Political Struggle of the USSR and the Western Allies on the Issues of Soviet Citizens Repatriation

Abstract

The article analyzespolitical struggle between the USSR and its western allies on the issues of the repatriation of the Soviet Citizens .At the insistence of the Soviet side, international agreements between the western allies, were signed at the Yalta and Potsdam conferences in 1945, as well as the bilateral agreements of the USSR with the United States, Britain, France and Belgium. In terms of those agreements the USSR policy on the forced repatriation had received an official approval. Thus, the Allies assumed the obligation to extradite all Soviet citizens.

At the beginning of the process, the allies freed the USSR citizens from the compulsory repatriation and transferred to the Soviet authorities only those who expressed a desire to return. In turn they demanded to return their own prisoners of war. But the USSR took a categorical position on this issue. Soviet diplomats insisted that all those who lived east of the Curzon line at the time when the Great Patriotic War began should be returned. Negotiations were difficult and lengthy. Nevertheless,despite a series of misunderstandings that aroseduring thenegotiations, many Soviet agreement requirements have been satisfied.

The experience of World War II clearly showed that deportation is not an effective and even satisfactory form of solving international and interethnic problems. And their initiators often become victims of their unreasonable initiatives. Even those who voluntarily decided to return to their homeland pursued disagreement and were accompanied by violence that led thousands of people to the tragedy. Forced migrations and deportations during the World War II gave birth to many new problems, some of which still pose a threat to peace and security in the world.

Keywords:repatriation, USSR, western allies, the political struggle, displaced persons, repatriation policy of the USSR, rehearsal missions