World War 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

World War 2 - Essay Example Roosevelt went into the conference with the agenda of trying to influence the Soviet Union to join in the war in the Pacific where the United States almost single-handedly fought Japan. He was of the belief that if Russia were to enter the war on its side, then it would be much easier for the allies to defeat the Imperial military of Japan and force the latter to surrender. Roosevelt desired to end the war with Japan with minimal American casualties and the participation of the Soviet Union would have made this possible (Berthon & Potts285). Stalin, because of his relatively strong position, declared that the only way that he would agree to declare war on Japan would be if the United States recognised the Mongolian Peoples Republic as an independent state and that all of the islands which Russia had ceded to Japan after their war in 1902, namely the Kuril and Sakhalin Islands, were returned.These conditions were agreed to by the other participants in the conference and it has remaine d controversial ever since because China, the biggest loser in their implementation, was not consulted. Furthermore, Roosevelt and Stalin reached an agreement to keep the Korean peninsula in one piece once the Soviet Union became involved in the Pacific arena. Stalin agreed to enter the war with Japan some three months after the fall of Germany so that the Soviet Union could be able to marshal itself sufficient to help the United States invade the Japanese home territory. Stalin agreed to the proposition that the Soviet Union join the United Nations and this guarantee was secured through the Soviet Union is one of the nations which had the veto power in the Security Council; ensuring that all of the decisions that it did not agree with were blocked (Schlesinger185). During this conference, the three leaders agreed to create spheres of influence in the postwar Europe with each of them having zones to occupy within Germany and this agreement ensured that these three nations upheld the ir supremacy over the entire European continent. In conclusion, the discussion above has shown that the Yalta Conference was held by the Big Three, in a bid to discuss the development of a postwar order of Europe after the defeat of Germany.Each of the leaders went into the conference with their own agenda and it should be noted that before this conference, the Soviet Union had attained great strides and was close to capturing the German capital, meaning that Stalin was in an especially strong position in the Yalta conference and the attendees from Britain and the United States realised that they were in a weak position to oppose his demands.