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The Yalta Conference was held in the Soviet Crimea, territory liberated from the NAZIs. An ever warry Stalin refused to leave the Soviet Union. As a result, a very sick Roosevelt had to make the long journey. The Big Three (Stalin, Roosevelt, and Churchill) met February 4-11) in the summer palace of Tzar Nicholas II. The War in Europe had reached in climatic phase. The Red Army in the East had reached the Oder River and was preparing for an assault on Berlin. The Soviets now held all of Poland. The Red Army was the largest military force in Europe with 12 million soldiers in 300 divisions. The Allies in the West had defeated the last German offensive in the Ardennes and were driving toward the Rhine on Eisenhower's broad front. The Allies had a force of 4 million men in 85 divisions. The Allies had a massive air force which had devestated German industry and communications. The Yalta Agreement reached by the three leaders established the basis for the joint occupation of Germany and the establishment of democratic governments in the liberated countries. The Soviets agreed to a friendship pact with China. The three also agreed to establish the United Nations. Yalta is the most controversial of the World War II conferences. Some historians see Yalta as the beginning of the Cold War. The Yalta agreement included Soviet demands for reparations from Germany, for Poland to the Curzon line, for three seats in the United Nations, for territory in the Far East including Outer Mongolia, south Sakhalin Island, the Kuriles. After the War, Stalin did not honor the pledge to permit democratic elections in the liberated countries. As a result, Roosevelt was criticized for acceptng these demands. Right wing groups accused him of "selling out", in some cases the same people who had ealier opposed his efforts to prepare America for war. Roosevelt was undeniably in poor health at the conference, He in fact died of a cerebral hemorrhage only 2 months later. While his declining health must have affected his performance at Yalta, the simple matter was that it was the Red Army that had liberated Eastern Europe and was the stringest military force on the Continent. The Allies had nor real way of preventing Stalin from drawing borders in the East and establishing repressive governments. Roosevelt told Adolf Berle after the Conference, "I didn't say the result was good. I said it was the best I could do." Roosevelt hoped that the new United Nations would be able to resolve the issues emerging at Yalta. [Dallek] This was as we now know an unrealistic assessment, but it was the only viable alternative availavle to both Roosevelt and Churchill in light of the reality of Soviet military power.
The Yalta Conference and the agreements that flowed from it are undoubtedly the most controversial of all the World War II conferences. To an extentv this is understandable given the fact that they accepted some of the territorial concessions that Stalin obtained in the infamous NAZI-Soviet Non-Agression Pact. But much of the criticism leveled at President Roosevelt at Yalta stem from a basic misunderstanding of World War II on the part of many Americans. Americans tend to see World War II as a two-sided struggle beyween the Allies and the Axis. This is a gross miunderstanding. The War was in fact a three way struggle between the Allies, the Soviet Union, and the Axis. In fact, during the mid-1930s political observers were unsure about the greatest danger to the West. Some thought it was the Communists. Others thought it was the Fascists. It was Franco's victory in Spain (German and Italian assistance) and Hitler's demands at Munich that turned attention decided on the NAZIs. This culminated with the NAZI invasion of Poland. Almost unoticed was the fact that the Soviet Union also invaded Poland and the two countries partitioned Poland. The Soviet Union was every bit as murderous a totalitarian country as the NAZIs. The Soviets did not have gas chanbers, but they organized a chillingly effective killing machine with an apauling body count. Most of their killing targetted Soviet ciyizens, but thd number killed in the countries they occupied (Before and after the NAZI invasion) is apauling. The critism of the Yalta Agreements come from the premise that the United States and its allies won World War II. This is not the case. The United States defeated the Axis, but in large measure because of the military contribution of the other totalitarian nation--the Soviet Union. Thus because only the Axis was defeated, the United States could not dictate the post-War peace. And it could not control what occurred after the War in the countries occupied by the Soviet Union. Criticism of President Roosevelt for non dictating the peace are simoly not based on reality. And they are in many cases politically motivated. Much of the criticism came from Republicans who were dominated by Isolationists who opposed the President's effort to prepare for World War II and to support the democracies (Britain and France).
The Big Three planned a conference as the Allied Armies were battleing their way the Reich. The Yalta Conference was to finalize plans for post-War Europe. Soviet dictator Josef Stalin had a fear of both flight and leaving the Soviet Union so it was agreed to meet in the Soviet Black Sea resort of Yalta on the Crimean Peninsula. The Crimean had been a major scene of fighting in the East. This required both Primeminister Churchill and and ailing President Roosevelt to make a long ardous journey. The resulting Yalta Conference (February 1945) was one of the most important conferences of the War. The heavy cruiser USS Quincy was assigned to deliver the President to Malta where the Primeminister was waiting for him. A sailor on the Quincy writes, "Eventually the ship reached the island of Malta without any problems. When it arrived, the British ships in the harbor gave the president a 21-gun salute. Churchill and his daughter Sarah were at the dockside to meet Roosevelt and his daughter when they arrived. You couldn�t see land or the buildings for the thousands of people who turned out to see Churchill. The people of Malta loved the prime minister. The standing ovation they gave Churchill gives me goose pimples every time I think about it. He gave� em the �V� for victory sign and waved his ever-present cigar. The people just went crazy.� [Moore] Churchill wanted to develop a joint Anglo-American approach with Stalin. The President studiously avoided this as he did not want to give the impression of 'ganging up' on Stalin. In retrospect, this was a serious misjudgement and reflected President Roosevelt's failure to accurately assess Stalin's Character--a failure rife among liberal Americans. The highly paranoid Stalin naturally assumed that Roosevelt and Stalin had come to some kind of agreement when they met on Malta. And it meant that Stalin who knew just what he wanted was confronted with the two Western leaders who had no agreement as to what they wanted. In the end it was the Red Army and NKVD which controled Eastern Europe and determined the outcome, but Stalin may have moved more cautiously and less ruthlessy had America and Britain stood together.
The Yalta Conference was held in the Soviet Crimea, territory liberated from the NAZIs the previous year. Even while retreating, Hitler tried to hold on to the Crimea. An ever warry Stalin refused to leave the Soviet Union. As a result, a very sick Roosevelt had to make the long journey. The Big Three (Stalin, Roosevelt, and Churchill) met February 4-11 in the summer palace of Tzar Nicholas II on he Black Sea.
Yalta was the second meeting of the three major Allied leaders.
Primeminister Churchill had no illusions about Stalin and the character of the Soviet leader. Only the dire necesity of saving Britain from NAZI invasion forced him unto an allincewith Stalin.
President Roosevelt appears to have been so focused on defeating the Germans and Japanese, he seems to have convinced himself that aasting peace could ve negotiated with Stalin. Uncomfortable developments like the NKVD killings of Polish officers discovered at Katyn were simply put out of mind. Here the Soviets were such a vital component of the Allied coalition that Roosevelt nd Churchill had littke choice. With Roosevelt, however, he seems to have lost site of the terriblr crimes that Stalin had committed. In fairness to the President, many of the crimes were still unknown, but some were. One author writes, "He [Roosevelt] had little interest in reading turgid State Departmnt position papers. What matters was his personal relationship with the Soviet leader. He thought back to their first meetung, in Tehran in Novmber 1943, when they had toasted each other with Champagne, cracked jokes at Churchill's expense, and shared political confidences. FDR felt he had done well to secure Stalin's agreement for a new United Nations organization, even if it had meant recognizing Soviet territorial claims over eastern Poland. He viewed Stalin as a politician like himself, with whom he could strike a deal." [Dobbs] It is difficult to know hy Roosevelt arrived at this view. A factor may have been the President's focus on defeating \Hitler and the NAZIs. Another factormay have been the tendency of liberal Americans to be less critical of left-wing than right-wing dictators.
Marshall Joseph Stalin's character and goals shown when he reached the NAZI-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact with Hitler. Stalin also reveealed his character at Yalta when he suggests shooting 50,000 German officers. Stalin said, "50,000 Germans must be killed. Their General Staff must go." Churchill. shocked, shor back, "I will not be party to any butchery in cold blood. what happens in hot blood is another matter."
Stalin held firm. "50,000 must be shot." Chufchill got red in the face and said, "I would rather be taken out now and shot than so to disgrace my country." Given what the Germans had done in the Soviet Union and his hatred for Germans, there is every reason to believe that he was serious. We already know that he had ordered the NKVD to shoot thousands of Polish officers. Roosevelt apparently did not take him seriously and interjected, "I have a compromise to propose. Not fifty thousand, but only forty-nine thousand should be shot." Churchill got up and left the room. Stalin followed him, telling him he was only joking. They came back together, Stalin with a broad grin on his face. Stalin is reported to have said, "You are pro German. The Devil is a communist, and my friend God is a conservative." [Moran]
The War in Europe had reached in climatic phase. The Red Army in the East had reached the Oder River and was preparing for an assault on Berlin. The Soviets now held all of Poland. The Red Army was the largest military force in Europe with 12 million soldiers in 300 divisions. The Allies in the West had defeated the last German offensive in the Ardennes and were driving toward the Rhine on Eisenhower's broad front. The Allies had a force of 4 million men in 85 divisions. The Allies had a massive air force which had devestated German industry and communications.
There is a tendency to view the Yalta Conference as a meeting to decide on the future of Europe. This certainly was a major part of the conference. And because of the cuyrious tendency of Americams to look on the negative side, it has become the focus of many assessments of Yalta. In fact there were other important issues. These included the War in the Pacific and the United Nations. Both of these were high on President Roosvelt's agenda. Ameruca at the time was winning the Pacific War, but the casualties were mounting and it looked like an invasion of the Japanese Home Islands would be necessary. This Soviet assistance was greatly desired. The President was aWilsonian at heart and saw America's failure to join the League of Nations to have been a tragic event. Thus he was dtermined to create the United Nations and badly wanted Soviet participaion. And although not an actual issue, the avoidance of conflict when the Western Allies met the Soviets in Germany was a major concern. Given the difference between them, the poosibility of conflict was very real.
The Yalta Agreement reached by the three leaders established the basis for the joint occupation of Germany and the establishment of democratic governments in the liberated countries. The Soviets agreed to a friendship pact with China. The three also agreed to establish the United Nations. Yalta is the most controversial of the World War II conferences. Some historians see Yalta as the beginning of the Cold War.
The Yalta agreement included Soviet demands for reparations from Germany, for Poland to the Curzon line, for three seats in the United Nations, for territory in the Far East including Outer Mongolia, south Sakhalin Island, the Kuriles. After the War, Stalin did not honor the pledge to permit democratic elections in the liberated countries. As a result, Roosevelt was criticized for acceptng these demands. Right wing groups accused him of "selling out", in some cases the same people who had ealier opposed his efforts to prepare America for war. .
Roosevelt was undeniably in poor health at the conference, He in fact died of a cerebral hemorrhage only 2 months later. While his declining health must have affected his performance at Yalta, the simple matter was that it was the Red Army that had liberated Eastern Europe and was the strongest military force on the Continent. The Allies had nor real way of preventing Stalin from drawing borders in the East and establishing repressive governments. Roosevelt told Adolf Berle after the Conference, "I didn't say the result was good. I said it was the best I could do." Roosevelt hoped that the new United Nations would be able to resolve the issues emerging at Yalta. [Dallek] This was as we now know an unrealistic assessment, but it was the only viable alternative availavle to both Roosevelt and Churchill in light of the reality of Soviet military power.
Poland was a major issue at both Yalta and Potsdam. Many critics have charged that that President Roosevelt in particular abandoned Poland to the Soviets. [Olson and Cloud] The standard right-wing cant is that America won the war, but lost Poland. The simple fact is, however, that the War was never fought to save Poland. Britain and France went to war to save themselves and American joined Britain knowing that if Britain fell it would be net. The war was thus fought to defeat the NAZIs. Many of FDR's criticics did not even want to go to war to save Britain--let alone Poland. It is probably true that had the President been in better health that he could have more aggresively pursued the issues. And it is also true that he was not fully aware of the nature of the Soviet regime. That said, neither would have changed the all importaht facts on the ground. Also the War was not won by America. It was won by America and Britain and their allies and the Soviet Union. In fact, it was the Red Army that destroyed the Whermacht. Eight out of every 10 Wehrmacht soldiers killed during the War were killed on the Eastern Fron by the Soviets. If it had not been for the relentless pressure of the Red Army in the East, D-Day would have never been possible. The Soviet domination of Poland and Eastern Europe after the War was a simple reflection of that basic fact. As it was not America and Britain that won the war alone, America was not in a position to impose a peace settlement and boundries in Eastern Europe. America and the Western Allies could not have rescued Poland from the Soviets without another war and that was neither politically possible or probably in the best interests of the Polish people. One often ignored fact is that Soviet policy in Poland after the War was very different than during the first occupation (1939-41). Stalin like Hitler set out to destroy the Poish nation and Polish national identity. After the War while Soviet policy was not bebign, it now accepted the existence of the Polish nation. That new policy must have at least uin part be due to the influence of the Western Allies.
There were sedret codicils to the Yalta Agreement. They included Soviet participation in the Pacidic War and and repatriation of Soviet citizens. Obviously there were valid military reasons for not announcing Soviet participation ion the Pacific War. Keeping mandatory repatrition of Soviet citizens secret is less defensable.
Japan was one of the items on the agenda. It was clear that the NAZIs were defeated and the War in Europe would end in a few nmonths. President Roosevelt was concerned about the protracted fighting with Japan in the Pacific War. He wanted Soviet Soviet support to defeat Japan which would limit the moungting American casualties. Gen. Marshal proivided a briefing on Operatuion Downfall. He explained that the Americans would first invade Kyushu to obtain airfields that could cover a second invasion to take Tokyo. The invasiion was scheduled fior November 1945. He explained that the terain was muh kike Okinawa, volcnic with deep ravines. There woukd be three landing zones. They only needed about a third of the islsnd for needed airfields. Marshal was optimistic abd the Japanese haf not tyet begun a major build up. A priority for President Roosevelt was to get Stalin's commitment to enter the War with Japan hoping that would bring the Japanese to their sences. The atomic bomb was not yet tested.
Stalin agreed, but indicated the Soviets would need 2-3 months after the NAZI surrender to move forces east and prepare for war with Japan. In return for this, Roosevelt and Churchill agreed that the Soviets would aquire the Kuril Islands from Japan. In addition the territories lost to Japan in the Russo-Japanese War (1904–05) would be returned (southern Sakhalin Island). The status quo in pro-Soviet Outer Mongolia would be maintained. Stalin demanded the recognition of Mongolia's independence from China--the Mongolian People’s Republic which was a Soviet puppet government. Stalin agreed to sign a pact of alliance and friendship with China, at the time meaning Nationalist China. The Chinese port of Dalian was to be be internationalized and the Soviet lease (at the time known as Port Arthur) would be restored. These provisions would be revised after the Communist victory in China (1948).
President Roosevelt is often criticized concerning Yalta for something that he could do nothing about--namely the Soviet occupation of Eastern Europe. There is less critized for something that they could have done something aout, namely the forced repatriation pf Soviet citizens. There were about 5 million Soviet citizens in the the hands of the Western allies at the end of the War. Some 3 million wre the forced laborers (OST-Arbeiter). Another 2 million were Soviet POWs, many of who had signed up to fight with the Germans. Huge numbers of Soviet POWs had died in German hands. Most through starvation ratiions and the lack of shelter and clothing. Many of the POWs who survived did so by volunteering to fight with the Germans. Not all of the Soviets who fought with the Germans were recruited from POW camps, but many were. In some cases, such as the Don Cossocks, they had their families with them. Soviet Stalin, Churchill, and Roosevelt after Yalta approved a secret codicil (March 31). It outlining a plan to forcibly return Soviet citizens in Allied hands to the Soviet Union. This codicil remained a secret from the American and British people for over 50 years. [Hornberger] Most of the forced laborers and POWs did want to return home. This was not the case of the Soviets who fought with the Germans. They had to be returned forcibly. The results were horific. Americans returning to the internment camp after forcing a group back to the Soviets were shocked. One author writes, "The Americans returned to Plattling visibly shamefaced. Before their departure from the rendezvous in the forest, many had seen rows of bodies already hanging from the branches of nearby trees." [Murray-Brown] It was not just the Soviets who fought with the Germans that were treated as trauitors, but also the OST-Arbeiter and POWs. Thye were not usually shot, but many suffered long sentences in the Gulag. The forced repatriation of large numbers of Soviet citizens is is surely a serious blot on the Allied war record. Some commited suiside rather than be repatriated. Others wre murdered the moment the NKVD had their hands on them. Other died in the Gulag under the most apauling conditions. [Tolstoy] It is not altogether clear why Churchill and Roosevelt agreed to this. But the Soviets held western Allied POWs liberared from German camps. One author claims that the Soviets secretly held some of them in the Gulag. [Sanders, Sauter, and Kirkwood] Most of the exchanges were carried out after Roosevelt had been replaced by Truman and Churchill by Atlee. Atlee and the Labour Party wre more favorably oriented towrd the Soviets than Churchill and the Conservatives.
Stalin began the War as an ally of Hitler. The NAZI-Soviet Non-Agression Pact was a bluepint to partition Europe between the two totlitarian dictators (August 1939).
Only Hitler's invasion of the Soviet Union (June 1941) forcd Stalin into the Allied camp. What followed was 4 years of enormous effort, with the Red Army doing most of the fighting until D-Day (June 1944).
The political alliance with the Western Allies by the time of Yalta was beginning to fracture. Stalin had entered the alliance with Hitler as a temporary expedient in a struggle for global hegemony. Now with Hitler nearly defeated. Stalin had already begun to prepare for a conflict with the Wesern allies by beginning to take over the occupied countries of Eastern Europe. The purpose of the Yalta Conference was to
draft a blueprint for a lasting peace. Instead, Yalta proved to be the beginning of the Cold War and a 45-year divison of Europe. [Dobbs]
Critics of President Roosevelt have charged that he gave away Eastern Europe to the Soviets. Now there was no doubt that the President was sick at Yalta and not as forcefulm orv thoughtful as he might have been. And his approach at Tehran show gthat even when in better health he had fundamentally misjudged Stalin's character and the nature of the Soviet state. But this is not the same as giving away Eastern Europe. One can not give away something that one does not possess. The simple fact was that America and Britain had defeated only one of the two powers that launched World War II and began to carve up Europe. The Soviet Union had done the great bulk if the fighting in Europe and was lsrgely responsible for defeating the Whermacht. There were 9 million Red army boots on the ground. America and Britain simply could not alter this fact. The United States could have theoretically threatened to usee the atomic bomb, but it did not yet exist and even after it did, usung it in the Soviet Unuion was unthinkable. There was enormous sympathy forv the Soviet Union for defeating the vaunted Whermacht--often forgetting the NAZI-Soviet alliance which actually launched the War. A more reasonable assessmentb is that Roosevelt emboldened Stalin.[Gellately] This has to be viewedcin context. Just how does the United Statesv and Britain fight a war dependingv on one of two criminal regimes as an ally? And one concern that has to be born in mind is that the possibility that Stalin could have switched sides again or exited the war with a territorial settlment with Hitler. There were in fact diplomatic contacts between the NAZIs and Soviets.
Dallek, Robert. Franklin Roosevelt and American Foreign Policy.
Dobbs, Michael. Six Months in 1945: From World War to Cold War (2012), 448p.
Gellately, Robeet. Stalin's Curse: Battling for Communism in War and Cold War (2013), 496p.
Hornberger, Jacob C. "Repatriation � The Dark Side of World War II, (The Future of Freedom Foundation, April, 1995).
Moore, Dan. "He took President Roosevelt to Malta to attend the Conference at Yalta," War Tales (March 30, 2011).
Moran, Lord. Churchill: The Struggle for Survival, 1945-60. Lord Moran was Churchill's doctor, devoted friend, and confidant. He kept a diary of his time with Churchill.
Murray-Brown, Jeremy. A footnote to Yalta (Boston University).
Sanders, James D, Mark A. Sauter, and R. Cort Kirkwood. Soldiers Of Misfortune: Washington's Secret Betrayal of American POWs in the Soviet Union (National Press Books, 1992).
Tolstoy, Nikolai. Victims of Yalta: The Secret Betrayal of the Allies, 1944-1947 (2012), 512p.
Avalon Project: The text of the agreements reached at the Crimea (Yalta) Conference.
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