Yalta Conference
From 4 to 11 February 1945, Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin met at the Livadia Palace near Yalta in Crimea — the second and last meeting of the 'Big Three' — to plan the post-war world as Germany's defeat became imminent. The agreements reached defined the Cold War order: Germany was to be divided into four occupation zones; the United Nations was established; free elections were promised for the liberated countries of Eastern Europe — a promise Stalin had no intention of keeping. Roosevelt, already gravely ill (he would die two months later), made significant concessions to secure Soviet entry into the Pacific War and Soviet participation in the UN. The Yalta agreements are one of history's most contested diplomatic settlements: Western critics call them a betrayal of Eastern Europe to Soviet communism; defenders argue Roosevelt had no leverage to prevent what Soviet armies already controlled. The 'Yalta myth' — that Roosevelt gave away Eastern Europe — became a cornerstone of American Cold War politics for decades.
- Year: 1945 CE
- Category: Diplomatic
