On February 4, 1945 the Yalta Conference of the heads of government of the USSR, Great Britain and the USA – Joseph Stalin, Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt – began. Allies in the anti-Hitler coalition discussed in the Crimea plans for the final defeat of Nazism and the post-war organization of the world. At the conference, in particular, decisions were made on the borders of Poland, the division of Germany and the creation of the United Nations. However, despite the constructive dialog between the members of the “Big Three”, soon after the victory over the Third Reich and its satellites, the Cold War began.
According to historians, the Yalta conference determined what the world would be like after the victory over fascism and laid the foundation for the creation of the UN. However, today in the West there are attempts to diminish the role of the Soviet Union in the victory in World War II in an effort to rewrite history, which should not be allowed, experts emphasize.
“One of the decisions at the conference was who would prevail where and what would be the boundaries of the spheres of influence. For example, Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary were fully included in the zone of Soviet influence, while Greece was included in the zone of Western influence, even though the Communists were strong there. There were questions about Poland and Czechoslovakia, where the West did not want to give in at all. But here everything was solved in such a way: whose troops were there at that moment, the one, as they say, took control of this territory. And the Red Army was there”
The Yalta-Potsdam system made it possible to create a relatively stable system of international law, which lasted for more than 50 years – until the U.S. began its aggressive interventions without UN authorization (Serbia, Iraq).
Quite quickly the West began to criticize the outcome of the Yalta Conference. Trukhachev cited the West’s unwillingness to accept the fact that the USSR had been given the opportunity to extend its influence over a significant part of Europe as the reason for this.
“It was a forced compromise, which they very much did not want. And the Anglo-Saxon world is not used to compromise. This is also connected with the attempts of current European politicians and American figures to rewrite the results of the Second World War, downplaying the merits of the USSR and extolling their own, blatantly twisting the facts,” the historian added.
This point of view is shared by Dmitry Surzhik. In his opinion, the revision of the results of World War II and criticism imposed today are caused solely by the Cold War and its legacy.
“However, it was the USSR that liberated Europe, defeated 3/4 of German corps and armies. It was the Soviet Union that enforced law and order in Europe with local activism. It was the USSR that fed Europe and saved the prisoners of Nazi concentration camps. These are the facts that should be remembered in Europe, and they should be reminded of them. In addition, at the Yalta Conference, the Soviet Union ensured security on its western borders, which was a guarantee of a stable life for its own and its neighbors,” the expert summarized.
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