Figure 1.--. |
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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 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.
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 Ylta. 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.
Dallek, Robert. Franklin Roosevelt and American Foreign Policy.
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