On this day – February 4th

The Yalta Conference

The Yalta Conference was held in the Crimea from 4 to 11 February 1945. It was the World War II meeting of the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union for the purpose of discussing Germany and Europe's postwar reorganization. The three states were represented by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Premier Joseph Stalin, respectively.

The Conference was held at Yalta on the Black Sea because of Stalin's fear of flying, although the USA was nominally the host and photos show Roosevelt always as the central figure.

The aim of the conference was to shape a post-war peace that represented not just a collective security order but a plan to give self-determination to the liberated peoples of post-Nazi Europe.

By the time of the Yalta Conference, the Western forces had liberated all of France and Belgium and were advancing into Germany. In the east, Red Army forces were 65 km (40 mi) from Berlin, having already pushed back the Nazis from Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, and most of Yugoslavia. By February, Germany only had loose control over the Netherlands, Norway, Denmark, Austria, Northern Italy, and Northern Yugoslavia. The meeting was intended mainly to discuss the re-establishment of the nations of war-torn Europe. However, within a few short years, with the Cold War dividing the continent, Yalta became a subject of intense controversy.

Amongst other things, the Conference agreed that Germany and Berlin would be split into Russian, American and British zones, and the French zone was eventually carved out of the British and American zones.

Declaration of Liberated Europe

The Declaration of Liberated Europe is a declaration that was created by Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Joseph Stalin during the Yalta Conference. It was a promise that allowed the people of Europe "to create democratic institutions of their own choice". The declaration pledged, "the earliest possible establishment through free elections governments responsive to the will of the people." Stalin broke the pledge by encouraging Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, and many more countries to construct a Communist government, instead of letting the people construct their own.

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