SMUNC Historical Security Council (HSC)

Background Guide –

Yalta Conference4-11 February 1945

Letter from the Chair

Dear delegates,

Welcome to the HSC Yalta Conference committee! My name is Jessica Lee and I will

be your Crisis Director throughout the day of the conference. We have plenty of exciting

issues prepared for you and we cannot wait to see you there!

To begin, here’s a little about myself. I am a Grade 9 student in SUIS Gubei Campus,

currently taking First Language English & Chinese, Second Language German, Coordinated

Science, Business, and History for my IGCSEs. As one of the active students in my school, I

help organise parties, charity events, and I am currently the team captain of the school touch

rugby team. In my spare time, I find myself enjoying oil painting, however nothing can be

compared to my passion for TV series.

I have a huge fervency towards History and participating in the HSC committee adds

a bonus to the knowledge I have in History. As I understand the function of HSC and have a

great passion for it, I believe under the management from Erin and myself, this will be

nothing else but an extraordinary committee.

This is my second MUN conference, my first being ILMUNC China IV in October

this year. As soon as I discovered my interest in MUN, I decided take the role as chair of

SMUNC. I look forward to participate in the discussion with every one of you. I believe this

committee would be amazing with your insightful contribution.

Jessica Lee

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Letter from the Chair

Dear delegates,

Welcome to SMUNC! It is my distinct pleasure to introduce you to the Historical

Security Council at the very first session of SUIS Gubei Model United Nations. My name is

Erin Um and I will be your chair for this dynamic paced committee, which I can assure you is

one of the most exciting and challenging committees in MUN.

I am currently in grade 10 at Shanghai United International School studying business,

geography and additional maths. I'm originally from Korea, but I have been fortunate enough

to have extensive experience abroad at my early age, also to spend half of my life in Shanghai

and more than half of my school years here at SUIS. Outside of school, I find myself

enjoying reading, watching TV shows or just spending time with friends very much. At

school, my interests fall under MUN. My involvement in MUN started recently through

joining our school's MUN club at the beginning of this year and attending ILMUNC CHINA

2014. At the conference, the best committee I could have possibly been in was brought

forward to me along with the best chairs I could ask for, the HSC, and thus had a very

memorable experience. Along with your Crisis director, Jessica Lee, we hope we can share

the thrilling experience we had through this conference.

Our committee will be competitive and intense as there will be constant volatile crisis

occurring that each of you will have respond to by taking diplomatic actions; actions that may

be followed by significant repercussions. I am very excited to facilitate interesting

discussions in HSC where we would like to see you actively engage in. In the meantime, if

you have any questions prior to conference, please don't hesitate in contacting me at

suis.gubei.mun.director@gmail.com .

I look forward to seeing you guys in December and get to know you all!

Erin Um

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Historical Background

The Seeds of War

The Yalta Conference, which is the topic of HSC, is not the first time a conference

was held to discuss what was to be done with the postwar world. To make the decision at

Yalta, delegates must go back and examine the mistakes made at the Paris Peace Conference

in 1919 after the First World War.

In 1919, Woodrow Wilson (president of the USA), Georges Clemenceau (French

Prime Minister), and David Lloyd George (British Prime Minister), issued the Treaty of

Versailles, which was signed by the ‘November Criminals’ as the German people called

them. The terms of the treaty were a huge blow to the people of Germany, who called it a

‘diktat’, which meant dictated peace. They were forced to accept ‘War Guilt’, reduce their

army to 100,000 men, the loss of their important industrial areas such as the Saar, the

Sudetenland and the Polish Corridor which split their country apart, and pay 6,600 million

pounds in reparations. The German public could not accept the ‘War Guilt’ clause. Count

Brockdorff-Rantzan, the head of German delegates in Versailles said, “…We do strongly

deny that Germany, whose people felt they were fighting a war of defense, should be forced to

accept sole responsibility.” Being blamed for starting a defensive war also led great hatred

toward the Allies who forced them to accept the blame. Also, the aftermath of the Great War

crippled Germany’s economy; the reparations term furthermore caused mass poverty with

mass unemployment and hyperinflation. This made the German people angry because the

Allies had forced them to pay for a war they did not believe they started when they barely had

money for themselves. Princess Bleucher, an English woman married to a member of the

German royal family wrote in 1920: Over and Over I hear the same refrain “We shall hate

our conquerors with a hatred that will only cease when the day of our revenge comes.” This

desire in Germany unified them, they may not have believed in everything Hitler did, but

they believed in one thing, like the Deutsche Zeitung (German news) said the day the treaty

was signed: “Do not forget it! The German people will, with unceasing labour, press forward

to reconquer the place among the nations to which it is entitled.”

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Furthermore, the Treaty also stripped Germany of its eastern territories such as the

Polish Corridor and West Prussia, which were mainly German populated, Which, in turn,

would have given Germany its justification to reclaim those territories in war. Sir Michael

Howard of Yale University said, “Hitler or no Hitler, they would have wanted to reverse the

judgment which they regarded as a totally unfair one; and above all, restore their frontiers in

Eastern Europe which they felt had been taken away quite unjustly.” The Treaty of Versailles

left Germany wanting to reverse its terms and take revenge on those that forced them to

accept it, which eventually led to the Second World War.

The League of Nations

The League of Nations was the predecessor of the United Nations, when discussing

and planning the UN at Yalta, the delegate must be aware of the reasons why the League

failed to prevent the Second World War.

The failures of the League of Nations made it easier for Nazi Germany to grow

powerful and achieve its objectives. In 1931-32, the League allowed Japan to take over

Manchuria and in 1935-36 Italy to take over Abyssinia while Hitler watched. This gave Hitler

the idea the he could do the same without opposition. If the League had allowed Japan and

Italy to commit blatant aggression with no consequence, why shouldn't they let Hitler?

Historian JR Western said, “The crises of 1935-6 were fatal to the League…it began the

emotional preparation among the democracies for the Second World War.”

Appeasement & the Nazi-Soviet Pact

The policy of appeasement was another cause of the outbreak of the Second World

War. At Yalta, the Western Allies would be determined not the repeat the mistake of

appeasing dictators as they had done with Adolf Hitler of Nazi Germany, as this led to him

continuously getting what he wanted and eventually led to the outbreak of war. This would

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change their attitude towards Joseph Stalin, the dictator of the USSR. The Nazi-Soviet Pact

was also a good example of how relations between the Soviet Union and the West were.

The Nazi-Soviet Pact of 1939 was a world shocking agreement that resulted in

Germany’s invasion of Poland, both invasions soon led to full scale war across Europe. The

Nazi-Soviet Pact was a non-aggression pact signed by Stalin and Hitler as well as a secret

agreement to divide Poland between them. This pact between these ideological arch enemies

caused the Second World War because Hitler was unwilling to risk war over Poland unless he

could avoid the possibility a two-front war which was one of the reasons for Germany’s

defeat in the First World War. With the Nazi-Soviet Pact signed that he knew that Germany

was safe from a war on the Eastern Front (at least at the time being), which allowed him to

start a war without worrying about the Eastern Front.

The World at War

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The Second World War was a global war generally said to have lasted from 1939 to

1945, though conflicts had began in Asia and other regions prior to 1939. It was the deadliest

conflict ever with an estimate of around 50 to 85 million fatalities. Over 30 countries were

involved and they split into the Allies and the Axis. The Allied powers included the United

States of America, the United Kingdom and the British Commonwealth, France, China,

Poland, and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The Axis powers emerged from the

Anti-Comintern Pact between Nazi Germany and Japan and the ‘Rome-Berlin Axis’, which

led to the Tripartite Pact between Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, and Imperial Japan.

In the first couple of years, the Axis powers were victorious whilst the Allies suffered

defeat after defeat in all corners of the world. The war began in Europe on the 1st September

1939 when Germany invaded Poland. Poland soon fell as the Soviets invaded from the east.

After the fall of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany. On the 10th May 1940,

Germany attacked through Belgium and the Netherlands, which quickly fell to Wehrmacht’s

Blitzkrieg tactics. France fell after six weeks and the British were forced to evacuate

mainland Europe from Dunkirk. In 1941, Hitler launched Operation Barbarossa. 3 million

soldiers poured over the border into the USSR. In the first three months, the Soviets lost their

entire air and tank force and suffered 4 million casualties. By September 1941, the Germans

had laid siege to Leningrad and almost reached Moscow. In the Far East, Japan had already

launched a full-scale invasion of China in 1937, and on the 7th December 1941, Japan

bombed the American naval base in Pearl Harbour. By 1942, the Japanese forces had reached

Burma and were advancing into India, and in the south their submarines attacked Sydney.

American, British and Commonwealth forces were retreating everywhere.

The Atlantic Charter

The Atlantic Charter was a pivotal policy statement issued on 4th August 1941 that

defined the Allied goals for the post-war world. It was drafted by British Prime Minister

Winston Churchill and President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and later agreed to by all the Allies.

The Charter stated the ideal goals of the war: no territorial aggrandizement; no territorial

changes made against the wishes of the people; restoration of self-government to those

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deprived of it; reduction of trade restrictions; global cooperation to secure better economic

and social conditions for all; freedom from fear and want; freedom of the seas; and

abandonment of the use of force, as well as disarmament of aggressor nations. In the

‘Declaration by United Nations’ of 1 January 1942, the Allies of World War II pledged

adherence to this charter's principles.

The Casablanca Conference

The Casablanca Conference was held on 14-24 January 1943 in Casablanca,

Morocco, between British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, American President Franklin

D. Roosevelt, and Generals Charles de Gaulle and Henri Giraud, representing the French

resistance forces. Soviet leader Joseph Stalin didn’t attend, as he believed the on-going battle

in Stalingrad needed his presence. The Casablanca Declaration announced the Allied powers

would not accept anything less than the unconditional surrender of the Axis powers.

American President Roosevelt brought the term forward, and in February 12, 1943 he said the

following: “we mean no harm to the common people of the Axis nations. But we do mean to

impose punishment and retribution upon their guilty, barbaric leaders”.

However, many historians believe that behind the scenes, the United States and

Britain were not in complete agreement about seeing the war fought until Germany were

destroyed. According to some historians, German resistance forces and anti-Nazi government

officials were working with the British intelligence to remove Hitler from power and instead

negotiate a peace treaty with the Allies. However, Roosevelt was not interested and proposed

unconditional surrender. Former U.S. ambassador Charles Bohlen believe that Roosevelt

introduced the term to keep Soviet Union fighting with Germany in the east, therefore

diminishing valuable German munitions and troops and also “to prevent Stalin from

negotiating a separate peace with Nazi regime”.

There was also disagreement between how the Allies were to invade mainland

Europe. Stalin was pressing the Western Allies to open a new front in France to take pressure

off the Russians. Roosevelt, with advice from General George Marshall, proposed a cross-

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channel invasion of France. However, Churchill favoured an Allied invasion of Sicily. The

British thought that by attacking Italy, German reserves would be drawn in Italy were poor

transportation would decrease their mobility. Also, this meant when the Allies eventually

crossed the channel, the Germans would be weakened by many more months of fighting the

Russians. Roosevelt, on the other hand, was mainly focused on the Pacific war. He blamed

the British for not participating enough in the Pacific war. The two leaders made a

compromise. Roosevelt agreed to Churchill’s strategy for Europe, while Churchill promised

to put more British troops and resources to the Pacific war.

At the Casablanca conference the United States and Britain disagreed on many issues.

The USA-Britain relationship was the strongest compared to any relationships either country

had with the USSR. However, they didn’t agree upon that much and they both needed to gain

something from an agreement. Another factor that is clear is that the United Kingdom even

when they were allied with the Soviet Union, still considered the Soviet Union and

communism to be a major threat.

The Cairo Conference

The Cairo Conference was held on 22-26 November 1943 in Cairo, Egypt. The Cairo

Conference was about the position against Japan during World War II and what to do with

post-war Asia. Participants in the Conference were President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Prime

Minister Winston Churchill, and Generalissimo Chiang-Kai-shek of the Republic of China.

Joseph Stalin did not participate, as he was not interested in causing unnecessary friction and

tension between the Soviet Union and Japan, especially considering that Chiang Kai-shek

was attending the Cairo Conference. The Allies issued the Cairo Declaration was declared on

27th November 1943:

“The Three Great Allies are fighting this war to restrain and punish the aggression of

Japan. They covet no gain for themselves and have no thought of territorial expansion. It is

their purpose that Japan shall be stripped of all the islands in the Pacific which she has

seized or occupied since the beginning of the first World War in 1914, and that all the

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territories Japan has stolen from the Chinese, such as Manchuria, Formosa, and The

Pescadores, shall be restored to the Republic of China. Japan will also be expelled from all

other territories which she has taken by violence and greed. The aforesaid three great

powers, mindful of the enslavement of the people of Korea, are determined that in due course

Korea shall become free and independent.

With these objects in view the three Allies, in harmony with those of the United

Nations at war with Japan, will continue to persevere in the serious and prolonged

operations necessary to procure the unconditional surrender of Japan.”

The Tehran Conference

The first conference between the Big Three – Britain, the USA, and the USSR, was

held in Tehran, Iran in November 1943. The leaders present were American President

Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin, the leader of the

USSR. At the time of the conference, the Red Army had defeated the Germans and captured

300,000 prisoners at Stalingrad and was now pushing the Germans into retreat. The British

and Americans had expelled Germans from North Africa and invaded Fascist Italy. However,

the USA and Britain have yet to open a second front in Western Europe to the frustration of

Stalin, who had been demanding an invasion of France for some time already. In the pacific,

the war against Japan had entered the brutal ‘island hoping’ phase.

At Tehran, the Allies had very different views and failed to come to a decision about

what to do with Germany after the fall of the Nazis. This difference was because of different

wartime experiences with Germany, the fear of repeating the mistakes of the Treaty of

Versailles, and their different ideologies. However, they confirmed again that they would not

accept any terms asides from the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany and agreed that

they needed to weaken postwar Germany. There were also major disagreements about Poland

and Eastern Europe. Stalin wanted to keep the territories in had annexed in 1939, which

included the Baltic States and parts of Finland, and Poland. Especially Poland, which Stalin

saw as a traditional pathway armies invading Russia. The USA and Britain reluctantly agreed

though this was against the 1941 ‘Atlantic Charter’ agreement. Another disagreement was

Japan. The USA wanted the USSR to entre the war against Japan and open a second front in

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the Pacific war like Stalin wanted them to do in France. However the USSR was wanted to

avoid a war with the Axis in both the west and east of the country. They had also signed a

Neutrality Pact with Japan, which meant going to war in the east would violate the terms.

On the positive side, although all three of the leaders arrived with differing objectives,

they managed to come to some agreements. The USA and Britain agreed to the opening of a

second front against Nazi Germany by the Western Allies. The conference also addressed

relations between the Allies and Turkey, operations in Yugoslavia and against Japan as well

as the envisaged post-war settlement. The Tehran Conferences resulted in the decisions:

1. The Yugoslav Partisans will be supported by Allied supplies and equipment.

2. It would be desirable if Turkey should join the war with the Allies.

3. If Turkey should be at war with Germany, and as a result Bulgaria declares war on

Turkey, the Soviet Union would immediately be at war with Bulgaria.

4. The cross-channel invasion of France would be launched in May 1944.

At Tehran, Roosevelt and Stalin seemed to get along reasonably well. Roosevelt was

an idealist and on his return to the USA he publicly said in a radio broadcast, “I got along

fine with Marshal Stalin…I believe that we are going to get along very well with him and the

Russian people…” Churchill on the other hand did not trust Stalin, and Stalin constantly

teased Churchill at Tehran. For example, Stalin proposed executing 50,000–100,000 German

officers so that Germany could not plan another war. Churchill was outraged and denounced

“the cold blooded execution of soldiers who fought for their country.” He stormed out of the

room, but was brought back in by Stalin who said he was joking. Churchill was glad Stalin

had relented, but thought Stalin was testing the waters. Roosevelt hoped to be the mediator

between Stalin and Churchill. He also seemed to believe that the British Imperialism and the

desire of other Europeans to reclaim and expanded their empires as they have done after the

First World War as a more serious problem than the growing Soviet strength. Roosevelt said

to Stanisław Mikołajczyk, the leader of the Polish government-in-exile, “…one thing I am

certain, Stalin is not an imperialist.”

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Current Situation

Yalta Conference 1945

It is the 4th February 1945; the War is almost over. It is clear that it wouldn’t be long

before the fall of Nazi Germany, so the Allies will meet once again to discuss what was to be

done with Europe and the world after Germany’s surrender, this time at Yalta, in southern

Ukraine.

The Axis powers are retreating in all areas of the world. Germany was now on the

verge of defeat. A second front in Normandy had finally been opened in 1944. The Red Army

had driven the Germans out of Eastern Europe, entering Warsaw, the capital of Poland on the

17th January, and was ready to invade Germany itself. The Americans and British had

liberated France and Belgium, and were now ready to attack Germany from the west. As the

Red Army, the came across Nazi concentration and death camps and the horrors were

revealed to the public. Japan was still fighting in the East, but the USA, Britain, and Australia

were pushing them back to their homeland.

The war had changed the balance of power in the world. In 1945, the ‘Old Powers’

that had been an important influence in international affairs in the 1930s, that is Britain and

France, had been demoted by the war to second rank powers because of their inability to

defeat Germany. France had been smashed and occupied and was only just liberated.

Britain’s economy had been exhausted and had to depend on the world’s richest country – the

USA to support it throughout the war. However, compared to the French, the British were

still relatively powerful, with a strong navy and the support of the Commonwealth. The

USSR and the USA emerge from the war as the world’s two superpowers. The USSR and the

USA were the only countries large enough, rich enough, and strong enough to exercise real

international influence and leadership, and thus they will be the main powers at Yalta, closely

followed by Britain ,whilst the other countries will have far less influence.

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Despite their wartime alliance, the USA, Britain, and the USSR (the Big Three) had

many differences. Ideologically, they were completely different. The USA and Britain were

democratic capitalist countries whereas the USSR was a one-party Communist state. Before

the war, America experienced a period known as ‘The Red Scare’, red being the colour of the

Communists. Opinion polls before the war showed that Americans trusted Communists less

than Nazis. Britain shared a similar distaste for Communism, especially their current leader

Winston Churchill, who was a member of the right-winged Conservative party. Fear of

Communism was one of the reasons why the British appeased Hitler before the war; they

wanted a strong, right-winged Germany to be a buffer against Communism. The Soviets also

wouldn’t have forgotten that during the Russian Civil War, the British and the Americans had

intervened and fought against the Communists, who were named the Bolsheviks at that time.

As the war is coming to an end, differences and distrust between the USSR and the Western

Allies had started to emerge again.

The Grand Alliance was formed when the Nazis launched Operation Barbarossa on

the USSR, both Churchill and Roosevelt gave aid to the Soviet Union. However, this did not

change how the USSR and Communism was seen in the West, especially in Britain. Whilst

Roosevelt and Stalin got on relatively well, there was a mutual suspicion between Churchill

and Stalin. During the war, Stalin had been frustrated that the Western Allies delayed the

opening of a new front in Europe many times. The Red Army was taking on 85% of

Wehrmacht’s troops and Stalin wanted a new front in France to take pressure off the

Russians. Stalin became suspicious that they were deliberately delaying the attack in hope of

seeing the USSR permanently weakened by the relentless German war machine.

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Key Issues to Consider

Germany

It was clear that Germany would soon be taken over from both east and west. The Big

Three will need to decide what was to happen to post-war Germany. This is the second time

Germany had been the main aggressor in a World War and they left huge amounts of

destruction in Europe. The Allies will have to make decision about punishments and

reparations, which would mainly be paid to the Soviet Union because it had suffered the

worst in the war, with more than 20 million casualties. Joseph Stalin, leader of the USSR, is

therefore concerned about the future security of the USSR and so wants to cripple Germany,

perhaps splitting it up into smaller nations like the French President wanted in 1919, and

extract heavy reparations that were mainly given to the USSR. However, when making

decisions for Germany, the Allies must remember and consider the mistakes of the Treaty of

Versailles at the end of the First World War. The harsh Treaty of Versailles led to the rise of

Nazi Germany and German aggression during the Second World War. How Germany was to

be punished and what was to be done to its territory will be one of the main topics at Yalta.

Also, as the Allies closed in on Germany, they discovered concentration and death

camps that the retreating Germans hastily tried to destroy. The Nazis and their collaborators

committed horrifying atrocities in the war. The Holocaust was the largest genocide of the 20th

century in which approximately 6 million Jews were killed under the command of Hitler and

the Nazi. This genocide was part of a broader aggregate of oppression and killings of various

ethnic and political groups in Europe by the Nazis. Non-Jewish victims include Gypsies,

Poles, communists, homosexuals, Soviet POWs, and the mentally and physically disabled.

The survivors of the Holocaust found themselves far away from their homes as they had been

transported to camps. The Allies therefore need to decide on how to get the dislocated people

back home. Many of the war criminals responsible for the genocide were fleeing Europe in

fear of Allied punishments. The war criminals had ended up in far away countries, many in

South American countries like Argentina, and so needed to be brought to justice. Many

people were horrified by the war crimes committed by the Germans, especially the Holocaust

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and on the Eastern Front where the Germans fought a ‘war of extermination’ and completely

ignored the rules of warfare.

Poland & Eastern Europe

By February 1945, most of Eastern Europe had been liberated and occupied by the

Red Army, which meant that the Soviet Union is effectively in control. The status of Poland

is one of many disagreements. Throughout history, Poland had served as a historical corridor

for forces attempting to invade Russia. Stalin, concerned about the future security of the

USSR, therefore wanted Poland and other Eastern European countries such as Finland and

Romania, which previously had governments hostile to the USSR, to be under the ‘Soviet

sphere of influence’ and have governments loyal and friendly to the USSR. On 1st of January

1945, Stalin had installed the Soviet sponsored Provisional Government of Republic of

Poland (RTRP) in the Polish territories under the occupation of the Red Army. This caused

protests from the Polish government-in-exile in London, who claimed that the Soviet Union

had “taken over the sovereign political rights of the Polish nation.” The Polish government-

in-exile was formed in the aftermath of the annexation of Poland by the USSR and Nazi

Germany in 1939, and fought with the Allies in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East during

the Second World War. The governments of the United States and Great Britain, who

supported the Polish government in exile, also issued formal protest.

The Polish government-in-exile was not recognized by the Soviet Union and the

RTRP, the self-proclaimed legitimate government of Poland. Winston Churchill, aware of the

Soviet one-party system and a strong supporter of the Polish government-in-exile, wanted

free elections and democratic governments in Eastern and Central Europe, especially Poland.

However, Joseph Stalin conveyed his intention to the Western Allies that Eastern Europe was

under the control of the Soviet Union and that he intended for it to remain that way.

In addition, the Soviet Union wanted to keep the territory of eastern Poland they had

already annexed in 1939. This was agreed at Tehran but the borders were decided yet. Even

though Poland was to be compensated with German territory, the Western Allies were still

extremely unhappy about it. Also, the territory that the USSR intended to keep had million of

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Poles living there. Stanisław Mikołajczyk, the leader of the Polish government-in-exile,

would not compromise on the question of Poland's sovereignty over her pre-war territories

and insisted on stopping Stalin from setting up a Communist government in post-war Poland.

Greece

After the Germans left, there were two rival groups in Greece that wanted to rule the

country. The Communists wanted to turn it into a Soviet republic while the Monarchists

wanted the return of the King of Greece. If it became a Soviet republic, Greece would be

likely to come under the influence and control of the USSR. However, Greece was vital to

Britain, because it gave the Royal Navy control of the Mediterranean Sea, and thus, control of

the Suez Canal. This meant that Greece would be one of Britain’s priorities as the Suez Canal

was an essential waterway for Britain because it was the shortest route for ships to get to and

from Britain and its Commonwealth countries such as India and Australia, where it got most

of its essential resources. The only other route is to sail around Africa, which would delay the

ships for months. For the USSR and USA, Greece was of a lesser importance, as they did not

rely on the Suez Canal or have interests in the Mediterranean.

The Empire of Japan

The war against Japan was costing USA and Britain massive casualties. However the

USSR was not in the war with Japan, and its entrance would make take pressure of the British

and American forces. Therefore, the USA had been pressuring the USSR to join the war

against Japan for sometime already. However, going to war with Japan would mean a double

fronted war for the USSR, which they did not want to risk. Also, the Soviet Union had signed

the Soviet-Japanese Neutrality pact in 1941, which mean that going to war with Japan would

be to violate the Pact. The following picture is a part of the Neutrality pact:

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The French and Dutch colonies in South East Asia were annexed by Japan in war. The

USA was against imperialism did not want theses territories to be returned to colonial rule,

despite the desire of the Europeans. However, the Japanese left them in destruction and it is

likely there will be problems in the aftermath of the War.

The United Nations

As a result of the failure of the League of Nation, Roosevelt is now firmly against the

policy of Isolation and will commit the USA in an new international body – the United

Nations, and the United Nation Security Council will maintain peace after the war. One of the

main reasons why the League of Nations failed to stop Japan and Italy during its the

Manchurian and Abyssinian crisis was because the League was weak – it did not have its own

army, and some of the major powers in the world (USA, USSR) were not in the League (The

USA was following the policy of Isolation and the USSR was not invited until 1934 because

it was Communist). This meant that the League lacked the international influence it could

have had. Also, the Permanent Members of the League – Britain, France, Italy, and Japan,

were too worried about their own problems at home to put effort and money into the League

of Nations. The Allies therefore needed to discuss the future Security Council and how the

United Nations would be structured to avoid the mistakes of the League of Nations.

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Bloc Positions

USSR

By the time of the Conference, Red Army Marshal Georgy Zhukov’s forces were only

65 km from Berlin; the Soviets had completely occupied Poland, Romania, Greece, and most

of Eastern Europe with a standing army three times larger than the Allied forces in the West.

During the war, the Red Army had become the world’s strongest land force and it had played

a huge role in the war against Germany – more than 80% of Germany’s armed forces fought

on the Eastern Front. This meant that Stalin felt that he was in a strong position to dictate the

terms at Yalta. Poland was one of the main topics on the Soviet agenda. Stalin wanted to keep

the territory of Poland that the USSR annexed in 1939. Stalin had installed the Soviet

sponsored Provisional Government of Republic of Poland (RTRP) in the Polish territories

under the occupation of the Red Army, and would want to make Poland a Communist

satellite state of the USSR. The Soviet Union strongly opposed the idea of bringing back the

Polish government-in-exile, which was hostile towards the USSR. The same applies for the

rest of Eastern Europe; Stalin wished to create a ‘Soviet sphere of influence’ in the east for

the future security of the USSR as it had suffered terribly in the war.

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Stalin wanted a large share of German reparations and territory to be for the USSR, as

the Soviet Union suffered more casualties than any other country. The USSR also wanted

Germany to become socialist and friendly to the Soviet Union, since this was not the first

time Germany had become a serious threat to the security of the USSR. Stalin also wanted

more Soviet voices to be added to the UN, and other Soviet Republics would be some of his

choices. Stalin also had interests in China where the Mao Zedong led Communist Party of

China was only keeping a temporary peace with the Republic of China. The USSR and Japan

have had interests in the Manchurian railway and Port Arthur throughout history. Port Arthur

is especially important to the USSR because its only other port in east of Russia is frozen 6

months every winter, and it was one of the reasons the Russo-Japanese war of 1905 was

fought. The USSR had been reluctant to join the war against Japan; Stalin wanted to avoid a

double fronted war and also wanted a reward of Japanese territory if the USSR was to go to

war with Japan.

USA

Before the war, America had followed the policy of Isolation – keeping out of

European and world affairs. However, the USA had learnt a lesson by the 1940s. Franklin D.

Roosevelt, President of the United States, was determined not to repeat the mistakes before

the Second World War, and the USA had also shown that it was the world’s most powerful

air force during the world and had emerged as one of the only countries that weren’t left in

destruction by the war, which meant that they had the strongest economy. Therefore the USA

will come to Yalta as one of the world’s two superpowers and attempt to exercise

international leadership. The ideology of the USA was completely different from the Soviet

Union. The USA would not approve of Stalin’s plans for Poland and Eastern Europe, and

would ask for democracy and free elections in countries liberated from Axis control.

However Franklin D. Roosevelt, the president of the USA, was considered pro-

Russian compared to most Westerners at the time. In the Tehran conference, Churchill

warned of potential domination by a Stalin dictatorship over Eastern Europe, Roosevelt

responded, “I just have a hunch that Stalin is not that kind of a man. … I think that if I give

him everything I possibly can and ask for nothing from him in return, noblesse oblige, he

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won't try to annex anything and will work with me for a world of democracy and peace.” The

USA was suffering heavy casualties in the war against Japan, so they wanted the USSR to

join the war against Japan. Roosevelt also knew that the USSR wanted something in return to

break their pact with Japan. Roosevelt, quite like Woodrow Wilson two decades ago, is

promoting the idea of an international body, however this time the USA will be committed to

joining.

The USA also wanted the USSR to join the war against Japan, as it was also an Axis

power that the Allies were fighting and it wasn’t fair that the USA, Britain, Australia and

other members of the Commonwealth were taking on the Japanese and Germany whilst the

USSR was only fighting Germany, even if it was playing the largest role in the European war.

Japanese resistance was fanatically fierce so Roosevelt wanted to end the war as quickly as

possible with fewer American casualties.

Britain

Britain had been significantly weakened by the war and had to rely on economic

support from the USA, which had no intention of helping Britain prop-up its empire in the

aftermath of the war. However, Britain and the USA shared a common objective of allowing

democracy and free elections in countries liberated from German control, and Churchill a

good relationship with Roosevelt. Churchill feared that Roosevelt was too pro-Russian, and

was concerned that Stalin would try to set up Communist governments in countries in Eastern

Europe. Churchill was upset that Stalin had set up a Soviet styled Provisional Government in

Poland, and supported the Polish government in exile. Churchill and Stalin had a strained

relationship. Despite making an alliance with Stalin when the Nazis invaded the USSR in

1941, Churchill displayed his dislike for the Soviet leader by saying, “If Hitler invaded Hell,

I would make at least favourable reference to the Devil in the House of Commons.” Britain’s

main interest was its empire, and the Suez Canal was important in connecting them. Churchill

had a strong desire to prevent a communist take over in Greece, and had already sent British

troops into Greece to secure British interests.

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Republic of China

Chiang Kai-shek and his Nationalist Party currently rule the Republic of China.

Chiang Kai-shek did not want to be subordinate to either the United States or the Soviet

Union but jockeyed for room between the two and wanted to get the most out of the Soviet

Union and the Americans without taking sides. China had suffered terribly during the

Japanese invasion; the Nanking Massacre is a famous example of the atrocities of the

Japanese. China had also lost many territories such as Manchuria to Japan. Chiang Kai-shek

would want to see all Chinese territories returned to China. He was also aware of the

possibility of the Soviets supporting the Chinese Communist Party led by Mao Zedong.

Provisional Government of the Republic of Poland

The Provisional Government of the Republic of Poland (RTRP)’s was created to

succeed the previous government formed in 1944, called the Committee of National

Liberation, also known as the Lublin Committee as it was based in Lublin. After Warsaw was

liberated, the Lublin Committee was moved to Warsaw and became the RTRP. Its chair is

Edward Osóbka-Morawski. The Deputy Prime Ministers of the RTRP is Władysław

Gomułka of the Polish Workers' Party and Stanisław Janusz from People's Party. Władysław

Gomułka opposed the excessive Soviet control over Poland; however, there was nothing they

could do about it as the Red Army was in control of the country. Despite this, the RTRP has

sided with the USSR and does not recognise the Polish government-in-exile and will not

negotiate with it.

Polish government-in-exile

The Polish government-in-exile was also known as the London Poles as they were

based in London during the war. The London Poles played a very important part in organsing

the Warsaw uprising. When the Red Army reached Warsaw, Stalin ordered it to stop

advancing instead of helping the uprising. The Red Army waited until the Nazis had killed

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200,000 Polish resistance fighters before entering Warsaw and establishing the Lublin

Committee as the RTRP. Stanisław Mikołajczyk led the Polish government-in-exile after the

previous leader died in a crash. The Polish government-in-exile’s military units had fought

for the Allies in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. There were many Polish pilots in the

RAF in the Battle of Britain. The Polish government-in-exile did not recognise the RTRP as

legitimate leader of the USSR and strongly opposed the Soviet influence in Poland.

Provisional Government of the French Republic

The Provisional Government of the French Republic (gouvernement provisoire de la

République française or GPRF) was established in 1944 after its liberation. Charles de

Gaulle, who was the leader of the French government-in-exile and the Free French Forces

based in Britain after its fall in 1940, is the leader of the GPRF. France was aligned with

Britain and wanted a say in what to do with Germany after the fall of Hitler, as this is the

third German invasion of France.

Australia

Australia was once a British colony, but had gained independence and is now part of

the British Commonwealth. The shock of the United Kingdom's defeat in Asia in 1942 and

the threat of Japanese invasion caused Australia to turn to the USA as a new ally and

protector. Australian forces had fought against Japan and defeated them at New Guinea. At

Yalta, Australia is with Britain and the USA.

Mongolian People’s Republic

The Mongolian People’s Republic is a Soviet satellite state. During the Soviet-

Japanese war in 1939, which was before the signing of the Neutrality Pact, the Red Army

successfully defended Mongolia from Japanese invasion. Mongolia is aligned with the Soviet

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Union and since it is geographically close to Manchuria, would be likely to participate if the

Soviet Union were to attack the Empire of Japan.

South Africa

South Africa, like Australia, used to be part of the British Empire and is now a

Dominion in its Commonwealth. In 1934, the South African Party and National Party merged

to form the United Party, seeking reconciliation between Afrikaners and English-speaking

‘Whites’. In 1939 the party split over the entry of the Union into World War II as an ally of

the United Kingdom, a move that the National Party followers strongly opposed. South

Africa will side with Britain and support it in Yalta.

Yugoslavia

The Yugoslav Partisans were one of the strongest resistance groups during the Second

World War. Unlike the various nationalist militias operating in occupied Yugoslavia, the

Partisans promoted the ‘brotherhood and unity’ of Yugoslav nations, and representing the

republican, left wing, and socialist elements of the Yugoslav political spectrum. The

Communist Party of Yugoslavia (KPJ) led the coalition of political parties, factions, and

prominent individuals behind the movement. Marshal Josip Broz Titos, the leader of the

Yugoslav Partisans, was a member of the KPJ.

Being Communist, the Yugoslav Parisians are aligned with the Soviet Union and

hoped to model their future economy and government of the USSR. Marshal Titos also hoped

to see the Communists take over in Greece so it would have a Communist ally nearby. Titos

was unhappy about Churchill’s desire to bring back the King of Yugoslavia into its future

government.

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Procedure

Unlike other committees, the Security Council has its own unique way of running and

proceeding. Here we do not have a fixed agenda, as crises might occur anytime throughout

the conference, we expect each of the delegates to make quick responses in different

circumstances. Though the final goal of the committee is still to pass resolutions according to

the crisis they might be facing, there might be certain situations where the committee may

decide to change its focus as the issues evolve. Substantive resolutions would have to be

voted on using the standard parliamentary procedure, with two-thirds of the members

agreeing.

All delegates are welcome to judge and decide on their own, there will be situations

where delegates not following the actual history may be allowed if it is sensible and realistic.

We expect each of the delegates to think wisely before making influential decisions.

Meanwhile, also take into consideration to the consequences that might arise throughout their

act.

Personal Directives

In order to go into a resolution procedure, delegates have tools to help influence world

events. Delegates may seek the Crisis Director privately to request an action towards other

countries. By using personal directives, delegates may request an action from their own

government (which will be decided whether it is approved or not by the crisis director). The

chance of the directive passing would be depended the domestic political situation as well as

how the on-going situation will be effected, etc.

For example, during the Cuban Revolution back in 1956, the Cuban government did

not have enough force to defeat the rebels, the USA, who happen to need the support of Cuba

in other places can therefore arrange a troop to help solve the crisis in Cuba. The US delegate

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then may request from the Crisis Director on whether they can spare out a troop from their

internal army force and send them to support the Cuban government on defeating the rebels.

Communiqués

Communiqués can be addressed to either a specific individual or to the entire

institutions. There are no restrictions on the types and targets of communiqués – however, do

be aware of interception that might occur during the delivery of the message.

A delegate may speak to either a specific country, or to the whole room. The message

can either be true or a false one. With true information, delegates should put into

consideration about the consequences they might face if the information gets intercepted.

However, delegates are also welcome to give out inaccurate news to the rest in order to

benefit them or to add tension to the committee.

Press Releases

Press releases may be used to announce, pressure, or flawed decisions. Again, just

like the other tools, the domestic political situation of each nation will affect the usage of

press releases. With the correct use of press release, benefits may be brought to certain

countries whilst some other countries may be influenced negatively.

For instance, a delegate may use press release to express their current position or on

how they will react to the ongoing event. By using press releases, other delegates may get a

better idea on each other’s thoughts and ideas. Also, by releasing erroneous news may benefit

a country (or more) in certain ways.

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Sir Michael Howard, Yale University

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Adolf Hitler. Mein Kampf

History10paper2.wikispace.com

AJP Taylor. The Origins of the Second World War

Csoban Göcze. Treaty of Versailles (1919)

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish_government-in-exile#Wartime_history

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiang_Kai-shek

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Provisional_Government_of_the_French_Republic

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_de_Gaulle

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongolia#Modern_history

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