YALTA CONFERENCE
WHO: BIG THREE – ROOSEVELT (USA), CHURCHILL (GB),
STALIN (USSR)
WHEN: FEB 1945 **REMEMBER: V-E DAY MAY 8, 1945
WHAT: DISCUSSING WHAT TO DO WITH GERMANY AFTER
THE WAR
 STALIN FAVORED A HARSH APPROACH…CHURCHILL
DISAGREED, SO ROOSEVELT ACTED AS A MEDIATOR
*COMPROMISES:
1. TEMPORARY DIVISION OF GERMANY INTO 4
OCCUPATION ZONES
a. (USA, GREAT BRITAIN, FRANCE, SOVIET UNION)
2. STALIN PROMISED FREE ELECTIONS IN POLAND &
OTHER EASTERN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES
3. SOVIETS WOULD JOIN THE WAR IN THE PACIFIC
AGAINST JAPAN
NUREMBERG TRIALS
WHO: 24 SURVIVING NAZI LEADERS ON TRIAL FOR CRIMES
AGAINST HUMANITY, CRIMES AGAINST PEACE, & WAR
CRIMES. THE TRIALS WERE DONE BY AN INTERNATIONAL
MILITARY TRIBUNAL (REPRESENTATIVES FROM THE FOUR
WINNING COUNTRIES)
WHERE: GERMAN TOWN OF NUREMBERG
RESULTS:
1. 12 OF THE 24 WERE SENTENCED TO DEATH – MOST
OTHERS WERE SENT TO PRISON
2. PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY ENACTED – THE LEADERS
COULD NOT SIMPLY SAY “THEY WERE FOLLOWING
ORDERS”
ECONOMIC GAINS
-UNEMPLOYMENT FELL TO 1.2% IN 1944
-WEEKLY PAYCHECKS INCREASED 35% DURING THE WAR
-CROP PRODUCTION INCREASED 50%, FARM INCOME
TRIPLED
--FARMERS ALSO BENEFITTED FROM GOOD WEATHER &
TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES
-PERCENTAGE OF WOMEN IN THE WORKFORCE UP 35%
--1/3 WORKED IN DEFENSE PLANTS AS A RESULT,
MANY LOST THEIR JOBS WHEN THE WAR ENDED
-MARRIAGE LICENSES WENT UP 300% IN SEATTLE, IN THE
NATION OVERALL….BABY BOOM
DISCRIMINATION
-1940-44 AFRICAN AMERICANS WORKING IN SKILLED JOBS
INCREASED TO 30% (UP FROM 16%)
-CONGRESS OF RACIAL EQUALITY: TO CONFRONT URBAN
INEQUALITY IN THE NORTH
--AS BLACKS MOVED INTO CITIES, TENSIONS ROSE
-DETROIT RACE RIOT OF 1943 (SHOWED HOW INTENSE
RACIAL TENSIONS HAD GOTTEN)
-RACIAL TENSION IN LOS ANGELES: MEXICAN-AMERICANS
(ANTI-MEXICAN “ZOOT SUIT” RIOTS