Shortly before the end of World War II, the second meeting of the heads of state of the anti-Hitler coalition took place: IV Stalin (USSR), W. Churchill (Great Britain) and F. Roosevelt (USA). It took place from February 4 to 11, 1945, and at the place of its holding was called the Yalta Conference. This was the last international meeting at which representatives of the Big Three met on the eve of the onset of the nuclear era.
The post-war division of Europe
If during the previous meeting of the high parties, held in Tehran in 1943, mainly issues related to achieving a joint victory over fascism were discussed, the essence of the Yalta conference was the post-war division of the spheres of world influence between the victorious countries. Since by that time the offensive of Soviet troops was already developing on German territory, and the collapse of Nazism was not in doubt, we could safely say that in the Livadia (White) Palace of Yalta, where representatives of the three great powers gathered, the future picture of the world was being determined.
In addition, the defeat of Japan was quite obvious, since almost the entire water area of ​​the Pacific Ocean was under the control of the Americans. For the first time in world history, a situation developed in which the fate of an entire Europe was in the hands of the three victorious states. Realizing the uniqueness of the presented opportunity, each delegation made every effort to make the most favorable decisions for it.
Key Agenda Items
The whole range of issues addressed at the Yalta Conference came down to two main problems. Firstly, in the vast territories previously under the occupation of the Third Reich, it was necessary to establish official borders of states. In addition, on the territory of Germany itself, it was necessary to clearly define the spheres of influence of the Allies and delimit them with demarcation lines. This division of the defeated state was unofficial, but should nevertheless be recognized by each of the interested parties.
Secondly, all participants in the Crimean (Yalta) conference were well aware that the temporary unification of the forces of the West and the Soviet Union after the end of the war loses its meaning and will inevitably turn into a political confrontation. In this regard, it was imperative to develop measures to guarantee the invariability of previously established borders.
Discussing issues related to the redistribution of the borders of European states, Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt showed restraint, and, agreeing to mutual concessions, managed to reach an agreement on all points. Thanks to this, the decisions of the Yalta Conference significantly changed the political map of the world, making changes to the outlines of most states.
Polish Border Solutions
However, a general agreement was reached as a result of hard work, during which the so-called Polish question turned out to be one of the most difficult and debatable. The problem was that before the outbreak of World War II, Poland was the largest state in Central Europe, but in the year of the Yalta Conference it was only a small territory, shifted northwest of its former borders.
It is enough to say that until 1939, when the notorious Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact was signed, which included the partition of Poland between the USSR and Germany, its eastern borders were near Minsk and Kiev. In addition, the Poles belonged to the Vilnius region, which departed to Lithuania, and the western border passed east of the Oder. A significant part of the Baltic coast was also part of the state. After the defeat of Germany, the agreement on the division of Poland lost its force, and it was necessary to work out a new solution regarding its territorial borders.
Confrontation of ideologies
In addition, there was another problem that acutely faced the participants of the Yalta Conference. Briefly it can be defined as follows. The fact is that thanks to the offensive of the Red Army, from February 1945, power in Poland belonged to the interim government, formed from pro-Soviet members of the Polish Committee for National Liberation (PKNO). This authority was recognized only by the governments of the USSR and Czechoslovakia.
At the same time, the Polish government in exile was in London, led by ardent anti-communist Tomasz Archiszewski. Under his leadership, an appeal was drawn up to the armed formations of the Polish underground with a call to prevent the entry of Soviet troops into the country and the establishment of a communist regime by all means.
The formation of the Polish government
Thus, one of the issues of the Yalta Conference was the development of a joint decision regarding the formation of the Polish government. It should be noted that there was no particular disagreement on this issue. They decided that since Poland was liberated from the fascists exclusively by the forces of the Red Army, it would be quite fair to allow the Soviet leadership to take control of the formation of authorities on its territory. As a result, the “Provisional Government of National Unity” was created, which included Polish political figures loyal to the Stalin regime.
Decisions taken on the "German question"
The decisions of the Yalta Conference touched upon another, no less important issue - the occupation of Germany and its division into territories controlled by each of the victorious states. To them, by common agreement, France was also included, which also received its occupation zone. Despite the fact that this problem was one of the key, the agreement on it did not cause heated discussions. Fundamental decisions were made by the leaders of the Soviet Union, the United States and Great Britain back in September 1944 and recorded at the signing of a joint agreement. As a result, at the Yalta Conference, the heads of state only confirmed their previous decisions.
Contrary to expectations, the signing of the protocol of the conference served as the impetus for subsequent processes, which resulted in the split of Germany, stretching for many decades. The first of these was the creation in September 1949 of a new state of pro-Western orientation - the Federal Republic of Germany, the Constitution of which three months earlier had been signed by representatives of the USA, Great Britain and France. In response to this step, exactly one month later, the Soviet occupation zone was transformed into the German Democratic Republic, whose whole life was under the vigilant control of Moscow. Attempts were also made to secession of East Prussia.
Joint statement
The communiqué signed by the meeting participants said that the decisions taken at the Yalta Conference should serve as a guarantee that Germany will never be able to start a war in the future. To this end, its entire military-industrial complex must be destroyed, the remaining army units disarmed and disbanded, and the Nazi party "wiped off the face of the earth." Only after this, the German people can once again take their rightful place in the community of nations.
The situation in the Balkans
The eternal "Balkan issue" was also included on the agenda of the Yalta Conference. One of its aspects was the situation in Yugoslavia and Greece. There is reason to believe that even at a meeting held in October 1944, Stalin provided Britain with the opportunity to determine the future fate of the Greeks. It is for this reason that the clashes that followed in this country a year later between supporters of the Communists and pro-Western formations ended in victory for the latter.
However, at the same time, Stalin managed to insist that in Yugoslavia the power remained in the hands of representatives of the National Liberation Army, which was led by Josip Broz Tito, who adhered to Marxist views at that time. When forming a government, he was recommended to include as many democratically-minded politicians as possible.
Final declaration
One of the most important outcome documents of the Yalta Conference was called the "Declaration on the Liberation of Europe." It determined the specific principles of the policy that the victorious states intended to pursue in the territories conquered from the Nazis. In particular, it envisaged the restoration of the sovereign rights of the peoples living on them.
Moreover, the conference participants took upon themselves the obligation to jointly assist the people of these countries in the realization of their legal rights. The document emphasized that the order established in post-war Europe should help to eliminate the consequences of the German occupation and ensure the creation of a wide range of democratic institutions.
Unfortunately, the idea of ​​joint action for the benefit of the liberated peoples did not receive real implementation. The reason was that each victorious power had legal power only in the territory where its troops were stationed, and pursued its own ideological line on it. As a result, an impetus was given to the division of Europe into two camps - socialist and capitalist.
The fate of the Far East and the issue of reparations
The participants of the Yalta Conference during the meetings touched upon such an important topic as the amount of compensation (reparation), which, according to international laws, Germany was obliged to pay to the victorious countries for the damage caused to them. The final amount at that time could not be determined, but it was agreed that the USSR would receive 50% of it, since it suffered the greatest losses during the war.
With regard to the events that took place in that period in the Far East, a decision was made according to which, two to three months after the surrender of Germany, the Soviet Union was obliged to enter the war with Japan. For this, according to the signed agreement, the Kuril Islands, as well as South Sakhalin, lost by Russia as a result of the Russian-Japanese war, were transferred to him. In addition, the Soviet side received a long-term lease on the China-East Railway and Port Arthur.
Preparing for the UN
The meeting of the heads of state of the "Big Three", held in February 1954, went down in history also because it launched the idea of ​​a new League of Nations. The impetus for this was the need to create an international organization whose task would be to prevent any attempt to forcibly change the legal borders of states. The United Nations, whose ideology was developed during the Yalta Conference, subsequently became this authorized legal body.
The date of the convocation of the next (San Francisco) conference, at which delegations of the 50 founding countries developed and approved its Charter, was also officially announced by the participants in the Yalta meeting. This significant day was April 25, 1945. Created by the joint efforts of representatives of many states, the UN assumed the role of guarantor of the stability of the post-war world. Thanks to her authority and operational actions, she repeatedly managed to find effective solutions to the most complex international problems.