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{{Short description|1945 WWII allied discussion of postwar reorganization}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2011}}
{{Infobox summit meeting
| name         = Yalta Conference
| other_titles = Crimean Conference 
| image        = File:Yalta Conference (Churchill, Roosevelt, Stalin) (B&W).jpg
| alt          = <!-- See [[Wikipedia:Alternative text for images]] -->
| caption      = The "[[Grand Alliance (World War II)|Big Three]]" at the Yalta Conference, Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin. Behind them standing, from the left, Field Marshal Sir [[Alan Brooke]], Fleet Admiral [[Ernest King]], Fleet Admiral [[William D. Leahy]], General of the Army [[George Marshall]], Major General [[Laurence S. Kuter]], General [[Aleksei Antonov]], Vice Admiral [[Stepan Kucherov]], and Admiral of the Fleet [[Nikolay Gerasimovich Kuznetsov|Nikolay Kuznetsov]].
| country      = {{flag|Soviet Union|1936}}
| date         = 4–11 February 1945
| venues       = [[Livadia Palace]]
| cities       = [[Yalta]], [[Crimea in the Soviet Union|Crimean ASSR]], [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Russian SFSR]], Soviet Union
| participants = {{ubl | {{flagicon|Soviet Union|1936}} [[Joseph Stalin]] | {{Flagicon|United Kingdom}} [[Winston Churchill]] | {{Flagicon|United States|1912}} [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]]}}
| follows      = [[Tehran Conference]]
| precedes     = [[Potsdam Conference]]
}}

The '''Yalta Conference''' ({{langx|ru|Ялтинская конференция|Yaltinskaya konferentsiya}}), held 4–11 February 1945, was the [[World War II]] meeting of the heads of government of the [[United States]], the [[United Kingdom]], and the [[Soviet Union]] to discuss the postwar reorganization of [[Allied-occupied Germany|Germany]] and Europe. The three states were represented by President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]], Prime Minister [[Winston Churchill]], and General Secretary [[Joseph Stalin]]. The conference was held near [[Yalta]] in [[Crimea in the Soviet Union|Crimea]], Soviet Union, within the [[Livadia Palace|Livadia]], [[Yusupov Palace (Crimea)|Yusupov]], and [[Vorontsov Palace (Alupka)|Vorontsov]] palaces.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Yalta Conference |url=https://www.britannica.com/event/Yalta-Conference |access-date=2022-11-07 |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica}}</ref>

The aim of the conference was to shape a postwar peace that represented not only a [[collective security]] order, but also a plan to give [[self-determination]] to the liberated peoples of Europe. Intended mainly to discuss the re-establishment of the nations of war-torn Europe, within a few years, with the [[Cold War]] dividing the continent, the conference became a subject of intense controversy.

Yalta was the second of three major wartime conferences among the [[Grand Alliance (World War II)|Big Three]]. It was preceded by the [[Tehran Conference]] in November 1943 and was followed by the [[Potsdam Conference]] in July 1945. It was also preceded by a [[Moscow Conference (1944)|conference in Moscow in October 1944]], not attended by Roosevelt, in which Churchill and Stalin had reached an informal agreement on Western and Soviet [[spheres of influence]] in Europe.<ref>Melvyn Leffler, ''Cambridge History of the Cold War'', Volume 1 (Cambridge University Press, 2012), [https://books.google.com/books?id=933uBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA175 p. 175]</ref>

== Conference ==
{{Wikisource|Yalta Conference Agreement}}[[File:Советские, американские и британские дипломаты во время Ялтинской конференции.jpg|thumb|Soviet, American and British diplomats during the Yalta conference]]
[[File:U.S. delegation at the Yalta Conference.jpg|alt=Crimean conference Left to right: Secretary of State Edward Stettinius, Maj. Gen. L. S. Kuter, Admiral E. J. King, General George C. Marshall, Ambassador Averell Harriman, Admiral William Leahy, and President F. D. Roosevelt. Livadia Palace, Crimea, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|thumb|
Yalta American Delegation in Livadia Palace from left to right: Secretary of State [[Edward Stettinius]], Maj. Gen. L. S. Kuter, Admiral E. J. King, General George C. Marshall, Ambassador Averell Harriman, Admiral William Leahy, and President F. D. Roosevelt. Livadia Palace, Crimea, [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|RSFSR]]]]
During the Yalta Conference, the Western Allies had liberated all of [[Liberation of France|France]] and [[Liberation of Belgium|Belgium]] and were fighting on the western border of Germany. In the east, Soviet forces were {{convert|65|km|mi|abbr=on}} from Berlin, having already pushed back the Germans from [[History of Poland (1939–1945)|Poland]], [[Kingdom of Romania|Romania]], and [[Kingdom of Bulgaria|Bulgaria]]. There was no longer a question regarding German defeat. The issue was the new shape of postwar Europe.<ref>Diana Preston, ''Eight Days at Yalta: How Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin Shaped the Post-War World'' (2019) pp 1–23.</ref><ref>David G. Haglund, "Yalta: The Price of Peace." ''Presidential Studies Quarterly'' 42#2 (2012), p. 419+. [https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A288290572/GPS?u=wikipedia&sid=GPS&xid=fea65113  online]</ref><ref>Donald Cameron Watt, "Britain and the Historiography of the Yalta Conference and the Cold War." ''Diplomatic History'' 13.1 (1989): 67–98. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/24911839 online]</ref>

The French leader General [[Charles de Gaulle]] was not invited to either the Yalta or [[Potsdam Conference]]s, a diplomatic slight that was the occasion for deep and lasting resentment.<ref>{{cite book|title = The General; Charles de Gaulle and the France he saved|first = Jonathan|last = Fenby| publisher = Skyhorse|date = 2012| pages = 280–90}}</ref> De Gaulle attributed his exclusion from Yalta to the longstanding personal antagonism towards him by Roosevelt, but the Soviets had also objected to his inclusion as a full participant. However, the absence of French representation at Yalta also meant that extending an invitation for de Gaulle to attend the Potsdam Conference would have been highly problematic since he would have felt honor-bound to insist that all issues agreed at Yalta in his absence be reopened.<ref>{{cite book|title = Between War and Peace; The Potsdam Conference|url = https://archive.org/details/betweenwarpeacep0000feis|url-access = registration|first = Herbert|last = Feis| publisher = Princeton University Press|date = 1960| pages = [https://archive.org/details/betweenwarpeacep0000feis/page/128 128]–38}}</ref>

The initiative for calling a second "Big Three" conference had come from Roosevelt, who hoped for a meeting before the [[1944 United States presidential election|US presidential elections]] in November 1944 but pressed for a meeting early in 1945 at a neutral location in the Mediterranean. Malta, Cyprus, Sicily, Athens, and Jerusalem were all suggested. Stalin, insisting that his doctors opposed any long trips, rejected those options.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Reynolds|first=David|title=Summits : six meetings that shaped the twentieth century|date=2009|publisher=Basic Books|isbn=978-0-7867-4458-9|location=New York|oclc=646810103}}</ref><ref>Stephen C. Schlesinger, ''Act of Creation: The Founding of the United Nations'' (Boulder: Westview Press, 2003). {{ISBN|0-8133-3324-5}}</ref> He proposed instead for them meet at the [[Black Sea]] resort of Yalta in the Crimea. Stalin's fear of flying also was a contributing factor in the decision.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Second World War |last=Beevor |first=Antony |publisher=Little, Brown and Company |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-316-02374-0 |location=New York |page=[https://archive.org/details/secondworldwar00beev/page/709 709] |author-link=Antony Beevor |title-link=The Second World War (book) }}</ref>

Each of the three leaders had his own agenda for postwar Germany and liberated Europe. Roosevelt wanted Soviet support in the [[Pacific War]] against [[Empire of Japan|Japan]], specifically for the planned invasion of Japan ([[Soviet invasion of Manchuria|Operation August Storm]]), as well as Soviet participation in the [[United Nations]]. Churchill pressed for free elections and democratic governments in Central and Eastern Europe, specifically Poland. Stalin demanded a Soviet [[sphere of influence|sphere of political influence]] in Eastern and Central Europe as an essential aspect of the Soviets' national security strategy, and his position at the conference was felt by him to be so strong that he could dictate terms. According to US delegation member and future Secretary of State [[James F. Byrnes]], "it was not a question of what we would let the Russians do, but what we could get the Russians to do".<ref name="black61">{{Harvnb|Black|English|Helmreich|McAdams|2000|p=61}}</ref>

Poland was the first item on the Soviet agenda. Stalin stated, "For the Soviet government, the question of Poland was one of honor" and security because Poland had served as a historical corridor for forces attempting to invade Russia.<ref name="berthon285">{{Harvnb|Berthon|Potts|2007|p=285}}</ref> In addition, Stalin stated regarding history that "because the Russians had greatly sinned against Poland", "the Soviet government was trying to atone for those sins".<ref name="berthon285" />  Stalin concluded that "Poland must be strong" and that "the Soviet Union is interested in the creation of a mighty, free and independent Poland". Accordingly, Stalin stipulated that [[Polish government-in-exile]] demands were not negotiable, and the Soviets would keep the territory of [[Kresy|eastern Poland]] that they had [[Territories of Poland annexed by the Soviet Union|annexed in 1939]], with Poland to be compensated for that by extending its western borders at the expense of Germany.

Roosevelt wanted the Soviets to enter the Pacific War against Japan with the Allies, which he hoped would end the war sooner and reduce American casualties.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |date=18 March 1955 |title=Secret American Pact With Stalin Exposed in Yalta Papers |volume=29 |pages=1 |work=[[The Canberra Times]] |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/91195066/7054755 |access-date=2023-07-10}}</ref> 

One Soviet precondition for a declaration of war against Japan was an American official recognition of the Mongolian independence from China (the [[Mongolian People's Republic#Formation|Mongolian People's Republic]] had been a Soviet satellite state from 1924 to World War II). The Soviets also wanted the recognition of Soviet interests in the [[Chinese Eastern Railway]] and [[Lushunkou|Port Arthur]] but not asking the Chinese to lease.

The Soviets wanted the return of [[Karafuto Prefecture|South Sakhalin]], which had been taken from Russia by Japan in the [[Russo-Japanese War]] in 1905, and the cession of the [[Kuril Islands]] by Japan, both of which were approved by the other Allies. In return, Stalin pledged that the Soviet Union would [[Soviet invasion of Manchuria|enter the Pacific War]] three months after the defeat of Germany.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/yalta-conference| title =  Yalta Conference| date = November 1, 2022| website = [[history.com]]| publisher = [[History Channel]]| access-date = 2024-04-27}}</ref> 

The fate of Korea is not mentioned in the records of demands and concessions at Yalta.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Grey |first=Arthur L. |date=1951 |title=The Thirty-Eighth Parallel |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20030853 |journal=Foreign Affairs |volume=29 |issue=3 |pages=484 |doi=10.2307/20030853 |jstor=20030853 |issn=0015-7120|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Elsey |first=G. M. |title=Memorandum by the Assistant to the President's Naval Aide |url=https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1945Berlinv01/d250 |access-date=2023-07-10 |website=[[Office of the Historian]]}}</ref> However, several declassified documents later revealed that on 8 February, while Churchill was not present, Roosevelt and Stalin secretly discussed the peninsula. Roosevelt brought up the idea of putting Korea into a trusteeship divided among the Soviets, the Americans, and the Chinese for a period of 20 to 30 years. He expressed reluctance to invite the British to the trusteeship, but Stalin reportedly replied that the British "would most certainly be offended. In fact, the Prime Minister might 'kill us{{'"}}. Roosevelt agreed with the assessment. Stalin suggested the trusteeship be as short as possible. The two quickly agreed that their troops should not be stationed in Korea. Korea was not discussed again throughout the conference.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />

[[File:Livadiya Conference.JPG|thumb|A Big Three meeting room]]
Furthermore, the Soviets agreed to join the [[United Nations]] because of a secret understanding of a voting formula with a [[United Nations Security Council veto power|veto power]] for [[Permanent members of the United Nations Security Council|permanent members]] of the [[Security Council]], which ensured that each country could block unwanted decisions.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Couzigou|first=Irène|date=October 2015|title=Yalta Conference (1945)|url=https://opil.ouplaw.com/view/10.1093/law:epil/9780199231690/law-9780199231690-e449?rskey=IlUoyl&result=1&prd=MPIL|journal=Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law  |pages=Rn. 13|via=Oxford Public International Law}}</ref>

The Soviet Army had occupied Poland completely and held much of Eastern Europe with a military power three times greater than Allied forces in the West.{{Citation needed|date=January 2024}} The Declaration of Liberated Europe did little to dispel the sphere of influence agreements, which had been incorporated into armistice agreements.<ref>Ariel Davis, "An Examination of American Diplomacy During the Tehran and Yalta Conferences." ''The General Assembly Review'' 2.1 (2021): 1-11.</ref>

All three leaders ratified the agreement of the [[European Advisory Commission]] setting the boundaries of [[Allied-occupied Germany|postwar occupation zones for Germany]] with three zones of occupation, one for each of the three principal Allies. They also agreed to give France a zone of occupation carved out of the US and UK zones, but De Gaulle maintained the principle of refusing to accept that the French zone would be defined by boundaries established in his absence. He thus ordered French forces to occupy [[Stuttgart]] in addition to the lands earlier agreed upon as comprising the French occupation zone. He only withdrew when threatened with the suspension of essential American economic supplies.<ref>{{cite book|title = The General; Charles de Gaulle and the France he saved|first = Jonathan|last = Fenby| publisher = Skyhorse|date = 2012| page = 282}}</ref> Churchill at Yalta then argued that the French also needed to be a full member of the proposed [[Allied Control Council]] for Germany. Stalin resisted that until Roosevelt backed Churchill's position, but Stalin still remained adamant that the French should not be admitted to full membership of the Allied Reparations Commission to be established in Moscow and relented only at the [[Potsdam Conference]].{{Citation needed|date=June 2023}}

Also, the Big Three agreed that all original governments would be restored to the invaded countries, with the exceptions of Romania, Bulgaria and Poland, whose government-in-exile was also excluded by Stalin, and that all of their civilians would be repatriated.{{Citation needed|date=June 2023}}

There were also discussions on the [[Middle East]] and the issue of [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]], whereby Roosevelt supported the creation of a new Jewish state, believing that it would be a model of social justice and would raise the standard of living in the region, over the opposition of King Ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia. Roosevelt cited the views of [[Walter C. Lowdermilk]] that Palestine could absorbed many millions more people. Prior to the conference, [[United States Secretary of State|Secretary of State]] [[Edward Stettinius Jr.]] urged Roosevelt not to make any decisions about Palestine without Soviet approval as they might use it to gain influence in the Middle East, and instead try to win agreement from the British and the Soviets on a policy that considered the interests of both Arabs and Jews and avoid uncritical support for [[Zionism]]. However, at the conference, Stalin did not object to Roosevelt's goals and Churchill gave informal support in exchange for refraining discussions on the [[White Paper of 1939]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Breitman |first=Richard |date= November 24, 2014|title=[[FDR and the Jews]] |url= |location= |publisher=The Belknap Press |page= |isbn=978-0674416741 |access-date=}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=September 2025}}

=== Declaration of Liberated Europe ===
[[File:Лидеры «Большой тройки» за столом переговоров на ялтинской конференции.jpg|thumb|Leaders of the Big Three at the negotiating table at the Yalta conference]]
The Declaration of Liberated Europe was created by Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Joseph Stalin during the Yalta Conference. It was a promise that allowed the people of Europe "to create democratic institutions of their own choice". The declaration pledged that "the earliest possible establishment through free elections governments responsive to the will of the people". That is similar to the statements of the [[Atlantic Charter]] for "the right of all people to choose the form of government under which they will live".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://schoolshistory.org.uk/topics/world-history/cold-war-1945-1972/soviet-satellite-states/|title=Soviet Satellite States|website=schoolshistory.org.uk|access-date=March 1, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190302224016/http://schoolshistory.org.uk/topics/world-history/cold-war-1945-1972/soviet-satellite-states/|archive-date=March 2, 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Key points===
{{Territorial evolution of Germany}}
{{Territorial evolution of Poland}}

The key points of the meeting were as follows:

* Agreement to the priority of the [[unconditional surrender]] of [[Nazi Germany]]. After the war, Germany and Berlin would be split into four occupied zones.
* Stalin agreed that France would have a [[French occupation zone in Germany|fourth occupation zone]] in Germany if it was formed from the American and the British zones.
* Germany would undergo [[Demilitarisation|demilitarization]] and [[denazification]]. At the Yalta Conference, the Allies decided to provide safeguards against a potential military revival of Germany, to eradicate German militarism and the [[Oberkommando der Wehrmacht|Nazi general staff]], to bring about the [[denazification]] of Germany, to punish the war criminals and to disarm and demilitarise Germany.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Lewkowicz|first=Nicolas|title=The German Question and the Origins of the Cold War|publisher=IPOC|year=2008|isbn=978-88-95145-27-3|location=Milan|pages=73}}</ref>
* German [[war reparations]] were partly to be in the form of [[forced labor]]. The forced labour was to be used to repair damage that Germany had inflicted on its victims.<ref>Pavel Polian. ''Against Their Will: The History and Geography of Forced Migrations in the USSR''. Central European University Press 2003   {{ISBN|963-9241-68-7}} pp. 244–49</ref> However, laborers were also forced to harvest crops, mine uranium, and do other work (see also ''[[Forced labor of Germans after World War II]]'' and ''[[Forced labor of Germans in the Soviet Union]]'').
* Creation of a reparation council which would be located in the Soviet Union.
* The status of Poland was discussed. The recognition of the communist [[Provisional Government of the Republic of Poland]], which had been installed by the Soviet Union "on a broader democratic basis", was agreed to.<ref>{{Cite book|title = Encyclopedia of the United Nations and International Agreements: T to Z|last = Osmańczyk|first = Edmund|year = 2003|isbn = 978-0-415-93924-9|page = 2773| publisher=Taylor & Francis }}</ref>
* The Polish eastern border would follow the [[Curzon Line]], and Poland would receive territorial compensation in the west from Germany.
* Stalin pledged to permit free elections in Poland.
* Roosevelt obtained a commitment by Stalin to participate in the [[United Nations]].
* Stalin requested that all of the 16 [[Republics of the Soviet Union|Soviet Socialist Republics]] would be granted [[Member states of the United Nations|UN membership]]. That was taken into consideration, but 14 republics were denied; Roosevelt and Churchill agreed to membership for [[Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic|Ukraine]] and [[Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic|Byelorussia]]. While Roosevelt requested additional votes, with Churchill agreeing in principle and Stalin suggesting two addition votes so as to be equal to the Soviet Union, the United States ultimately did not request more than one vote.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Historical Documents - Office of the Historian |url=https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1945Malta/ch10subch1 |access-date=2024-05-19 |website=[[United States Department of State]]}}</ref>
* Stalin agreed to enter the fight against the [[Empire of Japan]] "in two or three months after Germany has surrendered and the war in Europe is terminated". As a result, the Soviets would take possession of Southern Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands, the port of [[Dalian]] would be internationalized, and the Soviet lease of Port Arthur would be restored, among other concessions.<ref>"Agreement Regarding Japan," Protocol Proceedings of the Crimea Conference (February 11, 1945). [http://avalon.law.yale.edu/wwii/yalta.asp Online].</ref>
* For the [[Air raids on Japan|bombing of Japan]], agreement was reached on basing [[United States Army Air Forces|U.S. Army Air Force]] [[Boeing B-29 Superfortress|B-29s]] near the mouth of the [[Amur River]] in the [[Komsomolsk-on-Amur|Komsomolsk]]-[[Nikolayevsk-on-Amur|Nikolaevsk]] area (not near [[Vladivostok]], as had earlier been proposed), but that did not eventuate. General [[Aleksei Antonov]] also said that the Red Army would take the southern half of [[Sakhalin Island]] as one of its first objectives and that American assistance to defend [[Kamchatka]] would be desirable.{{sfn|Ehrman|1956|p=216}}
* [[German war crimes|Nazi war criminals]] were to be found and put on trial in the territories in which their crimes had been committed. Nazi leaders were to be executed.
* A "Committee on Dismemberment of Germany" was to be set up. Its purpose was to decide whether Germany was to be divided into several nations. Some examples of partition plans are shown below:

<gallery widths="220px" heights="200px">
File:Map-Germany-1945.svg | The eventual partition of Germany into [[Allied-occupied Germany|Allied Occupation Zones]]:<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://neverwasmag.com/2018/11/how-germany-was-divided-a-history-of-partition-plans/|title=How Germany Was Divided: A History of Partition Plans|first=Nick|last=Ottens|date=November 18, 2018}}</ref> {{legend|#69AB69|British zone}} {{legend|#2464D8|French zone (two [[Enclave and exclave|exclave]]s) and beginning in 1947, the [[Saar Protectorate]]}} {{legend|#FCA93E|American zone, including [[Bremen]]}} {{legend|#FF5555|Soviet zone, later the [[East Germany|GDR]]}}  {{legend|#FFFFCF|[[Oder–Neisse line|Polish and Soviet annexed territory]]}}
File:Duitslandchurchill_eng.png | Partition plan from Winston Churchill: {{legend|#C9A091|North German state}} {{legend|#9195C9|South German state, including modern Austria and Hungary}} {{legend|#92C991|West German state}}
File:Morgenthau Plan map.svg | [[Morgenthau Plan]]: {{legend|#FF6464|North German state}} {{legend|#6464FF|South German state}} {{legend|#64ff64|[[International zone]]}} {{legend|#C8C8C8|Territory lost from Germany (Saarland to [[French Fourth Republic|France]], [[Upper Silesia]] to [[People's Republic of Poland|Poland]], [[East Prussia]], partitioned between Poland and the [[Soviet Union]])}}
</gallery>

===Democratic elections===
The Big Three further agreed that democracies would be established, all liberated European and former Axis satellite countries would hold free elections and that order would be restored.<ref name="yaltareport">February 11, 1945 ''Protocol of Proceedings of Crimea Conference'', ''reprinted in'' Grenville, John Ashley Soames and Bernard Wasserstein, ''The Major International Treaties of the Twentieth Century: A History and Guide with Texts'', Taylor and Francis, 2001 {{ISBN|0-415-23798-X}}, pp. 267–77</ref> In that regard, they promised to rebuild occupied countries by processes that will allow them "to create democratic institutions of their own choice. This is a principle of the Atlantic Charter&nbsp;– the right of all peoples to choose the form of government under which they will live."<ref name="yaltareport"/> The resulting report stated that the three would assist occupied countries to form interim government that "pledged to the earliest possible establishment through free elections of the Governments responsive to the will of the people" and to "facilitate where necessary the holding of such elections".<ref name="yaltareport"/>

The agreement called on signatories to "consult together on the measures necessary to discharge the joint responsibilities set forth in this declaration". During the Yalta discussions, Molotov inserted language that weakened the implication of enforcement of the declaration.<ref name="Leffler">{{cite journal |first=Melvyn P. |last=Leffler |title=Adherence to Agreements: Yalta and the Experiences of the Early Cold War |journal=[[International Security]] |volume=11 |issue=1 |year=1986 |pages=88–123 |jstor=2538877 |doi=10.2307/2538877 |s2cid=153352217 }}</ref>

Regarding Poland, the Yalta report further stated that the provisional government should "be pledged to the holding of free and unfettered elections as soon as possible on the basis of universal suffrage and secret ballot".<ref name="yaltareport"/> The agreement could not conceal the importance of acceding to the pro-Soviet short-term [[Polish Committee of National Liberation|Lublin government]] control and of eliminating language that called for supervised elections.<ref name="Leffler"/>

According to Roosevelt, "if we attempt to evade the fact that we placed somewhat more emphasis on the Lublin Poles than on the other two groups from which the new government is to be drawn I feel we will expose ourselves to the charges that we are attempting to go back on the Crimea decision". Roosevelt conceded that, in the words of Admiral William D. Leahy, the language of Yalta was so vague that the Soviets could "stretch it all the way from Yalta to Washington without ever technically breaking it".<ref>David M. Kennedy  ''The American People in World War II: Freedom from Fear'', Part Two p. 377</ref>

The final agreement stipulated that "the Provisional Government which is now functioning in Poland should therefore be reorganized on a broader democratic basis with the inclusion of democratic leaders from Poland and from Poles abroad".<ref name="yaltareport"/> The language of Yalta conceded predominance of the pro-Soviet Lublin government in a provisional government but a reorganized one.<ref name="Leffler"/>

==Aftermath==
===Eastern Bloc===
{{Further|History of Poland (1939–1945)|Eastern Bloc}}
[[File:1945-02-15GerWW2BattlefrontAtlas reworked.jpg|thumb|upright=1.6|Allied-occupied territories (red) on 15 February 1945, four days after the end of the conference]]
[[File:Map of Poland (1945) corr.png|thumb|upright=1.6|Poland's old and new borders, 1945 – ''[[Kresy]]'' in light red]]

Because of Stalin's promises, Churchill believed that he would keep his word regarding Poland and he remarked, "Poor [[Neville Chamberlain]] believed he could trust Hitler. He was wrong. But I don't think I am wrong about Stalin."<ref name="berthon289">{{Harvnb|Berthon|Potts|2007|p=289}}</ref>

Churchill defended his actions at Yalta in a three-day parliamentary debate starting on February 27, which ended in a [[vote of confidence]]. During the debate, many MPs criticised Churchill and expressed deep reservations about Yalta and support for Poland, with 25 drafting an amendment protesting the agreement.<ref name="pp.374-383 Olson and Cloud 2003">pp. 374–83, Olson and Cloud 2003</ref>

After the Second World War ended, a [[Polish People's Republic|communist government]] was installed in Poland. Many Poles [[Western betrayal|felt betrayed by their wartime allies]]. Many Polish soldiers refused to return to Poland because of the [[Soviet repressions of Polish citizens (1939–1946)]], the [[Trial of the Sixteen]] and other executions of pro-Western Poles, particularly the [[cursed soldiers|former members]] of the AK ([[Armia Krajowa]]). The result was the [[Polish Resettlement Act 1947]], Britain's first mass immigration law.

On March 1, 1945, Roosevelt assured [[United States Congress|Congress]], "I come from the Crimea with a firm belief that we have made a start on the road to a world of peace".<ref name="berthon290"/> However, the Western Powers soon realized that Stalin would not honour his promise of free elections for Poland. After receiving considerable criticism in London following Yalta regarding the atrocities committed in Poland by Soviet troops, Churchill wrote Roosevelt a desperate letter referencing the wholesale deportations and liquidations of opposition Poles by the Soviets.<ref name="berthon290">{{Harvnb|Berthon|Potts|2007|pp=290–94}}</ref> On March 11, Roosevelt responded to Churchill: "I most certainly agree that we must stand firm on a correct interpretation of the Crimean decision. You are quite correct in assuming that neither the Government nor the people of this country will support participation in a fraud or a mere whitewash of the Lublin government and the solution must be as we envisaged it in Yalta."<ref>Telegram, President Roosevelt to the British prime minister, Washington, 11 March 1945, in United States Department of State, ''Foreign Relations of the United States, Diplomatic Papers: 1945 Volume V, Europe'' (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1967), pp. 509–10.</ref>

By March 21, Roosevelt's Ambassador to the Soviet Union, [[W. Averell Harriman|Averell Harriman]], cabled Roosevelt that "we must come clearly to realize that the Soviet program is the establishment of [[totalitarianism]], ending [[Liberty|personal liberty]] and democracy as we know it".<ref name="berthon296">{{Harvnb|Berthon|Potts|2007|pp=296–97}}</ref> Two days later, Roosevelt began to admit that his view of Stalin had been excessively optimistic and that "Averell is right."<ref name="berthon296"/>

Four days later, on March 27, the Soviet People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs ([[NKVD]]) arrested 16 Polish opposition political leaders who had been invited to participate in provisional government negotiations.<ref name="berthon296"/> The arrests were part of a trick employed by the NKVD, which flew the leaders to Moscow for a later [[show trial]], followed by sentencing to a [[gulag]].<ref name="berthon296"/><ref name="wettig47">{{Harvnb|Wettig|2008|pp=47–48}}</ref> Churchill thereafter argued to Roosevelt that it was "as plain as a pike staff" that Moscow's tactics were to drag out the period for holding free elections "while the Lublin Committee consolidate their power".<ref name="berthon296"/> The [[1947 Polish legislative election|Polish elections]], held on January 16, 1947, resulted in Poland's official transformation to a [[People's Republic of Poland|communist state]] by 1949.

Following Yalta,  Soviet Foreign Minister [[Vyacheslav Molotov]] expressed worry that the Yalta Agreement's wording might impede Stalin's plans, Stalin responded, "Never mind. We'll do it our own way later."<ref name="berthon289"/> The Soviet Union had already annexed several occupied countries as (or into) [[Soviet Socialist Republics]],<ref name="senn">{{cite book |last=Senn |first=Alfred Erich |title=Lithuania 1940: revolution from above |location=Amsterdam; New York |publisher=Rodopi |year=2007 |isbn=978-90-420-2225-6 }}</ref><ref name="stalinswars43">{{Harvnb|Roberts|2006|p=43}}</ref><ref name="wettig20">{{Harvnb|Wettig|2008|pp=20–21}}</ref> and other countries in Central and Eastern Europe were occupied and converted into Soviet-controlled [[satellite state]]s, such as the [[People's Republic of Poland]], the [[People's Republic of Hungary]],<ref name="granville">{{cite book |last=Granville |first=Johanna |title=The First Domino: International Decision Making during the Hungarian Crisis of 1956 |publisher=Texas A&M University Press |year=2004 |isbn=978-1-58544-298-0 }}</ref> the [[Czechoslovak Socialist Republic]],<ref>{{Harvnb|Grenville|2005|pp=370–71}}</ref> the [[People's Republic of Romania]], the [[People's Republic of Bulgaria]], the [[People's Republic of Albania]],<ref name="cook17">{{Harvnb|Cook|2001|p=17}}</ref> and later [[East Germany]] from the Soviet zone of German occupation.<ref name="wettig96">{{Harvnb|Wettig|2008|pp=96–100}}</ref> Eventually, the United States and the United Kingdom made concessions in recognizing the communist-dominated regions by sacrificing the substance of the Yalta Declaration although it remained in form.<ref name="black63"/>

====Aborted enforcement plans====
{{Further|Operation Unthinkable}}
At some point in early 1945, Churchill had commissioned a contingency military enforcement operation plan for war on the Soviet Union to obtain "square deal for Poland" ([[Operation Unthinkable]]), which resulted in a May 22 report that stated unfavorable success odds.<ref>{{cite web| url= http://www.history.neu.edu/PRO2/pages/002.htm| title=Operation Unthinkable| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20101116155708/http://www.history.neu.edu/PRO2/pages/002.htm | archive-date= 2010-11-16 | publisher= Northeastern University| quote= defined as no more than square deal for Poland |access-date= 2015-09-25}}</ref> The report's arguments included geostrategic issues (a possible Soviet–Japanese alliance resulting in moving of [[Imperial Japanese Armed Forces|Japanese troops]] from the [[Asia|Asian continent]] to the [[Japanese archipelago|Home Islands]], threat to [[Pahlavi Iran|Iran]] and [[Kingdom of Iraq|Iraq]]) and uncertainties concerning land battles in Europe.<ref>{{cite web| url= http://www.history.neu.edu/PRO2/pages/005.htm| title=Operation Unthinkable | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20101116155708/http://www.history.neu.edu/PRO2/pages/005.htm | archive-date= 2010-11-16 | publisher= Northeastern University| quote= defined as no more than square deal for Poland |access-date= 2015-09-25}}</ref>

===Potsdam Conference===
{{Further|Potsdam Conference|Potsdam Agreement}}
The [[Potsdam Conference]] was held from July to August 1945, which included the participation of [[Clement Attlee]], who had replaced Churchill as prime minister<ref name="stalinswars274">{{Harvnb|Roberts|2006|pp=274–75}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.archontology.org/nations/uk/bpm/attlee.php |title=Clement Richard Attlee |publisher=Archontology.org |access-date=2011-12-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090420124425/http://www.archontology.org/nations/uk/bpm/attlee.php |archive-date=April 20, 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and President Harry S Truman (representing the United States after [[Death of Franklin D. Roosevelt|Roosevelt's death]]).<ref name = "Harry S. Truman">{{harvnb|Truman|1973|p=208}}</ref> At Potsdam, the Soviets denied claims that they were interfering in the affairs of Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary.<ref name="black63">{{Harvnb|Black|English|Helmreich|McAdams|2000|p=63}}</ref> The conference resulted in the [[Potsdam Declaration]], regarding the [[surrender of Japan]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ndl.go.jp/constitution/e/etc/c06.html |title=Potsdam Declaration |publisher=Ndl.go.jp |date=1945-07-26 |access-date=2011-12-19}}</ref> and the [[Potsdam Agreement]], regarding the Soviet annexation of former Polish territory east of the Curzon Line, provisions to be addressed in an eventual Final Treaty ending World War II, and the annexation of parts of Germany east of the [[Oder–Neisse line]] into Poland and of northern [[East Prussia]] into the Soviet Union.

===American politics===
Roosevelt's generous terms to Stalin, followed quite quickly by the start of the [[Cold War]] under Roosevelt's Vice President and successor, [[Harry Truman]] meant that Yalta was often seen in a bad light in American public opinion, particularly among most shades of [[Republican Party (United States)|Republicans]] and more Conservative Democrats in the South and West as well as by many Americans with links to Eastern Europe.  When [[Eisenhower]] was elected as President on the Republican ticket there were hopes that Yalta would be [[Repudiation of treaties|repudiated]] by the new Administration and the newly Republican Senate.  Efforts were made by both the new [[Senate majority leader]], [[Robert A. Taft]], and Republican members of the Foreign Relations Committee, although this fizzled out after Stalin's death.<ref name="CaroSenate22">{{Cite book |last=Caro |first=Robert |title=Master of the Senate: The Years of Lyndon Johnson |title-link=Master of the Senate|publisher=[[Alfred A. Knopf]] |year=2002 |isbn=0-394-52836-0 |location=New York |chapter=22. Masterstrokes}}</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery mode="packed" heights="220">
File:Yalta Conference 1945 Churchill, Stalin, Roosevelt.jpg|From left to right: [[Winston Churchill]], [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]], and [[Joseph Stalin]]. Also present are British Foreign Minister [[Anthony Eden]] and Soviet Foreign Minister [[Vyacheslav Molotov]] (far left); [[Field marshal (United Kingdom)|Field Marshal]] [[Alan Brooke, 1st Viscount Alanbrooke|Sir Alan Brooke]], [[Andrew Cunningham, 1st Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope|Admiral of the Fleet Sir Andrew Cunningham, RN]], [[Charles Portal, 1st Viscount Portal of Hungerford|Marshal of the RAF Sir Charles Portal, RAF]], (standing behind Churchill); [[General (United States)|General]] [[George C. Marshall]], [[Chief of Staff of the United States Army]], and [[William D. Leahy|Fleet Admiral William D. Leahy, USN]] (standing behind Roosevelt).
File:Bolshaya troika.jpg|Monument to "Bolshaya troika" (The Great Three) unveiled in [[Livadiya, Crimea|Livadiya]], Russian-annexed [[Crimea]], in 2015.
</gallery>

==See also==
* [[Eastern Bloc]]
* [[Frank Roberts (diplomat)|Frank Roberts]]
* [[List of Allied World War II conferences|List of World War II conferences]]
* [[List of Soviet Union–United States summits]]
*[[History of the United Nations]]
* [[Percentages agreement]]
* [[Repatriation of Cossacks after World War II]]
* [[Western betrayal]]
* ''[[World War II Behind Closed Doors: Stalin, the Nazis and the West]]''

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
{{Refbegin}}
*{{Citation|last1=Berthon|first1=Simon|last2=Potts|first2=Joanna|title=Warlords: An Extraordinary Re-creation of World War&nbsp;II Through the Eyes and Minds of Hitler, Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin|publisher=Da Capo Press|year=2007|isbn=978-0-306-81538-6}}
*{{Citation|last1=Black|first1=Cyril E. |author-link= Cyril Edwin Black|last2=English|first2=Robert D.|last3=Helmreich|first3=Jonathan E.|last4=McAdams|first4=James A.|title=Rebirth: A Political History of Europe since World War II|publisher=Westview Press|year=2000|isbn=978-0-8133-3664-0}}
*{{Citation|last=Cook|first=Bernard A.|title=Europe Since 1945: An Encyclopedia|publisher=Taylor & Francis|year=2001|isbn=0-8153-4057-5}}
*{{cite book |last= Ehrman |first= John |title= Grand Strategy Volume VI, October 1944 – August 1945 |year= 1956 |publisher= HMSO (British official history) |location= London |pages=96–111}}
*{{Citation|last=Grenville|first=John Ashley Soames|title=A History of the World from the 20th to the 21st Century|publisher=Routledge|year=2005|isbn=978-0-415-28954-2}}
*{{Citation|last=LaFeber|first=Walter|title=America, Russia, and the Cold War|publisher=John Wiley and Sons|year=1972|isbn=978-0-471-51137-3|url=https://archive.org/details/americarussia00walt}}
*{{Citation|last=Miscamble|first=Wilson D.|title=From Roosevelt to Truman: Potsdam, Hiroshima, and the Cold War|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2007|isbn=978-0-521-86244-8}}
*{{Citation|last=Roberts|first=Geoffrey |title=Stalin's Wars: From World War to Cold War, 1939–1953 |publisher=Yale University Press |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-300-11204-7}}
*{{Citation|last=Truman|first=Margaret |title= Harry S. Truman | publisher=William Morrow & Co.|year=1973 |isbn=978-0-688-00005-9}}
*{{Citation|last=Wettig|first=Gerhard|title=Stalin and the Cold War in Europe|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|year=2008|isbn=978-0-7425-5542-6}}
*{{Citation|last1=Kennedy|first1=David M.|title=The American People in World War II Freedom from Fear, Part Two|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2003|isbn=978-0-19-516893-8}}
{{Refend}}

==Further reading==
{{Refbegin}}
* [[Susan Butler (American writer)|Butler, Susan]]. ''Roosevelt and Stalin'' (Knopf, 2015)
* Clemens, Diane Shaver. ''Yalta'' (Oxford University Press). 1972
* Dobbs, Michael. ''Six Months in 1945: FDR, Stalin, Churchill, and Truman--from World War to Cold War'' (Vintage, 2013).
*{{cite book |last= Erickson |first=John |title= The Road to Berlin, Stalin's War with Germany, Volume 2 |accessdate=  |edition=  |orig-date= 1983  |year= 1989  |publisher= Yale University Press  |isbn=  0-300-07813-7 |oclc= |pages= 476–489 }}  
* Gardner, Lloyd C. ''Spheres of influence : the great powers partition Europe, from Munich to Yalta'' (1993) [https://archive.org/details/spheresofinfluen00lloy online free to borrow]
* Harbutt, Fraser J. ''Yalta 1945: Europe and America at the Crossroads'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010).
* Haglund, David G. "Yalta: The Price of Peace." ''Presidential Studies Quarterly'' 42#2 (2012), p.&nbsp;419+. [https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A288290572/GPS?u=wikipedia&sid=GPS&xid=fea65113  online]
* Hamilton, Nigel. ''War and Peace: FDR's Final Odyssey D-Day to Yalta, 1943-1945'' (2019).
* {{Cite book |last= Plokhy <!-- The book does say Plokhy, though I've no idea why the publisher decided to incorrectly transliterate his name --> |first= Serhii |author-link= Serhii Plokhii |year= 2010 |title= Yalta: The Price of Peace |location= New York |publisher= Viking Press |isbn= 978-0-670-02141-3 |url-access= registration |url= https://archive.org/details/yaltapriceofpeac0000plok }}
* Preston, Diana., ''Eight Days at Yalta: How Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin Shaped the Post-War World'' (2019) 
* Roberts, Geoffrey.  "Stalin at the Tehran, Yalta, and Potsdam conferences." ''Journal of Cold War Studies'' 9.4 (2007): 6–40. 
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20131215212223/http://krim-konference.at.ua/load/teksty/stati_tezisy_zametki/shevchenko_o_yalta_45_ukrainian_science_historiographic_realia_in_globalization_and_universalism_era/10-1-0-37 Shevchenko O. ''Yalta-45: Ukrainian science historiographic realia in globalization and universalism era'']
* Watt, Donald Cameron.   "Britain and the Historiography of the Yalta Conference and the Cold War." ''Diplomatic History'' 13.1 (1989): 67–98. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/24911839 online]

{{Refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Yalta Conference}}
*[https://avalon.law.yale.edu/wwii/yalta.asp The Yalta Conference]
*[http://cgsc.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/p4013coll8/id/3687 Minutes of the conference] Combined Arms Research Library
* ''[https://archive.org/details/tehranyaltapotsdamconferences The Tehran, Yalta & Potsdam Conferences. Documents]''. Moscow: [[Progress Publishers]]. 1969.
* [https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1945Malta Foreign Relations of the United States: Diplomatic Papers, Conferences at Malta and Yalta, 1945], Department of State Office of the Historian
*[http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/FRUS.FRUS1945 Foreign relations of the United States. Conferences at Malta and Yalta, 1945]
*[http://www.taiwandocuments.org/yalta.htm Protocol of proceedings of Crimea Conference]
*[http://www.militaryhistoryonline.com/wwii/articles/yalta.aspx MilitaryHistoryOnline Yalta Conference] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190202055923/http://www.militaryhistoryonline.com/wwii/articles/yalta.aspx |date=February 2, 2019 }}
*[https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4241863.stm Yalta casts its shadow 60 years on], [[BBC]], February 7, 2005
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20141205065250/http://edsitement.neh.gov/lesson-plan/sources-discord-1945-1946 EDSITEment lesson plan Sources of Discord, 1945–1946]

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