Yalta Conference

The Yalta Conference was a meeting held in February 1945 during the final months of World War II''. Leaders of the Allied powers met to discuss plans for the end of the war and the future of Europe. The conference took place in Yalta, a city on the Crimean Peninsula near the Black Sea. At this time, German forces were close to defeat. Three main leaders attended the meeting. They were Franklin D. Roosevelt of the United States, Winston Churchill of the United Kingdom, and Joseph Stalin of the Soviet Union. These men were often called the Big Three. Each leader represented a country that had played a major role in fighting Germany. They met in person to make decisions together. One main topic at Yalta was Germany. The leaders agreed that Germany would surrender without conditions. This means Germany would have no power to set terms. After the war, Germany would be divided into zones. Each zone would be controlled by one Allied country. Berlin, the capital city, would also be divided in the same way. Another important subject was eastern Europe. Stalin’s army had already moved into many eastern European countries. The leaders discussed how governments would be formed in these areas. They agreed that free elections should be held. Free elections are votes in which people can choose their leaders. However, the details of how these elections would happen were not clearly defined. The leaders also talked about the creation of the 'United Nations''. The United Nations is an international organization meant to help countries work together and avoid future wars. At Yalta, the leaders agreed on basic rules for this organization. They discussed how decisions would be made and how countries would join.

The Yalta Conference ended after several days of meetings. Some agreements were written down, while others were based on spoken promises. After the war ended, disagreements grew about how these plans were carried out. Even so, the Yalta Conference remained one of the most important meetings of World War II because it shaped how Europe was organized after the fighting stopped.