During World War II, the leaders of the Allied powers, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin, held a meeting in Yalta, Crimea, in February 1945. The three leaders discussed the post-war world and agreed upon various plans and strategies. In this article, we will explore what agreement Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin came to at the Yalta Conference.
The first agreement reached at the Yalta Conference was the division of Germany into occupation zones. The country was to be divided into four zones, with the Soviet Union, the United States, Great Britain, and France controlling each zone. Berlin, which was located in the Soviet zone, was also divided into four sectors, with each Allied power occupying one sector.
Another important agreement reached at the conference was the establishment of the United Nations (UN). The leaders agreed that the UN would be responsible for ensuring international peace and security, promoting economic cooperation, and protecting human rights. The UN was officially established later that year in San Francisco.
The three leaders also discussed the future of Eastern Europe, which was then under Soviet occupation. Stalin agreed to allow free elections in Poland and other Eastern European countries and promised to support the efforts of local communist parties in those countries. However, it was later revealed that the Soviet Union had no intentions of honoring their promise, and the Eastern European countries remained under Soviet control for many years.
Additionally, at Yalta, the leaders discussed the issue of war reparations. The Soviet Union had suffered greatly during the war and had lost millions of lives. Stalin demanded that Germany pay reparations to the Soviet Union, but Roosevelt and Churchill were hesitant to agree. They eventually agreed to allow the Soviet Union to take reparations from its own occupation zone in Germany.
Lastly, the leaders discussed the strategy for ending the war in Japan. The Soviet Union agreed to join the war against Japan three months after the end of the war in Europe. In return, the Soviet Union was promised territorial gains in Asia, including the return of the southern part of Sakhalin Island and the Kuril Islands.
In conclusion, the Yalta Conference was an important meeting between the leaders of the Allied powers during World War II. The agreements reached at the conference had a significant impact on the post-war world, including the division of Germany, establishment of the UN, and the strategy for ending the war in Japan. While some of the agreements made at Yalta were not fully honored in the years to come, the conference marked an important moment in history and the start of a new era of international cooperation.