What Was The Yalta Conference?

The years of World War II were a crucial time in world history, just as the last months of that time period were. In 1945, leaders of several countries held conferences and meetings in an effort to determine the direction they would take once the axis of Japan and Germany were defeated militarily.

This was the primary purpose of the Yalta Conference, when U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Russian Premier Joseph Stalin met. Russian troops held the ground in eastern Europe, giving Stalin a good foundation for getting his way during negotiations. The other two leaders did they best to introduce the interests of their respective countries, but were disappointed in most areas. Only the agreement with Stalin to hold open elections was included in the verbal exchange.

The conference was named for the location in the Crimean region of central Asia. One of the key results was the decision to form a United Nations, the basis for today’s representative organization based in New York. In addition, the three men agreed to divide a defeated Germany between the three nations. This set the stage for decades of control by the Soviet Union in East Germany.

According to some men who attended the conference, such as William Leahy of the U.S. military, there was detailed discussion of foreign investment that would take place in eastern Europe. The three Yalta Conference groups also made decisions about when and where to locate factories and how to establish electronic communications between the various countries. A key piece of this agreement was the dismantling of most German industry, giving the U.S., the Soviet Union and Great Britain the opportunity to establish their own industries (thereby reaping the mass of profits).

Another key element of this conference was the amount of reparations to be paid by the defeated nations (especially Germany) much of which would go to the Soviet Union and to Great Britain. This money, which was in the billions of dollars, would repay the countries for damages inflicted by the Nazi military efforts. There was extensive discussion of taking over German manufacturing and financial interests in the U.S. as well.

The decisions made at the Yalta Conference in 1945 went a long way toward determining how Europe looks and operates today. These decisions included the ways in which France would be involved in post-war Europe, leading to the demand that the French leader Charles de Gaulle would be involved.

In the end, this conference did as much as any meeting between the victorious Allies to set the stage for a peaceful and prosperous European continent. In addition, Churchill pointed out that the decisions made at Yalta would put the countries in the position to “rule the world.” But the final agreements at the conference also set the stage for much of the conflict that has been called the Cold War between the western nations and the Soviet Union. Even the subject of the Suez Canal and the conflicts in the Middle East involving Egypt, Israel and other nations has some connection to this critical post-war conference.

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