Question

World War 2 Conferences Questions?

1. How did the decisions made at the Atlantic and Yalta Conferences affected the structure and purpose of the United Nations?

2. Why were concessions made to the Soviet Union in Eastern Europe and Asia?

3. What problems might have been anticipated as a result of the Yalta Conference decisions?

Answer 1

1) Both conferences set out a number of goals and precedents that would form the UN. At Yalta, Stalin agreed to join the UN along with the UK and the US, sitting on what would be called the Security Council.

2) To give the Soviets the responsibility in allowing democratic elections within the nations they had liberated. Of course, when the USSR allowed it to happen, the deck was stacked with their candidates and the governments formed were "friendly" toward them. The Red Army was also occupying many of those nations, so despite all of the promises made by Stalin, he didn't intend to follow through with them -- at least, not in the way the West thought he might.

3) Yalta, by some accounts, was seen as a missed opportunity by the West to push their points with Stalin. Instead, they had largely kowtowed to a number of his demands and had abandoned Poland to its fate. Churchill saw a lot of this coming over the horizon and had repeatedly tried urging Roosevelt to take a stronger stance with Stalin.