ARGONAUT

ARGONAUT, codename for the Allied conference at Yalta in the Crimea which was held from 4 to 11 February 1945 to discuss future strategy (see Grand Alliance) and the division of post-war Germany. Present were Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin, and their diplomatic and military advisers, totalling 700 people. ARGONAUT was also the codename for preliminary meetings held by Edward Stettinius, Anthony Eden, and the Combined Chiefs of Staff in Malta from 30 January to 3 February, and where Churchill and Roosevelt also met twice.

The military topics discussed included the strategy of the western allies in the final phase of the battle for Germany; their liaison with Soviet forces during the course of this campaign; and how the occupation of Germany and Austria would be arranged (see Allied Control Commissions). The first topic was covered at the Malta meetings; the other two were discussed at Yalta. But apart from agreeing to an Allied Control Commission for Germany, and that France should be one of the occupying powers, little was achieved.

Unlike earlier summit conferences, where military strategy predominated, the three leaders were primarily involved in diplomatic negotiations on the shape of the post-war world (see consequences of the war). A secret agreement was reached, without Churchill's knowledge, that covered Soviet demands in return for entering the war against Japan. Although Chinese interests were affected by this agreement, Chiang Kai-shek was not informed of them. They included the preservation of the status quo of Mongolia, the return of the southern part of Sakhalin Island to the USSR, and the acquisition by the USSR of the Kurile Islands.

The most difficult discussions centred on the Polish government (see Lublin Committee) and Poland's frontiers (see Oder–Neisse Line). However an agreement, if only temporary, was reached; voting rights in the United Nations (see San Francisco conference), which the Dumbarton Oaks conference had failed to resolve, were settled; affirmation was given to an agreement that all nationals accused of being deserters or traitors should be returned to their countries of origin (see Soviet exiles); and the Declaration on Liberated Europe was issued. See also diplomacy.