Yalta and Potsdam Conferences
- Date
- February 1945 (Yalta) and July–August 1945 (Potsdam)
- Category
- Politics & governance
- Region
- Global (Crimea and Germany)
- Era
- Modern
- Significance
In 1945 the leaders of the principal Allied powers — the 'Big Three' — met twice to shape the postwar order. At Yalta (4–11 February 1945) Franklin D.
Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin agreed on the occupation and demilitarisation of Germany, the holding of elections in liberated Europe, Soviet entry into the war against Japan, and the structure of a new United Nations. At Potsdam (17 July – 2 August 1945), with Harry Truman now representing the United States and Clement Attlee replacing Churchill mid-conference, the Allies confirmed the division of Germany into occupation zones, set policies of demilitarisation and denazification, arranged the transfer of German territory and populations, and issued the Potsdam Declaration demanding Japan's unconditional surrender. The two conferences laid the foundations of postwar Europe and exposed the tensions between the Western powers and the Soviet Union that would harden into the Cold War.
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Empires active in February 1945 (Yalta) and July–August 1945 (Potsdam)
- Soviet Union1922 CE – 1991 CE
- Empire of Japan1868 CE – 1947 CE
- French Colonial Empire (Second)1830 CE – 1962 CE
- British Empire1583 CE – 1997 CE
- Spanish Empire1492 CE – 1976 CE
- Portuguese Empire1415 CE – 1999 CE
Related politics & governance events
- Founding of the United Nations26 June 1945 (in force 24 October 1945)
- The Munich Agreement Cedes the Sudetenland1938
- Stalin's Great Purge (Great Terror)1936–1938
- Hitler's appointment and Nazi consolidation of power30 January 1933 – August 1934
- Treaty of Versailles and the founding of the League of Nations28 June 1919 (in force 10 January 1920)
- Russian Revolutions of 1917March & November 1917 (February & October Revolutions, O.S.)
Further reading
The wider story
The Penguin History of the World
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