The art of war is a science in which nothing succeeds except what has been calculated and thought out.
Napoleon
The Yalta (Crimean) Conference took place on February 4-11, 1945 at the Livadia Palace in Yalta (Crimea). The conference was attended by leaders of 3 powers: USSR (Stalin), USA (Roosevelt), Great Britain (Churchill). Foreign ministers, chiefs of staff and advisers took part in the conference along with the leaders of the countries. The main question is the post-war world order and the fate of Germany. By this moment, it was absolutely clear that the war had been won and the question of the surrender of Nazi Germany was a matter of several months.
Choosing a conference venue
Planning for the conference began about six months in advance, and the leaders of the countries first spoke about its need in May 1944. Churchill did not express wishes or demands regarding the venue, but Roosevelt suggested holding the meeting in Rome, citing the fact that the US Constitution does not allow him to leave the country for a long time, and he himself can only move in a wheelchair. Stalin rejected this proposal and insisted on holding a conference in Yalta, although Roosevelt also proposed Athens, Alexandria and Jerusalem. He talked about places with warm climates.
By holding a conference in Yalta, in Crimea, Stalin wanted to once again demonstrate the power of the Soviet army, which independently liberated this territory from the German occupiers.
Operation Valley
“Valley” is the code name for the operation to ensure security and other issues of the conference in Crimea. On January 3, Stalin instructed Beria personally to carry out these events. First of all, we determined the locations of the delegates:
- Livadia Palace is the location of the US delegation and the venue for the conference.
- Vorontsov Palace is the location of the British delegation in Yalta.
- The Yusupov Palace is the location of the USSR delegation.
Around January 15, NKVD operational groups began working in Crimea. Counterintelligence was active. More than 67 thousand people were checked, 324 were detained, 197 were arrested. 267 rifles, 283 grenades, 1 machine gun, 43 machine guns and 49 pistols were confiscated from the verified persons. Such counterintelligence activity and unprecedented security measures gave rise to rumors among the population - preparing for war with Turkey. This myth was dispelled later when the reasons for these actions became clear - the holding of an international conference of the heads of the 3 leading world powers in Yalta to discuss issues of further development of Europe and the world.
Issues discussed
War with Japan
At the Yalta Conference, the issue of the USSR's entry into the war against Japan was discussed separately. Stalin said that this was possible, but not earlier than 3 months after the complete surrender of Germany. At the same time, the Soviet leader named a number of conditions for the USSR to enter the war against Japan:
- The results of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905 are annulled, and the USSR returns all territories lost by the tsarist government.
- The USSR receives the Kuril Islands and South Sakhalin.
The issue of the USSR starting a war with Japan did not raise any big questions, since Stalin was interested in this. It was obvious that Japan would not be able to resist the allied army, and at the cost of little effort it would be possible to win and return the previously lost lands.
All decisions of the Crimean Conference
Yalta Conference On February 4 – 11, 1945, a document was developed, the main points of which were as follows:
- Creation of the United Nations. The first meeting at which the organization's charter was to be developed took place on April 25, 1945 in San Francisco (USA). All countries that were at war with Germany at the time of February 8 could join the UN. It was decided to create the UN Security Council, which included the USSR (successor to Russia), the USA, Great Britain, China and France. All 5 countries have the right of “veto”: imposing a ban on any decision of the organization.
- Declaration of the Liberation of Europe. Zones of influence over countries subordinate to Germany were demarcated.
- Dismemberment of Germany. It was decided that the USSR, the USA and England would have full power over Germany, taking all measures that they consider reasonable for future security peace. A commission was created by Eden, Winant and Gusev, who were in charge of these issues and had to decide whether France should be involved in the dismemberment process.
- Zone of French occupation in Germany. Stalin sharply opposed this idea, saying that France did not fight, and therefore did not have the right to the occupation zone. But if the USA and England consider this acceptable, let them allocate such a zone from their territories to the French. So it was decided.
- Reparations. It was decided to create a commission that would determine the amount of reparations. The commission met in Moscow. The payment plan was as follows: one-time (after the defeat of Germany, reparations were withdrawn, which would deprive Germany of its military and economic potential), annually (the duration and volume of annual payments was to be established by a commission) and the use of German labor.
- Polish question. The creation of a Provisional Polish Government was approved, the eastern border with the USSR along the Curzon line was approved, and the right to expand Poland to the West and North was recognized. As a result, Poland expanded its territory and received a more democratic government.
- Yugoslavia. It was decided later to solve the problems of the country and its borders.
- Southeastern Europe. It was decided to create a commission that would solve 3 main problems: 1 - oil equipment in Romania, 2 - Greek claims against Bulgaria, 3 - the creation of a commission on Bulgarian issues.
The Yalta Conference basically did not contain complex issues, since there were agreements. The most pressing issue was reparations from Germany. The Soviet Union demanded reparations of 20 billion dollars, 10 of which were to be allocated to the USSR, and the other 10 to other countries. Churchill was strongly against it, but it was decided to create a separate commission to resolve this issue.
For Crimea, which has reunited with Russia, some pages of history are especially memorable. One of these events is the Yalta Conference in 1945, which hosted the leaders of the so-called. The Big Three on the eve of the end of World War II.
Yalta Conference: reasons, results, decisions
In February 1945, in the Livadia Palace, US President Roosevelt, British Prime Minister William Churchill and General Secretary of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks Joseph Stalin decided the post-war fate of the world. The conference took place in the ballroom of Emperor Nicholas II. The bedroom of the former Russian autocrat was given to Roosevelt, and Churchill and his retinue settled in the Vorontsov Palace in Alupka.
The location of the conference was not chosen by chance. The fact is that the head of the United States has been confined to a wheelchair for many years. Stalin makes a broad gesture - the meetings are held in the same building where the American president was accommodated in order to reduce his movements to a minimum. The whole world was watching what was happening in a small seaside village. The conference participants were provided with enhanced security.
Many years later, from the declassified archives of the KGB of the USSR, the script of the radio game will become known, thanks to which during the entire period of the Yalta Conference not a single air bomb fell on the heads of its participants. From a bunker located in one of the villages near Yalta, converted Nazi Abwehr agents, who were identified in advance, sent false information about weather conditions to Germany.
Even the food served to the table of the leaders of the three powers was carefully checked. Roosevelt loved cabbage soup, Churchill preferred broths, Stalin was absolutely not picky about food. Here, at an ordinary table, the final documents of the conference were signed. One of the most serious decisions was the decision to create the United Nations in the very near future. The issue of the place and time of the founding conference was agreed upon, at which the charter of this organization was supposed to be adopted.
In April 1945, a conference began its work in San Francisco, America, where this charter was ultimately adopted. A separate document agreed on issues of principle for the Soviet side regarding the fate of the Far East. Stalin, in private conversations, guaranteed the USSR's entry into the war with Japan. The political conditions under which the Soviet Union was to enter the war against Japan were discussed. This, in particular, is the return of those positions that Tsarist Russia lost as a result of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905.
The Soviet Union, represented by Stalin, assumed the obligation to declare war on Japan, but this was to happen only a few months after hostilities in Europe ended. As is well known today, this is what happened. In August 1945, Soviet troops began to defeat the Kwantung Army, and in September of the same year, World War II ended.
The leaders of the Big Three countries in Yalta solved several very difficult problems. They defined the contours of new state borders between those countries that had recently been occupied by the Third Reich. The Allies were well aware that after their common enemy, Germany, disappeared from the political map, the forced union of the West and the USSR would lose all meaning. They should have developed procedures that would firmly guarantee the immutability of the new lines drawn on the post-war map of the world. This was partially achieved.
- Several years ago, the famous Russian director Tigran Keosayan shot a television mini-series “Yalta-45”, where the above-described events were recreated - of course, in the playful and exciting genre of part action film, part melodrama. The main emphasis was placed precisely on the prevention by Soviet intelligence of German attempts to disrupt the meeting of Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill.
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A history and social studies teacher gives a presentation on the Crimean conference in 1945. The author presents a photograph of the conference venue - the Livadia Palace in Yalta, and names its goal - the establishment of a post-war world
It is from this event that the countdown of a new stage in the history of human civilization in general and the history of the twentieth century in particular begins. Following the conclusion of the Second World War, the world became bipolar and very soon became the arena of military
From February 4 to February 12, 1945, a conference of the leaders of the three allied powers - the USSR, the USA and Great Britain - took place in Crimea. The Soviet delegation was headed by I.V. Stalin, American - F. Roosevelt, English - W. Churchill. People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the USSR V.M. took part. Molotov, US Secretary of State E. Stettinius, British Foreign Secretary A. Eden, as well as the chiefs of general staff and advisers of the countries participating in the conference.
The question of a summit meeting was first raised by F. Roosevelt and W. Churchill in July 1944. The final date and place of the meeting were determined in further correspondence between the leaders of the three powers. F. Roosevelt's nomination of his candidacy for a new presidential term, his participation in the election campaign and taking office made it impossible to open the conference before the beginning of February 1945.
The US President suggested Northern Scotland, Cyprus, Athens or Malta as a meeting place, the British Prime Minister - Alexandria or Jerusalem. I.V. Stalin vigorously defended his proposal: the southern coast of Crimea, and in the end he managed to convince the allies that the Soviet government was able to ensure complete security for the conference.
The meeting of the “Big Three” took place at the final stage of the Second World War. As a result of the successful offensive actions of the Red Army, the territory of our country, most of Poland, was completely liberated, our divisions entered German territory. On June 6, 1944, Allied troops landed in northern France, the long-awaited second front opened, the anti-fascist movement in the occupied countries was gaining strength, and the situation in the Pacific theater of military operations changed for the better.
At the Crimean Conference, the Allied powers agreed on joint military measures for the final defeat of the armed forces of Nazi Germany, determined their attitude towards Germany after its unconditional surrender and outlined the basic principles of a common policy regarding the post-war organization of the world.
The leaders of the Allied Powers solemnly declared: “It is our unyielding goal to destroy German militarism and Nazism and to ensure that Germany will never again be able to disturb the peace of the world. We are determined to disarm and disband all German armed forces, to destroy once and for all the German General Staff, which has repeatedly contributed to the revival of German militarism, to confiscate or destroy all German military equipment, to liquidate or take control of all German industry that could be used for military purposes. production; to subject all war criminals to just and speedy punishment... to wipe out the Nazi Party, Nazi laws, organizations and institutions from the face of the earth; eliminate all Nazi and militaristic influence from public institutions, from the cultural and economic life of the German people...”
It was emphasized that after the eradication of Nazism and militarism, the German people would be able to take their rightful place in the community of nations.
The most important issue at the Crimean Conference was the creation of the United Nations. The agreement on the voting procedure in the Security Council (the “Yalta Formula”) took into account the principle of unanimity of the permanent members of the Council, defended by the Soviet delegation, when making decisions on all issues related to ensuring peace and security. The communiqué adopted at Yalta emphasized that the United Nations would play an important role “both in preventing aggression and in eliminating the political, economic and social causes of war through close and constant cooperation of all peace-loving peoples.”
In the context of discussing UN issues, the Soviet delegation obtained the consent of the United States and Great Britain for the Ukrainian SSR and the Belarusian SSR to become founding members of the international organization being created.
The “Declaration of a Liberated Europe” emphasized the desire of the Allied powers to coordinate their actions in solving the political and economic problems of a liberated Europe. The declaration stated: “The establishment of order in Europe and the reconstruction of national economic life must be achieved in such a way as will enable the liberated peoples to destroy the last traces of Nazism and fascism and to create democratic institutions of their own choice.” It was stated that, in accordance with the right of all peoples to choose the form of government under which they would live, the restoration of sovereign rights and self-government should be ensured to those peoples who had been deprived of this by aggressive states through violence. The determination, together with other peace-loving countries, to create an international legal order consistent with peace, security, freedom and the general welfare of mankind was confirmed.
At Yalta, the Allied Powers reaffirmed their desire to see Poland strong, free, independent and democratic and to guarantee its security. As a result of decisions taken in Yalta and later in Potsdam, Poland received a significant increase in its territory in the north and west.
At the Crimea Conference, the Soviet Union committed itself to entering the war against Japan two to three months after the end of the war in Europe. At the same time, the following conditions were set: maintaining the status of Outer Mongolia (Mongolian People's Republic); restoration of Russian rights violated by the treacherous attack of Japan in 1904, including the return to the Soviet Union of the southern part of Sakhalin Island and all adjacent islands; transfer of the Kuril Islands to the Soviet Union. The leaders of the three great powers agreed that these conditions of the Soviet Union "must be unconditionally satisfied after the victory over Japan."
The conference communique noted “the determination to preserve and strengthen in the coming period of peace that unity of purpose and action which has made victory in modern war possible and certain for the United Nations.”
The Crimean Conference, along with the Potsdam Conference, marked the end of the largest historical geopolitical conflict and determined the political appearance of the world in the second half of the 20th century. A system of international relations emerged, which, based on a new balance of forces, predetermined the need to take into account the interests of the two superpowers, which, in turn, gave international processes a high degree of controllability.
The decisions of the Crimean Conference reflected the reasonable and realistic policy of statesmen of the three powers. They showed high negotiability, made compromises without hiding political differences, agreed on rules of conduct and achieved a relative balance that kept the world in relative stability for almost fifty years.
The Yalta agreements are an invaluable methodological experience from the point of view of harmonizing the current and future international order. The decisions adopted in Yalta in concentrated form embodied the many years of experience of peoples in their struggle against fascism and militarism. The success of the conference was greatly facilitated by the measures taken by the Soviet leadership aimed at intensifying international relations, which contributed to the strengthening of the anti-Hitler coalition, the growth of trust in the Soviet Union and its international authority.
A major role in this process was played by the Soviet diplomatic service, whose activities during the war, according to the well-known expression of I.V. Stalin, was equal to the efforts of 20 divisions at the front. The struggle for the comprehensive and complete implementation of the decisions of the Crimean Conference became one of the main tasks of Soviet diplomacy not only in wartime, but also in the post-war years.
In conditions when the controversy surrounding the Yalta agreements remains part of the modern political struggle on the cardinal problems of war and peace, Russian diplomacy makes full use of its resources, repelling fabrications about alleged Soviet and Russian “violations” of the Yalta agreements or about “one-sided benefits” Yalta decisions for our country. It actively promotes a course towards strengthening international peace, general security and stability in order to establish a fair and democratic international system based on collective principles in solving international problems, on the supremacy of international law, primarily on the provisions of the UN Charter, as well as on equal rights and partnerships relations between states with the central coordinating role of the UN as the main organization regulating international relations.
Letter from the US Ambassador to the USSR W.A. Harriman to the People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the USSR V.M. Molotov with a proposal to J.V. Stalin to designate the upcoming meeting of the leaders of the three allied powers - the USSR, the USA and Great Britain in Yalta with the code name "Argonaut".
January 8, 1945
Letter from the USSR People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs V.M. Molotov to the US Ambassador to the USSR W.A. Harriman about J.V. Stalin's agreement with the choice of the code name "Argonaut" for the upcoming meeting of the leaders of the three allied powers.
January 10, 1945
List of persons accompanying I.V. Stalin at the Crimean Conference.
January 1945
List of people who attended dinner with I.V. Stalin in the Yusupov Palace.
February 8, 1945
Lunch menu at the Vorontsov Palace with autographs of J.V. Stalin, W. Churchill and F.D. Roosevelt.
February 10, 1945
Protocol of the Crimean Conference" with signatures - E.R. Stettinius, V.M. Molotov and A. Eden (first and last pages).
February 11, 1945
Or the meeting of the leaders of the USSR, USA and Great Britain Joseph Stalin, Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill, all researchers and historians call historical. It was there, from February 4 to February 11, 1945, that a number of decisions were made that determined the structure of Europe and the world as a whole for decades to come.
At the same time, the meeting of the Big Three was not limited to geopolitical decisions. There were official and informal receptions, informal meetings, stops along the way, many of which are still shrouded in mystery.Not Malta, not Sicily, not Rome. To Yalta!
The first meeting of Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill took place in November 1943 in Tehran. It determined the preliminary dates for the Allied landings in Europe in 1944.
Immediately after Tehran-43 and the landing of allied troops in France in June 1944, the heads of the three states began to test the waters about holding a meeting in personal correspondence. According to historians, US President Franklin Roosevelt was the first to raise the topic of a new conference, or as they say now, a summit. In one of his messages to Stalin, he writes: “a meeting should soon be arranged between you, the Prime Minister and me. Mr. Churchill completely agrees with this idea.”
The meeting was originally supposed to be held in Northern Scotland, Ireland, then on the island of Malta. Possible meeting places also included Cairo, Athens, Rome, Sicily and Jerusalem. However, the Soviet side, despite the objections of the Americans, insisted on holding the conference on its territory.
Churchill, like the Americans, did not want to go to Crimea and noted in a letter to Roosevelt that “the climate and conditions there are terrible.”
Nevertheless, the southern coast of Crimea and specifically Yalta, which was less destroyed after the occupation, were chosen as the meeting place.
"Eureka" and "Argonaut"
What Stalin allowed the British Prime Minister, who did not want to go to Crimea, was to give the code name for the conference, which was mentioned in secret correspondence. Namely "Argonaut". Grumpy Churchill proposed this name, as if drawing a parallel between the ancient heroes of ancient Greek myths, who went to the Black Sea region for the Golden Fleece, and the participants of the Yalta Conference, who went to almost the same places, but the “Golden Fleece” for them would be the future of the world and the division of spheres of influence .
Greek mythology hovered invisibly in the relations of the Big Three. It is no coincidence that the Tehran meeting of 1943 was held under the code name “Eureka”. According to legend, it was with this legendary exclamation (“Found!”) that Archimedes of Syracuse discovered the law that “on a body immersed in a liquid...”.
It is no coincidence that Tehran-43 showed a convergence of the positions of the heads of the three great powers, who really found mutual language and ways to full cooperation.
Airplanes, anti-aircraft guns, ships and armored trains: safety comes first
Although in February 1945 the war was in its final stages, increased attention was paid to the security of the participants in the Yalta Conference.
According to the Russian writer and historian Alexander Shirokorad, which he cites in his publication in the Independent Military Review, thousands of Soviet, American and British security and safety officers, ships and aircraft of the Black Sea Fleet and the US Navy were involved to ensure the safe conduct of the meeting. Great Britain. On the US side, Marine Corps units took part in protecting the President.
The air defense of the Saki airfield alone, which hosted the delegation, consisted of more than 200 anti-aircraft guns. The batteries were designed to conduct seven-layer fire at a height of up to 9000 m, aimed fire at a height of 4000 m and barrage fire at a distance of up to 5 km to the airfield. Over 150 Soviet fighters covered the sky above him.
In Yalta, 76 anti-aircraft guns and almost 300 anti-aircraft machine guns and heavy machine guns were deployed. Any aircraft that appeared over the conference area was to be shot down immediately.
Highway security was provided by personnel at seven checkpoints consisting of more than 2 thousand people.
As motorcades of delegations participating in the conference passed along the entire route, all other traffic was stopped, and residents were evicted from residential buildings and apartments overlooking the route; state security officers took their place. About five NKVD regiments and even several armored trains were additionally transferred to Crimea to ensure security.
To protect Stalin, together with the Soviet delegation in the Yusupov Palace in the village of Koreiz, 100 state security officers and a battalion of 500 NKVD troops were allocated. For foreign delegations arriving with their own guards and security services, the Soviet side allocated external guards and commandants for the premises they occupied. Soviet automobile units were allocated to each foreign delegation.
There is no reliable information that Hitler intended to assassinate his opponents in Crimea. And he had no time for that then, when Soviet troops were already a hundred kilometers from the walls of Berlin.
Russian hospitality: caviar with cognac, but without bird's milk
Saki airfield became the main airfield for receiving delegations arriving in Crimea. The airfields of Sarabuz near Simferopol, Gelendzhik and Odessa were considered as reserves.
Stalin and a delegation of the Soviet government arrived in Simferopol by train on February 1, after which they went by car to Yalta.
Churchill's and Roosevelt's planes landed in Saki about an hour apart. Here they were met by People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs Vyacheslav Molotov and other high-ranking officials of the USSR. In total, 700 people who were part of the official delegations of the United States and Great Britain at meetings with Stalin were brought to Crimea from Malta, where the meeting between the American president and the British prime minister took place the day before.
According to the first researcher of the unofficial nuances of the Yalta meeting, Crimean historian and local historian Vladimir Gurkovich, with whom a RIA Novosti correspondent (Crimea) spoke, the allied delegations were greeted with great fanfare. In addition to the mandatory guards of honor and other honors in this case, the Soviet side also arranged a grand reception not far from the airfield.
In particular, three large tents were set up, where there were tables with glasses of sweet tea with lemon, bottles of vodka, cognac, champagne, plates with caviar, smoked sturgeon and salmon, cheese, boiled eggs, black and white bread. This is despite the fact that food cards were still in effect in the USSR, and Crimea was liberated from the occupiers less than a year ago.
Gurkovich's book about everyday and unofficial details of the Yalta Conference was published in 1995 and became the first such publication on this topic. The local historian collected evidence from participants in the events who were still alive at that time: security guards - NKVD employees, cooks, waiters, pilots ensuring “clear skies” over Crimea.
He says that, according to the testimony of one of the cooks who prepared dishes for the reception at the Saki airfield, there were no restrictions on food and drinks.
"Everything should have been real high level and our country had to confirm this level. And the tables were really full of all kinds of delicacies,” notes the Crimean local historian.
And this is only on the tables of official delegations. And American and English pilots were received at the Saki military sanatorium named after Pirogov, where about 600 places were prepared for them. Russian hospitality was evident here too. They were prepared according to a menu approved by a special order of the Chief of Logistics of the Black Sea Fleet. According to eyewitnesses, the tables were also laden with abundance: they had everything on them except bird's milk.
Churchill smoked a cigar in Simferopol, and Stalin shaved in Alushta
In fact, this stop of the British Prime Minister in Simferopol, at 15 Schmidt Street, cannot be called secret. Along the route of the motorcades from Sak, several places for possible rest stops were provided. One of them was in Simferopol, and the second in Alushta. The first of them was used by Churchill on the way to Yalta, and the second by Stalin.
The house on Shmidt Street in Simferopol was previously a reception house, or otherwise the hotel of the Council of People's Commissars of the Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. During the occupation, high-ranking Wehrmacht officers lived there, so the building and interior were quite well-kept and ready to receive distinguished guests.
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill was a famous lover of cognac and cigars, which he consumed without sparing his health. During the flight from Malta, which is quite a long journey, he sent a telegram to Stalin that he was already on the flight and had “already had breakfast.” And at the airfield in Saki, the allies were greeted with no less warm hospitality, with Armenian cognac and champagne for the British prime minister.
As Vladimir Gurkovich notes, there is nothing unusual about Churchill’s stop in Simferopol. He most likely needed time to “come to his senses, think and smoke a cigar once again.” And he stayed in the guest house for no more than an hour, and indeed, going out onto the balcony, according to the testimony of one of the state security officers, he smoked a traditional cigar.
Gurkovich also cites data that the Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, Joseph Stalin, after arriving in Crimea, stayed in Alushta - at the so-called "Golubka" dacha of retired tsarist general Golubov, on the first floor. “Here he rested and shaved,” testified the archival recording found by Gurkovich.
“Dove” is also notable for the fact that it was here that the future heir to the throne Nikolai Alexandrovich (Nicholas II) and his future wife Alexandra Fedorovna stayed in 1894, after the blessing of their marriage by Emperor Alexander III, who was dying in Livadia.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt from Sac immediately went to the Livadia Palace without stopping.
Roosevelt and Churchill, after the conference, visited Sevastopol, which was in ruins. And the British prime minister visited Balaklava, where one of his ancestors died in the Crimean War (the first defense of Sevastopol in 1854-1855). However, he does not mention this trip in his memoirs.
Stalin to the Yusupovs, Roosevelt to the Romanovs, Churchill to the Vorontsovs
The main venue for the meeting was Livadia, the former estate of Russian emperors, starting with Alexander II. The well-known Livadia Palace was built in 1911 by the architect Nikolai Krasnov for the last of the Romanovs, Nicholas II.
It was the Livadia Palace that was designated as the main residence of the US delegation at the negotiations, headed by Roosevelt. The President of the United States had been confined to a wheelchair since 1921 due to polio and had limited mobility. Therefore, Stalin, in order not to once again put Roosevelt’s health at risk and to create comfortable conditions for him, appointed Livadia for work - both to host the US delegation and the meetings of the Big Three summit.
Churchill and the British delegation received the no less luxurious palace of the Governor-General of Novorossiya, Count Vorontsov, in Alupka, which was built according to the design of the English architect Edward Blore.
Stalin chose the palace of Prince Yusupov in Koreiz for his residence.
A number of researchers note that this location was allegedly chosen not by chance: Koreiz is located between Alupka and Livadia, and Stalin could observe all the movements of the allies.
To put it mildly, this is not true, or not entirely true. The surveillance and wiretapping services of the Soviet state security worked at a high level, so it is unlikely that Stalin would have pulled back the curtain and observed the frequency with which motorcades traveled between the British and American residences.
Furniture and food were delivered in trains
The palaces of the South Coast looked very deplorable after the occupation. The Germans tried to take away all the most valuable furnishings and decorations. Therefore, enormous efforts were made on the Soviet side to make the conference as comfortable as possible.
Suffice it to say that for this purpose, over 1,500 wagons of equipment, building materials, furniture, sets, kitchen utensils and food were delivered to Crimea.
20 thousand working days were spent on repairing the Livadia Palace alone. Air-raid shelters were built in Livadia, as well as in Koreiz and Alupka, since the possibility of an enemy air raid could not be ruled out.
Roosevelt, who was wary of going to the summit, was nonetheless delighted with the design of his apartment. Everything was to his taste: the curtains on the windows, the draperies on the doors, the bedspreads on his and his daughter’s beds, and even the telephones in all the rooms were blue. This color was Roosevelt's favorite color and, as he put it, "caressed his blue eyes."
In the White Hall of the palace, where the main meetings of the conference took place, a round table was installed for negotiations between the Big Three. For the working needs of the members of the delegations, they prepared the former billiard room, where most of the documents were signed, the internal Italian courtyard and the entire garden and park ensemble.
In Livadia, where not only the American delegation was located, but also where the main negotiations between the leaders of the USSR, USA and Great Britain took place, three power plants were installed. One working and two backup. In Alupka and Koreiz - two each.
The publication was prepared on the basis of RIA Novosti’s own materials (Crimea) and open sources
YALTA (CRIMEAN) CONFERENCE of the leaders of the three powers - allies in the Anti-Hitler coalition: from the USSR - J.V. Stalin, USA - F.D. Roosevelt, Great Britain - W. Churchill - took place on February 4-11, 1945 in Yalta (Crimea) at the final stage of the Second World War 1939-1945.
Military issues and the problem of the post-war structure of Europe were resolved. The participants in a joint communique stated that they had determined their plans for the final defeat of the common enemy and planned in detail the timing and coordination of powerful blows that would be inflicted on Germany; agreed on a general policy and plans for dealing with it after its complete defeat.
Germany was divided by the Allies into four occupation zones - British, American, Soviet and French. The establishment of allied administration and control was envisaged, carried out by a specially created body consisting of the commanders-in-chief of the three powers with its seat in Berlin. The USSR's demand for German reparations in the amount of $10 billion was recognized as legal. They had to come in the form of the export of goods and capital, the use of human power. (This decision of the conference was not fully implemented. In addition, morally and physically obsolete equipment was exported to the USSR, which prevented the modernization of the Soviet economy.)
In the Declaration of a Liberated Europe, the Allies emphasized their desire to coordinate their actions in resolving political and economic issues in Europe. The USSR achieved strengthening of its positions in Poland, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and promised to enter the war with Japan, for which it received the consent of the allies to annex the Kuril Islands and South Sakhalin.
It was decided to create the United Nations (UN), in which the USSR received three seats - for the RSFSR, Ukraine and Belarus, i.e. those republics that bore the brunt of the war, suffered the greatest economic losses and human casualties.
Orlov A.S., Georgieva N.G., Georgiev V.A. Historical Dictionary. 2nd ed. M., 2012, p. 590.
Crimean Conference of 1945, Yalta Conference of 1945, conference of the heads of government of the three allied powers in the 2nd World War 1939 - 1945 - USSR, USA, Great Britain: prev. Council of People's Commissars of the USSR J.V. Stalin, US President F.D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister W. Churchill with the participation of foreign ministers. affairs, beginning headquarters and other advisers. It took place in Yalta on February 4-11, during the period when, as a result of powerful offensive attacks by the Soviet Army, which suffered war. actions on germ. territory, the war against Nazi Germany entered its final stage. Military agreements were agreed upon at the K.K. the powers' plans will end. defeat of the fascists. Germany, their attitude towards Germany after its unconditional surrender was determined and the main principles were outlined. principles of general policy regarding post-war. peace organizations. It was decided that after the German armed resistance was completely crushed, armament. forces of the USSR, USA and Great Britain occupy Germany; Moreover, the troops of each of the mentioned powers will occupy a certain part (zone) of Germany. It was also envisaged to create a coordinated allied force in Germany. administration and the establishment of control exercised through a specially created control body consisting of the commanders-in-chief of the three powers, headquartered in Berlin. It was indicated that France would be invited to take over a certain zone of occupation and participate as the fourth member of this control body. A specific settlement of the issue regarding the zones of occupation of Germany was reached even before the KK in the European Advisory Commission and was recorded in the “Protocol of the Agreement between the governments of the USSR, the USA and the United Kingdom on the zones of occupation of Germany and on the management of “Greater Berlin”” dated September 12, 1944 The conference participants stated that their adamant goal was to destroy Germany, militarism and Nazism and create guarantees that “Germany will never again be able to disturb the peace”, “disarm and disband all German armed forces. forces and destroy the German General Staff forever,” “to seize or destroy all German military equipment, to liquidate or take control of all German industry that could be used for war production; subject all war criminals to fair and speedy punishment...; wipe out the Nazi Party, Nazi laws, organizations and institutions from the face of the earth; eliminate all Nazi and militaristic influence from public institutions, from the cultural and economic life of the German people."
At the same time, the KK communiqué emphasized that after the eradication of Nazism and militarism, the Germans. the people will be able to take their rightful place in the community of nations. An exchange of views took place on the issue of reparations from Germany.
KK made a decision on the creation of the United Nations (UN). Participants of the K.K. determined that on April 25. 1945 in San Francisco (USA) a conference of the United Nations will be convened, which will prepare the final text of the UN Charter (see San Francisco Conference 1945). It was agreed that the UN's activities in resolving fundamental issues of ensuring peace would be based on the principle of unanimity of the great powers - permanent members of the UN Security Council.
CC adopted the “Declaration of a Liberated Europe”, in which the Allied powers declared their desire to coordinate their actions in deciding political issues. and economical problems of liberated Europe. The declaration stated: “The establishment of order in Europe and the reorganization of national economic life must be achieved in such a way as will enable the liberated peoples to destroy the last traces of Nazism and fascism and to create democratic institutions of their own choice.”
On the issue of “On Poland,” the KK communiqué expressed “the general desire to see a strong, free, independent and democratic Poland established.”
An agreement was reached on the creation of the government of Poland on a broad basis, with the inclusion of democratic. figures from Poland itself and Poles from abroad. It was decided that the Soviet-Polish border should pass along the Curzon Line with a retreat from it in certain areas from 5 to 8 km in favor of Poland, that Poland would receive a significant increase in territory. on N. and on 3
On the issue of Yugoslavia, the KK adopted a number of recommendations on the formation of the Provisional United Government of Yugoslavia and the creation of a Provisional Parliament on the basis of the Anti-Fascist National Assembly. liberation of Yugoslavia.
At the Caucasus, the “Agreement of the Three Great Powers on Far Eastern Issues” was adopted, which provided for the entry of the Soviet Union into the war against Japan two to three months after the surrender of Germany and the end of the war in Europe. The agreement stated, in particular, that at the end of the war the south would be returned to the USSR. part o. Sakhalin and all the adjacent islands were transferred to the Kuril Islands. The KK also considered the issue of creating a permanent mechanism for regular consultations between foreign ministers. affairs of the three powers.
In the communiqué of the United Nations, the three allied powers expressed “their determination to preserve and strengthen in the coming period of peace that unity of purpose and action which has made victory in modern war possible and certain for the United Nations.”
Many decisions of the KK, as well as other joint agreements of the allied powers during the war and its end, did not find their consistent implementation in the post-war years due to the fault of the Western powers, which set a course for inflaming the Cold War against the socialist countries, for the revival West German militarism and revanchism.
Materials from the Great Soviet Encyclopedia were used.
Literature:
Collection of existing treaties, agreements and conventions concluded by the USSR with foreign states, c. 11, M., 1955;
Tehran. Yalta. Potsdam. Sat. Doc-tov, M., 1971 (see below link to electronic version books);
Israelyan V.L., Diplomatic history of the Great Patriotic War 1941 - 1945, M., 1959;
History of foreign policy of the USSR, part 1, 1917 -1945, M., 1966.
Read further:
Tehran – Yalta – Potsdam: Collection of documents/ Comp.: Sh.P. Sanakoev, B.L. Tsybulevsky. – 2nd ed. – M.: Publishing House “International Relations”, 1970. – 416 p.