February 4
1945 Yalta Conference between the "big three," Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin. The conference ended on February 12. The trio agreed on the creation of the United Nations, the division of Germany into occupation zones, and that the Soviet Union would enter World War II against Japan. The Soviets were to regain Sakhalin and nearby islands and to take possession of the Kurile Islands. Continuing Russian control over the Kuriles is a significant sticking point in Russian-Japanese relations. CNN's website linked to its Cold War series includes the Yalta protocol. Click here to see a U.N. photo from the concluding day of the conference.
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© 2001 UCLA Center for East Asian Studies