Yet, a close examination of the conference deliberations reveals an American effort, spearheaded by the new Secretary of State James F. The greatest drama associated with it rests in it having supposedly served as the venue for atomic diplomacy. Details of the conference agreements are shrouded in a fog of ignorance and even capable historians rarely present Potsdam as an especially memorable affair. This last of the three wartime conferences of the leaders of the Soviet Union, Great Britain, and the United States took place in the latter half of July 1945 in the Berlin suburb from whence it drew its name. It was agreed that the Soviets could take whatever they wanted from the Soviet controlled zone and 10 per cent from the Western zones.The Potsdam Conference holds a rather hazy place in American memory. The USSR would be allowed to take reparations from defeated GermanyĪrguments about how much the USSR should be allowed to take in reparations. Germany to be divided into four zones of occupation - Berlin to also be dividedĪrguments over where the boundaries between the zones would be drawn The USSR would fight Japan once Germany had been defeated. The USA and Britain agreed to invade France, joining the Russians fighting on land in Europe. There was no sign of Stalin allowing free elections in Eastern Europe and a communist government was being set up in Poland Stalin to have a ‘sphere of influence’ over Eastern Europe but all countries freed from Nazi occupation would be allowed free elections to choose their own governments Military decisions took precedence over anything else The main points of the three Conferences are summarised in the table below:Ĭhurchill (replaced midway by Attlee), Truman and Stalin Little real progress was made at Potsdam beyond an agreement to put into action the commitments made at Yalta. These views have since been challenged but certainly, Truman found it very difficult to get along with Stalin in the way Roosevelt had. Since the 1960s, it has been widely accepted that Truman’s attitude to communism was in part responsible for how the Cold War proceeded at the end of 1945.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |