Yalta and Potsdam Flashcards
When did the Allied leaders meet at Potsdam?
July-August 1945
When did the Allied leaders meet at Yalta?
February 1945
Which leaders met at Yalta?
Churchill (UK)
Roosevelt (USA)
Stalin (USSR)
What were the 4 main challenges discussed at Yalta and Potsdam?
What to do with Germany once it was defeated?
What would happen to the liberated countries of Eastern Europe?
How to defeat Japan?
How to create a lasting peace?
What was agreed at Yalta?
Divide Germany into 4 zones (USA, France, Britain, USSR)
Divide Berlin into 4 zones (USA, France, Britain, USSR)
Countries in Eastern Europe allowed free elections
USSR join war against Japan
What caused disagreement at Yalta?
The border between Poland and Germany.
Stalin wanted it moved further west into German territory. Churchill and Roosevelt were unhappy but with Soviet troops still in Poland were forced to agree.
What had changed in the 5 months between Yalta and Potsdam?
New US President Truman (much more anti communist than Roosevelt and suspicious of Stalin)
Germany were defeated (but soviet troops stayed in Eastern Europe)
The USA has tested an atomic bomb
What was agreed at Potsdam?
Nazi party banned
Nazi leaders tried as war criminals
New boarder between Poland and Germany on the Oder-Neisse line
Who was the new President of the USA at Potsdam?
Harry Truman
What was agreed about the Nazi party at Potsdam?
Ban the Nazi Party
Leaders tried for war crimes
What disagreements caused tension at Potsdam?
Germany - Stalin wanted to cripple Germany to protect the USSR. Truman wanted a strong Germany.
Reparations - Stalin wanted compensation from Germany for the millions of Russian lives lost in the war. Truman didn’t want to repeat the mistakes of Versailles.
Communism in Eastern Europe - Stalin set up a communist government in Poland.
