Discussions about World War II - Essay Example

World War 2 The second world war is one of the biggest events to have affected the twentieth century and its outcomecould not have been an allied victory without three men namely Joseph Stalin, Franklin Roosevelt, and Winston Churchill. These individuals, leading the Soviet Union, the United States, and Britain respectively held various conferences during the second world war in a bid to ensure that they developed, coordinated efforts towards defeating the axis powers led by Germany, Italy, and Japan. The Yalta Conference was one of these and the meeting was held in by these three leaders in a bid to discuss the postwar order of Europe after the war (Soames & Wasserstein 267). The conference was held in the Lavidia Palace near Yalta in the Russian Crimea when it was realised that the allies were obviously winning the war and that Germany, the strongest power remaining, was about to fall. The main purpose of this meeting was to have a discussion concerning the reestablishment of the nations of Europe in the aftermath of the war and helping these nations develop to their prewar levels. However, this turned out not to be the case after the war because of the eruption of the Cold War, which pitted the United States and its allies against the Soviet Union and its allies. The result was that instead of the reestablishment of European nations so that they could be able to determine their own future, these nations were forced to choose sides between the two superpowers, ensuring that the continent was divided between the East and the West. Because of this postwar development, the Yalta conference has continued to be mired in controversy with some scholars believing that it was a meeting to divide the world between the victors of the war. A year before the Yalta Conference, the eastern front of the war in Europe was still deep in the Soviet Union, but by the time the conference was being held, the Red Army of the soviet Union had pressed Germany relentlessly and had not only captured Poland, come within less than a hundred kilometres from Berlin, but was also pushing towards Romania (Black, English, Helmreich & McAdams 61). Because of this, Stalin was in an especially strong position in the Yalta conference and the attendees from Britain and the United States realised that they were in a weak position to oppose his demands. Among Stalin’s demands was that there was the need to create a soviet sphere of influence in Eastern Europe for the sake of ensuring the national security of the Soviet Union. Moreover, concerning Poland, he believed that the eastern half of the country that his country had captured should remain in Soviet hands while Poland would be compensated with westward expansion at the expense of Germany. In addition, he was a firm believer in the development of a strong and independent Poland, which would act as a buffer between the Soviet Union and the rest of Europe, hence ensuring the former’s security. Roosevelt went into the conference with the agenda of trying to influence the Soviet Union to join in the war in the Pacific where the United States almost single-handedly fought Japan. He was of the belief that if Russia were to enter the war on its side, then it would be much easier for the allies to defeat the imperial military of Japan and force the latter to surrender. Roosevelt desired to end the war with Japan with minimal American casualties and the participation of the Soviet Union would have made this possible (Berthon & Potts 285). Stalin, because of his relatively strong position, declared that the only way that he would agree to declare war on Japan would be if the United States recognised the Mongolian Peoples Republic as an independent state and that all of the islands which Russia had ceded to Japan after their war in 1902, namely the Kuril and Sakhalin Islands, were returned. These conditions were agreed to by the other participants in the conference and it has remained controversial ever since because China, the biggest loser in their implementation, was not consulted. Furthermore, Roosevelt and Stalin reached an agreement to keep the the Korean peninsula in one piece once the Soviet Union became involved in the Pacific arena. Stalin agreed to enter the war with Japan some three months after the fall of Germany so that the Soviet Union could be able to marshal itself sufficient to help the United States invade the Japanese home territory. Stalin agreed to the proposition that the Soviet Union join the United Nations and this guarantee was secured through the Soviet Union being one of the nations which had the veto power in the Security Council; ensuring that all of the decisions that it did not agree with were blocked (Schlesinger 185). During this conference, the three leaders agreed to create spheres of influence in the postwar Europe with each of them having zones to occupy within Germany and this agreement ensured that these three nations upheld their supremacy over the entire European continent. Agreements concerning the repatriation of all people displaced during the war as well as the restoration of all prewar governments were also made, although the latter did not happen in those areas already occupied by the Soviet Union because they had already been liquidated. In conclusion, the discussion above has shown that the Yalta Conference was held by the Big Three, in a bid to discuss the development of a postwar order of Europe after the defeat of Germany. Each of the leaders went into the conference with their own agenda and it should be noted that before this conference, the Soviet Union had attained great strides and was close to capturing the German capital, meaning that Stalin was in an especially strong position in the Yalta conference and the attendees from Britain and the United States realised that they were in a weak position to oppose his demands. Moreover, Roosevelt went into the conference with the agenda of trying to influence the Soviet Union to join in the war in the Pacific where the United States almost single-handedly fought Japan. The conditions stated by Stalin in order to enter the war in the Pacific were agreed to by the other participants in the conference and it has remained controversial ever since because China, the biggest loser in their implementation, was not consulted. Finally, because of the development of the postwar order, the Yalta conference has continued to be mired in controversy with some scholars believing that it was a meeting to divide the world between the victors of the war. Works Cited Berthon, Simon. & Potts, Joanna. Warlords: An Extraordinary Re-creation of World War II Through the Eyes and Minds of Hitler, Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin. New York: Da Capo Press. 2007. Print Black, Cyril. E., English, Jonathan.D.,Helmreich, Jonathan.E. & McAdams, James.A. Rebirth: A Political History of Europe since World War II. New York: Westview Press. 2000. Print. Schlesinger, Stephen.C. Act of Creation: The Founding of the United Nations. Boulder: Westview Press. 2003. Print. Soames, John.A. & Wasserstein, Bernard. The Major International Treaties of the Twentieth Century: A History and Guide with Texts. New York: Taylor and Francis. 2001. Print. Read More