War Pictorial News No.200

The cheery British voice over tells us of the arrival of various British military and diplomatic officials, hinting at the huge amount of work they have to get through. We then see Churchill arriving, followed by Roosevelt. The leaders then meet up but the action then shifts to less senior officials. We get detail of how the three countries will meet regularly to co-ordinate their policies. Scene then shifts to the Big Three arriving for the main talks. The leaders and their officials are then shown seated and the commentary tells us that ‘Here was destroyed the last hope that Germans may have had of victory through Allied disunity’. Stalin is described in glowing terms and then the scene shifts to the sequence that can also been seen in our first Yalta clip in this section. Here we have a commentary. Towards the end of the war the leaders of the Big Three powers Churchill (Britain), Roosevelt (USA) and Stalin (USSR) met in Teheran in 1943 and then here in Yalta in February 1945. Their aim was to discuss what would happen to Europe once the conflict was over. As with the Soviet clip, the upbeat tone of this clip is the most interesting feature. The stressing of the unity of the powers is interesting, as is the glowing description of Stalin. Clearly the public back home is meant to be in no doubt of the goodwill and cooperation between the powers.

Channel: UK National Archives Video Length: 2m 52s Date Found: Sat, Apr 12 2008 10:01 AM Category: History Date Produced: View Count: 24