The conference of the Big Three – war leaders of the USSR, US and UK, Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill, began on February 4, 1945 in Yalta, the Crimea Peninsula. The Yalta Conference (also called Crimea) lasted a week, with three statesmen, with the assistance of numerous military and civilian experts, arranging final operations against the Third Reich and Japan, and discussing the organization of the world after the end of World War II.
An agreement was reached on the division of Germany into occupation zones (with demobilization, denacification and payment of war damages) and on the borders of Poland and the establishment of its government. The Declaration on a Free Europe was further published and cooperation was agreed on in the policy towards the liberated countries. Allies have agreed in principle to divide the spheres of post-war influence, especially in Europe. The spheres of influence in Europe generally followed the boundaries conquered by the Red Army, which at that point in continental Europe had three times as many armies as the United States and Great Britain combined. Negotiations on the establishment of an international organization for the maintenance of peace and security – the future United Nations – also continued.
The troika also touched on the opportunity in Yugoslavia, agreeing to have the new Yugoslav government assembled by Josip Broz, as a representative of the country’s liberation movement, and Ivan Šubašić, a representative of the Yugoslav emigrant government in London. Politically uncompromised members of the former Yugoslav Assembly are also scheduled to join the supreme legislative and executive body of Yugoslavia.
A special secret protocol was signed committing the USSR to declare war on Japan after the fighting ended in Europe. In return, they will receive southern Sakhalin, the Kuril Islands and the Port Arthur Naval Base.
The Yalta Conference was preceded by the Tehran Conference with the same participants from 1943, and the end of World War II in Europe was marked by the Potsdam Conference held in July 1945.
