Livadia Palace

UKRAINE - Livadia palace

Introduction
At the time of World War II, the Crimean peninsula was still undisputedly Russian. While the coastal city of Sevastopol would receive the hero status from the Russian leader Stalin for his heroic fight against the Nazis in 1942, Yalta became known for its conference at the end of the war.

The Red Army pushed back the German armies in the east while the Allies struggled in Italy and Western Europe. Stalin had no intention of leaving his own country behind for a conference and so it was decided to hold it in Yalta, formerly a Russian spa resort.

Summer residence of the Tsar
The Yalta Conference in February 1945 was attended by the leaders of the Big Three Allied Powers. The critically ill American President "Roosevelt", the hungry and agitated British Prime Minister "Churchill" and the Russian President Joseph Stalin in a upper high mood.

The "Livadia" palace was chosen, which had once served as the summer residence of the Russian tsar family. It would be the last of three World War II meetings of the three leaders. The conference focused on the situation that would arise after the end of this war. The post-war relations already became visible here and it goes without saying that this also involved the delineation of spheres of influence.

Stalin increases his power
Because Russia had taken on the lion's share of the war against the Nazis, Stalin could easily bring Eastern Europe into his sphere of influence; as a counterproposal, Russia would keep out of Mediterranean waters.

It is generally assumed that the then already ill American President Roosevelt allowed himself to be wrapped up by Stalin. In exchange for Russian participation in the war against Japan and the yet-to-be-established United Nations (UN), the US president allegedly 'gave away' Eastern Europe to the Soviets. Churchill would only have accepted this after frantic discussions. Although few concrete agreements were made at the Yalta Conference, this conference promoted the post-war division of Europe into a Western and a Soviet power bloc.

Museum
Nowadays you can visit the palace as a museum. You can take a look at the large white room where the major meetings took place, but also the small meeting rooms with impressive photos. Of course you can walk around in the courtyard. It was there where the world famous photo was taken with the three gentlemen in armchairs; where Roosevelt has a cloth over his lap.

Besides the conference, the palace was one of the summer residences of the last tsar in Russia – Nicholas II and his entourage. On the first floor you can see the furniture, photos, letters and other knick-knacks from the time when the Tsar's family stayed here for four seasons.

For current visiting hours, please contact the museum.

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Source

• Text: Cheapskatetravel
• Photos: Cheapskatetravel