The Yalta Conference and the Potsdam Conference

Question 1

When was the Yalta Conference?

Answer 1

4-11 February 1945

Question 2

Who were the ‘Big Three’?

Answer 2

Stalin (USSR), Roosevelt (USA) and Churchill (Britain)

Question 3

What were the decisions made at Yalta?

Answer 3

1. Germany would be divided into four zones, each administered by an allied power
2. Berlin would be similarly divided
3. The United Nations organisation was formally ratified
4. The USSR gained land from Poland. Poland expanded to the west and north
5. The Declaration on Liberated Europe was agreed. This committed Britain, the USA and the Soviet Union to:
   - assisting European liberated states
   - holding free elections

Question 4

What was the main problem with the Yalta Conference?

Answer 4

There were fundamental differences between Stalin’s and Roosevelt’s vision for the post-war international order

Question 5

In Yalta, one of the main disagreements was over the future of Germany. What did Roosevelt want to do and comparatively, what was Stalin’s approach?

Answer 5

Roosevelt wanted world economic construction through the creation of the IMF and the World Bank. Stalin, on the other hand, wished to keep Germany weak so as to prevent it from being able to invade the Soviet Union as it had done previously.

Question 6

How many Russians had died during the war?

Answer 6

30 million

Question 7

What was Stalin’s absolute priority?

Answer 7

The long-term security of the USSR

Question 8

How did Stalin interpret the proposed new financial system based on the IMF and the World Bank?

Answer 8

These were seen as American attempts to establish itself as a world power. These schemes were seen as going against Soviet economic interests.

Question 9

When was the Potsdam Conference?

Answer 9

17 July-1 August 1945

Question 10

Who replaced Roosevelt as President?

Answer 10

Truman

Question 11

What event had taken place just before the Potsdam Conference?

Answer 11

The first successful detonation of the atomic bomb

Question 12

How can the Potsdam Conference be characterised?

Answer 12

By Stalin’s and Molotov’s (Foreign Minister) determination not to be intimidated by the USA, and Truman’s abrasive diplomacy

Question 13

What were the failings of the Potsdam Conference?

Answer 13

It failed to establish medium and long-term plans. Germany remained an issue.
It failed to define a consensus between East and West.
Contributed to uncertainty and suspicion.

Question 14

There were some important agreements at Potsdam. What were some of these agreements concerning Germany?

Answer 14

1. Germany was to be completely disarmed and demilitarised
2. de-Nazification would take place
3. decentralisation of the political system was to be undertaken and local responsibility developed
4. freedom of speech along with religious tolerance would be restored
5. Germany was to become a single economic unit with common policies on industry and finance
6. the USSR was to receive reparations from its own zone and an additional 25 per cent from the western zones