Yalta conference: the results of the Second World War and the new European borders

Yalta (Crimean) conference, held from 4 to 11 February 1945 in the Yalta Livadia Palace, was the second meeting of the leaders of the powers that are members of the anti-Hitler coalition.

The situation on the fronts of the war at this time (the end of the winter of 1945) was very favorable for the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition. Military operations have already moved to German territory, Allied troops landing in Normandy opened the so-called "second front." The US Army and Navy almost completely controlled the water area of the Pacific Ocean. The outcome of the war was clear to everyone, Germany's defeat was predetermined. But the United States, Britain and the USSR proved to be allies only for the time of the war with Germany, in their foreign policy these countries pursued diametrically opposed goals, therefore it was necessary to agree on the post-war arrangement of the world, the fate of defeated Germany, new principles of international politics before the war was over And before the conclusion of a peace treaty. The Yalta conference was necessary to develop a common foreign policy position.

It should be noted that in order to resolve fundamental issues, the allies almost did not disperse, but particulars and details caused serious controversy. Thus, Churchill, JV Stalin, and F. Roosevelt quickly came to an agreement on the mandatory post-war dismemberment of Germany, but the details of this process, exact boundaries, zones of influence were not defined.

The Yalta Conference also identified spheres of influence in post-war Europe (conditionally Soviet and Western). It was decided that the Eastern European states (Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, other countries afterwards of the "socialist camp") would enter the sphere of interests of the USSR. In turn, Italy, Greece, other countries of southern and central Europe will remain under the influence of Britain and America.

Fierce disputes flared up at the conference in connection with the postwar fate of Poland. Stalin insisted on the borders of Poland on the conditional "line of Curzon" (according to the treaty of 1920). But the people's government existing in Poland did not recognize these borders, which created difficulties in the negotiations. The fate of Lviv remained unclear: according to Churchill and Roosevelt, the USSR was obliged to transfer the city to the jurisdiction of Poland. The Yalta Conference of 1945 did not work out an exact solution for the post-war borders of Poland. The heads of the anti-Hitler coalition countries decided on reparations from Germany. They were supposed to be 20 billion dollars, half of the amount was to be received by the Soviet Union.

During the Yalta Conference, a decision was taken on a war with militaristic Japan. The attack on Japan was to take place about two months after the victorious end of the war in Europe.

The Yalta Conference has developed a new charter and rules for the future international political organization (UN). One of the most important directions of the work of the future UN was declared the destruction of the colonial system in the world.

The Yalta Conference, the outcome of which had a tremendous impact on the post-war structure of the world as a whole, and especially on the fate of postwar Europe, was the last meeting of the leaders of the anti-Hitler coalition countries during World War II. The temporary truce, which partially removed the acute ideological contradictions between the Western countries and the Soviet Union, ended simultaneously with the victory over the formidable common enemy - fascist Germany. The former allies, unfortunately, again turned into irreconcilable enemies.