Grand Alliance Conferences Flashcards
Tehran, Yalta and Potsdam Conferences, 1943-1945
When was the Tehran conference?
November - December, 1943.
Who attended the Tehran conference?
Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt.
What was the main aim of the Tehran conference?
To plan how Nazi Germany could be defeated.
What agreements were made at the Tehran conference?
- USA & Britain would invade Europe from the West, via France (using Britain as a base) to open a second front.
- The USSR would invade Germany from the East.
- The USSR agreed to declare war on Japan
- Germany’s future after the war was discussed, but no concrete agreements were made.
What effects did the Tehran conference have on relations?
- Stalin had been concerned that the USA & Britain had been delaying opening up a second front against Germany in order to weaken the Soviet Union, so he was pleased with the agreement that the second front in Europe would be opened.
- Churchill wanted the second front to be opened in the Balkans, not France, however since Roosevelt agreed with Stalin, this led to tension between the USA & Britain.
- Roosevelt viewed British colonialism as a threat, further increasing Anglo-American tensions.
When was the Yalta conference?
February 1945.
Who attended the Yalta conference?
Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt.
What was the aim of the Yalta conference?
To create a post-war settlement and plan what would happen to Germany after the Nazis had been defeated.
What agreements were made at the Yalta conference?
- The UN was established (after a discussion at the Tehran conference)
- Europe was divided into Soviet and American “spheres of influence”
- Countries liberated from German control would be able to run free elections.
- Germany would pay no monetary reparations (Stalin wished Germany to pay $20bn), instead it would be shrunk and divided into four zones controlled by the USSR, USA, Britain and France.
- France was included due to pressure from General de Gaulle, but also so that Britain could have a European ally who could share the cost of the reconstruction.
- The Polish border would be moved Westward, losing land to the USSR but gaining it from Germany. Stalin and Churchill disagreed with this but had little control as the Red Army controlled Poland.
What effects did the Yalta conference have on relations?
On the whole improved relations and reduced tensions.
While there were some disagreements (i.e Poland’s borders), overall showed successful and positive collaboration between the Big Three.
When was the Potsdam conference?
July - August 1945.
Who attended the Potsdam conference?
Stalin, Truman and Churchill (later replaced by Attlee)
Truman was less willing to cooperate with the Soviets than Roosevelt had been.
What was the aim of the Potsdam conference?
To put into action the post-war settlement that had been agreed at Yalta.
What agreements were made at the Potsdam conference?
- Nazi war criminals would be prosecuted at the Nuremberg trials and the Nazi party banned.
- Each Grand Alliance member (and France) would control a zone of Germany/Berlin (as agreed at Yalta), and the USSR would be given 25% of the industrial output of the other 3 zones instead of reparations. There were arguments on where exactly to draw the borders, however.
- Despite the free elections agreed upon at the Yalta conference, there was no evidence of this happening in Poland, where the USSR was installing a communist government.
How did nuclear weapons affect the Potsdam conference?
A few days before the conference, the USA had successfully tested a nuclear weapon in the New Mexico desert. Truman chose to inform the Soviets of this fact at the conference to threaten them into cooperation.
Only shortly after the conference, the USA dropped two nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, demonstrating their power. These significantly worsened relations between the USA and USSR.
