Ironically, Stalin was very similar to Hitler himself, and an alliance with the United States was highly improbable based on acute differences between the two powers. In February of 1945, Roosevelt and Churchill met Stalin in the Soviet city of Yalta for an important peace conference. The three leaders were able to reach a number of agreements, and the optimism of these agreements was able to mask the unavoidable disagreements for the future. Roosevelt agreed that the "Soviet Union should receive some of the territory in the Pacific that Russia had lost in the 1904 Russo-Japanese War- in return for Stalin's promise to enter the Pacific war. One of the most significant negotiations they agreed upon was a plan for a new world organization known as the United Nations (UN) and the agreements at Yalta became "the basis of the United Nations charter."" However, the essential disagreement remained with the focus on the future of Poland. Stalin had already established a pro-communist government, but only under the agreement that pro-Western poles would be allowed to cooperate in the Warsaw regime. Stalin also agreed to hold free elections in Poland on an indeterminate future date, but had no real intention of going through with his commitment. He sought out to impose heavy reparations on Germany to ensure a stable dismemberment of the nation, however the decision on reparations was referred to a future commission. What they finally agreed upon was to divide the country into four zones of military occupation, with the four international Sheriffs (United States, Great Britain, Soviet Union, and France) each in control of its own "zone of occupation."" The nation's capitol, Berlin, would be divided into four separate zones as well. Nevertheless, they avoided the most difficult questions and the three leaders left the conference with a positive attitude, having never dealt with the controversial disputes.
