yalta conference

The Yalta Conference was a major World War II meeting held from February 4 to 11, 1945, in Yalta, Crimea, involving the three chief Allied leaders: Franklin D. Roosevelt (United States), Winston Churchill (United Kingdom), and Joseph Stalin (Soviet Union). The conference aimed to plan the final defeat and occupation of Nazi Germany and to discuss the postwar reorganization of Europe. Key outcomes included the agreement to divide Germany into four occupation zones controlled by the US, UK, USSR, and France. Berlin, within the Soviet zone, was also divided among the four powers. The leaders agreed on Germany's demilitarization, denazification, and the trial of major war criminals. They also made plans for free elections and democratic governments in liberated European countries, although the Soviet influence in Eastern Europe was recognized. The USSR agreed to enter the war against Japan, and the formation of the United Nations was endorsed. The conference set the stage for the emerging Cold War tensions due to differing interests, especially regarding Eastern Europe and Poland.