Second Front & Soviet-US Relations

• A photo commemorated the meeting of the Soviet and American armies in April 1945.
• 2nd Lt. William Robertson (U.S. Army) and Lt. Alexander Silvashko (Red Army) were photographed clasping hands.
• Stalin requested the British and USA open a second front in France as early as 1941.
• The USA and Britain agreed to open a second front through Operation Overlord (D-Day landings) at the Tehran Conference in 1943.
• The delay of the Second Front was viewed by the Soviet Union as a betrayal by the West.
• It was suspected that Allied powers delayed the Second Front, hoping the Soviet forces would be destroyed in the fight against Germany, ending Communism.
• High casualty numbers on the U.S.S.R.'s side heightened mistrust between the superpowers.
• British journalist and historian Max Hastings stated the British and Americans were dishonest to the Russians and delayed aid between 1941 and 1943.
• Hastings said the deceit stretched through 1943, out of concern Stalin would broker a separate peace with Hitler.
• Britain suffered 450,900 casualties and was weakened economically and politically due to WW2.
• The USA suffered 419,400 casualties but emerged as a global, economic, and political superpower.
• The U.S.S.R. suffered 26 million casualties but emerged as the dominant power in Europe.
• Post-war Europe was in ruins, with around 36 million killed and infrastructure damaged.
• Post-War Europe had no gas, electricity, or running water, and suffered widespread diseases and malnutrition.
• Britain was virtually bankrupt after the war.
• France lost power after the German occupation.
• Germany was in ruins post-war.
• The USA and USSR emerged as superpowers due to their geographical size, population, economic output, and military strength.
• The Yalta Conference occurred in February 1945.
• The Potsdam Conference occurred in July-August 1945.

Yalta Conference Contributing Factors

• Germany was weakened but not defeated.
• The British, Americans, and Soviets held a conference in Yalta, Ukraine.
• The conference addressed final strategies against Germany and arrangements for post-war Europe.
• Each country had different agendas.
• Stalin (USSR) was concerned about the future and security of the Soviet Union.
• Churchill (Britain) knew Britain would no longer be a great imperial power post-WW2 and wanted to maintain a close relationship with the USA.
• Roosevelt (USA) wanted a settlement that brought peace, security, and freedom for all.
• The Yalta Agreement declared that once Germany surrendered, the U.S.S.R. would enter the war against Japan.
• Germany would be divided into four zones controlled by the US, France, Britain, and Soviet Union.
• Berlin would also be divided into four zones, located deep in the Soviet zone.
• Nazi war criminals were to be tried in international court.
• Eastern Europe was to be considered a Soviet sphere of influence per the Yalta Agreement.
• Stalin wanted Eastern Europe under its sphere of influence for security.
• Stalin wanted to move westwards into Poland.
• Churchill and Roosevelt were unhappy with Stalin's plan for Poland.
• Churchill eventually persuaded Roosevelt to accept Stalin's plan.
• Stalin agreed to not interfere in Greece.
• Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin compromised over Poland and agreed on how to divide post-war Germany and defeat Japan.
• Stalin and Churchill clashed on numerous occasions.
• Churchill ordered his military commanders to plan a future war against the U.S.S.R. in May 1945.

From Yalta to Potsdam

• Franklin Roosevelt was replaced by Harry Truman as the U.S. President in April 1945.
• Potsdam saw arguments about the details of the boundaries between the zones Germany was split into.
• There were disagreements about the amount of reparations Russia wanted to take.
• Truman was angry because Stalin had arrested the non-communist leaders of Poland.
• America and Britain were alarmed because Communists were coming to power in the countries of Eastern Europe.
• To force Japan's surrender, Truman dropped the atomic bomb before Russian troops could enter Japan, without informing Stalin.
• Truman did not have the same relationship with Stalin that Roosevelt had.
• Truman was concerned about a potential threat from the U.S.S.R. to the security of Western Europe, was determined to get tough, and challenged Stalin.
• Churchill lost the elections in Britain (July 1945) and was replaced by Clement Attlee during the conference.
• Truman and Attlee were younger and less experienced in foreign affairs.
• Stalin did not remove the Red Army from the countries of Eastern Europe that they had liberated from the Germans.
• By July 1945, the Red Army controlled the Baltic States, Finland, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Romania.
• Poland was a point of contention, because Stalin insisted on making this state as a buffer, against the wishes of most Poles, leading to protest from Britain and the USA.
• Since 1941, the US secretly developed a new weapon as part of the Manhattan Project to end the war.
• The U.S. had kept the Manhattan project private from the U.S.S.R. until the Potsdam Conference in July 1945.
• At the conference, Truman told Stalin that they had successfully tested the atomic bomb.
• Stalin was not surprised as news of the Manhattan Project had been leaked to the U.S.S.R. earlier.
• The U.S. decision not to reveal the Manhattan Project to the U.S.S.R. earlier deepened their rift.

Division of Europe After WW2

• The U.S.S.R. created satellite nations, formerly independent but heavily influenced by another country politically and economically, using 'salami tactics'.
• Salami tactics involved systematically removing political opponents one by one.
• Stalin believed controlling Eastern Europe was for the security of the U.S.S.R. against Western attacks.
• The use of satellite states and 'salami tactics' aggravated the USA and heightened tension due to distrust over Eastern Europe.
• Truman believed Stalin was building an empire.
• Truman sought Churchill's help.
• Truman invited Churchill to give a speech at Fulton, Missouri in March 1946, where he warned of the USSR's dangers using the term "Iron Curtain."
• The Iron Curtain speech alarmed many Americans.
• Truman secured support to involve the US more actively in international politics.
• Soviet media and Stalin were angered by the speech.
• A British cartoon highlighted how Europe was divided by an iron wall after Churchill's speech.