yalta conference

When was the yalta conference

February 1945

2 consequences of the Yalta Conference

Growing mistrust over Eastern Europe and Poland

Foundations for the division of Germany and Berlin

Consequence 1: Growing mistrust over Eastern Europe and Poland

It increases mistrust between USA,Britain and USSR over Eastern Europe, particularly Poland. At yalta, Stalin agreed that Eastern European countries liberated from Nazi control would have free and democratic elections, but he also made clear that the USSR needed a buffer zone of friendly governments to protect itself from future invasions. After the war, Stalin broke the promise by allowing only communist parties to take power in countries such as Poland, Hungary and Romania. This made the USA believe that Stalin was expanding communism, which damaged trust and helped turn wartime cooperation into Cold War rivalry

Consequence 2: Foundations for the division of Germany and Berlin

Yalta set the foundations for the division of Germany and Berlin, which later become a major source of Cold War tension. The Allies agreed agreed to divide Germany and Berlin into 4 occupation zones and to demilitarise and denatzify Germany. However they failed to agree clearly on how Germanys economy should be rebuilt or how much reparations USSR should recieve (see other Flashcards for details). These disagreements led to growing tension between the occupying powers and eventually led to the Berlin Blockaide(1948-49) and the creation of 2 seperate German states in 1949. As a result, Germany became the main symbol of the Cold War divide in Europe

Soviets view on the disagreement over germanys economy

The USSR had suffered huge damage and loss of life during the war

Stalin wanted Germany to be kept weak economically so it could never threaten the USSR again

He also wanted heavy reparations including factories, machinery and raw materials, especially from Germany’s industrial regions

US and British view on disagreeing over Germanys economy

The USA and Britain believed that Germany needed a strong stable economy

They feared that if Germany remained poor, it would lead to unemployment, famine and political extremism, as it had after WW1

They also wanted Germany to be self supporting so they would not have to keep paying to run it