What was the significance of two decisions made at the Potsdam Conference in 1945. Explain your assessment.

At Potsdam, it was decided that Germany was to be reduced in size and divided into four occupied zones. After the fall of the Nazis there was a power vacuum in Europe. There was no clear German government, so the Allies took on the responsibility. The zones were to be controlled by the US, France, Britain and the Soviet Union. The Allied Control Council (ACC) was set up to help govern Germany. Germany became the battleground for the ideological divisions in the Cold War. It became impossible for the zones to be unified. Germany became formally split in two in 1949.

At Potsdam, the Allied Powers also agreed upon the magnitude of German reparations. This had been a difficult issue at Yalta. The Soviet Union wanted severe reparations whilst the US and UK wanted to be softer on Germany. The Soviet Union had been exhausted and destroyed by WW2. It wanted to crush Germany to prevent it from rebuilding. The US and UK had not been affected by the war so badly and wanted Germany to be strong to act as a buffer against Soviet communism. It was agreed that the Soviet Union would receive 25% of the industrial output from the other three industrial zones occupied by the Allies.