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Churchill, Roosevelt en Stalin
Die Geallieerdes se leiers vergader in Jalta van 4 tot 111 Februarie 1945. Groot, belangrike ooreenkomste is bereik, insluitend die voorwaardes vir die Sowjet-toetrede tot die oorlog met Japan en die verdeling van Duitsland na die oorlog. Stalin het die versekering gegee van die vermoë van die nasies in Oos -Europa om hul eie lot te bepaal, beloftes wat die Sowjets later nooit gehou het nie. Boonop is die basiese struktuur van die Verenigde Nasies in Jalta gevestig.
President Roosevelt, premier Churchill en Marshall Stalin, het byeengekom in Jalta in die Suid -Sowjetunie. Die vergadering was 'n voortsetting van die vroeëre dialoog tussen Churchill en Stalin. In daardie vergadering het Churchill en Stalin die invloedsfere in die naoorlogse Europa bespreek, en na berig word het Churchill 'n lys neergeskryf van lande waarin hy sowel nasies as persentasies opgeteken het. Gevolglik het hy neergeskryf; Roemenië-90%, Sowjets-10%, Geallieerde Joegoslavië-50%Geallieerdes-50%.
Die vergadering het op 2 Februarie begin.
Die eerste orde van sake was 'n bespreking van op watter punt die Sowjets die oorlog teen die Japannese sou betree. Die Sowjets het ingestem om die oorlog binne drie maande na die einde van die oorlog met Duitsland aan te gaan. Die politieke eise van die Sowjette was onder meer die oordrag van die Koeriele -eilande na die Sowjette, erkenning van die Sowjet -soewereiniteit oor Buiten -Mongolië en ander toegewings. Uiteindelik het die Verenigde State en die Sowjetunie ooreengekom op 'n kuratorskap van vier magte oor Korea.
Tydens die konferensie het Roosevelt ingestem dat die nuwe grense van Pole die Curzon-lyn sou wees (die grens wat bestaan het aan die einde van die Eerste Wêreldoorlog voor die Russies-Poolse oorlog). In ruil daarvoor sou die Pole grond uit Duitsland ontvang en sodoende die grens na Pole weswaarts verskuif.
Een van die belangrikste kwessies wat bespreek is, was die heerser van Pole. Daar is ooreengekom dat die Sowjet-marionetregime (die "Lublin-pole" genoem) aanvanklik sou regeer. Hierdie ooreenkoms het gevra vir vrye en demokratiese verkiesings in Pole.
Die drie partye het ingestem tot vierpartybeheer oor Duitsland.
Die groot meningsverskil oor die werksaamhede van die Verenigde Nasies is opgelos, met die Sowjetunie wat saamstem met die Amerikaanse voorstel rakende die gebruik van die veto in die Veiligheidsraad. Die Sowjets het versoek dat twee van hul republieke afsonderlike verteenwoordiging in die VN ontvang het. Die VSA en die Verenigde Koninkryk het ooreengekom.
Die Jalta -konferensie word tot vandag toe deur baie beskou as 'n voorval om die Sowjets te paai. Ander beskou die konferensie as 'n weerspieëling van die mag van die Sowjet -troepe wat destyds op Duitsland vorder.
Jalta -konferensie
Die Jalta -konferensie, ook bekend as die Krim -konferensie en kodenaam Argonautwat op 4–11 Februarie 1945 gehou is, was die vergadering van die Tweede Wêreldoorlog tussen die regeringshoofde van die Verenigde State, die Verenigde Koninkryk en die Sowjetunie om die naoorlogse herorganisasie van Duitsland en Europa te bespreek. Die drie state is verteenwoordig deur onderskeidelik president Franklin D. Roosevelt, premier Winston Churchill en premier Joseph Stalin. Die konferensie is gehou naby Jalta in die Krim, Sowjetunie, in die Livadia-, Yusupov- en Vorontsov -paleise.
Die doel van die konferensie was om 'n naoorlogse vrede te vorm wat nie net 'n kollektiewe veiligheidsorde verteenwoordig nie, maar ook 'n plan om selfbeskikking aan die bevryde mense van Europa te gee. Die vergadering was hoofsaaklik bedoel om die herstelling van die nasies in die oorloggeteisterde Europa te bespreek. Binne 'n paar jaar, terwyl die Koue Oorlog die kontinent verdeel het, het die konferensie egter hewige kontroversie ondergaan.
Jalta was die tweede van drie groot oorlogskonferensies onder die drie groot. Dit is voorafgegaan deur die Teheran -konferensie in November 1943 en is gevolg deur die Potsdam -konferensie in Julie 1945. Dit is ook voorafgegaan deur 'n konferensie in Moskou in Oktober 1944, nie bygewoon deur Roosevelt nie, waarin Churchill en Stalin gepraat het oor Europese Westerse en Sowjetiese invloedsfere. [1]
Die Jalta -konferensie as een van die belangrikste gebeurtenisse in die geskiedenis
Die Jalta -konferensie was hierdie eeu een van die belangrikste gebeurtenisse in die geskiedenis, laat staan nog. Dit het plaasgevind van 4 Februarie tot 11 Februarie 1945 in Jalta, Krim, 'n hawe/oord. Die drie hoofpersone tydens hierdie vergadering was Churchill van Groot -Brittanje, Roosevelt van die Verenigde State en Stalin van die USSR, destyds bekend, en nou bekend as Rusland.
Roosevelt het twee primêre doelwitte by Yalta gehad, en hy het hulle albei tydens die onderhandelinge verseker. Een van hierdie hoofdoelwitte was om Stalin te betrek by die oorlog teen Japan.
Die Amerikaners het te veel mense verloor, aangesien die gevegte met Australië teen Japan bloedig was. Aangesien dit nie duidelik was hoe om die Japannese te verslaan nie, aangesien hulle so toegewyd was aan hul land (onthou Kamakasi), wou Roosevelt Russiese betrokkenheid by die oorlog hê. Sy ander belangrikste doelwit tydens die Krim -konferensie was om die skepping van die VN te verseker volgens die voorskrifte van die Amerikaners. FDR het geglo dat die VN die enigste toestel is wat die Verenigde State na die Tweede Wêreldoorlog (1) kan weerhou om terug te keer in isolasie.
Na gedetailleerde verduidelikings van die VN -voorstel, deur die minister van buitelandse sake, Edward R. Stettinius, Stalin en Churchill, ingestem tot die voorgestelde riglyne. Omdat Churchill sterk wou hê dat sekere lande in die Britse gemenebes tot die VN aanvaar sou word, kon Roosevelt nie die toelating van Sowjet -Oekraïense en Wit -Russiese republieke in die VN ontken nie. Aangesien Pole 'n baie groot land was tussen Duitsland en Rusland. Dit was ook 'n baie strategiese land. Op die Jalta -konferensie is dus bespreek of Pole vrye verkiesings mag hê. Stalin was sterk daarteen gekant dat hy toesig gehou het (deur die Amerikaners, Britte en Sowjets) oor die verkiesing in Pole, ens. 'N Ander kwessie van groot belang en die Krim was die herstelwerk wat uit Duitsland ontvang moes word. Die Russe wou 'n vaste bedrag van $ 50 miljoen hê. Hulle wou ook 50% van hierdie geld hê. 'N Historikus naby Roosevelt het hom egter meegedeel dat dit 'n slegte idee sou wees. Hy glo dat dit in die toekoms die deur sal oopmaak vir allerhande beraadslagings. 'N Laaste saak was die kwessie van 'n besettingsgebied vir Frankryk en die verwante kwessie van 'n setel vir Frankryk in die geallieerde beheerkommissie, wat in Berlyn gevestig sou word sodra hulle oorgegee het. Churchill het die inisiatief geneem oor hierdie kwessie en met groot energie aangevoer dat Frankryk beide die besettingsgebied en die setel van die ACC kry. Die Britse premier was begryplik angstig om Frankryk te betrek by die taak om Duitsland in die generaal te beset en te beheer om die Franse mag te herbou met die doel om die Sowjet -militêre teenwoordigheid in Sentraal -Europa te vergoed. Na baie agter die skerms gesprekke en debatte, was FDR uiteindelik oortuig om Frankryk 'n setel in die ACC te gee. Stalin het ingestem, maar dit het geensins die grootte van die Sowjet -besetting beïnvloed nie, en dit was dus vir hom nie werklik van belang nie. Daar is altyd verstaan dat enige gebied vir Frankryk sou bestaan uit 'n deel van die Britse en Amerikaanse gebiede, wat reeds bestaan het.
Churchills is bekommerd oor spesifieke kwessies wat weerspieël word in sy vrees dat die Verenigde State nie 'n gewapende teenwoordigheid in Europa sou handhaaf nie. Stalin het opgemerk dat 'n langdurige teenwoordigheid van Amerikaanse militêre magte in Europa nodig sou wees. In antwoord op die kommentaar van Stalins het hy gesê dat Amerikaanse magte nie baie lank moet bly nie. Hierdie mening is deur FDR onderstreep toe hy in 'n telegram aan Churchill verklaar het: U weet natuurlik dat ek na die ineenstorting van die Duitsers die Amerikaanse troepe so vinnig huis toe moet neem as wat vervoerprobleme dit toelaat (2). Dit was dus geen verrassing vir Churchill nie, toe FDR in Jalta verklaar dat Amerikaanse troepe ná die oorlog nie langer as twee jaar in Duitsland sal bly nie. Hy het later in meer besonderhede verduidelik waarom hy so 'n besluit geneem het, en hy het gesê dat die Amerikaanse publiek meer betrokke sal wees by wêreldaktiwiteite, aangesien hulle nou in 'n internasionale organisasie was wat deur hulle geskep is en hul troepe terug in die land was. Uiteindelik aanvaar Stalin 'n verklaring van 'n bevryde Europa (na 'n paar wysigings aangebring), gebaseer op 'n Amerikaanse konsep. Alhoewel slegs 'n verklaring van 'n voorneme om te konsulteer oor die bereiking van 'n demokratiese regering in bevryde Europa, ten minste die deur oopgemaak word vir besprekings hiervoor.
Voordat ek met my gevolgtrekking eindig, wil ek bespreek wat die onderwerp van baie debatte geword het. Roosevelts gesondheid tydens hierdie besprekings.
Daar word geglo dat FDR tydens die besprekings nie baie goed gevoel het nie, en dit is 'n faktor wat volgens baie historici sy prestasie tydens die vergaderings beïnvloed het. Getuies verskil oor die fisiese toestand van FDR's in Jalta, hoewel die lang wenk en die eise van die onderhandelingskedule 'n belasting op 'n man moes neem wat toenemend in 'n afname in gesondheid was (3). Miskien het 'n man met die naam Anthony Eden die beste antwoord gegee wat ons waarskynlik op hierdie vraag sal kry dat die president se verswakkende gesondheid sy oordeel verander het, hoewel die hantering van die konferensie minder seker was as wat dit moontlik was. 'N Ander kwessie wat die debatstabelle oor die hele wêreld gemaak het, is die verdeling van Duitsland. Die Teheran -voorstel was dat Duitsland in vyf dele verdeel moet word. Die verdeling van Duitsland self is dus uitgestel tot later, toe premier in London vergader het, maar dit is weer ontken deur Stalin. Roosevelt sterf twee maande later, na die Jalta -konferensie in Warm Springs, Georgia. Dit is verklaar dat sy dood te wyte was aan 'n breinbloeding. Daar was baie gerugte, maar die belangrikste en mees geglode was dat die Roosevelt selfmoord gepleeg het en besef het wat 'n ernstige fout hy gemaak het. Die lang lyding van die mense van Europa, om van Hitler af weg te kom, is vervang deur meer as 45 jaar slawerny van die kommuniste.
Dit is nie duidelik waarom Roosevelt verklaar het dat hy 'n baie goeie transaksie in Jalta gemaak het nie, want in die ooreenkoms het hy Stalin die hele Oos -Europa en 'n paar Japannese eilande gegee. In ruil daarvoor het Stalin niks gedoen nie. Die ooreenkoms het Stalin gevra om by die oorlog teen Japan aan te sluit, maar die Sowjetunie het Japan eers oorlog verklaar enkele dae nadat die atoombomme Japan die afgelope 4 en 'n half dekades lamgelê het. Stalin het dus al die gebiede gratis gekry.
Ten slotte wil ek die invloed bespreek wat hierdie verdrag gehad het op die wêreld waar ek vandaan kom. Ek is grootgemaak in 'n kommunistiese land (as gevolg van hierdie verdrag) en ek kan die mense 'n paar dinge vertel oor hoe die lewe was. My pa, nadat ek baie van hierdie veranderings na die oorlog beleef het (kommuniste wat oorgeneem het) het my baie verhale vertel oor die onderdrukking wat die kommuniste na die oorlog na Roemenië gebring het. Trouens, die Stalin het by Jalta belowe dat Roemenië vrye verkiesings sal hê, maar slegs 16 dae na die konferensie vernietig die Russe die demokratiese regering wat in die land ingestel is en vestig die kommunisme.
Die Russe het hierdie klein land, Roemenië, baie pyn veroorsaak en baie mense vermoor en hulle laat betaal omdat hulle 'n klein deel van die oorlog met Duitsland verbonde was. Die feit dat Duitsland Roemenië oorgeneem het, het nie saak gemaak vir die Russe wat gemaak het dat Roemenië al sy landbouprodukte vir meer as tien jaar aan Rusland gegee het nie, tesame met baie ander belasting en terugbetalings. Een van die grootste maniere waarop die Russe die Roemeense volk beïnvloed het, was deur die dood van al sy hoogste verstand. Enige persoon met hoër onderwys (as hoërskool) wat skynbaar nie met die konsepte van kommunisme saamstem nie (wat nog te sê praat of skryf teen die regering), word onmiddellik doodgemaak.
Vryheid word as vanselfsprekend aanvaar en die pyn wat 'n klein land soos hierdie moet deurmaak, sal in die komende jare nie vergewe word nie. My geslag sal dit beslis nie vergeet nie, en ek sal die vele verhale van groot onderdrukking wat Roemenië na die oorlog moes deurmaak aan my kinders deurgee. En ek hoop dat hierdie pynlike herinnering nooit vergeet sal word nie. Ek sal FDR kritiseer omdat hy dit in Oos -Europa gedoen het, omdat dit een van die mooiste en geleerdste plekke ter wêreld verwoes het. Oos -Europa het bewys dat dit die pyn en onderdrukking van sy gevangenes kan verduur, en dat dit die ekonomiese krisis sal deurmaak wat dit geraak het weens die val van hierdie kommunistiese ryk. Bibliografie:
Inhoud
Tydens die Jaltakonferensie het die Wes -Geallieerdes die hele Frankryk en België bevry en het hulle aan die westelike grens van Duitsland geveg. In die ooste was die Sowjet -magte 65 km (40 myl) van Berlyn af, nadat hulle reeds die Duitsers uit Pole, Roemenië en Bulgarye teruggehou het. Daar was nie meer 'n vraag oor die Duitse nederlaag nie. Die probleem was die nuwe vorm van die naoorlogse Europa. [2] [3] [4]
Die Franse leier generaal Charles de Gaulle is nie na die Yalta- of Potsdam -konferensies uitgenooi nie, 'n diplomatieke geringe rede vir diepe en blywende wrok. [5] De Gaulle skryf sy uitsluiting van Jalta toe aan die jarelange persoonlike teenstrydigheid teenoor hom deur Roosevelt, maar die Sowjets het ook beswaar aangeteken teen die insluiting daarvan as 'n volle deelnemer. Die afwesigheid van Franse verteenwoordiging by Jalta het egter ook beteken dat die uitnodiging van De Gaulle om die Potsdam-konferensie by te woon hoogs problematies sou gewees het, aangesien hy eer gebonde sou voel om daarop aan te dring dat alle kwessies wat by Yalta ooreengekom is, heropen sou word. . [6]
Die inisiatief vir die roeping van 'n tweede "Groot Drie" konferensie was afkomstig van Roosevelt, wat gehoop het op 'n vergadering voor die Amerikaanse presidentsverkiesings in November 1944, maar het aangedring op 'n vergadering vroeg in 1945 op 'n neutrale plek in die Middellandse See. Malta, Ciprus en Athene is almal voorgestel. Stalin, wat daarop aangedring het dat sy dokters enige lang reise teëgestaan het, het hierdie opsies verwerp. [7] Hy het in plaas daarvan voorgestel dat hulle byeenkom in die Swartsee -oord Jalta in die Krim. Stalin se vrees vir vlieg was ook 'n bydraende faktor in die besluit. [8] Nietemin het Stalin formeel uitgestel aan Roosevelt as die "gasheer" vir die konferensie, en alle sessies sou in die Amerikaanse huisvesting in die Livadia -paleis gehou word, en Roosevelt was altyd sentraal op die groepfoto's, wat almal is deur die amptelike fotograaf van Roosevelt geneem.
Elkeen van die drie leiers het sy eie agenda vir die naoorlogse Duitsland en bevryde Europa gehad. Roosevelt wou Sowjet -ondersteuning in die Stille Oseaan -oorlog teen Japan, spesifiek vir die beplande inval in Japan (Operasie August Storm), sowel as Sowjet -deelname aan die Verenigde Nasies. Churchill het aangedring op vrye verkiesings en demokratiese regerings in Oos- en Sentraal -Europa, veral Pole. Stalin het 'n Sowjet -sfeer van politieke invloed in Oos- en Sentraal -Europa geëis as 'n noodsaaklike aspek van die Sowjet se nasionale veiligheidstrategie, en sy posisie op die konferensie was volgens hom so sterk dat hy terme kon bepaal. Volgens die Amerikaanse afvaardigingslid en toekomstige minister van buitelandse sake, James F. Byrnes, "was dit nie 'n kwessie van wat ons die Russe sou laat doen nie, maar wat ons die Russe kon laat doen." [9]
Pole was die eerste item op die Sowjet -agenda. Stalin het gesê: 'Vir die Sowjet -regering was die kwessie van Pole 'n eerbetoon' en veiligheid omdat Pole 'n historiese gang was vir magte wat Rusland wou binnedring. [10] Boonop het Stalin aangaande die geskiedenis gesê dat "omdat die Russe baie teen Pole gesondig het", die Sowjetregering probeer versoen het vir die sondes ". [10] Stalin het tot die gevolgtrekking gekom dat "Pole sterk moet wees" en dat "die Sowjetunie belangstel in die skepping van 'n magtige, vrye en onafhanklike Pole". Gevolglik het Stalin bepaal dat die Poolse regering-in-ballingse eise nie onderhandelbaar was nie, en die Sowjets sou die gebied van Oos-Pole behou wat hulle in 1939 geannekseer het, en dat Pole daarvoor vergoed sou word deur die westelike grense te verleng ten koste van Duitsland . In stryd met sy vooraf verklaarde standpunt, beloof Stalin vrye verkiesings in Pole ondanks die bestaan van 'n voorlopige regering wat deur Sowjet geborg is, wat onlangs deur hom geïnstalleer is in die Poolse gebiede wat deur die Rooi Leër beset is.
Roosevelt wou hê dat die Sowjette die Stille Oseaan -oorlog met Japan met die Geallieerdes sou betree, wat hy gehoop het die oorlog vroeër sou beëindig en Amerikaanse ongevalle sou verminder.
Een Sowjetvoorwaarde vir 'n oorlogsverklaring teen Japan was 'n Amerikaanse amptelike erkenning van die Mongoolse onafhanklikheid van China (die Mongoolse Volksrepubliek was 'n Sowjet -satellietstaat van 1924 tot die Tweede Wêreldoorlog). Die Sowjets wou ook die erkenning van Sowjet -belange in die Manchuriaanse spoorweë en Port Arthur, maar nie die Chinese vra om te huur nie. Daar is ooreengekom op hierdie voorwaardes sonder Chinese deelname.
Die Sowjets wou die terugkeer van Karafuto, wat deur Japan in die Russies-Japanse Oorlog in 1905 uit Rusland geneem is, en die aflegging van die Kuril-eilande deur Japan, wat beide deur Truman goedgekeur is.
In ruil daarvoor het Stalin belowe dat die Sowjetunie drie maande na die nederlaag van Duitsland die Stille Oseaanoorlog sou betree. Later, in Potsdam, het Stalin Truman belowe om die nasionale eenheid van Korea te respekteer, wat gedeeltelik deur Sowjet -troepe beset sou word.
Verder het die Sowjete ingestem om by die Verenigde Nasies aan te sluit weens 'n geheime begrip van 'n stemformule met 'n vetoreg vir permanente lede van die Veiligheidsraad, wat verseker het dat elke land ongewenste besluite kan blokkeer. [11]
Die Sowjet -leër het Pole heeltemal beset en 'n groot deel van Oos -Europa besit met 'n militêre mag wat drie keer groter was as die geallieerde magte in die Weste. [ aanhaling nodig ] Die Verklaring van Bevryde Europa het min gehelp om die invloedsfeerooreenkomste wat in wapenstilstandsooreenkomste opgeneem is, te verdryf.
Al drie die leiers bekragtig die ooreenkoms van die Europese Advieskommissie wat die grense bepaal van die besettingsgebiede na die oorlog na Duitsland met drie besettingsgebiede, een vir elk van die drie belangrikste Geallieerdes. Hulle het ook ingestem om Frankryk 'n besettingsgebied te gee wat uit die Amerikaanse en Britse gebiede gesny is, maar De Gaulle het die beginsel gehad om te weier om te aanvaar dat die Franse gebied gedefinieer sou word deur grense wat in sy afwesigheid vasgestel is. Hy het dus die Franse magte beveel om Stuttgart te beset, benewens die lande wat vroeër ooreengekom is, wat die Franse besettingsgebied insluit. Hy het eers teruggetrek toe hy gedreig word met die opskorting van noodsaaklike Amerikaanse ekonomiese voorrade. [12] Churchill in Jalta het toe aangevoer dat die Franse ook 'n volwaardige lid van die voorgestelde Geallieerde Beheerraad vir Duitsland moet wees. Stalin het dit weerstaan totdat Roosevelt die standpunt van Churchill ondersteun het, maar Stalin was steeds vasberade dat die Franse nie toegelaat sou word tot die volle lidmaatskap van die Geallieerde Herstelingskommissie wat in Moskou gevestig sou word en slegs tydens die Potsdam -konferensie berou gekry het nie.
Die Groot Drie het ook ooreengekom dat alle oorspronklike regerings na die binnegevalle lande herstel sal word, met die uitsondering van Roemenië en Bulgarye, waar die Sowjette reeds die meeste regerings gelikwideer het, [ verduideliking nodig ] en Pole, wie se ballingskap ook deur Stalin uitgesluit is, en dat al hul burgers gerepatrieer sou word.
Verklaring van bevryde Europa Redigeer
Die Declaration of Liberated Europe is geskep deur Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt en Joseph Stalin tydens die Jalta -konferensie. Dit was 'n belofte wat die mense van Europa toegelaat het "om demokratiese instellings van hul eie keuse te skep". Die verklaring belowe dat "die vroegste moontlike instelling deur vrye verkiesingsregerings wat reageer op die wil van die mense." Dit is soortgelyk aan die verklarings van die Atlantiese Handves oor "die reg van alle mense om die regeringsvorm te kies waaronder hulle sal leef." [13]
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Japannese bewind (1910–1945) Redigeer
Toe die Russies-Japannese oorlog in 1905 geëindig het, het Korea 'n nominale protektoraat van Japan geword en in 1910 deur Japan geannekseer. Die Koreaanse keiser Gojong is verwyder. In die daaropvolgende dekades het nasionalistiese en radikale groepe na vore gekom om te veg vir onafhanklikheid. Hierdie groepe, uiteenlopend in hul uitkyk en benadering, het nie daarin geslaag om in een nasionale beweging bymekaar te kom nie. [5] [6]: 156–160 Die Koreaanse voorlopige regering in ballingskap in China kon nie wydverspreide erkenning kry nie. [6]: 159–160
Tweede Wêreldoorlog Wysig
Tydens die Kaïro-konferensie in November 1943, in die middel van die Tweede Wêreldoorlog, het Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill en Chiang Kai-shek ooreengekom dat Japan al die gebiede wat dit met geweld verower het, moet verloor. Aan die einde van die konferensie verklaar die drie moondhede dat hulle 'bedag is op die slawerny van die mense van Korea. [7] [8] Roosevelt het die idee van 'n trusteeskap oor Korea laat vaar, maar het nie toestemming van die ander moondhede verkry nie. Roosevelt het die idee met Joseph Stalin geopper tydens die Teheran -konferensie in November 1943 en die Jalta -konferensie in Februarie 1945. Stalin was dit nie eens nie, maar het gepleit dat die tydperk van trusteeskap kort was. [6]: 187–188 [9]
Tydens die Teheran- en Jalta -konferensies het Stalin belowe om hom in twee tot drie maande na sy oorwinning in Europa by sy bondgenote aan te sluit in die Stille Oseaan -oorlog. Op 8 Augustus 1945, twee dae nadat die eerste atoombom op Hiroshima neergegooi is, maar voordat die tweede bom by Nagasaki neergegooi is, verklaar die USSR oorlog teen Japan. [10] Toe die oorlog begin, het die opperbevelhebber van die Sowjet-magte in die Verre Ooste, maarskalk Aleksandr Vasilevsky, 'n beroep op Koreane gedoen om teen Japan op te staan en gesê '' 'n vaandel van vryheid en onafhanklikheid styg in Seoul '. [11]
Sowjet -troepe het vinnig gevorder en die Amerikaanse regering was angstig dat hulle die hele Korea sou beset. Op 10 Augustus 1945 is twee jong offisiere - Dean Rusk en Charles Bonesteel - aangestel om 'n Amerikaanse besettingsgebied te definieer. Hulle werk op uiters kort kennisgewing en heeltemal onvoorbereid, en gebruik 'n National Geographic kaart om te besluit oor die 38ste parallel as die skeidslyn. Hulle het dit gekies omdat dit die land ongeveer in die helfte verdeel het, maar die hoofstad Seoul onder Amerikaanse beheer sou plaas. Geen deskundiges oor Korea is geraadpleeg nie. Die twee mans was nie bewus daarvan dat Japan en pre-revolusionêre Rusland veertig jaar tevore oor dieselfde deel bespreek het om Korea te deel nie. Rusk het later gesê dat as hy geweet het, hy 'byna seker' 'n ander lyn sou gekies het. [12] [13] Die afdeling het sestien miljoen Koreane in die Amerikaanse gebied geplaas en nege miljoen in die Sowjet -gebied. [14] Rusk merk op: "alhoewel dit verder noord was as wat realisties deur Amerikaanse magte bereik kon word, het ons in die geval van Sowjet -onenigheid dit belangrik gevind om die hoofstad van Korea in die verantwoordelikheidsgebied van Amerikaanse troepe op te neem". Hy het opgemerk dat hy "gekonfronteer word met die skaarste aan onmiddellike beskikbare Amerikaanse magte, en tyd- en ruimtefaktore, wat dit moeilik sou maak om baie ver noordwaarts te kom, voordat Sowjet -troepe die gebied kon binnegaan". [15] Tot die Amerikaners se verbasing aanvaar die Sowjetunie die verdeling onmiddellik. [11] [16] Die ooreenkoms is opgeneem in die algemene bevel nr. 1 (goedgekeur op 17 Augustus 1945) vir die oorgawe van Japan. [16]
Sowjetmagte het teen 14 Augustus met amfibiese landings in Korea begin en vinnig die noordooste van die land oorgeneem, en op 16 Augustus het hulle by Wonsan geland. [17] Op 24 Augustus bereik die Rooi Leër Pyongyang, die tweede grootste stad in Korea. [16]
Generaal Nobuyuki Abe, die laaste Japanse goewerneur-generaal van Korea, het sedert begin Augustus 1945 kontak gemaak met 'n aantal invloedryke Koreane om die oorhandiging van die mag voor te berei. Gedurende Augustus het Koreane mense se komiteetakke georganiseer vir die "Committee for the Preparation of Korean Independence [ko]" (CPKI), onder leiding van Lyuh Woon-hyung, 'n linkse politikus. Op 6 September 1945 is 'n kongres van verteenwoordigers in Seoul belê wat die kortstondige Volksrepubliek Korea gestig het. [18] [19] In die gees van konsensus is die konserwatiewe oudste staatsman Syngman Rhee, wat in ballingskap in die VSA gewoon het, as president benoem. [20]
Afdeling (sedert 2 September 1945) Redigeer
Sowjet -besetting van Noord -Korea Edit
Toe Sowjet-troepe Pyongyang binnekom, vind hulle 'n plaaslike tak van die Komitee vir die Voorbereiding van Koreaanse Onafhanklikheid wat onder leiding van die veteraan-nasionalis Cho Man-sik werk. [21] Die Sowjet -leër het toegelaat dat hierdie "Volkskomitees" (wat vriendelik was teenoor die Sowjetunie) funksioneer. In September 1945 het die Sowjet -administrasie sy eie geldeenheid uitgereik, die "Rooi Leër het gewen". [11] In 1946 het kolonel-generaal Terentii Shtykov die administrasie aangeneem en die Sowjet-regering begin beywer vir fondse om die noodlottige ekonomie te ondersteun. [11]
In Februarie 1946 word 'n voorlopige regering genaamd die Voorlopige Volkskomitee gestig onder Kim Il-sung, wat die laaste jare van die oorlog saam met Sowjet-troepe in Mantsjoerye opgelei het. Konflikte en magstryd het ontstaan op die hoogste regeringsvlakke in Pyongyang, terwyl verskillende aspirante gemanoeuvreer het om magsposisies in die nuwe regering te verkry. In Maart 1946 het die voorlopige regering 'n ingrypende grondhervormingsprogram ingestel: grond wat aan Japannese behoort en grondeienaars van medewerkers is verdeel en herverdeel aan arm boere. [22] 'n Landwye massa -veldtog het die beheer van die ou gelande klasse verbreek, terwyl die talle arm burgerlikes en landbouarbeiders onder die volkskomitees georganiseer is. Verhuurders is toegelaat om slegs dieselfde hoeveelheid grond te behou as arm burgers wat hul grond eens gehuur het, en sodoende 'n veel meer gelyke verdeling van grond moontlik gemaak het. Die Noord -Koreaanse grondhervorming is op 'n minder gewelddadige manier bereik as in China of in Viëtnam. Amptelike Amerikaanse bronne het gesê: "Uit alle oorde is die voormalige dorpsleiers as 'n politieke mag uitgeskakel sonder om bloedvergieting te gebruik, maar daar is uiterste sorg geneem om te keer dat hulle aan die bewind terugkeer." [23] Die boere reageer positief baie medewerkers, voormalige grondeienaars en Christene vlug na die suide, waar sommige van hulle posisies in die nuwe Suid -Koreaanse regering verkry het. Volgens die Amerikaanse militêre regering het 400 000 Noord -Koreane as vlugtelinge suid gegaan. [24]
Sleutelbedrywe is genasionaliseer. Die ekonomiese situasie was byna net so moeilik in die noorde as in die suide, aangesien die Japannese die landbou- en diensbedrywe in die suide en die swaar nywerheid in die noorde gekonsentreer het.
Sowjetmagte het in 1948 vertrek. [25]
Amerikaanse besetting van Suid -Korea Edit
Omdat die Amerikaanse regering bang was vir die uitbreiding van die Sowjetunie, en die Japanse owerhede in Korea waarsku oor 'n magsvakuum, is die aanvangsdatum van die Amerikaanse besettingsmag drie keer na vore gebring. [6] Op 7 September 1945 kondig generaal Douglas MacArthur aan dat luitenant -generaal John R. Hodge Koreaanse aangeleenthede sou bestuur, en Hodge beland die volgende dag saam met sy troepe in Incheon. MacArthur as opperbevelhebber vir die geallieerde magte was van 1945-48 uiteindelik in beheer van Suid-Korea weens die gebrek aan duidelike bevele of inisiatief van Washington, DC Daar was geen plan of riglyn aan die gesamentlike stafhoofde of die Staatsdepartement oor hoe om Korea te regeer. Hodge het tydens die militêre besetting direk by MacArthur en GHQ (Algemene Hoofkwartier) in Tokio aangemeld, nie Washington nie. Die drie jaar lange besetting van die Amerikaanse weermag was chaoties en onstuimig in vergelyking met die baie vreedsame en stabiele Amerikaanse besetting van Japan van 1945-52. Hodge en sy XXIV-korps is opgelei vir gevegte, nie vir diplomasie nie en onderhandelinge met die vele uiteenlopende politieke groepe (voormalige Japannese medewerkers, pro-Sowjet-kommuniste, anti-Sowjet-kommuniste, regse groepe, Koreaanse nasionaliste) wat in post-koloniale suidelike gebiede ontstaan het Korea. Nie een van die Amerikaners in die weermag of die staatsdepartement in die Verre Ooste aan die einde van 1945 het selfs Koreaans gepraat nie, wat daartoe gelei het dat plaaslike Koreane 'n grap gemaak het oor hoe Koreaanse vertalers Suid -Korea werklik bestuur het. [26] [27] Die voorlopige regering van die Republiek van Korea, wat uit China opereer het, het 'n afvaardiging met drie tolke na Hodge gestuur, maar hy wou nie met hulle vergader nie. [28] Net so het Hodge geweier om die nuutgestigte Volksrepubliek Korea en sy volkskomitees te erken en het dit op 12 Desember verbied. [29]
In September 1946 het duisende arbeiders en kleinboere teen die militêre regering opgestaan. Hierdie opstand is vinnig verslaan en kon nie geskeduleerde verkiesings in Oktober vir die Suid -Koreaanse tussentydse wetgewende vergadering voorkom nie.
Die vurige anti-kommunis Syngman Rhee, wat die eerste president van die voorlopige regering was en later as 'n pro-Koreaanse lobbyist in die VSA gewerk het, het die mees prominente politikus in die Suide geword. Rhee het die Amerikaanse regering onder druk geplaas om die onderhandelinge vir 'n trusteeskap te laat vaar en 'n onafhanklike Republiek van Korea in die suide te stig. [30] Op 19 Julie 1947 word Lyuh Woon-hyung, die laaste senior politikus wat hom verbind het tot links-regs dialoog, vermoor deur 'n 19-jarige man met die naam Han Chigeun, 'n onlangse vlugteling uit Noord-Korea en 'n aktiewe lid van 'n nasionalistiese regse groep. [31]
Die besettingsregering en daarna die nuutgestigte Suid-Koreaanse regering het 'n aantal militêre veldtogte teen linkse opstandelinge gevoer. In die loop van die volgende paar jaar is tussen 30 000 [32] en 100 000 mense dood. Die meeste ongevalle was die gevolg van die Jeju -opstand. [33]
Gesamentlike US -Sowjet -kommissie wysig
In Desember 1945, tydens die Moskou-konferensie, het die Geallieerdes ooreengekom dat die Sowjetunie, die VSA, die Republiek van China en Brittanje tot vyf jaar lank aan 'n kuratorskap oor Korea sou deelneem in die aanloop tot onafhanklikheid. Baie Koreane eis egter onmiddellik onafhanklikheid, maar die Koreaanse Kommunistiese Party, wat ten nouste in lyn was met die Sowjet -kommunistiese party, ondersteun die kuratorskap. [34] [35] Volgens joernalis Fyodor Tertitskiy dui dokumentasie uit 1945 daarop dat die Sowjet -regering geen planne vir 'n permanente afdeling gehad het nie. [20]
'N Gesamentlike Kommissie van Sowjet-VSA [ko] het in 1946 en 1947 vergader om 'n verenigde administrasie te bewerkstellig, maar kon nie vordering maak nie weens die toenemende antagonisme van die Koue Oorlog en die Koreaanse opposisie teen die kuratorskap. [36] In 1946 stel die Sowjetunie Lyuh Woon-hyung voor as die leier van 'n verenigde Korea, maar dit word deur die VSA verwerp. [20] Intussen het die verdeling tussen die twee sones verdiep. Die verskil in beleid tussen die besettingsmagte het gelei tot 'n polarisasie van die politiek en 'n bevolkingsoordrag tussen Noord en Suid. [37] In Mei 1946 is dit onwettig gemaak om die 38ste parallel sonder 'n permit oor te steek. [38] Tydens die laaste vergadering van die Gesamentlike Kommissie in September 1947 stel die Sowjet -afgevaardigde Terentii Shtykov voor dat beide Sowjet- en Amerikaanse troepe hulle onttrek en die Koreaanse volk die geleentheid gee om hul eie regering te vorm. Dit is deur die VSA verwerp. [39]
VN -ingryping en die vorming van afsonderlike regerings Edit
With the failure of the Joint Commission to make progress, the US brought the problem before the United Nations in September 1947. The Soviet Union opposed UN involvement. [40] The UN passed a resolution on 14 November 1947, declaring that free elections should be held, foreign troops should be withdrawn, and a UN commission for Korea, the United Nations Temporary Commission on Korea (UNTCOK), should be created. The Soviet Union boycotted the voting and did not consider the resolution to be binding, arguing that the UN could not guarantee fair elections. In the absence of Soviet co-operation, it was decided to hold UN-supervised elections in the south only. [41] [42] This was in defiance of the report of the chairman of the Commission, K. P. S. Menon, who had argued against a separate election. [43] Some UNTCOK delegates felt that the conditions in the south gave unfair advantage to right-wing candidates, but they were overruled. [6] : 211–212
The decision to proceed with separate elections was unpopular among many Koreans, who rightly saw it as a prelude to a permanent division of the country. General strikes in protest against the decision began in February 1948. [38] In April, Jeju islanders rose up against the looming division of the country. South Korean troops were sent to repress the rebellion. Tens of thousands of islanders were killed and by one estimate, 70% of the villages were burned by the South Korean troops. [44] The uprising flared up again with the outbreak of the Korean War. [45]
In April 1948, a conference of organizations from the north and the south met in Pyongyang. The southern politicians Kim Koo and Kim Kyu-sik attended the conference and boycotted the elections in the south, as did other politicians and parties. [6] : 211,507 [46] The conference called for a united government and the withdrawal of foreign troops. [47] Syngman Rhee and General Hodge denounced the conference. [47] Kim Koo was assassinated the following year. [48]
On 10 May 1948 the south held a general election. It took place amid widespread violence and intimidation, as well as a boycott by opponents of Syngman Rhee. [49] On 15 August, the "Republic of Korea" (Daehan Minguk) formally took over power from the U.S. military, with Syngman Rhee as the first president. In the North, the "Democratic People's Republic of Korea" (Chosŏn Minjujuŭi Inmin Konghwaguk) was declared on 9 September, with Kim Il-sung as prime minister.
On 12 December 1948, the United Nations General Assembly accepted the report of UNTCOK and declared the Republic of Korea to be the "only lawful government in Korea". [50] However, none of the members of UNTCOK considered that the election had established a legitimate national parliament. The Australian government, which had a representative on the commission declared that it was "far from satisfied" with the election. [49]
Unrest continued in the South. In October 1948, the Yeosu–Suncheon Rebellion took place, in which some regiments rejected the suppression of the Jeju uprising and rebelled against the government. [51] In 1949, the Syngman Rhee government established the Bodo League in order to keep an eye on its political opponents. The majority of the Bodo League's members were innocent farmers and civilians who were forced into membership. [52] The registered members or their families were executed at the beginning of the Korean War. On 24 December 1949, South Korean Army massacred Mungyeong citizens who were suspected communist sympathizers or their family and affixed blame to communists. [53]
This division of Korea, after more than a millennium of being unified, was seen as controversial and temporary by both regimes. From 1948 until the start of the civil war on 25 June 1950, the armed forces of each side engaged in a series of bloody conflicts along the border. In 1950, these conflicts escalated dramatically when North Korean forces invaded South Korea, triggering the Korean War. The United Nations intervened to protect the South, sending a US-led force. As it occupied the south, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea attempted to unify Korea under its regime, initiating the nationalisation of industry, land reform, and the restoration of the People's Committees. [54]
While UN intervention was conceived as restoring the border at the 38th parallel, Syngman Rhee argued that the attack of the North had obliterated the boundary. Similarly UN Commander in Chief, General Douglas MacArthur stated that he intended to unify Korea, not just drive the North Korean forces back behind the border. [55] However, the North overran 90% of the south until a counter-attack by US-led forces. As the North Korean forces were driven from the south, South Korean forces crossed the 38th parallel on 1 October, and American and other UN forces followed a week later. This was despite warnings from the People's Republic of China that it would intervene if American troops crossed the parallel. [56] As it occupied the north, the Republic of Korea, in turn, attempted to unify the country under its regime, with the Korean National Police enforcing political indoctrination. [6] : 281–282 As US-led forces pushed into the north, China unleashed a counter-attack which drove them back into the south.
In 1951, the front line stabilized near the 38th parallel, and both sides began to consider an armistice. Rhee, however, demanded the war continue until Korea was unified under his leadership. [57] The Communist side supported an armistice line being based on the 38th parallel, but the United Nations supported a line based on the territory held by each side, which was militarily defensible. [58] The UN position, formulated by the Americans, went against the consensus leading up to the negotiations. [59] Initially, the Americans proposed a line that passed through Pyongyang, far to the north of the front line. [60] The Chinese and North Koreans eventually agreed to a border on the military line of contact rather than the 38th parallel, but this disagreement led to a tortuous and drawn-out negotiating process. [61]
The Korean Armistice Agreement was signed after three years of war. The two sides agreed to create a 4-kilometre-wide (2.5-mile) buffer zone between the states, known as the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). This new border, reflecting the territory held by each side at the end of the war, crossed the 38th parallel diagonally. Rhee refused to accept the armistice and continued to urge the reunification of the country by force. [62] Despite attempts by both sides to reunify the country, the war perpetuated the division of Korea and led to a permanent alliance between South Korea and the U.S., and a permanent U.S. garrison in the South. [63]
As dictated by the terms of the Korean Armistice, a Geneva Conference was held in 1954 on the Korean question. Despite efforts by many of the nations involved, the conference ended without a declaration for a unified Korea.
The Armistice established a Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission (NNSC) which was tasked to monitor the Armistice. Since 1953, members of the Swiss [64] and Swedish [65] armed forces have been members of the NNSC stationed near the DMZ. Poland and Czechoslovakia were the neutral nations chosen by North Korea, but North Korea expelled their observers after those countries embraced capitalism. [66]
Since the war, Korea has remained divided along the DMZ. North and South have remained in a state of conflict, with the opposing regimes both claiming to be the legitimate government of the whole country. Sporadic negotiations have failed to produce lasting progress towards reunification. [67]
On 27 April 2018 North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in met in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). The Panmunjom Declaration signed by both leaders called for the end of longstanding military activities near the border and the reunification of Korea. [68]
On 1 November 2018, buffer zones were established across the DMZ to help ensure the end of hostility on land, sea and air. [69] [70] The buffer zones stretch from the north of Deokjeok Island to the south of Cho Island in the West Sea and the north of Sokcho city and south of Tongchon County in the East (Yellow) Sea. [70] [69] In addition, no fly zones were established. [69] [70]
The Yalta War Conference
The Yalta War Conference was held between February 4th and February 11th 1945. Yalta is on the Black Sea coast of the Crimea and a war meeting here in February 1945, was safe for those participating. The ‘Big Three’ were at this meeting: Joseph Stalin, Winston Churchill and F D Roosevelt.
What was achieved at Yalta?
Stalin agreed to enter the war against Japan.
Stalin agreed to collaborate with the establishment of the United Nations Organisation which had already been discussed at the Dumbarton Oaks meeting in 1944.
Churchill got Stalin to agree that France should have a zone of occupation in the defeated Germany
Stalin got an agreement that the Soviet/Polish border would be the Curzon Line and that the Polish/German border would be the Oder-Neisse Line.
Stalin agreed to free elections in Poland, to be held as quickly as was possible after the war had ended. Stalin agreed that members of the Polish government in exile could have a place in the new Polish government.
A “Declaration on Liberated Europe” was released which stated that all nations previously under German control would have a democratic government
Roosevelt received a far bit of criticism from political pundits in America once the points of Yalta were released. He was criticised for ‘giving’ Eastern Europe to Stalin. However, there was little else he could do. The simple military fact in February 1945 was that the Soviet Union dominated Eastern Europe and that the power of the atomic bomb (that had yet to be tested) was not known by the Americans who could not use it as a counter-measure to curb Stalin’s ambitions.
Roosevelt was also criticised for allowing the Russians to get involved in the war against Japan. However, in February 1945, the Japanese still seemed a formidable opponent and American intelligence had estimated America could suffer 1 million casualties if she attempted to occupy Japan. There was the obvious ‘card’ to play – the Soviet Union had a vast army and it could easily make a huge impact in the war in the Far East, especially on the Asian mainland.
Japan
Pressing on the issue of Japan, Roosevelt secured a promise from Stalin to enter the conflict ninety days after the defeat of Germany. In return for Soviet military support, Stalin demanded and received American diplomatic recognition of Mongolian independence from Nationalist China. Caving on this point, Roosevelt hoped to deal with the Soviets through the United Nations, which Stalin did agree to join after voting procedures in the Security Council were defined. Returning to European affairs, it was jointly agreed that the original, prewar governments would be returned to liberated countries.
Exceptions were made in the cases of France, whose government had become collaborationist, and Romania and Bulgaria where the Soviets had effectively dismantled the governmental systems. Further supporting this was a statement that all displaced civilians would be returned to their countries of origin. Ending on February 11, the three leaders departed Yalta in a celebratory mood. This initial view of the conference was shared by the people in each nation, but ultimately proved short-lived. With Roosevelt's death in April 1945, relations between the Soviets and the West became increasingly tense.
The German collapse, spring 1945
Before their ground forces were ready for the final assault on Germany, the western Allies intensified their aerial bombardment. This offensive culminated in a series of five attacks on Dresden, launched by the RAF with 800 aircraft in the night of February 13–14, 1945, and continued by the U.S. 8th Air Force with 400 aircraft in daylight on February 14, with 200 on February 15, with 400 again on March 2, and, finally, with 572 on April 17. The motive of these raids was allegedly to promote the Soviet advance by destroying a centre of communications important to the German defense of the Eastern Front but, in fact, the raids achieved nothing to help the Red Army militarily and succeeded in obliterating the greater part of one of the most beautiful cities of Europe and in killing up to 25,000 people.
The main strength of the ground forces being built up meanwhile for the crossing of the Rhine was allotted to Montgomery’s armies on the northern sector of the front. Meanwhile, some of the U.S. generals sought to demonstrate the abilities of their own less generously supplied forces. Thus, Patton’s 3rd Army reached the Rhine at Coblenz (Koblenz) early in March, and, farther downstream, General Courtney H. Hodges’ 1st Army seized the bridge over the Rhine at Remagen south of Bonn and actually crossed the river, while, still farther downstream, Lieutenant General William H. Simpson’s 9th Army reached the Rhine near Düsseldorf. All three armies were ordered to mark time until Montgomery’s grand assault was ready but, meanwhile, they cleared the west bank of the river, and eventually, in the night of March 22–23, the 3rd Army crossed the Rhine at Oppenheim, between Mainz and Mannheim, almost unopposed.
At last, in the night of March 23–24, Montgomery’s attack by 25 divisions was launched across a stretch—30 miles long—of the Rhine near Wesel after a stupendous bombardment by more than 3,000 guns and waves of attacks by bombers. Resistance was generally slight but Montgomery would not sanction a further advance until his bridgeheads were consolidated into a salient 20 miles deep. Then the Canadian 1st Army, on the left, drove ahead through the Netherlands, the British 2nd went northeastward to Lübeck and to Wismar on the Baltic, and the U.S. armies swept forward across Germany, fanning out to reach an arc that stretched from Magdeburg (9th Army) through Leipzig (1st) to the borders of Czechoslovakia (3rd) and of Austria (7th and French 1st).
Guderian had tried to shift Germany’s forces eastward to hold the Red Army off but Hitler, despite his anxiety for Berlin, still wished to commit the 11th and 12th armies—formed from his last reserves—to driving the western Allies back over the Rhine and, on March 28, replaced Guderian with General Hans Krebs as chief of the general staff.
The dominant desire of the Germans now, both troops and civilians, was to see the British and American armies sweep eastward as rapidly as possible to reach Berlin and occupy as much of the country as possible before the Soviets overcame the Oder line. Few of them were inclined to assist Hitler’s purpose of obstruction by self-destruction. On March 19 (the eve of the Rhine crossing), Hitler had issued an order declaring that “the battle should be conducted without consideration for our own population.” His regional commissioners were instructed to destroy “all industrial plants, all the main electricity works, waterworks, gas works” together with “all food and clothing stores” in order to create “a desert” in the Allies’ path. When his minister of war production, Albert Speer, protested against this drastic order, Hitler retorted: “If the war is lost, the German nation will also perish. So there is no need to consider what the people require for continued existence.” Appalled at such callousness, Speer was shaken out of his loyalty to Hitler: he went behind Hitler’s back to the army and industrial chiefs and persuaded them, without much difficulty, to evade executing Hitler’s decree. The Americans and the British, driving eastward from the Rhine, met little opposition and reached the Elbe River 60 miles from Berlin, on April 11. There they halted.
On the Eastern Front, Zhukov enlarged his bridgehead across the Oder early in March. On their far left the Soviets reached Vienna on April 6 and on the right they took Königsberg on April 9. Then, on April 16, Zhukov resumed the offensive in conjunction with Konev, who forced the crossings of the Neisse this time the Soviets burst out of their bridgeheads, and within a week they were driving into the suburbs of Berlin. Hitler chose to stay in his threatened capital, counting on some miracle to bring salvation and clutching at such straws as the news of the death of Roosevelt on April 12. By April 25 the armies of Zhukov and Konev had completely encircled Berlin, and on the same day they linked up with the Americans on the Elbe River.
Isolated and reduced to despair, Hitler married his mistress, Eva Braun, during the night of April 28–29, and on April 30 he committed suicide with her in the ruins of the Chancellery, as the advancing Soviet troops were less than a half mile from his bunker complex their bodies were hurriedly cremated in the garden. The “strategy” of Hitler’s successor, Dönitz, was one of capitulation and of saving as many as possible of the westward-fleeing civilians and of his German troops from Soviet hands. During the interval of surrender, 1,800,000 German troops (55 percent of the Army of the East) were transferred into the British–U.S. area of control.
On the Italian front, the Allied armies had long been frustrated by the depletion of their forces for the sake of other enterprises but early in 1945 four German divisions were transferred from Kesselring’s command to the Western Front, and in April the thin German defenses in Italy were broken by an Allied attack. A surrender document that had been signed on April 29 (while Hitler was still alive) finally brought the fighting to a conclusion on May 2.
FEBRUARY 1945 Yalta Conference - History
The Yalta Conference (1945)
The Yalta Conference, sometimes called the Crimea Conference and codenamed the Argonaut Conference, was the wartime meeting from February 4 to 11, 1945 between the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union. The delegations were headed by Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin, respectively.
The key Allied leaders, Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill, were known as the "Big Three" because of the might of the nations they represented and their peaceful collaboration during World War II. These three leaders met together only twice during World War II, but when they did conference, their decisions changed the course of history.
After the Tehran Conference, the three leaders promised to meet again, and this agreement came to pass at the Yalta Conference of February 1945. Although Stalin had expressed concern about Roosevelt's health during the Teheran conference, this concern did not translate into action. The Soviet dictator refused to travel further than the Black Sea Resort, Yalta, in the Crimean Riveria (then part of the Soviet Union, now part of Ukraine) for the next summit and, once again, Churchill and Roosevelt were both the ones taking long and tiring trips to attend the Yalta summit.
Each of the three powers brought their own agenda to the Yalta Conference. The British wanted to maintain their empire, the Soviets wished to obtain more land and to strengthen conquests, and the Americans wanted to insure the Soviet's entry into the Pacific war and discuss postwar settlement. Moreover, Roosevelt hoped to obtain a commitment from Stalin to participate in the United Nations. As the first topic on the Soviet's agenda for expansion, the subject of Poland immediately arose, and Stalin was quick to succintly state his case with the following words:
"For the Russian people, the question of Poland is not only a question of honor but also a question of security. Throughout history, Poland has been the corridor through which the enemy has passed into Russia. Poland is a question of life and death for Russia."
Accordingly, Stalin made it clear that some of his demands regarding Poland were not negotiable: the Russians were to gain territory from the eastern portion of Poland and Poland was to compensate for that by extending its Western borders, thereby forcing out millions of Germans. Reluctantly, Stalin promised free elections in Poland, notwithstanding the recently installed Communist puppet government. However, it soon became apparent that Stalin had no intentions of holding true to his promise of free elections. In fact, it was fifty years after the Yalta Conference that the Poles first had the opportunity to hold free elections. As mentioned earlier, at Yalta a principal aim of Roosevelt was to make sure that the Soviets would enter the Asian war, i.e., the war against the Japanese. Unfortunately, however, Roosevelt should never have spent any time agonizing over Soviet involvement in the Pacific war because Stalin did not need convincing. The Soviets themselves were keen to assuage the intense feelings of humiliation that resulted from a long ago defeat by Japan and loss of privileges in Manchuria during the Russo-Japanese War. The Soviets were keen on regaining lost territories and optimistic that they could obtain more lands.
However, Roosevelt was oblivious to Stalin's objectives because of Stalin's excellent 'poker face,' and he readily met Stalin's price, leaving the Yalta Conference exuberant because Stalin had agreed to enter the Pacific war against Japan. Moreover, the Soviets had agreed to join the United Nations given the secret understanding of a voting formula with a veto power for permanent members in the Security Council, there by providing the Soviets with more control in world affairs and greatly weakening the United Nations. Overall, Roosevelt felt confident that Yalta had been successful. The Big Three had ratified previous agreements about the postwar division of Germany: there were to be four zones of occupation, one zone for each of the three dominant nations plus one zone for France. Berlin itself, although within the Soviet zone, would also be divided into four sectors, and would eventually become a major symbol of the Cold War because of the division of the city due to the infamous Berlin Wall, which was constructed and manned by the Soviets.
The Big Three had further decided that all original governments would be restored to the invaded countries and that all civilians would repatriated. Democracies would be established, all territories would hold free elections, and order restored to Europe, as declared in the following official statement:
"The establishment of order in Europe and the rebuilding of national economic life must be achieved by processes which will enable the liberated peoples to destroy the last vestiges of Nazism and fascism and to create democratic institutions of their own choice."
In the postwar setting, Russia would gain the southern half of the Sakhalin Islands and Kuriles, half of East Prussia, Konigsberg, Germany, and control of Finland. In addition, Roosevelt let it slip that the United States would not protest if the Soviet Union attempted to annex the three Baltic States (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania) or establish puppet governments, therefore leaving Stalin as pleased with the overall results as Roosevelt, and more rightly so. The Yalta Conference is often regarded by numerous Central European nations as the "Western betrayal." This belief, held by countries such as Poland, Slovakia, Romania, and the Czech Republic, is rooted in the belief that the Allied powers, despite venerating democratic policies and signing numerous pacts and military agreements, allowed smaller countries to be controlled by and/or made Communist states of the Soviet Union. At the Yalta conference, the Big Three "attempted to sacrifice freedom for the sake of stability," and many believe the decisions and concessions of Roosevelt and Churchill during the summit lead to the power struggle of the ensuing Cold War.
The conference was held in Yalta, a resort town on the Crimean peninsula in the Soviet Union (now in Ukraine). The American delegation was housed in the Tsar's former palace, while President Roosevelt stayed at the Livadia Palace where the meetings took place. The British delegation was installed in Prince Vorontsov's castle of Alupka. Key members of the delegations were Edward Stettinius, Averell Harriman, Anthony Eden, Alexander Cadogan, and Vyacheslav Molotov. According to Anthony Beevor, all the rooms were bugged by the NKVD. Stalin arrived by train on February 4. The meeting started with an official dinner on the evening of that day.
* There was agreement that the priority was the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany. After the war, the country would be split into four occupied zones, with a quadripartite occupation of Berlin as well.
* Stalin agreed to let France get the fourth occupation zone in Germany and Austria, carved out from the British and American zones. France would also be granted a seat in the Allied Control Council.
* Germany would undergo demilitarization and denazification.
* Creation of an allied reparation council with its seat in Moscow.
* The status of Poland was discussed but was complicated by the fact that Poland by this time was under the control of the red army. It was agreed to reorganize the Provisionary Polish Government that had been set up by the Red Army through the inclusion of other groups as the Polish Provisional Government of National Unity to be followed by democratic elections. (This effectively excluded the exile Polish government that had formed in London).
* The Polish eastern border should basically follow the Curzon Line, and Poland should receive substantial territorial compensation in the west from Germany.
* Citizens of the Soviet Union and of Yugoslavia were to be handed over to their respective countries, regardless of their consent.
* Roosevelt obtained a commitment by Stalin to participate in the United Nations once it was agreed that each of the five permanent members of the Security Council would have veto power.
* Stalin agreed to enter the fight against the Empire of Japan within 90 days after the defeat of Germany. The Soviet Union would receive the southern part of Sakhalin and the Kurile islands after the defeat of Japan.
Yalta was the last great conference before the end of the war and the last trip of Roosevelt abroad. To observers he appeared already ill and exhausted. Arguably, his most important goal was to ensure the Soviet Union's participation in the United Nations, which he achieved at the price of granting veto power to each permanent member of the Security Council, a condition that significantly weakened the UN. Another of his objectives was to bring the Soviet Union into the fight against Japan, as the effectiveness of the atomic bomb had yet to be proven. The Red Army had already removed Nazi forces from most of Eastern Europe, so Stalin essentially got everything he wanted: a significant sphere of influence as a buffer zone. In this process, the freedom of small nations was somehow expendable and sacrificed for the sake of stability, which would mean that the Baltic countries of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia would continue to be members of the USSR.
Your guide to the Yalta and Potsdam conferences, 1945
What was the Yalta conference and why was it held? What did each of the 'big three' – Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin – want from the meeting? And what was finally decided at the Potsdam conference? Here's your guide to these key meetings of World War Two, which took place in 1945.
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Published: July 16, 2020 at 11:25 am
What was the Yalta conference and why was it held?
Between 4 and 11 February 1945, US President Franklin D Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin met at Yalta – a resort city on the south coast of the Crimean Peninsula, on the Black Sea – for a major conference. Their aim was to thrash out how to bring World War Two to an end and plan the post-war reorganisation of Europe – in particular Germany.
The so-called ‘big three’ convened at Livadia Palace, the former summer residence of Tsar Nicholas II, for eight days. Roosevelt, who was in poor health, had suggested a meeting place somewhere in the Mediterranean, but Stalin, who was famously afraid of flying, had refused to go farther than the Black Sea and suggested the Soviet resort of Yalta.
What was happening elsewhere in February 1945?
The Yalta Conference took place at a critical time in World War Two. By the start of 1945 it was clear that, despite continuing resistance, Germany had lost the war. The Battle of the Bulge – the last German offensive on the Western Front, fought in the Ardennes region of Belgium – had shattered what remained of the German army, as well as destroying essential weapons, tanks and supplies. Elsewhere, Stalin’s Red Army had captured East Prussia and was less than 50 miles from Berlin. The once mighty Luftwaffe was drastically depleted, while Allied bombs continued to fall on German towns and cities on a daily basis. Adolf Hitler was fighting a losing battle.
Het jy geweet?
At the Tehran Conference of 1943, Soviet agents alleged that the Germans were planning Operation Long Jump – a plot to assassinate the Big Three at the same time, only for it to be called off at the last minute. Aspersions have since been cast on whether the plot ever existed.
What did each of the ‘big three’ want from the meeting?
The three leaders had met 15 months earlier in the Iranian capital Tehran, where they had discussed ways to defeat Nazi Germany, agreed on an invasion of Normandy and had conversations around the Soviets’ entry into the Pacific War. The tentative beginnings of what a future peace settlement might look like had been made in Tehran, but it was at Yalta where the real discussions began.
Each leader sat down at Yalta with specific goals in mind. For Roosevelt, ending the ongoing war with Japan was of paramount importance, but to achieve this, he needed Stalin’s military help. The US president also wanted the Soviets to join the UN – a new global peacekeeping body – which it did, remaining a member until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
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Stalin’s priority at Yalta was to get his country back on its feet and increase its standing on the European political stage. The Soviet Union, whilst crushing German forces on the eastern front, had been devastated by the war, with an estimated 27 million Soviet citizens (around one in seven) killed during the conflict, and vast swathes of industry, farming, cities and homes obliterated. Stalin needed money to rebuild his battered country, and pressed for huge reparations from Germany, as well as spheres of influence in Eastern Europe to prevent further invasions, and ensure that Germany could never threaten world peace again.
Churchill, too, was keen to see an end to any future German threat, but he was also concerned about extending the power of the USSR and wanted to see fair and free government across Eastern Europe, especially in Poland,
in whose defence Britain had declared war with Germany in 1939. Both he and Truman were worried that inflicting huge reparations on Germany, as had been done after World War I, could, in the future, create a similar economic situation in the country that had led to the rise and acceptance of the Nazi Party. With differing priorities and world views, it was clearly going to be difficult for the Big Three to reach an agreement.
Why wasn’t French leader Charles de Gaulle present at the conference?
De Gaulle, by unanimous consent from all three leaders, was not invited to Yalta, nor to the Potsdam Conference a few months later it was a diplomatic slight that created deep and lasting resentment. Stalin in particular felt that decisions about the future of Europe should be made by those powers who had sacrificed the most in the war. If France was allowed to participate at Yalta, other nations, too, would arguably have had an equal right to attend.
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What was eventually agreed at Yalta?
The decisions made at Yalta demonstrate the extent to which power had shifted between the Allies over the course of the war. Once Germany’s unconditional surrender had been received, it was proposed that the country, and its capital, be split into four occupied zones – the fourth occupation zone was granted to France but, at Stalin’s insistence, would
be formed out of the American and British zones.
The fate of Poland was a key sticking point in negotiations. For centuries, the country had been used as a historical corridor for armies intent on invading Russia, and Stalin was determined to retain the regions of Poland that he had annexed in 1939 after the Soviet invasion. But he conceded to Churchill’s demand that free elections be held in all Nazi- liberated territories in Eastern Europe, including Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, and Poland.
Other key decisions included the demilitarisation of Germany the payment of reparations by Germany, partly in the form of forced labour the representation of two of the 16 Soviet Socialist Republics (Ukraine and Byelorussia) at the UN, and Soviet participation in the war against Japan, following Germany’s surrender. Another concession made by the US and Britain was to allow all former Soviet prisoners of war, including those who had changed sides and fought for Germany, to be forcibly repatriated back to the USSR.
Wat het daarna gebeur?
None of the Big Three left Yalta with everything they had set out to achieve, but a public show of unity and cooperation was widely reported as they went their separate ways. At the conclusion of the conference, an agreement was made that they would meet once more after Germany had surrendered, so that they could make firm decisions on any outstanding matters, including the borders of post-war Europe. This final meeting took place at Potsdam, near Berlin, between 17 July and 2 August 1945.
What had happened between the ending of the Yalta conference and the meeting at Potsdam?
Aside from Germany’s surrender in May 1945, the political landscape had changed considerably in the five months that had passed since Yalta. Roosevelt, who had been seriously ill at Yalta, had died of a massive brain haemorrhage in April 1945, so it was the new US President Harry Truman who travelled to Berlin, accompanied by his newly appointed Secretary of State James Byrnes.
Promises made at Yalta had also been rescinded. Despite pledging free Polish elections, Stalin was already making moves to install a communist government in that country and many Poles, both in Britain and elsewhere, felt they had been sold out by Truman and Churchill. And despite the Pacific War that was still raging in the East, Stalin had not yet declared war on Japan or provided military support to the US.
What was different about the Potsdam conference?
The political atmosphere at Potsdam was decidedly more strained than at Tehran and Yalta. President Truman was far more suspicious of Stalin and his motives than Roosevelt, who had been widely criticised in the US for giving into Stalin’s demands over Poland and Eastern Europe. Truman was also open in his dislike of communism and Stalin personally, stating that he was “tired of babying the Soviets”.
Further upheaval was to come, though, with the results of the British general election, which had taken place on 5 July. The announcement, made three weeks later on 26 July (to allow the votes of those serving overseas to be counted) saw a decisive victory for the Labour Party and meant that Churchill and his Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden were replaced at the conference – from 28 July – by Britain’s new Prime Minister Clement Attlee and his Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin. And although war against Japan was still ongoing, the lack of a common European enemy saw the Big Three find it harder to reach a mutually acceptable compromise on what the post-war political reconstruction of Europe would look like.
Another important development had also occurred since Yalta – one that would have a profound global impact. A week into the conference, after gaining Stalin’s agreement that the Soviets would join the Pacific War, Truman casually informed Stalin that the US was in possession of “a new weapon of unusual destructive force”: the atomic bomb, which had been tested for the first time on 16 July.
What was finally decided at Potsdam?
Once again, the fate of post-war Poland proved to be one of the biggest stumbling blocks of the conference, and it was finally agreed that Stalin would retain the land he had annexed in 1939. By way of compensation for land lost to the USSR, Poland was to be granted large areas of Germany, up to the Oder-Neisse Line – the border along the Rivers Oder and Neisse. But there was still no firm agreement that Stalin would adhere to his Yalta promise and ensure free elections in Eastern Europe.
As had been discussed at Yalta, Germany and Berlin were to be divided into four zones, with each Allied power receiving reparation from its own occupation zone – the Soviet Union was also permitted to 10- 15 per cent of the industrial equipment in the western zones of Germany in exchange for agricultural and other natural products from its own zone.
With regards to Germany itself, it was confirmed that administration of that country was to be dictated by the ‘five Ds’: demilitarisation, denazification, democratisation, decentralisation and deindustrialisation, and Germans living in Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia at the end of the World War II were to be forcibly expelled to Germany. Thousands of Germans died as a result of the expulsion order official West German accounts state that at least 610,000 Germans were killed in the course of the expulsions. By 1950, the total number of Germans who had left eastern Europe (either voluntarily or by force) had reached 11.5 million.
Did Potsdam succeed in its aims with regard to Europe?
Although some agreements and compromises emerged at Potsdam, there were still important issues that had not been resolved. Before long, the Soviet Union had reconstituted the German Communist Party in the Eastern Sector of Germany and had begun to lay the groundwork for a separate, East German nation state, modelled on that of the USSR.
What was the Potsdam declaration?
Though Germany was the focus at Potsdam, on 26 July the US, Britain and China issued the Potsdam Declaration: an ultimatum calling for the unconditional surrender of Japan. Stalin, not being at war with Japan, was not party to it. The Japanese did not surrender, and just days after the conference ended, the US dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki – which ultimately did what the Potsdam Declaration could not. Within weeks, Stalin had accelerated his own nuclear weapons programme, detonating its first atomic bomb – First Lightning – at a remote test site in Kazakhstan on 29 August 1949. The stage for the Cold War had been set.
Charlotte Hodgman is the editor of BBC History Revealed magazine
