Allied Powers Between The Conferences Yalta And Potsdam

Allied Powers Between The Conferences Yalta And Potsdam When the allies met in Yalta, in February 1945, the war was still ongoing. There were obvious signs that the German forces were weakening, yet fighting continued. As a result, when the Allies met in Yalta, defeating Germany was still in the fore front of their minds.1They had put aside their fundamental differences and were united in the face of a universal foe. Yet even here the cracks were beginning to show. By the time of the Potsdam conference in August of the same year, these cracks had enlarged due to a number of significant factors. Firstly, it is important to focus on what happened at the conference in Yalta. Each of the allies had high expectations of what would happen after the war ended. Russia was obsessed with the idea of reparation payments, whereas America preferred a tactic of rehabilitation rather than total destruction. As there is still a war going on, America does not step in when Russia demands that $20 billion reparation payments should be given by Germany, and half of this huge sum should be paid to Russia.2 Roosevelt actually agrees in principle, and consequently Stalin leaves, believing he has what he wants. Other big decisions such as post war arrangements for Germany were left off the agenda at this conference, as they were believed to be too significant and important to be discussed at a time when the war was ongoing.3 Postponing major decisions seemed a sensible idea at the time; however, this would prove to be a costly misjudgement later. By the time the Allies met again at the Potsdam conference, in August of the same year, many significant changes had taken place. The most major change was that the war had ended, and this altered the mindset of the allies greatly. The allies had sustained huge losses and the effect this had can be seen clearly in the measures they took after the war. Russia alone had lost 8.7 million men and women in combat and a further 18 million civilians. In real terms, this showed that Russia had sustained the most casualties and in fact, to every one American that died, ninety Soviets lost their lives.4 Consequently, all three countries were seeking maximum security, to strengthen their position and prevent another war of this magnitude occurring again. America, for example, started to set up bases in the Atlantic Ocean so they would have complete control of who entered the country.5 This clearly shows how serious the idea of security was taken by the strongest of the allied powers. These fears of security made the allies suspicious of one another, and America recognised that now Germany was defeated, the next threat to American security came from much nearer to home in the form of Russia. Russia had given America cause to think this, as their position had strengthened even from the short time between the Yalta and Potsdam conference. Russia was in a powerful position at the end of the war, despite suffering huge losses. The Red army liberated Berlin on the 24th April 1945, after two weeks of the bloodiest fighting witnessed in world war two.6 As a result of the Allies indecisiveness in Yalta, no agreement had been drawn up as to what would be done with Germany straight after the war. So, Russia stripped German factories and rounded up workers to help rebuild their damaged country, and this angered the Western allies. Furthermore, immediately after Yalta, Russia began the sovietisation of the areas it occupied, and did this without any consideration to the policies of the allies in the west.7 The Communist influence was expanding further. Another bone of contention with the allies was the size of the Russian army. Western allies argued that Russia did not need such a large army now the threat from Germany was over.8 They believed that Russia could function with a smaller army which could be use for defence. This shows early fears from America that Russia were a threat to their security, and that the US had identified Russia as a potential enemy.