacts with
each other. At
The three Governments took note that the Soviet Representatives on the Allied Control Commissions in Rumania, Bulgaria, and Hungary, have communicated to their United Kingdom and United States colleagues' proposals for improving the work of the Control Commissions, now that hostilities in Europe have ceased.
The three Governments agreed that the revision of the procedures of the Allied Control Commissions in these countries would now be undertaken, taking into account the interests and responsibilities of the three Governments which together presented the terms of armistice to the respective countries, and accepting as a basis, in respect of all three countries, the Soviet Government's proposals for Hungary as annexed hereto. " (https://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/decade/decade17.htm)
At Yalta the Leaders agreed that the Axis countries would have to pay $ 20,000,000,000 for reparations. Of this, half went to USSR. It was a fare price, since the Russians had almost half (20,000,000) of the 55,000,000 casualties of World War II. "It was agreed at Yalta that the sum of $20,000 million should be taken as a basis for further discussions, half of it being claimed by USSR for itself and Poland. At Potsdam, the Russians, whose need for reparations in kind of cash was intense, secured agreement for removals from their zone of occupation to meet Russian and Polish reparation claims, but nothing was settled about the extent of the claims. The western allies were likewise to be entitled to dismantle and remove property in their zones in order to meet their claims and those of the remaining allies." (Peter Calvocoressi, World Politics Since 1945, sixth edition, Longman Publishers, page 15)
The situations that emerged from the Potsdam and Yalta conferences were the same: Europe would be divided into two influence spheres. Roosevelt and Churchill, however, could only agree to the influence zones, since the Russian army was already in these countries. The "Iron Curtain" was the demarcation line between the Occident and the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. East of the Iron curtain you could find Poland, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, the USSR and Eastern Germany. "It has been argued that the division of Europe and the resulting Russian overlordship in Eastern Europe were the consequence not of historical accident, but of agreement, notably agreement at Yalta by Roosevelt and Churchill to give Stalin a position of power which otherwise he could not have achieved. This argument cannot be sustained. Roosevelt and Churchill conceded at Yalta nothing that it was in their power to withhold. The Russians armies were already in occupation of positions in Europe from which they could not be expelled (.) [Stalin] created a satellite empire in witch the component states retained their separate juristic identities (.) but were subjected to Russian purposes by the realities of Russian military power and the modalities of Communist Party and police rule and unequal economic treaties. There was soon little difference between former foes like Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria, and wartime allies like Poland, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia." (Peter Calvocoressi, World Politics Since 1945, sixth edition, Longman Publishers, page 231)
Before the Potsdam conference, the US senators who had recently visited Europe believed that most of the continent would change democracy for communism after the war. <According to several senators that had recently toured postwar Europe in a meeting with President Truman, ' . . . Their song was that France would go Communistic, so would Germany, Italy and the Scandinavians, and there was grave doubt about England staying sane.'> (https://www.trumanlibrary.org/teacher/potsdam.htm#intro) A communistic Europe would have been the Russian ideal for the post war situation. At Potsdam, Truman was left to defend the principles of democracy. Although not an experienced diplomat, the US president had a powerful ace: the atomic bomb.' The Potsdam Conference, a meeting of the victorious leaders of the Allies in Europe, attempted to confront the delicate balance of power of the opposing governmental structures, democracy and communism. Held in an unbombed suburb of Berlin, it commenced July 17 lasting to August 2. Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and President Truman began the conference for their respective countries. On the agenda was the partitioning of the postwar world and resolving the problems of the war in the Far East. This included hammering out the details regarding the division of Germany; the movement of populations from Czechoslovakia, Austria, and Italy; the creation of a Council of Foreign Ministers to administer the agreed upon zones of occupation; and issuing a proclamation demanding unconditional surrender from the Japanese government. Truman, despite his relative inexperience in dealing with foreign diplomats, was holding a trump card that would give him confidence in making demands of the other leadersthe atomic bomb. The most powerful and destructive armament to date, the atomic bomb was solely in the hands of the United States government. " (https://www.trumanlibrary.org/teacher/potsdam.htm#intro)
The three conferences were extremely important to the shape of the world, as we knew it for more than 40 years, since 1945 to 1989. The post war Europe was decided at Yalta and Potsdam and those decisions had an impact on the whole world. The meeting of the Second World War will always be remembered as shapers of the world.
Cited Works:
At Yalta, the American president followed two major objectives. The first one was to obtain from Stalin, in exchange for any concessions, the adhesion of USSR to the United Nations. The second, to get Stalin to confirm that he will go to war against Japan. (.) Sunday, February 11th, the three leaders left. Roosevelt, happy with the concessions he had made;(.) concessions paid by with a part of Europe and another part of Asia. (.) Stalin-happy that he gained what had not even hoped for.
