Yalta Conference Flashcards

1
Q

What did the USA and USSR emerge from WWII as?

A

Superpowers

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2
Q

What is a superpower?

A

A country dominant in international relations, able to influence events

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3
Q

What foreign policy did the USA follow in the 1920s and 1930s?

A

Isolationism

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4
Q

What is isolationism?

A

A policy of not interfering in world affairs; isolating yourself from everyone else

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5
Q

Who was FDR?

A

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, President of the United States

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6
Q

Complete the quote from a 1945 speech FDR gave to Congress: America “will have to take responsibility for __________ _____________ or we shall have to bear the responsibilities for another __________ _______”

A

World collaboration, world conflict

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7
Q

When was the Yalta Conference held?

A

February 1945

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8
Q

What was agreed about Japan at Yalta?

A

That the USSR would fight Japan once Germany was defeated

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9
Q

What was agreed about German territory at Yalta?

A

Germany would be divided into four between USA, USSR, Britain, France. The same would be done to Berlin.

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10
Q

What was agreed about war criminals at Yalta?

A

The Big Three would hunt down war criminals and punish them

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11
Q

Who were the Big Three?

A

Stalin, Churchill, Roosevelt

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12
Q

What did the Big Three agree to establish and join?

A

A United Nations Organisation (UNO) which would aim to keep peace

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13
Q

Why was the establishment of the UN significant?

A

It showed the Big Three wanted to continue working together after the war

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14
Q

What was agreed about eastern Europe at the Yalta conference?

A

That it would be a Soviet ‘sphere of influence’

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15
Q

What is meant by ‘sphere of influence’?

A

A geographic area where a country has political and economic influence

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16
Q

What did FDR and Churchill understand by the ‘sphere of influence’?

A

That the USSR would ensure there were governments friendly to Moscow in eastern Europe. They did not think he would install ‘puppet governments’.

17
Q

What is meant by a ‘puppet government’?

A

A government with a leader, but who actually takes his orders from someone else (e.g. Stalin)

18
Q

What was the main disagreement at Yalta?

A

Poland

19
Q

Why did Poland matter so much to Stalin?

A

He believed it was key to Russia’s security - Germany had invaded Russia twice through Poland, in 1914 and 1941

20
Q

What did Stalin want to do with Poland?

A

Move the USSR’s border westwards into Poland. He argued that Poland could move its borders westwards into Germany.

21
Q

Why was there little Churchill or FDR could do about Stalin’s demands over Poland?

A

The Red Army were in Poland - Britain and USSR were not willing to start yet another war to protect Poland

22
Q

What was Churchill and FDR’s reaction to Stalin’s demands over Poland?

A

They were unhappy, but could do little

23
Q

How did Churchill persuade FDR to accept Stalin’s demands over Poland?

A

Churchill and FDR would accept it providing Stalin did not interfere in Greece. Stalin agreed.

24
Q

Who did Stalin get on better with: Churchill or FDR?

A

FDR - the president and Stalin, despite their ideological differences, struck up a good relationship

25
Q

Why did Churchill press for a French zone in Germany?

A

He feared FDR was too pro-Russian and wanted another anti-Russian voice in the mix.

26
Q

Churchill wrote to FDR shortly after the Yalta conference. Complete the quote: “The Soviet Union has become a __________ to the __________ ___________”

A

danger, free world

27
Q

How did Stalin describe Poland?

A

It was a matter of “life and death of the Soviet Union”

28
Q

How did former president Herbert Hoover describe the agreements made at Yalta?

A

As a “great hope for the world”

29
Q

How did FDR’s advisor, Harry Hopkins, describe Yalta?

A

“We really believed… this was the dawn of the new day”

30
Q

Overall, what was the significance of the Yalta Conference?

A

It was broadly positive.

  • Agreements far outweighed disagreements
  • The Big Three - despite being ideologically opposed - showed through the UN and their actions over war criminals that they would work together after the war
  • They agreed to meet again at Potsdam, again showing further appetite for co-operation