Tensions at Yalta Flashcards
what was happening at the beginning of 1945?
the Grand Alliance was beginning to crack
what did the Western powers do in 1944?
opened a ‘second front’ by invading Nazi-occupied France
what did Soviet forces do during August 1944?
swept into Poland
what happened to the western Soviet front from early 1945?
stretched from the Baltic to the Carpathian Mountains; by March 1945, crossed the Oder River
what were the Western powers conscious of?
that many Eastern European states had been liberated from Nazi occupation by the USSR
what was Roosevelt committed to?
post-war reconstruction to based on unity among the victorious powers
what was in fundamental conflict with Roosevelt’s view?
Stalin’s guarantee of security through a network of Eastern European allies
when was the Yalta Conference?
4-11 February 1945
who was at the Yalta Conference?
Churchill, Roosevelt, Stalin
what did the conference represent?
the high point of inter-allied co-operation
what did the outcomes appear to reaffirm?
that the Grand Alliance was still alive and well, and that its members were committed to a lasting consensus in international relations in the post-war world
Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945)
US president since 1933. He ended the USA’s isolationism when he entered the war in 1941. Roosevelt was a committed democrat but he was prepared to support the USSR in the Grand Alliance, and was optimistic that meaningful international cooperation could continue after the war had ended
Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
became prime minister in 1940. He established a working relationship with Stalin but quickly became deeply suspicious of his post-war intentions. Churchill was anxious to ensure unity among the Western capitalist powers in the face of what he regarded as a fundamental threat from the USSR
Roosevelt and Churchill
Collective security founded on the United Nations
Roosevelt and Churchill
Long-term cooperation with the USSR
