Bringing the War to an End

During World War II, the leaders of Great Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union, known as the Big Three, held several meetings to plan for the post-war world. Three of these were particularly important.

The Tehran Conference During the Tehran Conference in Iran in November 1943, the Allies agreed that the Soviet Union would focus on freeing Eastern Europe, while Britain and the United States would concentrate on Western Europe. In addition, Britain and the United States agreed to a Soviet demand to shift some Polish territory to the Soviet Union, which would be offset by Poland gaining territory elsewhere, mostly from Germany.

The Yalta Conference By February 1945, the Allies knew that Germany was near defeat, but they disagreed about what should happen after Germany’s surrender. At the Yalta Conference, at a resort on the Black Sea, the leaders focused on plans for reconstructing Eastern Europe and for defeating Japan.

• Franklin Roosevelt wanted free, democratic elections in Eastern Europe. He also wanted the Soviets to join the war against Japan.

• Stalin demanded influence over Eastern Europe. Fearful that another Napoleon or Hitler would invade Russia from the West, he wanted Eastern Europe as a buffer zone. In return for Soviet help against Japan, he wanted control of islands claimed by Japan, ports ruled by China, and part ownership of a Manchurian railroad.

Roosevelt thought that after years of overseas war, the American public was unlikely to support a war against the Soviets over the fate of democracy in Eastern Europe. The conference ended with a Soviet pledge to fight Japan, but the Soviets offered only vague assurances on free elections in Eastern Europe.

The Potsdam Conference The final meeting among leaders of the Big Three, the Potsdam Conference, began in July 1945 in Germany. Harry Truman, who had become president after Roosevelt died on April 12, represented the United States. Churchill started the conference but lost his position as prime minister in mid-July and was replaced by Clement Atlee.

Truman insisted on free elections in Eastern Europe. However, by then Soviet troops had occupied the region. Stalin refused Truman’s demand. With the backing of Soviet power, communists eventually gained control of East Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Romania.

By 1945, the United States and the Soviet Union lacked trust in one another and had begun the aggressive rhetoric that would become standard for four decades following World War II. Potsdam and the earlier conferences failed to settle important issues between the world’s major powers. As a result, the stage was set for a cold war between countries still devastated by a hot war.