The new Europe

The Allied leaders, Roosevelt (USA), Churchill (Britain) and Stalin (Russia), met in February 1945 at Yalta in the Crimea (Russia) and discussed what to do once Germany had been beaten. At this time, relations between the Western democratic powers and Russia were still good and agreement was quickly reached.

Treatment of Germany

Germany was to be divided into four zones of occupation - one each for Britain, the United States, France and Russia. Germany would also be forced to surrender some of its territory to Poland and Russia would acquire part of Poland. Berlin, though deep in the Russian zone, was also divided into four zones of occupation. The division of Germany was only supposed to be temporary but soon the West set up its own democratic state of West Germany and the Russians did the same in their sector, creating communist East Germany. This division was to last until 1990 when Germany was once again reunited as a democratic state.

When the Allies next met in July 1945 at Potsdam near Berlin, relations had become much cooler. For one thing, Roosevelt had died in April and his successor as president, Harry Truman, was more suspicious of Stalin and his intentions in Europe.

Neil Demarco: The era of the Second World War; Oxford University Press, 1993/2000, page 71 f.