Cold War
1945
Yalta Conference foreshadows the Cold
War
President
Franklin D. Roosevelt, Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Soviet leader
Joseph Stalin meet to discuss the Allied war effort against Germany and Japan
and to try and settle some nagging diplomatic issues. While a number of
important agreements were reached at the conference, tensions over European
issues—particularly the fate of Poland—foreshadowed the crumbling of the Grand
Alliance that had developed between the United States, Great Britain, and the
Soviet Union during World War II and hinted at the Cold War to come.
Meeting
in the city of Yalta in the Russian Crimean from February 4 to 11, Roosevelt,
Churchill, and Stalin each arrived with their own agendas for the conference.
For Stalin, postwar economic assistance for Russia, and U.S. and British
recognition of a Soviet sphere of influence in Eastern Europe were the main
objectives. Churchill had the protection of the British Empire foremost in his
mind, but also wanted to clarify the postwar status of Germany. Roosevelt’s
goals included consensus on establishment of the United Nations and gaining
Soviet agreement to enter the war against Japan once Hitler had been defeated.
None of them left Yalta completely satisfied. There was no definite
determination of financial aid for Russia. Many issues pertaining to Germany
were deferred for further discussion. As for the United Nations, Stalin wanted
all 16 Soviet republics represented in the General Assembly, but settled for
three (the Soviet Union as a whole, Belorussia, and the Ukraine). However, the
Soviets did agree to join in the war against Japan 90 days after Hitler’s
Germany was defeated.
It
was over the issue of the postwar status of Poland, however, that the animosity
and mistrust between the United States and the Soviet Union that would
characterize the Cold War were most readily apparent. Soviet troops were
already in control of Poland, a procommunist provisional government had already
been established, and Stalin was adamant that Russia’s interests in that nation
be recognized. The United States and Great Britain believed that the
London-based noncommunist Polish government-in-exile was most representative of
the Polish people. The final agreement merely declared that a “more broadly
based” government should be established in Poland. Free elections to determine
Poland’s future were called for sometime in the future. Many U.S. officials
were disgusted with the agreement, which they believed condemned Poland to a
communist future. Roosevelt, however, felt that he could do no more at the
moment, since the Soviet army was occupying Poland.
As
the Cold War became a reality in the years that followed the Yalta Conference,
many critics of Roosevelt’s foreign policy accused him of “selling out” at the
meeting and naively letting Stalin have his way. It seems doubtful, however,
that Roosevelt had much choice. He was able to secure Russian participation in
the war against Japan (Russia declared war on Japan on August 8, 1945),
established the basic principles of the United Nations, and did as much as
possible to settle the Poland issue. With World War II still raging, his
primary interest was in maintaining the Grand Alliance. He believed that
troublesome political issues could be postponed and solved after the war.
Unfortunately, Roosevelt never got that chance—almost exactly two months after
the end of the conference, Roosevelt suffered a stroke and died.
Courtesy: HISTORY.com
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