Origins of the Cold War: Yalta and Potsdam 1945

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The second world war was the biggest, most destructive war in history. It lasted from 1939-45.

The Cold War 1945-1975

The main winners of World War 2 were Britain, the USSR and the USA. Two main summits were held between the Big Three allies during 1945 to decide on the future of Germany and Eastern Europe. These were the Yalta conference and the Potsdam conference.

Yalta 1945

The 'Big Three' allied leaders - Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin - met for the Yalta Conference in February 1945 - to plan what they wanted to happen after the war.

1. Germany was to be split into four zones of occupation.

2. Free elections for new governments would be held in countries previously occupied in Eastern Europe.

3. The United Nations would replace the failed League of Nations.

The situation then changed...

1.Roosevelt died and was succeeded by Harry Truman, who was suspicious of the USSR

2. In Britain, the Conservative PM Winston Churchill was replaced by Labour's Clement Attlee.

3. The USSR expanded westwards into the Baltic states and parts of Finland, Poland, Czechoslovakia and Romania.

The allies were now suspicious of each other. Stalin wanted to control Eastern Europe so didn't want elections there - the USA and Britain suspected this. Stalin thought that Truman and Attlee would be weak leaders because they were new to the job, so he thought he could do what he wanted.

Potsdam August 1945

Germany surrendered in May 1945. The allies made more decisions about post-war Europe:

1. The new boundaries of Poland were agreed.

2. The allies decided to divide Germany and Berlin between them.

3. They agreed to legal trials at Nuremberg of Nazi leaders for war crimes.

The USA and USSR had very different ideologies- The USSR was communist and the USA was capitalist. At the end of WW2 they became rivals.

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