The Yalta Conference

In February 1945, Nazi armies were quickly beaten back towards Berlin by armies of the Soviet Union. British and American forces were preparing to invade Germany. Unconditional surrender could be expected from Germany in a matter of weeks. Also, in the Pacific War, American forces moved steadily from island to island towards a final invasion of the Japanese home islands. The possibility of using an atomic bomb to end the war was unknown to military experts …

…as follows: the agreement on voting procedure in the Security Council of the United Nations, pledges by Stalin to include democratic leaders in Poland's new government and to allow free elections, allowing France to have an occupation zone in postwar Germany, and finally, Stalin's promise to enter the Pacific War in return for land lost in the Russo-Japanese war. These agreements represent the power and success of American and British diplomacy at the Yalta Conference.