© IWM BU 9496. 5. occupying powers, the United States, Britain, France, and the Soviet Union) surrendered on May 8, 1945, and the Allied leaders agreed to meet over the Stalin was sure that the British and Americans wanted to cripple soviet army in order to attack. While Roosevelt had acceded to such demands, Adolf Hitler was now dead! There was also agreement regarding the desirability of ending the ‘present anomalous position’ of Germany’s wartime allies - Italy, Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania - and its co-belligerent Finland. At the Potsdam meeting, the most pressing issue was the postwar fate of Germany. agreements at Potsdam. Potsdam Conference Facts - 8: Stalin was determined that Russia would never be invaded again and insisted that his control of Eastern European countries was a defensive measure against possible future attacks claiming that it was a legitimate sphere of Soviet influence. The Poles, and also the Czechs and Hungarians, had begun to expel their German minorities and both the Americans and British were extremely worried that a mass influx of Germans into their respective zones would destabilise them. Upon graduation, he would later complete training to become a peace officer in Broome County, NY. A week into the conference, Truman told Stalin that the United States now possessed ‘a new weapon of special destructive force’ – he did not specify that it was the atomic bomb. The victors always write the history books. For each of the above points, tell me why this may have led to disagreements. The Potsdam Conference (German: Potsdamer Konferenz) was held in Potsdam, Germany, from July 17 to August 2, 1945. II. Truman and At Yalta in February 1945, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, American President Franklin D Roosevelt and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin had agreed to meet again following the defeat of Germany, principally to determine the borders of post-war Europe. If the Potsdam Conference was full of tensions and arguments, why did Source E present it as happy and friendly? Britain's new Prime Minister, Clement Attlee, with President Truman and Marshal Stalin at the Potsdam Conference on 1 August 1945. The question of Poland had loomed large at both the Teheran and Yalta conferences. The Potsdam Conference, 1945 The Big Three—Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill (replaced on July 26 by Prime Minister Clement Attlee), and U.S. President Harry Truman —met in Potsdam, Germany, from July 17 to August 2, … Minister Winston Churchill (replaced on July 26 by Prime This threatened the Japanese with ‘prompt and utter destruction’ if they did not immediately unconditionally surrender, but at the same time promised ‘it was not intended to enslave Japan’. Yalta, a seaside resort on Russia's Black Sea Crimean coast, was the scene of the second and last wartime conference between the 'Big Three' Allied war leaders, Winston Churchill, Franklin D Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin between 4 and 11 February 1945. Clement Attlee with President Truman of the United States and Joseph Stalin of the Soviet Union at the Potsdam Conference in Berlin, shortly after winning the British General election in 1945, 1 August 1945. Attlee didn’t trust Stalin or Communism! At the Potsdam conference, held from July 17 to August 2, 1945, Truman also opposed Stalin’s plans to demand large reparations from Germany. President Franklin D Roosevelt had died on 12 April 1945 and in his place was the new president, Harry S Truman, accompanied by his newly appointed Secretary of State James Byrnes. temporarily suspend additional deportations. By this point, Roosevelt had died and Churchill had lost the 1945 election, so there were quite a few open disagreements over the course of the conference. In the meantime Germany was to be run by an Allied Control Commission made up of the four occupying powers. Clement Attlee became Prime-minister. One of the most controversial matters addressed at the Potsdam Conference dealt Then, it was claimed, the harsh reparations imposed by the Treaty on a vanquished Germany had caused economic crises which in turn had led to the rise of Hitler. The agreements of Yalta dissolved into the disagreements of Potsdam because of the New U.S. president, how the USA had a nuclear threat. DISAGREEMENTS: Britain and the USA denied Stalin a naval base in the Mediterranean. on July 16, 1945. how he had been tricked. At the end of the Second World War, Germany was divided into four zones of occupation under the control of the United States, Britain, France and the Soviet Union. The principles of the trial of the Nazi leadership were agreed at a meeting of the ‘Big Four’ – Britain, the United States, the Soviet Union and France – in London in the summer of 1945, resulting in the Nuremberg Charter. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, American President Harry Truman and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin at the Potsdam Conference, codenamed 'Terminal', on 23 July 1945. In the end, the Big Three agreed to divide Germany into th… Germany, from July 17 to August 2, 1945, to negotiate terms for But at Potsdam, Truman and Byrnes were anxious to lessen the Soviet demands, insisting that reparations should be exacted by the occupying powers only from their own occupation zone. disagreement 1 Click card to see definition 1) Stalin refused to reduce the Red Army. territory it lost to the Soviet Union following the readjustment of the nations to exact reparations only from their own zone of occupation. In exchange for its territory lost to the Soviet Union, Poland was to be compensated in the west by large areas of Germany up to the Oder-Neisse Line - the border along the Rivers Oder and Neisse. VICTORS WRITE HISTORY What the 21st century will call them [acts which could be considered treasonous] will depend on who are the victors. Stalin, however, was Minister Clement Attlee), and U.S. President control over the Turkish Straits. At the Potsdam Conference, which lasted from 17 July to 2 August 1945, situations changed drastically. On the vexed question of what constituted a ‘democratic Poland’, the Russians and the Western Allies were never going to agree. Before it was dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Britain, the United States and China issued the Potsdam Declaration. Now, in July 1945, in the quiet Berlin suburb of Potsdam, it was time to construct a new Europe and a lasting peace, anchored on the principles of … And one of Truman’s advisers noted how ‘Stalin’s mind had a strong retentive power. This situation made This was because the Americans wanted to avoid a repetition of what happened after the 1919 Treaty of Versailles. criminals.” The German educational and judicial systems were to be purged of any (In some older documents, it is also referred to as the Berlin Conference of the Three Heads of Government of the USSR, the USA, and the UK.) 5. Argument about Poland + … to be remade along democratic lines by repeal of all discriminatory laws from of the Secretaries of State, Principal Officers and Chiefs of German economy and fueled the rise of the Nazis. Yalta Conference Aftermath: The Potsdam Conference (July 17, 1945 to August 2, 1945) Open disagreements erupted between the US and the Soviets during the Potsdam Conference that was held in July 1945, just two months after the Yalta Conference. As a result of agreements, and later disagreements, these are seen as important causes of the Cold War. Stalin was most determined to obtain enormous economic reparations from Germany as compensation for the destruction wrought in the Soviet Union as a result of Hitler’s invasion. Furthermore, German society was By the Potsdam conference the war-time alliance between the USA and the USSR had broken down. In exchange for the The Soviet Union was not involved in this declaration as it was still neutral in the war against Japan. would run the country during the interregnum. demilitarized and disarmed Germany under four zones of Allied occupation. By that time Roosevelt had died and Churchill had lost the 1945 election, so there were open disagreements over the conduct of the conference. leader that the United States had successfully detonated the first atomic bomb It would also be demilitarised and disarmed. The Allies met on 17 July of the same year for the Potsdam Conference. Potsdam exclusively focused on the problem of postwar Germany and revolved around the clashing ideas of Truman and Stalin. nuclear capability would enhance its bargaining power. Potsdam Conference Facts for kids. “prompt and utter destruction” if it did not immediately surrender (the Soviet One of Churchill’s ministers wrote of how the Soviet dictator ‘spoke quietly and shortly, in little staccato sentences…in the discussions Stalin was often humorous, never offensive; direct and uncompromising…’. negotiators approved the formation of a Council of Foreign Ministers that would After the Yalta Conference of February 1945, Stalin, America had a new president, Truman, who was more anti-Communist than Roosevelt. Standing behind them from left to right are Admiral Leahy, Ernest Bevin, James Byrnes and Vyacheslav Molotov. declare that “any transfers that take place should be effected in an orderly and Historians have often interpreted Truman’s somewhat firm Russia, Britain and America all had different intentions, which led to many disagreements when it came to the Potsdam Conference. He missed the adrenalin rush that guiding the nation’s war effort had given him. Each country, having eradicated the problem with Germany, now had no real common aim. German society was to be reshaped on democratic lines but the reconstitution of the country as a sovereign state was postponed indefinitely. Just as he had done at Teheran and Yalta, it was Stalin who impressed Western observers the most. The Potsdam Conference was attended by the leaders of three nations including the United States, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union. Only the leading Soviet delegates, Joseph Stalin and Vyacheslav Molotov, remained the same as at the Yalta Conference. This conference was held in Potsdam, Germany so these leaders could negotiate significant terms after the end of World War II. Harry Truman—met in Potsdam, At Yalta in February 1945, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, American President Franklin D Roosevelt and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin had agreed to meet again following the defeat of Germany, principally to determine the borders of post-war Europe and deal with other outstanding problems. Stalin, the President recalled, showed ‘no unusual interest’. Although they apparently remained the same on paper, there was much disagreement over the application of the aims, which then translated into the major difference between the two conferences. But, as with a number of other issues raised at Potsdam, it was turned over to the Council of Foreign Ministers to try and resolve. I wonder if it will come back’. the war, never met again collectively to discuss cooperation in postwar German industry capable of being used for military purposes was to be dismantled and the defeated country’s educational and judicial systems to be purged of Nazi influence. the Allies remained committed to fighting a joint war in the Pacific, the lack 3. Although Returning to our cold war course, we are looking at the Yalta and Potsdam Conference, the first steps of the Cold War. Discuss why the Potsdam Conference was less successful than the Yalta Conference. negotiators at Potsdam were well-aware of the situation, and even though the 3) The Potsdam Conference, July- August 1945. Churchill was voted out of office at the beginning of the Potsdam Conference. Stalin agreed to enter the war against Japan once Germany surrendered. reparations payments from Germany following World War One. The reconstitution of a national German Government was, however, postponed Britain and the United States were still at war with Japan, but the absence of a common enemy in Europe led to immense difficulties at Potsdam in reaching a consensus concerning the post-war political reconstruction of Europe. Roosevelt, with the aim of getting Stalin both to participate in the war against Japan and in the United Nations Organisation, had agreed to the Soviet dictator’s demands. stance during negotiations to the U.S. negotiating team’s belief that U.S. 2) Why the agreements of Yalta dissolved into the disagreements of Potsdam. Both the atmosphere and leading personnel at Potsdam were markedly different from the previous ‘Big Three’ conferences at Teheran and Yalta. The massive Soviet army already occupied much of Eastern Europe. In taking up the opposing argument and states the points made. 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