Yalta Conference and Post-War Tensions

• The images and included OCR text are about the progression from the end of World War Two to the beginning of the Cold War between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R.

Meeting of Soviet and American Armies

• A photo was arranged to commemorate the meeting of the Soviet and American armies.
• 2nd Lt. William Robertson (U.S. Army) and Lt. Alexander Silvashko (Red Army) stood facing each other, clasping hands and with arms around each other's shoulders.
• Two flags and a poster are in the background.
• The photo was taken in April 1945.

Wartime Alliance and the Delay of the Second Front

• Stalin requested the British and USA open a second front in France to pressure Russian forces 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 seen as an act of betrayal by the West toward the Soviet Union.
• Allied powers were suspected to have delayed the opening of the Second Front intentionally, hoping the Soviet forces would be destroyed in the fight against Germany, ending Communism.
• Resentment toward Allied powers raised due to high casualty numbers on the U.S.S.R.'s side, thus, the mistrust between the superpowers was heightened.
• Max Hastings, a British journalist and historian, stated that the British and Americans were not honest with the Russians and delayed aid deliveries between 1941 and 1943.
• Hastings continued that this deceit stretched through 1943 out of apprehension Stalin would broker a separate peace with Hitler.

End of WW2 and its Impacts

• Britain suffered 450,900 casualties and was weakened economically and politically because of its involvement in the Second World War.
• The USA suffered 419,400 casualties but emerged as a global, economic, and political superpower.
• The U.S.S.R. suffered 26 million casualties yet emerged as the dominant power in Europe.
• Post-war Europe was in ruins, with around 36 million killed and damaged or destroyed infrastructure.
• Post-War Europe had no gas, electricity, or running water, with diseases and malnutrition widespread.

Decline of Western European Powers

• Britain was virtually bankrupt.
• France lost its power after the German occupation.
• Germany lay in ruins.

Emergence of Superpowers

• The USA and USSR emerged as superpowers due to their geographical size and population.
• Their economic output and military strength continued after WW2.

Breakdown of Wartime Alliance

• The Yalta Conference took place in February 1945.
• The Potsdam Conference took place in July-August 1945.

Contributing Factors: Yalta Conference

• Germany was weakened but not defeated.
• The British, Americans, and Soviets held a conference in Yalta, Ukraine.
• They discussed final strategies against Germany and arrangements for post-war Europe.
• Each Country had different agendas.

Agendas of USSR, Britain, USA Post-WW2

• Stalin (USSR) was concerned about the future and security of the Soviet Union.
• Churchill (Britain) new that Britain would not longer be a great imperial power post - WW2, and wanted to maintain close relationship with the USA.
• Roosevelt (USA wanted a settlement that brought pace security and freedom for all.

Agreements at Yalta (Feb 1945)

• 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: US, French, British and Soviet.
• Berlin, the German capital, would also be divided into four zones, deep in the Soviet zone.
• Nazi war criminals were to be tried in international court.
• Eastern Europe was considered by the Yalta Agreement to be a Soviet sphere of influence.
• Stalin wanted Eastern Europe to be under its sphere of influence because its wants friendly states around it.

Disagreements at Yalta (Feb 1945)

• Stalin wanted to move westwards into Poland.
• Churchill and Roosevelt were unhappy.
• Churchill eventually persuaded Roosevelt to accept.
• Stalin accepted, with the condition that Soviets not interfere in Greece.

Yalta: Success or Failure?

• Success: Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin compromised over Poland and agreed on how to divide post-war Germany and defeat Japan.
• Failure: 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; tensions still existed and there were unresolved issues.

From Yalta to Potsdam

• The U.S. President changed from Franklin Roosevelt (Yalta Conference – Feb 1945) to Harry Truman (Potsdam Conference – July-August 1945) in April 1945.

Major Disagreements at Potsdam Conference

• Arguments about the details of the boundaries between the zones Germany was split into.
• 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.
• Truman dropped the atomic bomb so that Japan would surrender before Russian troops could go into Japan; Truman did not tell Stalin about it.

Allies Disagree at Potsdam/Change in Leadership

• Truman replaced Roosevelt in April 1945 and 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.
• Both Truman and Attlee were younger and less experienced in foreign affairs

Allies Disagree at Potsdam/Increasing Soviet Control

• Stalin did not remove the Red Army from the countries of Eastern Europe that they helped liberate from the Germans.
• The Red Army controlled the Baltic States, Finland, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Romania by July 1945.
• The issue of Poland further divided the Allies, because Stain insisted on making this state as a buffer.
• This was against the wishes of the majority of Poles and drew protest from Britain and the USA.

Allies Disagree at Potsdam/Successful Testing of Atomic Bomb

• The US secretly developed a new weapon since 1941 called the Manhattan Project in the effort to end the war.
• The U.S. had kept it private from the U.S.S.R. until the Potsdam Conference in July 1945.
• At the conference, Truman privately informed Stalin that they had successfully tested the atomic bomb.
• Stalin was not surprised as the Manhattan Project was leaked to U.S.S.R. earlier.
• The U.S. decision not to reveal it 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', the act of removing political opponents one by one, until they are entirely gone.
• To Stalin, controlling Eastern Europe made sense as the route enemies from the West used to attack the U.S.S.R.
• Using satellite states and 'salami tactics' aggravated the USA, heightening the tension because they both distrusted each other over the prospect of Eastern Europe.
• Truman saw Stalin's actions as evidence he was building an empire.
• Truman sought Churchill's help because many in the US were wary of dragging the US into international politics
• Truman invited Churchill to give a speech at Fulton, Missouri in March 1946, where he warned of the USSR's dangers use of the term "Iron Curtain."
• The Iron Curtain speech alarmed many Americans.
• Truman got the support to involve the US more actively in international politics.
• The Soviet media and Stalin were angry.
• A British cartoon, published after Churchill's speech, was meant to highlight how Europe was divided by an iron wall.