[Jim O]

Originally Posted by Ingsoc

The Poles did belong to the victors, pro-Soviet Polish troops even fought in Berlin, however tradiotanly France was one of the powerfull state in the begining of the war so that why she was considered equal to the "big three".

This is exactly right. Originally there were to be three zones but Churchill and Roosevelt persuaded Stalin that France should also have a zone at Yalta. It was carved from what was originally to be the American and British zones. These were the key points:

• There was agreement that the priority was the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany. After the war, the country would be split into four occupied zones, with a quadripartite occupation of Berlin as well.
• Stalin agreed to let France get the fourth occupation zone in Germany and Austria, carved out from the British and American zones. France would also be granted a seat in the Allied Control Council.
• Germany would undergo demilitarization and denazification.
• German reparations were partly to be in the form of forced labor.
• Creation of an allied reparation council with its seat in Moscow.
• The status of Poland was discussed but was complicated by the fact that Poland by this time was under the control of the red army. It was agreed to reorganize the Provisionary Polish Government that had been set up by the Red Army through the inclusion of other groups as the Polish Provisional Government of National Unity to be followed by democratic elections. This effectively excluded the legitimate Polish government-in-exile that had evacuated west in 1939.
• The Polish eastern border should basically follow the Curzon Line, and Poland should receive substantial territorial compensation in the west from Germany.
• Citizens of the Soviet Union and of Yugoslavia were to be handed over to their respective countries, regardless of their consent.
• Roosevelt obtained a commitment by Stalin to participate in the United Nations once it was agreed that each of the five permanent members of the Security Council would have veto power.
• Stalin agreed to enter the fight against the Empire of Japan within 90 days after the defeat of Germany. The Soviet Union would receive the southern part of Sakhalin and the Kurile islands after the defeat of Japan.
• Millions of Russians across Europe were forced to return to Russia under Stalin's Communist Rule
• A "Committee on Dismemberment of Germany" was to be set up. The purpose was to decide whether Germany was to be divided into several nations, and if so, what borders and inter-relationships the new German states were to have.

Source: Yalta Conference

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