 The Allied Leaders met several times during the War to discuss goals and to map strategy :

 The most important conference was at Yalta: Churchill, FDR, & Stalin  The Allies were clearly winning the war and the end seemed near. The questions of what would happen once Germany was defeated were of huge importance: Yalta Conference: Feb. ‘45

 Stalin maintained that historically, Poland had been used as a corridor to invade Russia…  He therefore believed it was critical that Poland become a “buffer zone”, meaning that a Polish gov’t friendly to Russia was necessary  Translation: “friendly” gov’t = communist gov’t.  The Big 3 agreed that free elections were to be held in Poland…let the people decide

 A 2 nd point: USSR would enter war against Japan once Germany was defeated  A 3rd point: Germany would be divided and occupied by the Allies  Other points of agreement:  War-crimes trials  Further discussion on creating a United Nations

 In the Berlin suburb of Potsdam:  Churchill  Truman (FDR had died)  Stalin

 Stalin balked at free elections in Poland  Specifics of Germany’s occupation after the war

 The capital city which lay entirely in the Russian zone of occupation was ALSO divided into 4 zones

With Germany’s defeat, Americans now focused on the Pacific: Island-hopping brought about the re-capture of the Philippines and control of Guam from which bombers pounded the Japanese mainland

FDR had died in office and new President Harry S. Truman learned of a new weapon. He ordered it to be used