¶ … trade-offs at the Yalta conference in 1945. Was it a "sellout" to the Soviet Union? Why or Why not?

The Yalta Conference, held in February 1945 in the Crimea, was an attempt to recreate European countries that had been taken over or were under Nazi influence, in preparation for World War II's ending. Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin all met to decide what would happen to the world after Nazi influence was gone. The main agreement of the Conference was debated almost as soon as the ink dried on the paper. Many people felt the United States and Great Britain sold out to the Soviet Union, as they gave them control over any country they had liberated from the Germans. The Soviet Union promised to aid in the war with Japan for these concessions. This was the major trade-off of the conference, and many felt it gave too much control to the Russians.

While it seems the conference might have leaned heavily toward Russian interests, in reality, the conference simply did not sell out to Russia. The conference was also the very root of the United Nations, because it established a meeting in San Francisco later in the year to create the organization. Many people believe the Yalta Conference also began the Cold War, and with the power Russia gained at the conference, this seems to be true. However, the conference cannot be considered a total sellout to the Russians, because there were many other provisions in the agreement, including how Germany would pay back the world for the damages they inflicted, and the punishment for war crimes was also discussed but not finalized. Many historians believe that President Roosevelt felt Yalta was the preliminary step toward the United Nations, which would ultimately keep the Russians in check. Ultimately, Yalta was not a sellout, because there were many other requirements in the agreement, but the Russians capitalized on it, and built their own Communist empire that threatened the world.

References

Author not Available. "The Yalta Conference, Feb. 1945." Fordham University. Aug. 1997. 24 May 2004. http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1945YALTA.html

Schoenherr, Steve. "The Cold War Begins." University of San Diego. 20 April 2004. 24 May 2004. http://history.acusd.edu/gen/20th/coldwar1.html