High School

This conference in February 1945 marked the increasing ascendance of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin and the decline of Roosevelt. Which conference is being referred to?

1) Potsdam Conference
2) Yalta Conference
3) Tehran Conference
4) Warsaw Conference

Answer :

The conference is the Yalta Conference of February 1945, where Allied leaders Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin discussed postwar strategies and the formation of the United Nations. The correct option is 2.

The conference being referred to is the Yalta Conference, which was a pivotal February 1945 meeting held in the Soviet Union. At this conference, US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin gathered to discuss important wartime strategies, including the future of Germany and Eastern Europe, as well as the foundation for the creation of the United Nations.

The discussions at Yalta also dealt with the reconstruction of postwar Europe. It was during this conference that Stalin's influence began to ascend significantly, as the Soviet Union's victories were solidifying its position in Eastern Europe, while Roosevelt's health decline signified a different shift in the power dynamics among the Allies.

The Yalta Conference dealt not only with the immediate strategies to conclude World War II but also set the stage for the geopolitical landscape of the postwar era. During their meetings in Yalta, a popular resort city in the Ukraine, the leaders discussed the future of Germany and agreed upon establishing a coalition government in Poland, which reflected the increasing Soviet influence over Eastern Europe.

Despite Stalin's promise to form a coalition government with representatives from the democratic Polish government in exile in London, suspicions were high among Churchill and Roosevelt that he would instead set up a pro-Soviet Communist government.

Hence, option 2 is correct.