No Time for Stalin Trivia Quiz

Answer: Poland

Poland was a hot topic at the Yalta conference and was the subject of a heated debate between Stalin and Churchill. Stalin felt that Poland was the flat, open gateway into the heart of Russia and should be controlled by the USSR as a matter of vital security. He also held up the fact that Russia had lost countless lives in the attempt to drive Nazis out of Poland. Finally, he stated the land rightfully belonged to his country because (decades earlier) Poland had pushed past the Curzon boundary line.

Churchill, however, felt an obligation to Poland as Britain had originally entered the war to defend the country. He argued that letting Stalin swallow Poland would mean Britain had failed the very nation it went to war to protect. He also argued that the Polish people themselves had fought bravely against the Nazis and earned the right to be independent. Finally, Churchill recognized the democratic Polish government in exile, which had been operating out of London since 1940, and not the puppet regime Stalin proposed.

Answer: Teasing and mocking of Churchill

Roosevelt knew that Stalin was deeply, pathologically paranoid. Stalin was convinced that the capitalist Western democracies of the US and Britain were a unified front secretly plotting to dismantle the Soviet Union the moment Hitler was defeated. Roosevelt decided to visually and politically separate himself from Churchill, even staying at a different compound. He also decided to use Churchill as a butt of jokes to break through Stalin's exterior.

Whenever Churchill launched into an impassioned, romantic speech about the British Empire or Western values, Roosevelt would subtly roll his eyes, interrupt with a joke, or make a sharp remark. Finally, after teasing Churchill about his cigars, his habits, and his overall Britishness, Stalin erupted with laughter. This came at a high price, though. Churchill was deeply hurt and felt abandoned and a close friendship was very damaged.

Answer: United Nations

Roosevelt firmly believed that the only way to prevent a World War III was to bind the United States, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union into a permanent global alliance, and this was his top priority at the Yalta conference. Roosevelt reasoned that even if Stalin behaved poorly now, a functioning United Nations (UN) would eventually smooth out geopolitical conflicts in the future. Stalin, however, saw this obsession of Roosevelt as a weak point.

Stalin used the UN as a bargaining chip, essentially holding his cooperation hostage until Roosevelt granted him concessions. Stalin got such things as veto power, extra seats on the UN Council, and control over bordering countries such as Poland and Romania. He gave Roosevelt the diplomatic victory he craved on paper, and in return, he got the actual physical buffer zone he wanted in Europe.

Answer: Winston Churchill

In Soviet political culture, a banquet was not just a social break but it was also an extension of the negotiating table. Stalin used heavy drinking to soften his guests, observe their behavior when uninhibited, and manipulate the mood of the room. At the main state dinners, it was customary for every single dignitary to stand up and propose a formal toast to someone else at the table. At one legendary Yalta dinner, records show there were at least 45 separate toasts proposed over the course of the evening, almost all accompanied by shots of fine Russian vodka or sweet wine.

Churchill and Stalin had spent years despising each other's political ideologies. Stalin knew Churchill was feeling increasingly cornered and bitter about Britain's declining power. By suddenly raising a glass to Churchill and praising his unique courage in 1940 (when Britain stood entirely alone against Hitler) Stalin wasn't just being nice, he was disarming his fiercest critic. The toast worked beautifully and Churchill was visibly moved by the compliment from the Soviet dictator.

Answer: Congestive heart failure

Roosevelt was suffering from advanced, uncontrolled hypertension (high blood pressure) and acute congestive heart failure. In an era before modern cardiac medications existed, his heart was severely enlarged and struggling to pump blood. During the difficult 7,000 mile (11,265 km) journey and the intense negotiation sessions, his blood pressure spiked to life threatening levels, often exceeding 220/120.

He was pale, gaunt, frequently short of breath, and suffered from oxygen deprivation. Despite his body failing him, Roosevelt relied entirely on his internal willpower and refused to let his illness sideline him because he genuinely believed he was the only bridge that could keep the Western alliance and the Soviet Union from tearing each other apart.

Answer: The Livadia Palace

Stalin harbored a deep, genuine respect for Roosevelt that he never extended to Churchill. Stalin appreciated Roosevelt's directness and political acumen and respected Roosevelt's accomplishments in the war. He viewed him as a formidable equal. As such, Stalin made an unprecedented diplomatic concession specifically out of this respect for Roosevelt.

The Yalta sessions were originally supposed to rotate between the three leaders' palaces. Realizing how grueling it was for a wheelchair bound and ill Roosevelt to be moved across the rough roads, Stalin ordered that all official sessions take place at Roosevelt's residence which was the Livadia Palace. Stalin and Churchill traveled miles back and forth every single day so that Roosevelt would never have to leave his own palace. It was a massive, highly unusual sign of deference from Stalin.

Answer: Buffalo and bear

Churchill arrived at Yalta with a profound sense of melancholy. He realized that the centuries long era of British global dominance was over. Great Britain was financially bankrupt from years of total war, and its military strength was now eclipsed by the two emerging titans of the United States and the Soviet Union. He believed the destiny of Europe was now in their hands.

Churchill famously said, "There I sat with the great Russian bear on one side of me with paws outstretched, and, on the other side, the great American buffalo. Between the two sat the poor little English donkey, who was the only one who knew the right way home". He believed Britain (the donkey) had the most experience and political insight, but was rapidly losing geopolitical leverage to the other two superpowers at the conference.

Answer: The NKVD (Soviet Secret Police) / Lavrentiy Beria

When Churchill and Roosevelt reluctantly agreed to travel to the Crimea for the conference, they were entering an environment meticulously engineered by Lavrentiy Beria, the ruthless head of the NKVD (the Soviet secret police). Beria personally oversaw the preparation of the palaces, which included a massive, hidden intelligence operation.

Microphones were hidden in every room, especially the bedrooms. Many of the servants were actually Soviet spies told to listen carefully to the conversations. These audio transcripts were being translated and funneled directly to Stalin around the clock. This gave him an unbelievable advantage at the negotiating table.

Answer: The Kurile Islands

Roosevelt's backroom dealing with Stalin regarding the Pacific War is one of the most controversial subjects of Yalta. American military planners overestimated Japan's remaining strength, fearing a mainland invasion of Japan could cost over a million Allied casualties. Desperate to prevent this, one of Roosevelt's top priorities was to get the Soviet Army to open a massive second front in Asia.

Stalin knew how desperate Roosevelt was and named a steep price. In private, two way meetings Roosevelt promised Stalin that in exchange for fighting Japan, the USSR would receive the Kurile Islands with their strategic location, the southern half of Sakhalin Island, a lease on Port Arthur as a Soviet naval base, and control over the Manchurian railroads When Churchill was finally brought in to sign off on the finished agreement, he was deeply frustrated but felt he had no choice.

Answer: No

The spirit of the conference turned out to be an illusion. Within weeks of the Western leaders departing, the Soviet Red Army and the Soviet secret police systematically crushed local democratic movements, arrested political dissidents, and forcibly installed oppressive communist puppet regimes in Poland, Romania, and Bulgaria. Instead of ushering in an era of global cooperation, the violation of the Yalta accords shattered the trust between the Western Allies and the Soviet Union, igniting the Cold War.

This tragic outcome was further highlighted by the exits of the Western leaders who had fought so hard at the negotiating table at Yalta. A frail Roosevelt, already dying during the summit, passed away just two months later on April 12, 1945, never living to see the final Allied victory or the ultimate betrayal of his United Nations vision. Meanwhile, Churchill was shockingly voted out of office by the British public in July 1945, right in the middle of the post war Potsdam Conference. Stalin was left as the sole remaining member of the Big Three of Yalta.