Yalta conference results briefly. Yalta Conference

The Crimean (Yalta) Conference of the Allied Powers (February 4 - 11, 1945) is one of the meetings of the leaders of the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition - the USSR, the USA and Great Britain, dedicated to the establishment of the post-war world order. The conference took place at the Livadia Palace in Yalta, Crimea.

Livadia Palace

In 1943, in Tehran, Franklin Roosevelt, Joseph Stalin and Winston Churchill discussed mainly the problem of achieving victory over the Third Reich, in Potsdam in July - August 1945, the Allies resolved issues of peaceful settlement and division of Germany, and in Yalta, major decisions were made on the future division of the world between the winning countries.

By that time, the collapse of Nazism was no longer in doubt, and victory over Germany was only a matter of time - as a result of powerful offensive strikes by Soviet troops, military operations were transferred to German territory, and the war entered its final stage. The fate of Japan also did not raise any special questions, since the United States already controlled almost all Pacific Ocean. The Allies understood that they had a unique chance to manage the history of Europe in their own way, since for the first time in history almost all of Europe was in the hands of just three states.

All decisions of Yalta, in general, related to two problems. Firstly, it was necessary to draw new state borders on the territory recently occupied by the Third Reich. At the same time, it was necessary to establish unofficial, but generally recognized by all sides, demarcation lines between the spheres of influence of the allies - a task that had begun in Tehran.

Secondly, the allies understood perfectly well that after the disappearance of the common enemy, the forced unification of the West and the USSR would lose all meaning, and therefore it was necessary to create procedures to guarantee the invariability of the dividing lines drawn on the world map.

In February 1945, the Crimean (Yalta) conference of the leaders of the USSR, USA and Great Britain took place, which considered issues of the post-war world order and the participation of the USSR in the war with Japan. On February 11, 1945, an agreement was signed at the conference, which provided for the USSR to enter the war against Japan on the side of the Allies two to three months after the surrender of Germany under certain conditions.

Choosing a venue for the Crimean (Yalta) Conference of 1945

The first message about the meeting read by the Crimeans: “The President of the United States, the Prime Minister of the Soviet Union and the Prime Minister of Great Britain, accompanied by their chiefs of staff, as well as three foreign ministers and other advisers, are currently conferring in the Black Sea region.” Only a few of those who ensure the meeting are aware that the “Black Sea region” is the South Coast. Crimea has been cleared of fascists for almost a year now, but continues to be in the zone of action of German aviation based in Northern Italy, and it is not customary to talk about the places of such meetings in advance. The world started talking about Yalta after February 15, when the last planes of high-ranking guests left the peninsula.

However, initially there was no talk of a meeting in Crimea. The US President suggested Northern Scotland, Cyprus, Athens or Malta, the British Prime Minister - Alexandria or Jerusalem. But the leader of the USSR was adamant: “On the Soviet Black Sea coast.” Stalin had the right to insist: after the Vistula-Oder operation, Soviet troops were sixty kilometers from Berlin, the allies, who had barely recovered from the fascist counterattack in the Ardennes (Belgium), were five hundred kilometers away. But Stalin agreed with Churchill’s proposal to call the conference the code name “Argonaut”. The Briton wrote to the American: “We are the direct descendants of the Argonauts, who, according to Greek mythology, sailed to the Black Sea for the Golden Fleece.”

Medea and Jason with the Golden Fleece on the Argo

The “Golden Fleece” was the USSR, according to the Americans: “We need to have the support of the Soviet Union to defeat Germany. We desperately need the Soviet Union for the war with Japan after the war in Europe is over."

The USSR had two months to prepare the conference, and there was a lot to be done: the peninsula was badly damaged by the Nazis, the south-bank palaces - Livadia, Vorontsov (Alupka) and Yusupov (Koreiz), where the delegations were supposed to be housed - were looted. Equipment, furniture, and food were brought to Crimea from all over the country; specialists from construction organizations and the service sector arrived (for Churchill’s fireplace in the Vorontsov Palace, birch firewood was specially prepared from Crimean trees now listed in the Red Book). In Livadia, Koreiz and Alupka, several power plants were installed, and metro builders made bomb shelters. Security was provided by the Soviet Union: aviation and artillery special groups, "covered" from the sea - the cruiser "Voroshilov", destroyers, submarines, and several allied warships entered the Black Sea.

cruiser “Voroshilov” in the South Bay of Sevastopol

The parks, palaces on the southern coast of Crimea and other places where delegations stopped even briefly were spruced up, but they did not have time to remove traces of war along the entire route of the motorcades. And there was no need to “camouflage” them: destroyed houses, mangled military equipment, which the US President saw from the windows of the executive ZIS-101 (there is a photo where the American president in Crimea is captured not in a ZiS, but in an open army Willys) ) and the British Prime Minister, made the “right” impression.

Roosevelt, for example, was “horrified by the extent of the destruction caused by the Germans in the Crimea.” But other than that, the guests were satisfied with the reception. Everything was chosen to their taste, even the curtains on the windows in the American president’s apartment were his favorite color, blue, and the English prime minister was accommodated in a palace designed by an English architect. Franklin Roosevelt said that when he was no longer president, he would like to ask to sell Livadia to him in order to plant many trees near it. Winston Churchill asked Joseph Stalin what his feelings would be if an international organization came up with a proposal to transfer Crimea as an international resort, and Stalin replied that he would willingly provide Crimea for conferences of the three powers. But the February 1945 conference remained the only one held in Crimea.

It began on February 4 at 17:00 with a meeting in the Great Hall of the Livadia Palace. But the peninsula began welcoming participants earlier: on February 1, Stalin arrived at the Simferopol railway station by train from Moscow. Koreiz (an urban-type settlement in Crimea) was already waiting for him, where the Soviet delegation was housed in the Yusupov Palace.

Yusupov Palace in Koreiz

“Among the historical places of the conference is the building on Lenin Street, 20, in Alushta, this is the former dacha of General Golubov,” says the author of the book “Crimean Conference of 1945. Memorable places" Vladimir Gurkovich. - The dacha was one of two road houses prepared for the delegations to relax - Stalin stayed here. The leader of the USSR stayed in Alushta for about an hour, then left for Koreiz, from where he “personally and strictly secretly” notified Churchill that he was already at the meeting place. But the Soviet leader did not go to the airfield to meet, as well as see off, the guests, instructing Foreign Minister Molotov to do this.

The heads of the allied countries flew to the Saki military airfield (the current airfield in Novofedorovka), where there was a runway convenient for their aircraft, built in the 30s. Churchill's plane landed first, followed by Roosevelt's an hour later.

The guard of honor, the orchestra performs the anthems of the three countries, and the president especially thanked for the excellent performance of the American anthem, a small “snack” in the military tents installed at the airfield and “the long journey from Saki to Yalta.”

“The Americans covered the distance from the airfield to Livadia (where their residence was) in six hours,” continues Gurkovich, “and the British took eight, although from Livadia to Alupka (where the British residence was) the car then took about thirty minutes.

Vorontsov Palace in Alupka

Official meetings of members of delegations and informal dinners of heads of state were held in all three palaces of the South Coast. In Yusupovsky, for example, Stalin and Churchill discussed the issue of transferring people liberated from fascist camps. Foreign ministers met at the Vorontsov Palace: Molotov, Stettinius (USA) and Eden (Great Britain). But the main meetings still took place at the Livadia Palace, the residence of the American delegation. Diplomatic protocol did not allow this, but Roosevelt could not move without assistance. Official meetings of the Big Three took place here eight times (from February 4 to February 11). It was in Livadia that the “Communiqué on the Crimean Conference” was signed.

hall for signing the “Communiqué on the Crimean Conference”

Then Roosevelt and Churchill went to Sevastopol, Stalin left the Simferopol station in the evening for Moscow. The American president, having spent the night on board a US ship stationed in Sevastopol Bay, left for the Saki airfield on February 12, from where he flew to Egypt. Churchill stayed in Crimea for two more days: he visited Sapun Mountain, Balaklava, where the British fought in 1854-55, visited the cruiser Voroshilov, and only on February 14 he flew from the Saki airfield to Greece. From the plane, Roosevelt sent thanks to Stalin for his hospitality; Churchill said at the farewell ceremony: “Leaving the resurrected Crimea, cleared of the Huns thanks to Russian valor, leaving Soviet territory, I express to everyone my gratitude and admiration for the valiant people and their army.”

“Probably,” argues Vladimir Gurkovich, “the main lesson of the Crimean Conference is that in difficult times, in the face of a common enemy, people of different political views, sometimes even hostile to each other, can and should unite to save their peoples and civilization.”

In the year of the 60th anniversary of the conference, they were going to erect a monument to the “Big Three”, created by Zurab Tsereteli, near the Livadia Palace. But the idea caused a stormy protest from a number of nationalist organizations in Crimea. Now the monument is waiting in the wings in the sculptor’s art gallery in Moscow. Volgograd and Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk expressed their readiness to install a monument in their own country.

Redistribution of borders

Exactly 70 years ago, from February 4 to 11, 1945, Crimea found itself at the epicenter of an event of international significance - on those days, a conference of the heads of powers - allies of the anti-Hitler coalition in the Second World War - was held here - the Chairman of the Government of the USSR.V. Stalin, US President F.D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister W. Churchill.

Commission meeting room in the Livadia Palace

By the time the Yalta Conference was held, the war had already entered its final stage - as a result of the offensive of the Red Army and the landing of allied troops in Normandy, military operations were transferred to German territory. And it was precisely this circumstance - the already obvious defeat of Nazism - that dictated the issues discussed at the meeting of state leaders.

Behind the outward respectability of the leaders of the Big Three countries, who proclaimed their adamant goal the destruction of German militarism and Nazism, the tough and pragmatic approaches of the parties in solving two main problems were practically not hidden.

Firstly, it was necessary to draw new state borders between countries that had recently been occupied by the Third Reich. At the same time, it was necessary to establish unofficial, but generally recognized by all sides, demarcation lines between the spheres of influence of the allies - a task that had begun in Tehran.

Secondly, the allies understood perfectly well that after the disappearance of the common enemy, the forced unification of the West and the USSR would lose all meaning, and therefore it was necessary to create procedures to guarantee the immutability of the new dividing lines drawn on the world map.

In this regard, Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin managed to find a common language.

Poland

The situation with Poland was very difficult. Its outlines changed dramatically after World War II. Poland, which before the war was the largest country in Central Europe, sharply shrank and moved to the west and north. Until 1939, its eastern border was practically under Kiev and Minsk, and besides, the Poles owned the Vilna region, which now became part of Lithuania. The western border with Germany was located east of the Oder, while most of the Baltic coast also belonged to Germany. In the east of the pre-war territory, the Poles were a national minority among Ukrainians and Belarusians, while part of the territories in the west and north inhabited by Poles was under German jurisdiction.

The USSR received the western border with Poland along the so-called “Curzon Line”, established back in 1920, with a deviation from it in some areas of 5 to 8 km in favor of Poland. In fact, the border returned to the position at the time of the division of Poland between Germany and the USSR in 1939 under a secret additional protocol on the division of spheres of interest to the Non-Aggression Treaty between Germany and the Soviet Union, the main difference from which was the transfer of the Bialystok region to Poland.

Although Poland had been under German rule for six years by that time, there was a provisional government of this country in exile in London, which was recognized by the USSR and therefore could well lay claim to power in its country after the end of the war. However, Stalin in Crimea managed to obtain from the allies agreement to create a new government in Poland itself “with the inclusion of democratic figures from Poland itself and Poles from abroad.” This decision, implemented in the presence of Soviet troops, allowed the USSR to later, without much difficulty, form a political regime that suited it in Warsaw.

Germany

A fundamental decision was made on the occupation and division of Germany into occupation zones (one of the zones was allocated to France). It was decided that France should be given a zone in Germany to be occupied by French troops. This zone would be formed from the British and American zones, and its dimensions would be determined by the British and Americans in consultation with the French provisional government.

It was also decided that the French provisional government should be invited to join as a member of the Control Council for Germany.

Actually, a settlement of the issue regarding the zones of occupation of Germany was reached even before the Yalta Conference, in September 1944 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”.

This decision predetermined the split of the country for many decades. On May 23, 1949, the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany, previously signed by representatives of the three Western powers, was put into effect. On September 7, 1949, the first session of the West German parliament proclaimed the creation of a new state. In response, on October 7, 1949, the German Democratic Republic was formed on the territory of the Soviet occupation zone.

There was also talk about the separation of East Prussia (later, after Potsdam, the current Kaliningrad region was created on 1/3 of this territory).

The participants of the Yalta Conference stated that their adamant goal was to destroy German militarism and Nazism and create guarantees that “Germany will never again be able to disturb the peace,” “disarm and disband all German armed forces and destroy the German General Staff forever,” “ seize or destroy all German military equipment, liquidate or take control of all German industry that could be used for war production; to 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 conference communiqué emphasized that after the eradication of Nazism and militarism, the German people will be able to take their rightful place in the community of nations.

Nuremberg Nazi trials 1946

The upcoming Moscow trial of 201.

Balkans

The eternal Balkan issue was also discussed - in particular, the situation in Yugoslavia and Greece. It is believed that Stalin allowed Great Britain to decide the fate of the Greeks, as a result of which later clashes between communist and pro-Western forces in this country were decided in favor of the latter. On the other hand, it was actually recognized that power in Yugoslavia would be given to Josip Broz Tito's NOLA (People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia), who, however, was recommended to take “democrats” into the government.

Josip Broz Tito

...It was then that Churchill touched upon the topic that interested him most. “Let's settle our affairs in the Balkans,” he said. - Your armies are in Romania and Bulgaria. We have interests there, our missions and agents. Let's avoid clashes over petty matters. Since we are talking about England and Russia, what do you think if you had 90% of the influence in Romania, and we, say, 90% of the influence in Greece? And 50% to 50% in Yugoslavia? While his words were being translated into Russian, Churchill jotted down these percentages on a piece of paper and pushed the paper across the table to Stalin. He glanced at it and handed it back to Churchill. There was a pause. The piece of paper was lying on the table. Churchill did not touch him. Finally he said: “Wouldn’t it be considered too cynical that we have so easily solved issues that affect millions of people?” Let’s better burn this paper... “No, keep it with you,” said Stalin. Churchill folded the paper in half and put it in his pocket.

Far East

The fate of the Far East was fundamentally decided by a separate document. In exchange for the participation of Soviet troops in the war against Japan, Stalin received significant concessions from the United States and Great Britain. Firstly, the USSR received the Kuril Islands and South Sakhalin, which had been lost in the Russo-Japanese War. In addition, Mongolia was recognized as an independent state. The Soviet side was also promised Port Arthur and the Chinese Eastern Railway (CER).

The leaders of the Three Great Powers - the Soviet Union, the United States of America and Great Britain - agreed that two to three months after the surrender of Germany and the end of the war in Europe, the Soviet Union would enter the war against Japan on the side of the Allies, subject to:

1. Preservation of the status quo of Outer Mongolia (Mongolian People's Republic);

2. Restoration of the rights belonging to Russia violated by the treacherous attack of Japan in 1904, namely:

a) the return of the southern part of the island to the Soviet Union. Sakhalin and all adjacent islands;

b) the internationalization of the commercial port of Dairen, ensuring the priority interests of the Soviet Union in this port and the restoration of the lease on Port Arthur as a naval base of the USSR;

c) joint operation of the Chinese Eastern Railway and the South Manchurian Railway, giving access to Dairen, on the basis of organizing a mixed Soviet-Chinese Society, ensuring the primary interests of the Soviet Union, it being understood that China retains full sovereignty in Manchuria.

3. Transfer of the Kuril Islands to the Soviet Union.

The Heads of Government of the Three Great Powers agreed that these claims of the Soviet Union should be unconditionally satisfied after the victory over Japan.

For its part, the Soviet Union expressed its readiness to conclude a pact of friendship and alliance between the USSR and China with the National Chinese Government in order to assist it with its armed forces in order to liberate China from the Japanese yoke.

Declaration of a Liberated Europe

The Declaration of a Liberated Europe was also signed in Yalta, which determined the principles of the policy of the victors in the territories conquered from the enemy. It assumed, in particular, the restoration of the sovereign rights of the peoples of these territories, as well as the right of the allies to jointly “help” these peoples “improve conditions” for the exercise of these same rights. The declaration stated: “The establishment of order in Europe and the reorganization of national economic life must be achieved in such a way as to enable the liberated peoples to destroy the last traces of Nazism and fascism and to create democratic institutions of their own choice.”

The idea of joint assistance, as expected, later did not become a reality: each victorious power had power only in those territories where its troops were stationed. As a result, each of the former allies in the war began to diligently support their own ideological allies after it ended. Within a few years, Europe was divided into the socialist camp and Western Europe, where Washington, London and Paris tried to resist communist sentiments.

Major war criminals

The conference decided that the question of the main criminals of the war should, after the adjournment of the conference, be subject to consideration by the three foreign ministers for a report in due course.

At the Crimea Conference, negotiations took place between the British, American and Soviet delegations to conclude a comprehensive agreement regarding arrangements for the protection, maintenance and repatriation (repatriation) of prisoners of war and civilians of Great Britain, the Soviet Union and the United States of America released by the Allied armed forces entering the Germany. The texts of the Agreements signed on February 11 between the USSR and Great Britain and between the USSR and the United States of America are identical. The agreement between the Soviet Union and Great Britain was signed by V.M. Molotov and Eden. The agreement between the Soviet Union and the United States of America was signed by Lieutenant General Gryzlov and General Dean.

Under these Agreements, until transport facilities are made available for the repatriation of Allied citizens, each Ally will provide food, clothing, medical care and other needs for the citizens of the other Allies. The Soviet officers would assist the British and American authorities in their task of serving Soviet citizens released by the British and American military forces during the period of time they would be on the continent of Europe or in the United Kingdom awaiting transport to take them home.

The Soviet Government will be assisted by British and American officers in serving British subjects and American citizens.

Since agreement has now been reached, the three Governments undertake to provide all assistance consistent with the requirements of military operations to ensure the prompt repatriation of all such prisoners of war and civilians.

The results of the Crimean Conference of 1945, in principle, are quite well covered in historiography. But it touched on an issue that for a long time was actually not known to the general public.

On February 10, 1945, in Koreiz, in the Yusupov Palace, where Stalin’s residence was located, he met with British Prime Minister Churchill and Foreign Minister Eden, who accompanied him.

The discussion at the meeting was about the repatriation of Soviet citizens who found themselves outside the USSR as a result of the war (prisoners of war, ostarbeiter (from German Ostarbeiter - worker from the East) - a definition adopted in the Third Reich to designate people taken from Eastern European countries for the purpose of use in as free or low-paid labor, soldiers of the Wehrmacht volunteer forces). According to the Yalta agreements, all of them, regardless of their wishes, were subject to extradition to the USSR; a significant part of them subsequently ended up in camps and were shot.

Consideration of the issue of reparations

Once again the issue of reparations was raised. However, the Allies were never able to finally determine the amount of compensation. It was only decided that the United States and Great Britain would give Moscow 50 percent of all reparations.

The following protocol was signed: Protocol on negotiations between the heads of three governments at the Crimean Conference on the issue of reparations in kind from Germany.

The heads of the three governments agreed on the following:

1. Germany is obliged to compensate in kind for the damage it caused to the Allied nations during the war.

Reparations should be received primarily by those countries that bore the brunt of the war, suffered the greatest losses and organized victory over the enemy.

2. Reparations must be collected from Germany in three forms:

a) one-time withdrawals within two years upon the surrender of Germany or the cessation of organized resistance from the national wealth of Germany, located both on the territory of Germany itself and outside it (equipment, machines, ships, rolling stock, German investments abroad, shares in industrial, transport , shipping and other enterprises in Germany, etc.), and these seizures should be carried out mainly with the aim of destroying the military potential of Germany;

b) annual commodity supplies from current products during a period the duration of which must be established;

c) the use of German labor.

3. To develop a detailed reparations plan based on the above principles, an inter-union reparations commission consisting of representatives from the USSR, USA and Great Britain is established in Moscow.

4. With regard to determining the total amount of reparations, as well as its distribution between the countries affected by the German aggression, the Soviet and American delegations agreed on the following: “The Moscow Reparations Commission in the initial stage of its work will accept as a basis for discussion the proposal of the Soviet government that the total amount of reparations in accordance with paragraphs “a” and “b” of paragraph 2 should be 20 billion dollars and that 50% of this amount goes to the Soviet Union.” The British delegation believed that, pending consideration of the issue of reparations by the Moscow Reparations Commission, no reparations figures could be named.

2.5 Issues relating to the international security organization

In Yalta, it was decided to hold the founding conference of the UN in the USA in April 1945. The Soviet proposal for the membership of Soviet republics in the future UN was accepted, but their number was limited to two - Ukraine and Belarus. At the Yalta Conference, an agreement was concluded on the USSR's entry into the war against Japan two to three months after the end of the war in Europe. During separate negotiations between Stalin and Roosevelt and Churchill, agreements were reached to strengthen the position of the USSR in the Far East. The main burden of military efforts against Japan fell on the United States; they were interested in the speedy entry of the USSR into the war in the Far East.

It was decided:

1) that a United Nations conference on the proposed world organization should be convened on Wednesday, April 25, 1945, and should be held in the United States of America;

2) that the following states should be invited to this conference:

b) those of the acceding nations that had declared war on the common enemy by March 1, 1945 (In this case, the term “aligned nations” means the eight acceding nations and Turkey). When the conference on world organization takes place, the delegates of the United Kingdom and the United States of America will support the proposal for admission to initial membership of the two Soviet Socialist Republics, namely Ukraine and Belarus;

3) That the Government of the United States, on behalf of the Three Powers, will consult with the Government of China and with the French Provisional Government on the decisions taken at this conference concerning the proposed world organization;

4) that the text of the invitations that will be sent to all states participating in the conference should be as follows:

Invitation

“The Government of the United States of America, on its own behalf and on behalf of the Governments of the United Kingdom, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the Republic of China, and on behalf of the Provisional Government of the French Republic, invites the Government of ……… representatives to the United Nations Conference to be held on April 25, 1945 or shortly after this date in San Francisco, in the United States of America, to prepare a charter for a general international organization for the maintenance of international peace and security.

The above-named Governments propose that the Conference consider as a basis for such a Charter the proposals for the establishment of a general international organization which were published in October last year as a result of the Dumbarton Oaks Conference and which were supplemented by the following conditions for Section C of Chapter VI:

1. Each member of the Security Council has one vote.

2. Decisions of the Security Council on matters of procedure are taken by a majority of seven members.

3. Decisions of the Security Council on all other matters shall be taken by a majority of seven members, including the concurring votes of the permanent members, the party to the dispute abstaining from voting in decisions pursuant to Section A of Chapter VIII and pursuant to the second sentence of Paragraph I of Section C of Chapter VIII "

Additional information about relevant events will be communicated in the future.

In the event that the Government of ……… wishes to express views and comments concerning the proposals in advance of the conference, the Government of the United States of America will be pleased to convey such views and comments to the other participating Governments.”

Territorial guardianship

It was decided that the five states that would have permanent seats on the Security Council should consult among themselves before the United Nations conference on the question of territorial trusteeship.

This recommendation was accepted on the condition that territorial trusteeship would apply only: a) to existing mandates of the League of Nations; b) to territories seized from enemy states as a result of a real war; c) to any other territory which may be voluntarily placed under trusteeship, and d) no discussion on specific territories is contemplated at the forthcoming United Nations conference or during preliminary consultations, and the question of which territories falling within the above categories will be decided , will be placed under guardianship, will be the subject of a later agreement.

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 Security Council with the right of veto.

Stalin achieved the agreement of his partners that among the founders and members of the UN would be not only the USSR, but also the Ukrainian SSR and the Byelorussian SSR. And it was in the Yalta documents that the date “April 25, 1945” appeared - the date of the beginning of the San Francisco Conference, which was intended to develop the UN Charter.

The UN became a symbol and formal guarantor of the post-war world order, an authoritative and sometimes even quite effective organization in resolving interstate problems. At the same time, the victorious countries continued to prefer to resolve truly serious issues in their relations through bilateral negotiations, rather than within the UN framework. The UN also failed to prevent the wars that both the US and the USSR fought over the past decades.

Conclusion

The Crimean conference of the leaders of the USA, USSR and Great Britain was of great historical significance. It was one of the largest international meetings of wartime, an important milestone in the cooperation of the powers of the anti-Hitler coalition in waging war against a common enemy. The adoption of agreed decisions on important issues at the conference once again showed the possibility of international cooperation between states with different social systems.

The bipolar world created in Yalta and the rigid division of Europe into East and West survived for half a century, until the 1990s, which indicates the stability of this system.

The Yalta system collapsed only with the fall of one of the centers that ensured the balance of power. In just two or three years at the turn of the 1980s and 1990s, the “East” that personified the USSR disappeared from the world map. Since then, the boundaries of spheres of influence in Europe have been determined only by the current balance of power. At the same time, most of Central and Eastern Europe quite calmly survived the disappearance of the previous demarcation lines, and Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and the Baltic countries were even able to integrate into the new picture of the world in Europe.

The conference, which was attended by I. Stalin (USSR), F. Roosevelt (USA), W. Churchill (Great Britain), began its work at a time when, thanks to the powerful attacks of the Red Army on the Eastern Front and the active actions of the Anglo-American troops in western Europe, the Second World War entered its final stage. This explained the agenda of the conference - the post-war structure of Germany and other states that took part in the war, the creation of an international system of collective security that would exclude the emergence of world military conflicts in the future.

The conference adopted a number of documents that determined the development of international relations for many years.

It was stated, in particular, that the goal of the conference participants was “to disarm and disband all German armed forces and permanently destroy the German General Staff; seize or destroy all German military equipment, liquidate or take control of all German industry that could be used for war production; to 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,” i.e. to destroy German militarism and Nazism so that Germany will never again be able to disturb the peace.

It was decided to create the United Nations as a system of collective security, and the basic principles of its charter were determined.

In addition, with the goal of ending World War II as quickly as possible, an agreement was reached on the Far East, which provided for the USSR's entry into the war with Japan. The fact is that Japan - one of the three main states that started the Second World War (Germany, Italy, Japan) - has been at war with the USA and England since 1941, and the allies turned to the USSR with a request to help them eliminate this the last source of war.

The conference communiqué recorded the desire of the Allied powers “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.”

Unfortunately, it was not possible to achieve unity of goals and actions of the allied powers in the post-war period: the world entered the era of the Cold War.

Yalta Conference 1945 predetermined the structure of the world for almost half a century, dividing it into East and West. This bipolar world lasted until the early 1990s and collapsed along with the USSR, thereby confirming the fragility of the world order based on the right of the victors over the vanquished.

- a conference of the heads of government of the three allied powers of the anti-Hitler coalition in World War II, the USSR, the USA and Great Britain, convened in order to coordinate plans for the final defeat of Nazi Germany and its allies, and to develop the basic principles of a common policy regarding the post-war world order.

The Conference Communiqué formulated a unified policy of the USSR, USA and Great Britain regarding the post-war status of Germany. It was decided that the armed forces of the three powers, after complete defeat, would occupy Germany and occupy certain parts of it (zones).

It was also envisaged to create an allied administration and control the situation in the country through a specially created body, which would be headed by the commanders-in-chief of the three powers, with its seat in Berlin. At the same time, it was supposed to invite France as the fourth member of this control body so that it would take over one of the occupation zones.

In order to destroy German militarism and Nazism and transform Germany into a peace-loving state, the Crimean Conference outlined a program for its military, economic and political disarmament.

The conference made a decision on the reparation issue. She recognized the need to oblige Germany to compensate the allied countries for the damage it caused to the “maximum possible extent” through natural supplies. Determining the amount of reparations and methods of collecting them was entrusted to a special commission for compensation of losses, which was supposed to work in Moscow.

The conference participants adopted the “Declaration of a Liberated Europe,” in which the Allied powers declared their desire to coordinate their actions in solving the political and economic problems of a liberated Europe.

One of the most difficult issues at the conference was the Polish question. The heads of the three powers reached an agreement to reorganize the current Provisional Government on a broader basis, including democratic figures from Poland itself and Poles from abroad. With regard to the Polish borders, it was decided that “the eastern border of Poland should run along the Curzon Line with a deviation from it in some areas of five to eight kilometers in favor of Poland.” It was also envisaged that Poland “should receive significant increases in territory in the North and West.”

On the question of Yugoslavia, the conference adopted a number of recommendations regarding the formation of a Provisional United Government from representatives of the National Committee for the Liberation of Yugoslavia and the émigré royal government in London, as well as the creation of a Provisional Parliament based on the Anti-Fascist Assembly of People's Liberation of Yugoslavia.

Of greatest importance was the decision of the Crimean Conference on the establishment of a general international organization for the maintenance of peace and security - the United Nations (UN) and a permanent body under it - the Security Council.

The situation in the Asia-Pacific theater of military operations was not officially discussed by the participants of the Yalta Conference, since the USSR was bound by a neutrality treaty with Japan. The agreement was reached in secret negotiations between the heads of government and signed on February 11.

The Agreement of the Three Great Powers on the Far East, adopted at the Crimean Conference, 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. In exchange for Soviet participation in the war against Japan, the United States and Great Britain provided Stalin with significant concessions. The Kuril Islands and Southern Sakhalin, lost in the Russian-Japanese War of 1904-1905, were transferred to the USSR. Mongolia received the status of an independent state.

The Soviet side was also promised the restoration of the lease of Port Arthur as a naval base of the USSR, and joint operation of the Chinese Eastern and South Manchurian Railways with China.

Bilateral agreements were also signed at the conference, which determined the procedure for the treatment of prisoners of war and civilians of the states party to the agreements in the event of their release by the troops of allied countries, as well as the conditions for their repatriation.

An agreement was reached to establish a permanent mechanism for consultation between the foreign ministers of the three great powers.

At the Crimean Conference of 1945, the foundations of the post-war world order were laid that lasted almost the entire second half of the 20th century, and some of its elements, such as the UN, still exist today.

The material was prepared based on information from open sources

All decisions of Yalta, in general, related to two problems.

Firstly, it was necessary to draw new state borders on the territory recently occupied by the Third Reich. At the same time, it was necessary to establish unofficial, but generally recognized by all sides, demarcation lines between the spheres of influence of the allies - a task that had begun in Tehran.

Secondly, the allies understood perfectly well that after the disappearance of the common enemy, the forced unification of the West and the Bolsheviks would lose all meaning, and therefore it was necessary to create procedures to guarantee the immutability of the dividing lines drawn on the world map.

To achieve these goals, the heads of the three superpowers set themselves a number of tasks, which included the redistribution of Germany's borders, the Polish and Balkan issues, the issue of reparations, and the formation of the UN. These and many other issues are discussed in more detail in this chapter.

Questions of a primary nature

Yalta Potsdam fascism militarism

The main issue of the Yalta Conference was the question about the redistribution of borders, in particular borders Germany. The decision of the Crimean Conference stated that after the defeat, Germany would be occupied by the Allies, its territory would be divided into occupation zones. Initially, it was planned to have three zones of occupation - for the USSR, the USA and England, but then it was proposed to allocate an occupation zone for France, which would be formed from the British and American zones, and its dimensions would be established by the British and Americans in consultation with the French provisional government. A specific settlement of the issue regarding the zones of occupation of Germany was reached even before the Crimean Conference 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.

This decision predetermined the split of the country for many decades. On October 7, 1949, the German Democratic Republic was formed on the territory of the Soviet zone, after the remaining German states were merged into the Federal Republic of Germany. There was also talk about the separation of East Prussia (later, after Potsdam, the current Kaliningrad region was created in most of this territory).

It was also decided that the French provisional government should be invited to join as a member of the Control Council for Germany, seated in Berlin, formed by representatives of the high commands of the Allied powers. His task will be to harmonize and coordinate the actions of the allies in the fight against Germany. The issues of managing the inter-allied commandant's office, operating under the command of the Soviet zone of occupation, were also agreed upon. No special rights of access to Berlin were established for the Western powers (which would later be subject to considerable debate) were not established.

The eternal Balkan question, in particular, the situation in Yugoslavia and Greece. It is believed that Stalin allowed Great Britain to decide the fate of the Greeks, as a result of which later clashes between communist and pro-Western forces in this country were decided in favor of the latter. On the other hand, it was actually recognized that power in Yugoslavia would be given to the pro-Moscow troops of Josip Broz Tito, who, however, were recommended to take “democrats” into the government.

It was more difficult to decide the question of the structure of post-war Poland. Its outlines changed dramatically after World War II. Poland, which before the war was the largest country in Central Europe, sharply shrank and moved to the west and north. Until 1939, its eastern border was practically under Kiev and Minsk, and besides, the Poles owned the Vilna region, which now became part of Lithuania. The western border with Germany was located east of the Oder, while most of the Baltic coast also belonged to Germany. In the east of the pre-war territory, the Poles were a national minority among Ukrainians and Belarusians, while part of the territories in the west and north inhabited by Poles was under German jurisdiction.

When discussing the Polish question, the Soviet delegation sought to make decisions in favor of creating a strong and independent Polish state. The Soviet delegation rejected the intentions of the United States and England to impose a reactionary emigration government on Poland. “After heated disputes, it was agreed that the Polish provisional government would be “reorganized on a broader democratic basis to include democratic figures from within Poland and Poles from abroad.” After a heated discussion about the borders of Poland, it was decided that the USSR would receive the eastern border with Poland along the so-called “Curzon Line”, established back in 1920, with a retreat from it in some areas of 5 to 8 km in favor of Poland. In fact, the border returned to the position at the time of the division of Poland between Germany and the USSR in 1939 under the secret additional protocol on the division of spheres of interest to the Non-Aggression Treaty between Germany and the Soviet Union, the main difference from which was the transfer of the Bialystok region to Poland.

The conference decisions also stated about reparations- about Germany's obligation to compensate for the damage caused to it by the countries against which it waged war. Material damage to the Soviet Union amounts to about 2 trillion 600 billion rubles. The Soviet Union understood the impossibility of full compensation for direct material losses. The USSR insisted only on minimal compensation for damage. Thus, the “Protocol on negotiations between the heads of three governments at the Crimean Conference on the issue of reparations in kind from Germany” was signed.

The heads of the three governments agreed on the following:

1. Germany is obliged to compensate in kind for the damage it caused to the Allied nations during the war.

Reparations should be received primarily by those countries that bore the brunt of the war, suffered the greatest losses and organized victory over the enemy.

2. Reparations must be collected from Germany in three forms:
- a) one-time withdrawals within two years upon the surrender of Germany or the cessation of organized resistance from the national wealth of Germany, located both on the territory of Germany itself and outside it (equipment, machines, ships, rolling stock, German investments abroad, shares in industrial, transport , shipping and other enterprises in Germany, etc.), and these seizures should be carried out mainly with the aim of destroying the military potential of Germany;
- b) annual commodity supplies from current products during a period the duration of which must be established;
- c) the use of German labor.
3. To develop a detailed reparations plan based on the above principles, an inter-union reparations commission consisting of representatives from the USSR, USA and Great Britain is established in Moscow.
4. With regard to determining the total amount of reparations, as well as its distribution between the countries affected by the German aggression, the Soviet and American delegations agreed on the following: “The Moscow Reparations Commission in the initial stage of its work will accept as a basis for discussion the proposal of the Soviet government that the total amount of reparations in accordance with points “a” and “b” of paragraph 2 should be 20 billion dollars and that 50% of this amount goes to the Soviet Union.” The British delegation believed that, pending consideration of the issue of reparations by the Moscow Reparations Commission, no reparations figures could be named.

The above Soviet-American proposal has been submitted to the Moscow Reparations Commission as one of the proposals subject to its consideration.

In Yalta, the implementation of the idea of a new League of Nations began. The Allies needed an interstate organization capable of preventing attempts to change the established boundaries of their spheres of influence. It was at the conferences of the winners in Tehran and Yalta that the ideology was formed United Nations. In the opinion of all participants in the conference, the UN was to become an organ for ensuring peace and international security on the basis that representatives of the USSR, USA and England achieved at the conference in Dumbarton Oaks.

In Crimea, representatives of the three powers agreed on the voting procedure in the Security Council. As early as December 5, 1944, in a message to the Soviet government, the US President proposed that decisions of the Security Council on all issues, except procedural ones, be considered adopted if the votes of seven members of the Council, including the concurring votes of all permanent members of the Council, are cast for them. Moreover, the party involved in the dispute must abstain from voting on the issue relating to the peaceful settlement of the dispute. The Soviet government, noting that the American proposal required unconditional unanimity of the permanent members of the Security Council on all major decisions to maintain peace, including economic and military coercive measures, agreed with the formulation proposed by Roosevelt. The Crimean Conference approved the American proposal.

So, according to the protocol of the Crimean Conference on the creation of the UN, it was decided:

1) that a conference of the United Nations on the question of the proposed world organization and the formulation of its Charter should be convened on Wednesday, April 25, 1945, and should be held in the United States of America;
2) that the following states should be invited to this conference:
- a) United Nations by composition on February 8, 1945,
- b) Those of the acceding nations that declared war on the common enemy by March 1, 1945 (In this case, the term “aligned nations” means the eight acceding nations and Turkey). When the conference on world organization takes place, the delegates of the United Kingdom and the United States of America will support the proposal for admission to initial membership of the two Soviet Socialist Republics, namely Ukraine and Belarus;
3) That the Government of the United States, on behalf of the Three Powers, will consult with the Government of China and with the French Provisional Government on the decisions taken at this conference concerning the proposed world organization;

In addition, it was decided that the five states that would have permanent seats on the Security Council should consult among themselves before the United Nations conference on the question of territorial trusteeship.

a) to the existing mandates of the League of Nations;
b) to territories seized from enemy states as a result of a real war;
c) to any other territory which may be voluntarily placed under trusteeship, and
(d) There will be no discussion about specific territories at the forthcoming United Nations Conference or during the preliminary consultations, and the question of which territories falling within the above categories will be placed under trusteeship will be the subject of a later agreement.

At the Yalta Conference an agreement was concluded on the USSR's entry into the war against Japan on the Allied side, two to three months after the surrender of Germany and the end of the war in Europe. During separate negotiations between Stalin and Roosevelt and Churchill, agreements were reached to strengthen the position of the USSR in the Far East.

Stalin put forward the following conditions:

1. Preservation of the status quo of Outer Mongolia (Mongolian People's Republic);
2. Restoration of the rights belonging to Russia violated by the treacherous attack of Japan in 1904, namely:

a) the return of the southern part of the island to the Soviet Union. Sakhalin and all adjacent islands;

3. Transfer of the Kuril Islands to the Soviet Union.

It is assumed that the agreement regarding Outer Mongolia and the aforementioned ports and railways will require the consent of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek. On the advice of Marshal I.V. Stalin, the President will take measures to ensure that such consent is obtained.

The Heads of Government of the Three Great Powers agreed that these claims of the Soviet Union should be unconditionally satisfied after the victory over Japan.

For its part, the Soviet Union expresses its readiness to conclude a pact of friendship and alliance between the USSR and China with the National Chinese Government in order to assist it with its armed forces in order to liberate China from the Japanese yoke.

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

The Yalta Conference on February 4–11, 1945 produced a document, 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.

The Yalta Conference, sometimes called the Crimean Conference and codenamed "Argonaut", took place from February 4 to 11, 1945, between the heads of government of the United States, Great Britain and the Soviet Union. The delegations were respectively led by Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin.

The conference took place in Yalta, a resort city on the Crimean Peninsula in the Soviet Union. The American delegation was housed in the former Tsar's palace, while President Roosevelt remained in the Livadia Palace, where the meetings took place. The British delegation settled in the Vorontsov Palace in Alupka. Key members of the delegations were Edward Stettinius (US Secretary of State), Averel Harriman (UK Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs), Anthony Eden (British Foreign Secretary), Alexander Cadogan (US Ambassador to the USSR) and Vyacheslav Molotov (People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs).

According to Anthony Beevor, a British historian and writer, all rooms were bugged by the NKVD. Stalin arrived by train on February 4. The meeting began with a formal dinner that evening.

Big three

The key leaders of the Allied countries, Roosevelt, Stalin and Churchill, were called the “Big Three” - due to the power of the states they led and their cooperation during the war. During the war they met only twice, and both times these meetings changed the course of history.

After the Tehran Conference, they agreed to meet again, and this agreement was embodied in the Yalta Conference in February 1945. Although Stalin expressed concern about Roosevelt's health during the Tehran conference, these concerns did not affect his actions. For the next summit, he refused to travel further than Yalta, the Black Sea resort in Crimea, and Roosevelt again faced a long and arduous journey to the conference site.

Demands of the parties at the Yalta Conference

Each of the three powers put its proposal on the agenda. The British wanted to preserve their empire, the Soviets wanted to gain more land and consolidate what they had won, and the Americans wanted to secure the Soviet Union's agreement to enter the war with Japan and negotiate a post-war settlement. Moreover, Roosevelt hoped to obtain from Stalin a commitment to participate in the United Nations. The first topic on the agenda for the expansion of the Soviet Union immediately became the question of Poland, and Stalin immediately expressed his point of view:

“For the Russian people, the question of Poland is not only a question of honor, but also a question of security. Throughout history, Poland has been a corridor through which the enemy passed into Russia. Poland is a matter of life and death for Russia.”

Accordingly, Stalin made it clear that some of his demands regarding Poland were non-negotiable: the Russians were to gain the eastern part of Poland, and Poland was to compensate by expanding its western borders, thereby displacing millions of Germans. Reluctantly, Stalin promised free elections in Poland, despite the newly installed communist puppet government.

However, it soon became obvious that Stalin had no intention of keeping this promise. In fact, it was only 50 years after the Yalta Conference that the Poles had the opportunity to hold free elections for the first time. As mentioned above, Roosevelt's main goal was to make sure that the Soviets entered the Asian War, that is, the war against the Japanese.

However, Roosevelt did not have to waste time trying to involve the USSR in the Pacific War, because Stalin did not need to be convinced. The Soviets themselves were determined to avenge the humiliation of defeat and the loss of privileges over Manchuria during the Russo-Japanese War. The Soviets were eager to restore the territories they had conquered and hoped that they could gain more land.

However, Roosevelt did not recognize Stalin's goals, since he excellently “kept his face” and was impenetrable. Therefore, Roosevelt readily accepted the USSR's terms, leaving the Yalta Conference satisfied that Stalin had agreed to enter the war against Japan. Moreover, the Soviets agreed to join the United Nations under the condition of a secret agreement on a form of veto voting for the permanent members of the Security Council, giving the Security Council more control in world affairs and significantly weakening the United Nations. In general, I was confident that the negotiations in Yalta were successful.

The Big Three ratified earlier agreements on the post-war division of Germany: it was divided into four zones - one for each of the three countries participating in the conference and one zone for France. Berlin itself, although it was in the Soviet zone, was also divided into four sectors. Later, the infamous Berlin Wall, built under the leadership of the USSR, would become the main symbol.

The Big Three also decided that in the occupied countries all original governments would be restored and that all civilians would be repatriated. Democratic states will be created, and all territories will hold free elections. In Europe, the procedure should be established according to the following official statement:

“The establishment of order in Europe and the restoration of national economic life must be achieved through processes that will enable liberated peoples to destroy the last vestiges of Nazism and fascism and create democratic institutions of their choice.”

After the war, the USSR received Southern Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands, half of East Prussia, German Koenigsberg and control over Finland. In addition, Roosevelt let it slip that the United States would not object if the Soviet Union tried to annex the three Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) or create puppet governments in them. So it is quite understandable why both Stalin and Roosevelt were pleased with the overall results.

The Yalta Conference is often viewed by many Central European countries as a “Western betrayal.” This is the view of countries such as Poland, Slovakia, Romania and the Czech Republic, and they are based on the belief that the Allied powers, despite reverence for democratic politics and the signing of numerous pacts and military agreements, allowed the Soviet Union to control smaller countries or turn them into communist states . The Big Three at the Yalta Conference "tried to sacrifice freedom for stability," and many believe that the decisions and concessions of Roosevelt and Churchill during the summit led to the power struggle of the Cold War that followed.

Basic moments

It was agreed that the priority was the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany. After the war, the country would be divided into four occupation zones, and Berlin would also be divided into four zones. Stalin agreed to allocate a fourth occupation zone for France from the British and American zones - in Germany and Austria. France also received a seat on the Allied Control Council.
Germany will be subjected to demilitarization and denationalization.
A decision was made to create a union council for reparations with its location in Moscow.
The fate of Poland was discussed, but the situation was complicated by the fact that Poland was by this time under control. It was decided to reorganize the Provisional Government of Poland, which was created after the entry of the Red Army into the country: it was now called the Provisional Government of National Unity, was expanded to include political figures from Poland itself and those who were outside its borders, and was supposed to ensure democratic elections (after which the Polish government in exile, based in London, effectively lost its legitimacy).
Poland's eastern border should largely follow the Curzon Line, and Poland should receive substantial territorial compensation in the west at Germany's expense.
Citizens of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia, regardless of their consent, were to be repatriated from other countries.
Stalin promised Roosevelt to join the United Nations on the condition that the five permanent members of the Security Council would have veto power.
Stalin agreed to join the fight against the Japanese Empire within 90 days of Germany's defeat. After the defeat of Japan, the Soviet Union will receive South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands.

Consequences

The Yalta Conference was the last significant meeting before the end of the war. This was also Roosevelt's last trip abroad. He already looked sick and exhausted. Most likely, his most important goal was to ensure the participation of the Soviet Union in the United Nations, which he achieved at the cost of granting veto power to every permanent member of the Security Council, which significantly weakened the UN. Another goal of his was to drag the Soviet Union into a war against Japan, which had not yet been proven. The Red Army had already liberated most of Eastern Europe from the Nazis, so Stalin got everything he wanted, namely a significant sphere of influence in a large part of Europe, which he could use as a buffer zone. The freedom of small nations was sacrificed for the sake of stability: the three Baltic states - Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia - became part of the USSR.

Yalta conference results briefly. Yalta Conference - miscellaneous