Yalta and Potsdam Conferences
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The Yalta Conference
A meeting held in Yalta, Crimea during World War II
\ Attendees
- Franklin Delano Roosevelt, President of the United States
- Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of Great Britain
- Joseph Stalin, leader of the Soviet Union
\ Reasons for Meeting
- The Allies were confident that Germany would soon be defeated, but were uncertain about victory in the Pacific theater
- They wanted to ally with the USSR to defeat Japan
- The USSR wanted to gain a sphere of influence
\ Results
- Germany would be divided into 4 zones of occupation, each one controlled by one of the four Allied Powers (USA, Great Britain, USSR, and France)
- The USSR would enter the war against Japan
- Germany would have to pay the USSR reparations to compensate for their losses during the war
- The USSR would allow territories liberated from Nazi Germany to have free elections
- The USSR would receive a sphere of influence in Manchuria
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The Potsdam Conference
A meeting held in Potsdam, Germany after World War II
\ Attendees
- Harry S. Truman, President of the United States
- Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of Great Britain
- Joseph Stalin, leader of the Soviet Union
\ Reasons for Meeting
- Discussing the treatment of post-war Germany * Land division (borders were redetermined as well as the division of the 4 zones) * How to obtain reparations for the war without repeating the post-Versailles world
- Discussion of demilitarization and disarmament
- Creation of the United Nations
\ Results
- Germany divided into 4 occupied zones
- “Potsdam Declaration”-- if Japan did not immediately surrender, it would be promptly and utterly destroyed
- Poland received a large swath of German territory
- War crime trials were to be held in Nuremberg (the Nuremberg trials)
- Germany was to pay reparations to the Allies
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