what was decided at yalta and potsdam, what was the impact of these talks Flashcards
who was to blame for the cold war
major agreements at the yalta conference (6)
- germany’s division (would be divided into 4 zones, controlled by USA, USSR, UK and france)
- berlins division (berlin would also be split into 4 zones)
- free elections in eastern Europe ( stalin promised free elections in eastern european countries liberated by the soviet union)
- eastern europe would be seen as a soviet sphere of influence
- united nations would be created, replacing the league of nations
- war criminals ( nazi war criminals would be hunted and persecuted)
- soviet union would enter war agaist japan after 3 months of defeating germany
major disagreements at yalta conference (3)
polands borders (stalin wanted to push poland borders towards germany but churchill and Roosevelt said no)
- polands government ( stalin wanted a communist government while Churchill and Roosevelt wanted free elections in poland)
- reparations ( stalin wanted germany to pay heavy reparations while USA and UK were concerned on economic impact on Europe)
when was the yalta conference
1945 february
when was potsdam
1945 july
major agreements at potsdam conference (5)
- germany’s division ( germany would remain divided into 4 controlled by same countries )
- demilitarisation of Germany ( germany’s military forces were completely disbanded, and the country would be demilitarised to prevent further conflicts)
- nazi party ban (nazi party would be banned and nazi leaders tried for war crimes)
- polands borders ( polands borders were moved westwards, giving it part of the eastern germany)
- denazification ( german people were to be re-educated and nazism stamped out)
major disagreements of potsdam conference (4)
reparations ( how much reparations germany should pay, USSR wanted heavy pay, but uk, usa were worried for Europes repurcutions
- eastern europe (tensions grew over soviet control in eastern europe, the allies in west were concerned we wasn’t giving free elections even though he promised.)
- germanys future (USSR wanted to keep germany weak and divided while USA, UK wanted to rebuild a strong and united germany to prevent spread of communism)
- Japan (they all agreed japan should be defeated but there was no agreement on how to govern japan after the war and it lead to tensions)
why was potsdam conference needed ( in terms of time period)
because they had just won WW2 and so decisions needed to be made and put in order
why did yalta conference happen and why was it needed in terms of time period
because they were months away from winning the war, and no decisions or talks had been made so they needed to start outlining their decisions and agreeing on something
why were there tensions at yalta (3)
- because stalin believed the west wanted to destroy communism
- the size of USSR made it a rival to USA
- stalin belived UK, USA delayed opening a second front in the war so that USSR would suffer more casualties and be left too weak to threaten the west after the war
tensions between capitalist and communism at yalta (3)
- the a-bomb ( truman was developing a new atomic bomb, he didnt tell stalin but stalin already knew and was furious
- soviet security ( stalin was determined to get what he felt the USSR deserved ( reparations and garuanteed security)
- eastern europe ( truman was determined to force eastern europe to have free elections to ncourgae other countries to recover but stalin wanted to keep other countries weak as a buffer zone.
how did the atomic bomb make conflict more likely
it highlited mistrust and so more secrets would be kept between them and so conflict would be more likely
how is the fact that its an alliance of conveniance make conflict more likely
because they had a common enemy that they now defeated, and now had nothing in common or nothing they agreed on.
