Potsdam Conference [3]

What changed between the Yalta and Potsdam Conferences

Roosevelt died in April, and his successor, former Vice President Harry Truman, took over. During the conference, Churchill’s Conservative party was defeated, and he was replaced by Labour leader Clement Attlee.

What had the Soviet Union done between the Yalta and Potsdam Conferences

The Soviet Union had liberated Eastern Europe and began installing sympathetic governments while targeting political opponents. No free elections had been held in these countries.

What happened on the eve of the conference

On the eve of the conference, Truman informed Stalin that the USA had successfully tested a nuclear weapon. While the USA and Britain had kept it a secret during the war, Soviet agents in the Manhattan Project and British Intelligence had already provided Stalin with plenty of information about the A-bomb.

When was the Potsdam Conference

July 1945

Disagreements at Potsdam regarding Stalins actions in Eastern Europe

Truman became very unhappy towards Russian intensions in Eastern Europe and adopted a “get tough” attitude towards Stalin

Disagreements at Potsdam regarding Stalin and Germany

Stalin wanted to cripple Germany to prevent future threats to the USSR, while Truman sought to avoid repeating the mistakes of the Treaty of Versailles. Stalin, devastated by the 20 million Russian deaths in the war, sought compensation from Germany, but Truman was determined not to repeat past errors.

Agreements at Potsdam regarding Polish/German border

Polish/German border was to be settled at the Oder-Neisse Line (moved wet into Germany)

Agreement at Potsdam regarding the outcome of Germany

Germany would be de-nazified and war crimes trials were to be held in Germany and Japan

Agreement at Potsdam regarding the how Germany would be governed

Germany would be governed by an Allied Control Council in Berlin where each decision a unanimous verdict and the country would be treated as a single economic unit

Agreement at Potsdam regarding reparations from Germany

Each country was allowed to take reparations from its own zone of occupation. The USSR could also take some equipment from the industrialized western zones

Agreement at Potsdam regarding leadership in Europe

The Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) would be established to deal with the defeated European countries