Editing Joseph Stalin (section)

==World War II==
{{Main|Soviet Union in World War II}}

=== 1939–1941: Pact with Nazi Germany ===
As a Marxist–Leninist, Stalin considered conflict between competing capitalist powers inevitable; after Nazi Germany [[Anschluss|annexed Austria]] and then [[German occupation of Czechoslovakia|part of Czechoslovakia]] in 1938, he recognised a major war was looming.{{Sfn|Montefiore|2003|p=308}} He sought to maintain Soviet neutrality, hoping that a German war against France and the United Kingdom would lead to Soviet dominance in Europe.{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1pp=220–221|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2pp=380–381}} The Soviets faced a threat from the east, with Soviet troops [[Soviet–Japanese border conflicts|clashing with the expansionist Japanese]] in the latter part of the 1930s, culminating in the [[Battles of Khalkhin Gol]] in 1939.{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1pp=392–393|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2pp=163, 168–169}} Stalin initiated a military build-up, with the Red Army more than doubling between January 1939 and June 1941, although in haste many of its officers were poorly trained.{{Sfn|Khlevniuk|2015|pp=185–186}} Between 1940 and 1941 Stalin [[1941 Red Army Purge|purged the military]], leaving it with a severe shortage of trained officers when war eventually broke out.{{Sfn|Conquest|1991|pp=232–233, 236}}

[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-H27337, Moskau, Stalin und Ribbentrop im Kreml.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|left|Stalin greeting German foreign minister [[Joachim von Ribbentrop]] at the Kremlin, August 1939]]
As Britain and France seemed unwilling to commit to an alliance with the Soviet Union, Stalin saw a better deal with the Germans.{{Sfn|Service|2004|pp=399–400}} On 3 May 1939, he replaced his Western-oriented foreign minister [[Maxim Litvinov]] with [[Vyacheslav Molotov]].{{Sfn|Nekrich|1997|p=109}} Germany began negotiations with the Soviets, proposing that Eastern Europe be divided between the two powers.{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=220|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=166}} In August 1939, the Soviet Union signed the [[Molotov–Ribbentrop pact|Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact]] with Germany, a non-aggression pact negotiated by Molotov and German foreign minister [[Joachim von Ribbentrop]] with a secret protocol dividing Eastern Europe.{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=221|2a1=Roberts|2y=1992|2pp=57–78|3a1=Service|3y=2004|3p=399|4a1=Khlevniuk|4y=2015|4p=166}} On 1 September, [[Germany invaded Poland]], leading the UK and France to declare war on Germany.{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=222|2a1=Roberts|2y=1992|2pp=57–78|3a1=Khlevniuk|3y=2015|3p=169}} On 17 September, [[Soviet invasion of Poland|the Red Army entered eastern Poland]], officially to restore order.{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=222|2a1=Roberts|2y=2006|2p=43}} On 28 September, Germany and the Soviet Union exchanged some of their conquered territories,{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=223|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2pp=402–403|3a1=Wettig|3y=2008|3p=20}} and a [[German–Soviet Frontier Treaty]] was signed shortly after in Stalin's presence.{{Sfn|Conquest|1991|p=224}} The two states [[Nazi–Soviet economic relations (1934–41)|continued trading]], undermining the [[Blockade of Germany (1939–1945)|British blockade of Germany]].{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=224|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=405}}

The Soviets further demanded parts of eastern Finland, but the Finnish government refused. The Soviets invaded Finland in November 1939, starting the [[Winter War]]; despite numerical inferiority, the Finns kept the Red Army at bay.{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=228|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=403|3a1=Khlevniuk|3y=2015|3pp=172–173}} International opinion backed Finland, with the Soviet Union being expelled from the League of Nations.{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=279|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=173}} Embarrassed by their inability to defeat the Finns, the Soviets signed an [[Moscow Peace Treaty|interim peace treaty]], in which they received territorial concessions.{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=403|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=173}} In June 1940, the Red Army occupied the Baltic states, which were forcibly [[Occupation of the Baltic states|merged into the Soviet Union]] in August;{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=227|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2pp=404–405|3a1=Wettig|3y=2008|3pp=20–21|4a1=Khlevniuk|4y=2015|4p=173}} they also invaded and annexed [[Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and northern Bukovina|Bessarabia and northern Bukovina]], parts of Romania.{{Sfnm|1a1=Brackman|1y=2001|1p=341|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=173}} The Soviets sought to forestall dissent in the new territories with mass repressions.{{Sfn|Khlevniuk|2015|p=170}} A noted instance was the [[Katyn massacre]] of April and May 1940, in which around 22,000 members of the Polish armed forces, police, and intelligentsia were executed by the NKVD.{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=229|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=170}}

The speed of the German victory over and occupation of France in mid-1940 took Stalin by surprise.{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=229|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=405}} He seemingly focused on appeasement in order to delay conflict.{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=229|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=406}} After the [[Tripartite Pact]] was signed by the [[Axis Powers]] of Germany, Japan, and Italy in October 1940, Stalin proposed that [[German–Soviet Axis talks|the USSR also join the Axis alliance]].{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=231|2a1=Brackman|2y=2001|2pp=341, 343|3a1=Roberts|3y=2006|3p=58}} To demonstrate peaceful intentions, in April 1941 the Soviets signed [[Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact|a neutrality pact]] with Japan.{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=233|2a1=Roberts|2y=2006|2p=63}} Stalin, who had been the country's ''de facto'' head of government for almost 15 years, concluded that relations with Germany had deteriorated to such an extent that he needed to become ''de jure'' head of government as well, and on 6 May, replaced Molotov as [[Premier of the Soviet Union]].{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=234|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=180}}

=== 1941–1942: German invasion ===
[[File:Battle of Moscow.jpg|thumb|With all the men at the front, women dig [[anti-tank trench]]es around Moscow in 1941]]

In June 1941, Germany [[invaded the Soviet Union]], initiating the war on the [[Eastern Front (World War II)|Eastern Front]].{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1pp=410–411|2a1=Roberts|2y=2006|2p=82|3a1=Khlevniuk|3y=2015|3p=198}} Despite intelligence agencies repeatedly warning him of Germany's intentions, Stalin was taken by surprise.{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1pp=408–409, 411–412|2a1=Roberts|2y=2006|2p=67|3a1=Khlevniuk|3y=2015|3pp=199–200, 202}} He formed a [[State Defence Committee]], which he headed as Supreme Commander,{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1pp=414–415|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2pp=206–207}} as well as a military Supreme Command ([[Stavka]]),{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=413}} with [[Georgy Zhukov]] as its chief of staff.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=420}} The German tactic of ''[[blitzkrieg]]'' was initially highly effective; the Soviet air force in the western borderlands was destroyed within two days.{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=417|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2pp=201–202}} The German [[Wehrmacht]] pushed deep into Soviet territory;{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=235|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=416}} soon, Ukraine, Byelorussia, and the Baltic states were under German occupation, and [[Siege of Leningrad|Leningrad was under siege]];{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=418}} and Soviet refugees were flooding into Moscow and surrounding cities.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=417}} By July, Germany's [[Luftwaffe]] was bombing Moscow,{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=418}} and by October the Wehrmacht was amassing for a full assault on the capital. Plans were made for the Soviet government to evacuate to [[Samara|Kuibyshev]], although Stalin decided to remain in Moscow, believing his flight would damage troop morale.{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1pp=248–249|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=420|3a1=Khlevniuk|3y=2015|3pp=214–215}} The German advance on Moscow was halted after [[Battle of Moscow|two months of battle]] in increasingly harsh weather conditions.{{Sfn|Glantz|2001|p=26}}

Going against the advice of Zhukov and other generals, Stalin emphasised attack over defence.{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1pp=421, 424|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=220}} In June 1941, he ordered a [[scorched earth]] policy of destroying infrastructure and food supplies before the Germans could seize them,{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=482|2a1=Roberts|2y=2006|2p=90}} also commanding the [[NKVD prisoner massacres|NKVD to kill]] around 100,000 political prisoners in areas the Wehrmacht approached.{{Sfn|Gellately|2007|p=391}} He purged the military command; several high-ranking figures were demoted or reassigned and others were arrested and executed.{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1pp=239–240|2a1=Roberts|2y=2006|2p=98|3a1=Khlevniuk|3y=2015|3p=209}} With [[Order No. 270]], Stalin commanded soldiers risking capture to fight to the death, describing the captured as traitors;{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=241|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=210}} among those taken as a [[prisoner of war]] was Stalin's son [[Yakov Dzhugashvili|Yakov]], who died in German custody.{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1pp=241–242|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=521}} Stalin issued [[Order No. 227]] in July 1942, which directed that those retreating unauthorised would be placed in "penal battalions" and used as [[cannon fodder]].{{Sfnm|1a1=Roberts|1y=2006|1p=132|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=223}} Both the German and Soviet armies disregarded the [[law of war|laws of war]] in the [[Geneva Conventions]];{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=423}} the Soviets heavily publicised Nazi massacres of communists, Jews, and [[Romani people|Romani]].{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=422}} In April 1942, Stalin sponsored the formation of the [[Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee]] (JAC) to garner global Jewish support for the war effort.{{Sfn|Overy|2004|p=568}}

[[File:RIAN archive 602161 Center of Stalingrad after liberation.jpg|thumb|The centre of [[Stalingrad]] after its liberation, February 1943]]
The Soviets allied with the UK and U.S.;{{Sfn|Khlevniuk|2015|p=211}} although the U.S. joined the war against Germany in 1941, little direct American assistance reached the Soviets until late 1942.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=423}} Responding to the invasion, the Soviets expanded their industry in central Russia, focusing almost entirely on military production.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=421}} They achieved high levels of productivity, outstripping Germany.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=422}} During the war, Stalin was more tolerant of the [[Russian Orthodox Church]] and allowed it to resume some of its activities.{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1pp=442–443|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2pp=242–243}} He also permitted a wider range of cultural expression, notably permitting formerly suppressed writers and artists like [[Anna Akhmatova]] and [[Dmitri Shostakovich]] to disperse their work more widely.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=441}} "[[The Internationale]]" was dropped as the country's [[national anthem]], to be replaced with [[State Anthem of the Soviet Union|a more patriotic song]].{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=442}} The government increasingly promoted [[Pan-Slavist]] sentiment,{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=446}} while encouraging increased criticism of [[cosmopolitanism]], particularly "rootless cosmopolitanism", an approach with particular repercussions for Soviet Jews.{{Sfn|Service|2004|pp=446–447}} The Communist International was dissolved in 1943,{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=260|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=444}} and Stalin began encouraging foreign Marxist–Leninist parties to emphasise nationalism over internationalism in order to broaden their domestic appeal.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=446}}

In April 1942, Stalin overrode Stavka by ordering the Soviets' first serious counter-attack, an attempt to seize German-held [[Kharkov]] in eastern Ukraine. This attack proved unsuccessful.{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=254|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=424|3a1=Khlevniuk|3y=2015|3pp=221–222}} That year, Hitler shifted his primary goal from an overall victory on the Eastern Front to the goal of securing the oil fields in the southern Soviet Union crucial to a long-term German war effort.{{Sfn|Roberts|2006|pp=117–118}} While Red Army generals saw evidence that Hitler would shift efforts south, Stalin considered this to be a flanking move in a renewed effort to take Moscow.{{Sfn|Roberts|2006|p=124}} In June 1942, the German Army began a [[Case Blue|major offensive]] in Southern Russia, threatening Stalingrad; Stalin ordered the Red Army to hold the city at all costs,{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=425}} resulting in the protracted [[Battle of Stalingrad]], which became the bloodiest and fiercest battle of the entire war.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=426}} In February 1943, the German forces attacking Stalingrad surrendered.{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=428|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=225}} The Soviet victory there marked a major turning point in the war;{{Sfn|Khlevniuk|2015|p=225}} in commemoration, Stalin declared himself [[Marshal of the Soviet Union]] in March.{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=429|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=226 |3a1=''Journal of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR'', 13 March 1943}}

=== 1942–1945: Soviet counter-attack ===
[[File:Teheran conference-1943.jpg|thumb|The Big Three: Stalin, U.S. President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]], and British Prime Minister [[Winston Churchill]] at the [[Tehran Conference]], November 1943]]

By November 1942, the Soviets had begun to repulse the German southern campaign and, although there were 2.5&nbsp;million Soviet casualties in that effort, it permitted the Soviets to take the offensive for most of the rest of the war on the Eastern Front.{{Sfn|Roberts|2006|p=155}} In summer 1943, Germany [[Battle of Kursk|attempted an encirclement attack at Kursk]], which was successfully repulsed by the Soviets.{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=255|2a1=Roberts|2y=2006|2p=156|3a1=Khlevniuk|3y=2015|3p=227}} By the end of the year, the Soviets occupied half of the territory taken by the Germans to that point.{{Sfn|Roberts|2006|p=159}} Soviet military industrial output also had increased substantially from late 1941 to early 1943 after Stalin had moved factories well to the east of the front, safe from invasion and aerial assault.{{Sfn|Roberts|2006|p=163}}

In Allied countries, Stalin was increasingly depicted in a positive light over the course of the war.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=452}} In 1941, the [[London Philharmonic Orchestra]] performed a concert to celebrate his birthday,{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=466}} and in 1942, ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine named him "[[Time Person of the Year|Man of the Year]]".{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=452}} When Stalin learnt that people in Western countries affectionately called him "Uncle Joe" he was initially offended, regarding it as undignified.{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=317|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=466}} There remained mutual suspicions between Stalin, British Prime Minister [[Winston Churchill]], and U.S. President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]], together known as the "Big Three".{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=458}} Churchill flew to Moscow to visit Stalin in August 1942 and again in October 1944.{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=252|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=460|3a1=Khlevniuk|3y=2015|2pp=224, 244}} Stalin scarcely left Moscow during the war,{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=456}} frustrating Roosevelt and Churchill with his reluctance to meet them.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=460}}

In November 1943, Stalin met with Churchill and Roosevelt [[Tehran Conference|in Tehran]], a location of Stalin's choosing.{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=262|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=460|3a1=Roberts|3y=2006|3p=180|4a1=Khlevniuk|4y=2015|4pp=229–230}} There, Stalin and Roosevelt got on well, with both desiring the post-war dismantling of the [[British Empire]].{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=462}} At Tehran, the trio agreed that to prevent Germany rising to military prowess yet again, the German state should be broken up.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=463}} Roosevelt and Churchill also agreed to Stalin's demand that the German city of [[Königsberg]] be declared Soviet territory.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=463}} Stalin was impatient for the UK and U.S. to open up a [[Western Front (World War II)|Western Front]] to take the pressure off the East; they eventually did so in mid-1944.{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1pp=244, 251|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2pp=461, 469|3a1=Roberts|3y=2006|3p=185|4a1=Khlevniuk|4y=2015|4pp=223, 229}} Stalin insisted that, after the war, the Soviet Union should incorporate the portions of Poland it had occupied in 1939, which Churchill opposed.{{Sfn|Roberts|2006|pp=186–187}} Discussing the fate of the Balkans, later in 1944 Churchill agreed to Stalin's suggestion that after the war, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, and Yugoslavia would come under the Soviet sphere of influence while Greece would come under that of the Western powers.{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1pp=464–465|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=244}}

[[File:Soviet soldiers in Polozk (Belarus), passing by propaganda poster celebrating the reconquest of the city and urging the liberation of the Baltic from Nazi German occupation. July 4, 1944.jpg|thumb|Soviet soldiers in [[Polotsk]], July 1944]]

In 1944, the Soviet Union made significant advances across Eastern Europe toward Germany,{{Sfn|Roberts|2006|pp=194–195}} including [[Operation Bagration]], a massive offensive in the [[Byelorussian SSR]] against the German Army Group Centre.{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=469|2a1=Roberts|2y=2006|2pp=199–201}} In 1944, the German armies were pushed out of the Baltic states, which were then re-annexed into the Soviet Union.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=492}} As the Red Army reconquered the Caucasus and Crimea, various ethnic groups living in the region—the [[Kalmyks]], [[Chechens]], [[Ingush people|Ingushi]], [[Karachai]], [[Balkars]], and [[Crimean Tatars]]—were accused of [[Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy|having collaborated with the Germans]]. Using the idea of [[collective responsibility]] as a basis, Stalin's government abolished their autonomous republics and between late 1943 and 1944 deported the majority of their populations to Central Asia and Siberia.{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=258|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=492|3a1=Khlevniuk|3y=2015|3pp=232–233}} Over one million people were deported as a result of the policy, with high rates of mortality.{{Sfn|Khlevniuk|2015|p=233}}

In February 1945, the three leaders met at the [[Yalta Conference]].{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=264|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=465|3a1=Khlevniuk|3y=2015|3p=244}} Roosevelt and Churchill conceded to Stalin's demand that Germany pay the Soviet Union 20&nbsp;billion dollars in reparations, and that his country be permitted to annex [[Sakhalin]] and the [[Kuril Islands]] in exchange for entering the war against Japan.{{Sfn|Service|2004|pp=465–466}} An agreement was also made that a post-war Polish government should be a coalition consisting of both communist and conservative elements.{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1pp=465–466|2a1=Roberts|2y=2006|2pp=241–244}} Privately, Stalin sought to ensure that Poland would come fully under Soviet influence.{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=471|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=245}} The Red Army withheld assistance to Polish resistance fighters battling the Germans in the [[Warsaw Uprising]], with Stalin believing that any victorious Polish militants could interfere with his future aspirations to dominate Poland.{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1pp=471–472|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=244}} Stalin placed great emphasis on capturing Berlin before the Western Allies, believing that this would enable him to bring more of Europe under long-term Soviet control. Churchill, concerned by this, unsuccessfully tried to convince the U.S. that they should pursue the same goal.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=473}}

=== 1945: Victory ===
[[File:USA C-1860 (26246410746).jpg|thumb|British Prime Minister [[Clement Attlee]], U.S. President [[Harry S. Truman]] and Stalin at the [[Potsdam Conference]], July 1945]]

In April 1945, the Red Army [[Battle of Berlin|seized Berlin]], [[Death of Adolf Hitler|Hitler killed himself]], and Germany surrendered in May.{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=474|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=247}} Stalin had wanted Hitler captured alive; he had his remains brought to Moscow in order to prevent them becoming a relic for Nazi sympathisers.{{Sfn|Service|2004|pp=479–480}} Many Soviet soldiers engaged in looting, pillaging, and rape, both in Germany and parts of Eastern Europe.{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1pp=265|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=473|3a1=Khlevniuk|3y=2015|3p=234}} Stalin refused to punish the offenders.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=473}} With Germany defeated, Stalin switched focus to the [[Soviet–Japanese War|war with Japan]], transferring half a million troops to the Far East.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=474}} Stalin was pressed by his allies to enter the war and wanted to cement the Soviet Union's strategic position in Asia.{{Sfnm|Glantz|1983|p=xvii}} On 8 August, in between the U.S. [[atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki]], the Soviet army [[Soviet invasion of Manchuria|invaded Japanese-occupied Manchuria]] and northern Korea, defeating the [[Kwantung Army]].{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=476|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2pp=248–249}} These events led to the [[Japanese surrender]] and the war's end.{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=268|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=248}} The U.S. rebuffed Stalin's desire for the Red Army to take a role in the Allied [[occupation of Japan]].{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=267|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=249}}

At the [[Potsdam Conference]] in July–August 1945, Stalin repeated previous promises that he would refrain from a "Sovietisation" of Eastern Europe.{{Sfn|Roberts|2006|pp=274–275}} Stalin pushed for reparations from Germany without regard to the base minimum supply for German citizens' survival, which worried [[Harry Truman]] and Churchill, who thought that Germany would become a financial burden for the Western powers.{{Sfn|Wettig|2008|pp=90–91}} Stalin also pushed for "war booty", which would permit the Soviet Union to directly seize property from conquered nations without quantitative or qualitative limitation, and a clause was added permitting this to occur with some limitations.{{Sfn|Wettig|2008|pp=90–91}} Germany was divided into four zones: Soviet, U.S., British, and French, with Berlin—located in the Soviet area—also divided thusly.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=506}}