Peace Conferences 1943-45

Question 1

Agreements of Tehran Conference- nov 1943

Answer 1

• Britain and USA to invade France in May 1944
• USSR to wage war on Japan after Germany defeated
• UN to be set up
• Eastern Poland to be added to the USSR
  > Tension as GB tried to gain Poland independence

Question 2

Agreements of Yalta Conference- Feb 1945

Answer 2

• Germany and Berlin split into 4 zones (US, USSR, GB, France)
• Nazi war criminals to be put on trial
• Countries previously under Nazi control to be allowed free elections and to choose their government
• join new UN ago maintain peace
• Eastern Europe - Soviet sphere of influence
• USSR to declare war on Japan after Germany surrender

Question 3

Disagreements of Yalta Conference

Answer 3

• Stalin wanted high reparations to cripple Germany
  > Churchill and Roosevelt agreed it was too harsh
• Stalin wanted more of Poland (border to be much further to the left) and a ‘friendly’ Polish government for USSR protection against Germany
  > They convinced Stalin to allow Poland free elections

Question 4

Agreements of Potsdam Conference- July 1945

Answer 4

• Germany and Berlin to be split (East for USSR, west for western)
• Germany to be demilitarised
• Democracy reestablished in Germany
• Germany to pay reparations in form of equipment and materials, mostly to USSR as they had suffered the most
• Nazi party banned
• Full participation in UN
• Poland’s frontier to be moved west (like Stalin wanted)

Question 5

Disagreements at Potsdam Conference (July 1945)

Answer 5

• Stalin wanted massive compensations to cripple Germany and disable them to protect against future threats
  > Truman refused, he saw a revived Germany as a possible barrier to future Soviet Expansion, did not want Germany to be punished the way it had been in the Treaty of Versailles
• Truman wanted free elections in Eastern Europe occupied by USSR troops
  > Stalin refused, believing it was an unwelcome interference and this made Truman furious

Question 6

Changes between Yalta and Potsdam (5 months difference)

Answer 6

• Soviet troops liberated Eastern European countries but did not remove military presence
• Stalin set up communist government in Poland despite Yalta conference and many Polish, US and British protestors.
• Stalin did not cut down his Red Army after the war
• Roosevelt died, replaced by Truman who distrusted Stalin
• 1st successful American bomb testing
• Churchill replaced by Attlee