Joseph Stalin Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ==World War II== {{Main|Soviet Union in World War II| Winter War|German-Soviet Axis talks|1941 Red Army Purge| Katyn massacre|Gestapo-NKVD Conferences}} === 1939–1941: Pact with Nazi Germany === As a Marxist–Leninist, Stalin considered conflict between competing capitalist powers inevitable; after Nazi Germany [[Anschluss|annexed Austria]] and then [[German occupation of Czechoslovakia|part of Czechoslovakia]] in 1938, he recognised a war was looming.{{sfn|Montefiore|2003|p=308}} He sought to maintain Soviet neutrality, hoping that a German war against France and Britain would lead to Soviet dominance in Europe.{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1pp=220–221|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2pp=380–381}} Militarily, the Soviets also faced a threat from the east, with Soviet troops [[Soviet–Japanese border conflicts|clashing with the expansionist Japanese]] in the latter part of the 1930s.{{sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1pp=392–393|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2pp=163, 168–169}} Stalin initiated a military build-up, with the Red Army more than doubling between January 1939 and June 1941, although in its haste to expand many of its officers were poorly trained.{{sfn|Khlevniuk|2015|pp=185–186}} Between 1940 and 1941 he also purged the military, leaving it with a severe shortage of trained officers when war broke out.{{sfn|Conquest|1991|pp=232–233, 236}} [[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-H27337, Moskau, Stalin und Ribbentrop im Kreml.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|left|Stalin greeting the German foreign minister [[Joachim von Ribbentrop]] in the Kremlin, 1939]] As Britain and France seemed unwilling to commit to an alliance with the Soviet Union, Stalin saw a better deal with the Germans.{{sfn|Service|2004|pp=399–400}} On 3 May 1939, Stalin replaced his western-oriented foreign minister [[Maxim Litvinov]] with [[Vyacheslav Molotov]].{{sfn|Nekrich|1997|p=109}} Germany began negotiations with the Soviets, proposing that Eastern Europe be divided between the two powers.{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=220|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=166}} Stalin saw this as an opportunity both for territorial expansion and temporary peace with Germany.{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=220|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2pp=168, 169}} In August 1939, the Soviet Union signed the [[Molotov–Ribbentrop pact]] with Germany, a non-aggression pact negotiated by Molotov and German foreign minister [[Joachim von Ribbentrop]].{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=221|2a1=Roberts|2y=1992|2pp=57–78|3a1=Service|3y=2004|3p=399|4a1=Khlevniuk|4y=2015|4p=166}} A week later, [[Germany invaded Poland]], sparking the UK and France to declare war on Germany.{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=222|2a1=Roberts|2y=1992|2pp=57–78|3a1=Khlevniuk|3y=2015|3p=169}} On 17 September, [[Soviet invasion of Poland|the Red Army entered eastern Poland]], officially to restore order amid the collapse of the Polish state.{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=222|2a1=Roberts|2y=2006|2p=43}} On 28 September, Germany and the Soviet Union exchanged some of their newly conquered territories; Germany gained the linguistically Polish-dominated areas of Lublin Province and part of Warsaw Province while the Soviets gained Lithuania.{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=223|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2pp=402–403|3a1=Wettig|3y=2008|3p=20}} A [[German–Soviet Frontier Treaty]] was signed shortly after, in Stalin's presence.{{sfn|Conquest|1991|p=224}} The two states [[Nazi–Soviet economic relations (1934–41)|continued trading]], undermining the [[Blockade of Germany (1939–1945)|British blockade of Germany]].{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=224|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=405}} The Soviets further demanded parts of eastern Finland, but the Finnish government refused. The [[Winter War|Soviets invaded Finland]] in November 1939, yet despite numerical inferiority, the Finns kept the Red Army at bay.{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=228|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=403|3a1=Khlevniuk|3y=2015|3pp=172–173}} International opinion backed Finland, with the Soviets being expelled from the League of Nations.{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=279|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=173}} Embarrassed by their inability to defeat the Finns, the Soviets signed an [[Moscow Peace Treaty|interim peace treaty]], in which they received territorial concessions from Finland.{{sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=403|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=173}} In June 1940, the Red Army occupied the Baltic states, which were forcibly [[Occupation of the Baltic states|merged into the Soviet Union]] in August;{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=227|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2pp=404–405|3a1=Wettig|3y=2008|3pp=20–21|4a1=Khlevniuk|4y=2015|4p=173}} they also invaded and annexed [[Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and northern Bukovina|Bessarabia and northern Bukovina]], parts of Romania.{{sfnm|1a1=Brackman|1y=2001|1p=341|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=173}} The Soviets sought to forestall dissent in these new East European territories with mass repressions.{{sfn|Khlevniuk|2015|p=170}} One of the most noted instances was the [[Katyn massacre]] of April and May 1940, in which around 22,000 members of the Polish armed forces, police, and intelligentsia were executed.{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=229|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=170}} The speed of the German victory over and occupation of France in mid-1940 took Stalin by surprise.{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=229|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=405}} He increasingly focused on appeasement with the Germans to delay any conflict with them.{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=229|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=406}} After the [[Tripartite Pact]] was signed by [[Axis Powers]] Germany, Japan, and Italy in October 1940, Stalin proposed that [[German–Soviet Axis talks|the USSR also join the Axis alliance]].{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=231|2a1=Brackman|2y=2001|2pp=341, 343|3a1=Roberts|3y=2006|3p=58}} To demonstrate peaceful intentions toward Germany, in April 1941 the Soviets signed [[Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact|a neutrality pact]] with Japan.{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=233|2a1=Roberts|2y=2006|2p=63}} Although ''de facto'' head of government for a decade and a half, Stalin concluded that relations with Germany had deteriorated to such an extent that he needed to deal with the problem as ''de jure'' head of government as well: on 6 May, Stalin replaced Molotov as [[Premier of the Soviet Union]].{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=234|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=180}} === 1941–1942: German invasion === [[File:Battle of Moscow.jpg|thumb|With all the men at the front, women dig [[anti-tank trench]]es around Moscow in 1941.]] In June 1941, Germany [[invaded the Soviet Union]], initiating the war on the [[Eastern Front (World War II)|Eastern Front]].{{sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1pp=410–411|2a1=Roberts|2y=2006|2p=82|3a1=Khlevniuk|3y=2015|3p=198}} Despite intelligence agencies repeatedly warning him of Germany's intentions, Stalin was taken by surprise.{{sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1pp=408–409, 411–412|2a1=Roberts|2y=2006|2p=67|3a1=Khlevniuk|3y=2015|3pp=199–200, 202}} He formed a [[State Defense Committee]], which he headed as Supreme Commander,{{sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1pp=414–415|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2pp=206–207}} as well as a military Supreme Command ([[Stavka]]),{{sfn|Service|2004|p=413}} with [[Georgy Zhukov]] as its Chief of Staff.{{sfn|Service|2004|p=420}} The German tactic of ''[[blitzkrieg]]'' was initially highly effective; the Soviet air force in the western borderlands was destroyed within two days.{{sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=417|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2pp=201–202}} The German [[Wehrmacht]] pushed deep into Soviet territory;{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=235|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=416}} soon, Ukraine, Byelorussia, and the Baltic states were under German occupation, and [[Siege of Leningrad|Leningrad was under siege]];{{sfn|Service|2004|p=418}} and Soviet refugees were flooding into Moscow and surrounding cities.{{sfn|Service|2004|p=417}} By July, Germany's [[Luftwaffe]] was bombing Moscow,{{sfn|Service|2004|p=418}} and by October the Wehrmacht was amassing for a full assault on the capital. Plans were made for the Soviet government to evacuate to [[Samara|Kuibyshev]], although Stalin decided to remain in Moscow, believing his flight would damage troop morale.{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1pp=248–249|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=420|3a1=Khlevniuk|3y=2015|3pp=214–215}} The German advance on Moscow was halted after [[Battle of Moscow|two months of battle]] in increasingly harsh weather conditions.{{sfn|Glantz|2001|p=26}} Going against the advice of Zhukov and other generals, Stalin emphasised attack over defence.{{sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1pp=421, 424|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=220}} In June 1941, he ordered a [[scorched earth]] policy of destroying infrastructure and food supplies before the Germans could seize them,{{sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=482|2a1=Roberts|2y=2006|2p=90}} also commanding the [[NKVD prisoner massacres|NKVD to kill]] around 100,000 political prisoners in areas the Wehrmacht approached.{{sfn|Gellately|2007|p=391}} He purged the military command; several high-ranking figures were demoted or reassigned and others were arrested and executed.{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1pp=239–240|2a1=Roberts|2y=2006|2p=98|3a1=Khlevniuk|3y=2015|3p=209}} With [[Order No. 270]], Stalin commanded soldiers risking capture to fight to the death describing the captured as traitors;{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=241|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=210}} among those taken as a [[prisoner of war]] by the Germans was Stalin's son [[Yakov Dzhugashvili|Yakov]], who died in their custody.{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1pp=241–242|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=521}} Stalin issued [[Order No. 227]] in July 1942, which directed that those retreating unauthorised would be placed in "penal battalions" used as [[cannon fodder]] on the front lines.{{sfnm|1a1=Roberts|1y=2006|1p=132|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=223}} Amid the fighting, both the German and Soviet armies disregarded the [[law of war]] set forth in the [[Geneva Conventions]];{{sfn|Service|2004|p=423}} the Soviets heavily publicised Nazi massacres of communists, Jews, and [[Romani people|Romani]].{{sfn|Service|2004|p=422}} Stalin exploited Nazi anti-Semitism, and in April 1942 he sponsored the [[Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee]] (JAC) to garner global Jewish support for the Soviet war effort.{{sfn|Overy|2004|p=568}} [[File:RIAN archive 602161 Center of Stalingrad after liberation.jpg|thumb|left|The centre of [[Stalingrad]] after liberation, 2 February 1943]] The Soviets allied with the United Kingdom and United States;{{sfn|Khlevniuk|2015|p=211}} although the U.S. joined the war against Germany in 1941, little direct American assistance reached the Soviets until late 1942.{{sfn|Service|2004|p=423}} Responding to the invasion, the Soviets intensified their industrial enterprises in central Russia, focusing almost entirely on production for the military.{{sfn|Service|2004|p=421}} They achieved high levels of industrial productivity, outstripping that of Germany.{{sfn|Service|2004|p=422}} During the war, Stalin was more tolerant of the [[Russian Orthodox Church]], allowing it to resume some of its activities and meeting with [[Patriarch Sergius of Moscow|Patriarch Sergius]] in September 1943.{{sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1pp=442–443|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2pp=242–243}} He also permitted a wider range of cultural expression, notably permitting formerly suppressed writers and artists like [[Anna Akhmatova]] and [[Dmitri Shostakovich]] to disperse their work more widely.{{sfn|Service|2004|p=441}} [[The Internationale]] was dropped as the country's [[national anthem]], to be replaced with [[State Anthem of the Soviet Union|a more patriotic song]].{{sfn|Service|2004|p=442}} The government increasingly promoted [[Pan-Slavist]] sentiment,{{sfn|Service|2004|p=446}} while encouraging increased criticism of [[cosmopolitanism]], particularly the idea of "rootless cosmopolitanism", an approach with particular repercussions for Soviet Jews.{{sfn|Service|2004|pp=446–447}} Comintern was dissolved in 1943,{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=260|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=444}} and Stalin encouraged foreign Marxist–Leninist parties to emphasise nationalism over internationalism to broaden their domestic appeal.{{sfn|Service|2004|p=446}} In April 1942, Stalin overrode Stavka by ordering the Soviets' first serious counter-attack, an attempt to seize German-held [[Kharkov]] in eastern Ukraine. This attack proved unsuccessful.{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=254|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=424|3a1=Khlevniuk|3y=2015|3pp=221–222}} That year, Hitler shifted his primary goal from an overall victory on the Eastern Front to the goal of securing the oil fields in the southern Soviet Union crucial to a long-term German war effort.{{sfn|Roberts|2006|pp=117–118}} While Red Army generals saw evidence that Hitler would shift efforts south, Stalin considered this to be a flanking move in a renewed effort to take Moscow.{{sfn|Roberts|2006|p=124}} In June 1942, the German Army began a [[Case Blue|major offensive]] in Southern Russia, threatening Stalingrad; Stalin ordered the Red Army to hold the city at all costs.{{sfn|Service|2004|p=425}} This resulted in the protracted [[Battle of Stalingrad]].{{sfn|Service|2004|p=426}} In December 1942, he placed [[Konstantin Rokossovski]] in charge of holding the city.{{sfn|Service|2004|p=427}} In February 1943, the German troops attacking Stalingrad surrendered.{{sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=428|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=225}} The Soviet victory there marked a major turning point in the war;{{sfn|Khlevniuk|2015|p=225}} in commemoration, Stalin declared himself [[Marshal of the Soviet Union]].{{sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=429|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=226 |3a1=''Journal of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR'', 13 March 1943}} === 1942–1945: Soviet counter-attack === [[File:Teheran conference-1943.jpg|thumb|225px|The Big Three: Stalin, U.S. President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]], and British Prime Minister [[Winston Churchill]] at the [[Tehran Conference]], November 1943]] By November 1942, the Soviets had begun to repulse the important German strategic southern campaign and, although there were 2.5 million Soviet casualties in that effort, it permitted the Soviets to take the offensive for most of the rest of the war on the Eastern Front.{{sfn|Roberts|2006|p=155}} Germany [[Battle of Kursk|attempted an encirclement attack at Kursk]], which was successfully repulsed by the Soviets.{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=255|2a1=Roberts|2y=2006|2p=156|3a1=Khlevniuk|3y=2015|3p=227}} By the end of 1943, the Soviets occupied half of the territory taken by the Germans from 1941 to 1942.{{sfn|Roberts|2006|p=159}} Soviet military industrial output also had increased substantially from late 1941 to early 1943 after Stalin had moved factories well to the east of the front, safe from German invasion and aerial assault.{{sfn|Roberts|2006|p=163}} In Allied countries, Stalin was increasingly depicted in a positive light over the course of the war.{{sfn|Service|2004|p=452}} In 1941, the [[London Philharmonic Orchestra]] performed a concert to celebrate his birthday,{{sfn|Service|2004|p=466}} and in 1942, ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine named him "[[Time Person of the Year|Man of the Year]]".{{sfn|Service|2004|p=452}} When Stalin learned that people in Western countries affectionately called him "Uncle Joe" he was initially offended, regarding it as undignified.{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=317|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=466}} There remained mutual suspicions between Stalin, British Prime Minister [[Winston Churchill]], and U.S. President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]], who were together known as the "Big Three".{{sfn|Service|2004|p=458}} Churchill flew to Moscow to visit Stalin in August 1942 and again in October 1944.{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=252|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=460|3a1=Khlevniuk|3y=2015|2pp=224, 244}} Stalin scarcely left Moscow throughout the war,{{sfn|Service|2004|p=456}} with Roosevelt and Churchill frustrated with his reluctance to travel to meet them.{{sfn|Service|2004|p=460}} In November 1943, Stalin met with Churchill and Roosevelt [[Tehran Conference|in Tehran]], a location of Stalin's choosing.{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=262|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=460|3a1=Roberts|3y=2006|3p=180|4a1=Khlevniuk|4y=2015|4pp=229–230}} There, Stalin and Roosevelt got on well, with both desiring the post-war dismantling of the [[British Empire]].{{sfn|Service|2004|p=462}} At Tehran, the trio agreed that to prevent Germany rising to military prowess yet again, the German state should be broken up.{{sfn|Service|2004|p=463}} Roosevelt and Churchill also agreed to Stalin's demand that the German city of [[Königsberg]] be declared Soviet territory.{{sfn|Service|2004|p=463}} Stalin was impatient for the UK and U.S. to open up a [[Western Front (World War II)|Western Front]] to take the pressure off of the East; they eventually did so in mid-1944.{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1pp=244, 251|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2pp=461, 469|3a1=Roberts|3y=2006|3p=185|4a1=Khlevniuk|4y=2015|4pp=223, 229}} Stalin insisted that, after the war, the Soviet Union should incorporate the portions of Poland it occupied pursuant to the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact with Germany, which Churchill opposed.{{sfn|Roberts|2006|pp=186–187}} Discussing the fate of the Balkans, later in 1944 Churchill agreed to Stalin's suggestion that after the war, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, and Yugoslavia would come under the Soviet sphere of influence while Greece would come under that of the West.{{sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1pp=464–465|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=244}} [[File:Soviet soldiers in Polozk (Belarus), passing by propaganda poster celebrating the reconquest of the city and urging the liberation of the Baltic from Nazi German occupation. July 4, 1944.jpg|thumb|left|Soviet soldiers in [[Polotsk]], 4 July 1944]] In 1944, the Soviet Union made significant advances across Eastern Europe toward Germany,{{sfn|Roberts|2006|pp=194–195}} including [[Operation Bagration]], a massive offensive in the [[Byelorussian SSR]] against the German Army Group Centre.{{sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=469|2a1=Roberts|2y=2006|2pp=199–201}} In 1944, the German armies were pushed out of the Baltic states (with the exception of the [[Ostland]]), which were then re-annexed into the Soviet Union.{{sfn|Service|2004|p=492}} As the Red Army reconquered the Caucasus and Crimea, various ethnic groups living in the region—the [[Kalmyks]], [[Chechens]], [[Ingush people|Ingushi]], [[Karachai]], [[Balkars]], and [[Crimean Tatars]]—were accused of having collaborated with the Germans. Using the idea of [[collective responsibility]] as a basis, Stalin's government abolished their autonomous republics and between late 1943 and 1944 deported the majority of their populations to Central Asia and Siberia.{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=258|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=492|3a1=Khlevniuk|3y=2015|3pp=232–233}} Over one million people were deported as a result of the policy.{{sfn|Khlevniuk|2015|p=233}} In February 1945, the three leaders met at the [[Yalta Conference]].{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=264|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=465|3a1=Khlevniuk|3y=2015|3p=244}} Roosevelt and Churchill conceded to Stalin's demand that Germany pay the Soviet Union 20 billion dollars in reparations, and that his country be permitted to annex [[Sakhalin]] and the [[Kuril Islands]] in exchange for entering the war against Japan.{{sfn|Service|2004|pp=465–466}} An agreement was also made that a post-war Polish government should be a coalition consisting of both communist and conservative elements.{{sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1pp=465–466|2a1=Roberts|2y=2006|2pp=241–244}} Privately, Stalin sought to ensure that Poland would come fully under Soviet influence.{{sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=471|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=245}} The Red Army withheld assistance to Polish resistance fighters battling the Germans in the [[Warsaw Uprising]], with Stalin believing that any victorious Polish militants could interfere with his aspirations to dominate Poland through a future Marxist government.{{sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1pp=471–472|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=244}} Although concealing his desires from the other Allied leaders, Stalin placed great emphasis on capturing Berlin first, believing that this would enable him to bring more of Europe under long-term Soviet control. Churchill was concerned that this was the case and unsuccessfully tried to convince the U.S. that the Western Allies should pursue the same goal.{{sfn|Service|2004|p=473}} === 1945: Victory === [[File:USA C-1860 (26246410746).jpg|left|thumb|British Prime Minister [[Clement Attlee]], U.S. President [[Harry S. Truman]] and Joseph Stalin at the [[Potsdam Conference]], July 1945]] In April 1945, the Red Army [[Battle of Berlin|seized Berlin]], [[Death of Adolf Hitler|Hitler killed himself]], and Germany surrendered in May.{{sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=474|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=247}} Stalin had wanted Hitler captured alive; he had his remains brought to Moscow to prevent them becoming a relic for Nazi sympathisers.{{sfn|Service|2004|pp=479–480}} Many Soviet soldiers engaged in looting, pillaging, and rape, both in Germany and parts of Eastern Europe.{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1pp=265|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=473|3a1=Khlevniuk|3y=2015|3p=234}} Stalin refused to punish the offenders.{{sfn|Service|2004|p=473}} With Germany defeated, Stalin switched focus to the [[Soviet–Japanese War|war with Japan]], transferring half a million troops to the Far East.{{sfn|Service|2004|p=474}} Stalin was pressed by his allies to enter the war and wanted to cement the Soviet Union's strategic position in Asia.{{sfnm|Glantz|1983|p=xvii}} On 8 August, in between the U.S. [[atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki]], the Soviet army [[Soviet invasion of Manchuria|invaded Japanese-occupied Manchuria]] and defeated the [[Kwantung Army]].{{sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=476|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2pp=248–249}} These events led to the [[Japanese surrender]] and the war's end.{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=268|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=248}} Soviet forces continued to expand until they occupied all their territorial concessions, but the U.S. rebuffed Stalin's desire for the Red Army to take a role in the Allied [[occupation of Japan]].{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=267|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=249}} At the [[Potsdam Conference]] in July–August 1945, Stalin repeated previous promises that he would refrain from a "Sovietization" of Eastern Europe.{{sfn|Roberts|2006|pp=274–275}} Stalin pushed for reparations from Germany without regard to the base minimum supply for German citizens' survival, which worried [[Harry Truman]] and Churchill who thought that Germany would become a financial burden for Western powers.{{sfn|Wettig|2008|pp=90–91}} He also pushed for "war booty", which would permit the Soviet Union to directly seize property from conquered nations without quantitative or qualitative limitation, and a clause was added permitting this to occur with some limitations.{{sfn|Wettig|2008|pp=90–91}} Germany was divided into four zones: Soviet, U.S., British, and French, with Berlin itself—located within the Soviet area—also subdivided thusly.{{sfn|Service|2004|p=506}} Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. 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