11 February 1945—Yalta agreement

Sino-Soviet negotiating records from 1945 are especially important because they prove that the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics resorted to secret diplomacy to fulfill Russia’s long-term goal of separating Outer Mongolia from China. After China’s 1911 revolution, Russia forced China’s weak republican government to recognize Outer Mongolia’s autonomy in 1915. The very brevity of the thirteen-word 11 February 1945 Yalta resolution on Outer Mongolia—“the status quo in Outer-Mongolia shall be preserved”—doomed it to ambiguity. The heads of the three great powers have agreed that these claims of the Soviet Union shall be unquestionably fulfilled after Japan has been defeated. American scholars were quick to criticize President Roosevelt for this failing: “Roosevelt did not drive a hard bargain at Yalta.”