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==Post war doctrines, conference reactions and consequences==
[[File:Soviet_Prime_Minister_Josef_Stalin,_President_Harry_S._Truman,_and_British_Prime_Minister_Winston_Churchill_pose_for..._-_NARA_-_198797.jpg|thumbnail|275px|Stalin, Truman, and Churchill at Potsdam Conference in 1945]]
Although the initial reaction to the Yalta agreements was celebratory, it was also very short lived. In 1945, the administration of the new US president Harry Truman clashed with the Soviets over their influence in Eastern Europe, and over the United Nations. Many Americans began to criticize Roosevelt’s handling of the Yalta negotiations due to the following lack of Soviet cooperation and even giving Eastern Europe and Northeast Asia away to the Soviet Union.<ref> Plokhii, p. 119</ref> Numerous Central European nations also regard the Conference in Yalta as the “Great Western betrayal” since it allowed the USSR to intervene freely in their domestic affairs, abandoning democratic policies and turning them into Soviet satellites. Yalta effectively allowed the USSR to install Communist regimes in Central Europe with impunity. At the Yalta conference, the Big Three “attempted to sacrifice freedom for the sake of stability”, and many believe the decisions and concessions of Roosevelt and Churchill during the summit led to the following power struggle during the Cold War. Nevertheless, Stalin essentially got everything he wanted: a significant territorial sphere of influence and interest as a buffer zone.
The German invasion in, the USSR and pressing back to victory in the East required a tremendous sacrifice by the Soviet Union. And Stalin skillfully used that during the wartime conferences in pursuit of his postwar Soviet empire expansion. Soviet military casualties totaled approximately 35 million with over 15 million killed, missing or captured. One in four Soviets was killed or wounded. More than 1 ,700 towns and 70 ,000 villages were destroyed and the Soviet civilian death toll reached over 25 million.<ref> Conquest, p. 234</ref>. Thereafter, Stalin was often referred to as one of the most influential men in human history. Although Stalin was responsible for the deaths of over 20 million people during his brutal rule, he was even nominated for Nobel Peace Prize twice – in 1945 and 1948.<ref> Montefiore, p. 117</ref>. He continued to prosecute a reign of terror, purges, executions, exiles to labor camps and persecution in the postwar USSR, suppressing all dissent and anything that represented foreign–especially Western–influence. One of the key aims of Stalin, before and after the war was the retention of his won power and to make himself secure agaisnt against all his real or imagined opponents.<ref. Conquest, p. 213</ref>However, despite all, Soviet dictator’s iron will and deft political skills let Stalin play the loyal ally while never abandoning his vision of an expanded postwar Soviet empire.
==Stalin and the security of the Soviet Union==
