Yalta Conference
The Yalta conference took place on February 1945, in a Russian resort town in Crimea, which was recently annexed by Russia in 2014. However the before the conference took place there was tension building up between the Allies and the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union was an ally with Germany for 2 years when they signed the Nazi-Soviet Pact; “this led the west to believe Stalin was cynical, opportunistic, power hungry, expansionist” (lecture, 1/8/16). It also took the allies a while to open up a western front, and this angered Stalin as the Soviet unions causalities kept on mounting. The conference was attended by the big three, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin and U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The leaders agreed to Germanys surrender and to set up spheres in occupied Germany that the three nations plus France would control (lecture 1/8/16). Stalin also agreed to free elections in Eastern Europe, however he fell short on his promise.

Berlin Blockade/Airlift
The Berlin Blockade was the first physical confrontation between the Soviet Union and the West (lecture 1/8/16). The blockade started on June 1948 to May 1949. The whole idea behind the Blockade was to force the western allies out of “Berlin by blocking all ground access to the city” (lecture, 1/8/16). This was possible because getting into Berlin you had to travel through Soviet occupied East Germany. The allies were able to get around the blockade by airlifting massive amounts of supplies to Berlin (lecture, 1/8/16). This was significant because it showed how the relations between the Soviet Union and the Allies have deteriorated. It also showed the Allies logistical capabilities to keep the city of Berlin running during a blockade. The Soviets considered the blockade a failure and opened up the roads again in May 1949.

Einsatzgruppen
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