Editing Yalta Conference (section)

==Aftermath==
===Eastern Bloc===
{{Further|History of Poland (1939–1945)|Eastern Bloc}}
[[File:1945-02-15GerWW2BattlefrontAtlas reworked.jpg|thumb|upright=1.6|Allied-occupied territories (red) on 15 February 1945, four days after the end of the conference]]
[[File:Map of Poland (1945) corr.png|thumb|upright=1.6|Poland's old and new borders, 1945 – ''[[Kresy]]'' in light red]]

Because of Stalin's promises, Churchill believed that he would keep his word regarding Poland and he remarked, "Poor [[Neville Chamberlain]] believed he could trust Hitler. He was wrong. But I don't think I am wrong about Stalin."<ref name="berthon289">{{Harvnb|Berthon|Potts|2007|p=289}}</ref>

Churchill defended his actions at Yalta in a three-day parliamentary debate starting on February 27, which ended in a [[vote of confidence]]. During the debate, many MPs criticised Churchill and expressed deep reservations about Yalta and support for Poland, with 25 drafting an amendment protesting the agreement.<ref name="pp.374-383 Olson and Cloud 2003">pp. 374–83, Olson and Cloud 2003</ref>

After the Second World War ended, a [[Polish People's Republic|communist government]] was installed in Poland. Many Poles [[Western betrayal|felt betrayed by their wartime allies]]. Many Polish soldiers refused to return to Poland because of the [[Soviet repressions of Polish citizens (1939–1946)]], the [[Trial of the Sixteen]] and other executions of pro-Western Poles, particularly the [[cursed soldiers|former members]] of the AK ([[Armia Krajowa]]). The result was the [[Polish Resettlement Act 1947]], Britain's first mass immigration law.

On March 1, 1945, Roosevelt assured [[United States Congress|Congress]], "I come from the Crimea with a firm belief that we have made a start on the road to a world of peace".<ref name="berthon290"/> However, the Western Powers soon realized that Stalin would not honour his promise of free elections for Poland. After receiving considerable criticism in London following Yalta regarding the atrocities committed in Poland by Soviet troops, Churchill wrote Roosevelt a desperate letter referencing the wholesale deportations and liquidations of opposition Poles by the Soviets.<ref name="berthon290">{{Harvnb|Berthon|Potts|2007|pp=290–94}}</ref> On March 11, Roosevelt responded to Churchill: "I most certainly agree that we must stand firm on a correct interpretation of the Crimean decision. You are quite correct in assuming that neither the Government nor the people of this country will support participation in a fraud or a mere whitewash of the Lublin government and the solution must be as we envisaged it in Yalta."<ref>Telegram, President Roosevelt to the British prime minister, Washington, 11 March 1945, in United States Department of State, ''Foreign Relations of the United States, Diplomatic Papers: 1945 Volume V, Europe'' (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1967), pp. 509–10.</ref>

By March 21, Roosevelt's Ambassador to the Soviet Union, [[W. Averell Harriman|Averell Harriman]], cabled Roosevelt that "we must come clearly to realize that the Soviet program is the establishment of [[totalitarianism]], ending [[Liberty|personal liberty]] and democracy as we know it".<ref name="berthon296">{{Harvnb|Berthon|Potts|2007|pp=296–97}}</ref> Two days later, Roosevelt began to admit that his view of Stalin had been excessively optimistic and that "Averell is right."<ref name="berthon296"/>

Four days later, on March 27, the Soviet People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs ([[NKVD]]) arrested 16 Polish opposition political leaders who had been invited to participate in provisional government negotiations.<ref name="berthon296"/> The arrests were part of a trick employed by the NKVD, which flew the leaders to Moscow for a later [[show trial]], followed by sentencing to a [[gulag]].<ref name="berthon296"/><ref name="wettig47">{{Harvnb|Wettig|2008|pp=47–48}}</ref> Churchill thereafter argued to Roosevelt that it was "as plain as a pike staff" that Moscow's tactics were to drag out the period for holding free elections "while the Lublin Committee consolidate their power".<ref name="berthon296"/> The [[1947 Polish legislative election|Polish elections]], held on January 16, 1947, resulted in Poland's official transformation to a [[People's Republic of Poland|communist state]] by 1949.

Following Yalta,  Soviet Foreign Minister [[Vyacheslav Molotov]] expressed worry that the Yalta Agreement's wording might impede Stalin's plans, Stalin responded, "Never mind. We'll do it our own way later."<ref name="berthon289"/> The Soviet Union had already annexed several occupied countries as (or into) [[Soviet Socialist Republics]],<ref name="senn">{{cite book |last=Senn |first=Alfred Erich |title=Lithuania 1940: revolution from above |location=Amsterdam; New York |publisher=Rodopi |year=2007 |isbn=978-90-420-2225-6 }}</ref><ref name="stalinswars43">{{Harvnb|Roberts|2006|p=43}}</ref><ref name="wettig20">{{Harvnb|Wettig|2008|pp=20–21}}</ref> and other countries in Central and Eastern Europe were occupied and converted into Soviet-controlled [[satellite state]]s, such as the [[People's Republic of Poland]], the [[People's Republic of Hungary]],<ref name="granville">{{cite book |last=Granville |first=Johanna |title=The First Domino: International Decision Making during the Hungarian Crisis of 1956 |publisher=Texas A&M University Press |year=2004 |isbn=978-1-58544-298-0 }}</ref> the [[Czechoslovak Socialist Republic]],<ref>{{Harvnb|Grenville|2005|pp=370–71}}</ref> the [[People's Republic of Romania]], the [[People's Republic of Bulgaria]], the [[People's Republic of Albania]],<ref name="cook17">{{Harvnb|Cook|2001|p=17}}</ref> and later [[East Germany]] from the Soviet zone of German occupation.<ref name="wettig96">{{Harvnb|Wettig|2008|pp=96–100}}</ref> Eventually, the United States and the United Kingdom made concessions in recognizing the communist-dominated regions by sacrificing the substance of the Yalta Declaration although it remained in form.<ref name="black63"/>

====Aborted enforcement plans====
{{Further|Operation Unthinkable}}
At some point in early 1945, Churchill had commissioned a contingency military enforcement operation plan for war on the Soviet Union to obtain "square deal for Poland" ([[Operation Unthinkable]]), which resulted in a May 22 report that stated unfavorable success odds.<ref>{{cite web| url= http://www.history.neu.edu/PRO2/pages/002.htm| title=Operation Unthinkable| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20101116155708/http://www.history.neu.edu/PRO2/pages/002.htm | archive-date= 2010-11-16 | publisher= Northeastern University| quote= defined as no more than square deal for Poland |access-date= 2015-09-25}}</ref> The report's arguments included geostrategic issues (a possible Soviet-Japanese alliance resulting in moving of [[Imperial Japanese Armed Forces|Japanese troops]] from the [[Asia|Asian continent]] to the [[Japanese archipelago|Home Islands]], threat to [[Pahlavi Iran|Iran]] and [[Kingdom of Iraq|Iraq]]) and uncertainties concerning land battles in Europe.<ref>{{cite web| url= http://www.history.neu.edu/PRO2/pages/005.htm| title=Operation Unthinkable | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20101116155708/http://www.history.neu.edu/PRO2/pages/005.htm | archive-date= 2010-11-16 | publisher= Northeastern University| quote= defined as no more than square deal for Poland |access-date= 2015-09-25}}</ref>

===Potsdam Conference===
{{Further|Potsdam Conference|Potsdam Agreement}}
The [[Potsdam Conference]] was held from July to August 1945, which included the participation of [[Clement Attlee]], who had replaced Churchill as prime minister<ref name="stalinswars274">{{Harvnb|Roberts|2006|pp=274–75}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.archontology.org/nations/uk/bpm/attlee.php |title=Clement Richard Attlee |publisher=Archontology.org |access-date=2011-12-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090420124425/http://www.archontology.org/nations/uk/bpm/attlee.php |archive-date=April 20, 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and President Harry S Truman (representing the United States after [[Death of Franklin D. Roosevelt|Roosevelt's death]]).<ref name = "Harry S. Truman">{{harvnb|Truman|1973|p=208}}</ref> At Potsdam, the Soviets denied claims that they were interfering in the affairs of Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary.<ref name="black63">{{Harvnb|Black|English|Helmreich|McAdams|2000|p=63}}</ref> The conference resulted in the [[Potsdam Declaration]], regarding the [[surrender of Japan]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ndl.go.jp/constitution/e/etc/c06.html |title=Potsdam Declaration |publisher=Ndl.go.jp |date=1945-07-26 |access-date=2011-12-19}}</ref> and the [[Potsdam Agreement]], regarding the Soviet annexation of former Polish territory east of the Curzon Line, provisions to be addressed in an eventual Final Treaty ending World War II, and the annexation of parts of Germany east of the [[Oder–Neisse line]] into Poland and of northern [[East Prussia]] into the Soviet Union.

===American politics===
Roosevelt's generous terms to Stalin, followed quite quickly by the start of the [[Cold War]] under Roosevelt's Vice President and successor, [[Harry Truman]] meant that Yalta was often seen in a bad light in American public opinion, particularly among most shades of [[Republican Party (United States)|Republicans]] and more Conservative Democrats in the South and West as well as by many [[ethnic Americans]] with links to Eastern Europe.  When [[Eisenhower]] was elected as President on the Republican ticket there were hopes that Yalta would be [[Repudiation of treaties|repudiated]] by the new Administration and the newly Republican Senate.  Efforts were made by both the new [[Senate majority leader]], [[Robert A. Taft]], and Republican members of the Foreign Relations Committee, although this fizzled out after Stalin's death.<ref name="CaroSenate22">{{Cite book |last=Caro |first=Robert |title=Master of the Senate: The Years of Lyndon Johnson |title-link=Master of the Senate|publisher=[[Alfred A. Knopf]] |year=2002 |isbn=0-394-52836-0 |location=New York |chapter=22. Masterstrokes}}</ref>