Franklin D. Roosevelt
thirty-second President

The time had come for getting down to specific cases in the political field. There was on all sides at this conference an enthusiastic effort to reach an agreement.

On February 4, 1945, the ‘Big Three’ Allied leaders-U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin-met at Yalta, a resort town on the Black Sea, to discuss military considerations in the war against Japan, and to compromise on their visions of the postwar world order. With victory over Germany imminent, the leaders agreed to divide Germany into zones of occupation and discussed the postwar United Nations and its projected Security Council. A frail President Roosevelt, two months from his death, concentrated most of his energies in petitioning Stalin to join the war against Japan. After being assured of postwar possession of territories historically disputed between Russia and Japan, as well as an occupation zone in Korea, Stalin agreed to declare war against Japan within three months of Germany's defeat. Although the Soviets' entrance into the Pacific War on August 9 hastened the Japanese surrender and saved American lives, Roosevelt was later criticized for delivering Eastern Europe and North Korean into Communist domination by conceding too much to Stalin at Yalta.