the breakdown of the grand alliance at potsdam

The Potsdam conference 17 July to 1 august

• the war in Europe ended may 1945

• Hitler had committed suicide on 30 April

• despite this, the war against japan continued

• Stalin was committed to aiding the western powers in their continued struggle against japan , although this was not a prospect either the USA or the uk really relished

• the members of the grand alliance ,having agreed to meet again ,were faced after the death of president Roosevelt in April with vice president harry Truman

harry s truman

• had little knowledge of international affairs when he became president upon Roosevelts death

• he rejected Roosevelts cooperative attitude towards the ussr and was convinced that the ussr and communism was a threat to the usa vital national interests

• he sought to promote the usa to the status of a global superpower

Churchills replacement

• Churchill, who initially attended the Yalta conference, had lost the general election to labour leader clement Attlee

• was replaced on 26 July

• he shared Churchills mistrust of Stalin ands was convinced of the importance of a continued alliance with the USA in order to protect western Europe from the potential threat of the spread of communism

incoming tensions at potsdam

• the day before the Potsdam conference , the first successful detonation of the USAs atomic bomb had taken place

• nuclear technology had finally been refined to a point where a weapon of mass destruction could be successfully deployed

• two bombs were dropped on japan in august 1945

• the news of the completion of the atomic bomb was given to Stalin at Potsdam

• Truman saw the bomb as a form of absolute pressure that could be used to persuade Stalin to fulfil agreements he had made over europe’s future at Yalta

• it had the effects of reinforcing stalins anxiety and made him urgent to get the Ussr security

• stain regarded this as the usa using atomic diplomacy in its dealings with the Ussr

characterisation of potsdam

• Potsdam was characterised by truman’s abrasive diplomacy and the determination of Stalin and foreign minister Molotov not to be intimidated by the USAs nuclear monopoly

• the Potsdam conference resulted in some agreement but significantly, there was no medium or long term blueprint laid out for either the future of Germany or the parameters of international relations in the new world order

it was agreed that

• Germany was to be completely disarmed and demilitarised

• de-Nazification was to be carried out

• war crimes would be judged and all former Nazi party members were removed from public office

• the education system was to be purged of all Nazi influences

• decentralisation of the political system was to be undertaken and local responsibility developed

• freedom of speech and a free press was to be restored ,as was religious tolerance

• Germany was to become a single economic unit with common policies on industry and finance

• the Ussr was to receive reparations (financial payment or other assistance to the wronged country) from its own zone and an additional 25% from the western zones (France and Britain)

the ineffectiveness of Potsdam conference

• it did nothing to reinforce the notion of international cooperation aimed at reconstructing a long-term future for post-war Europe

• it did nothing to lay the foundations of a viable and non confrontational relationship between the communist east and the capitalist west

• it failed to address the growing suspicion and uncertainty that had developed between the usa and the soviet union