Potsdam Conference (july-aug 1945)

Question 1

What significant changes in leadership occurred before the Potsdam Conference?

Answer 1

• Roosevelt died in April 1945 and was replaced by Truman.
• Churchill lost the 1945 British general election, and Clement Attlee became the new prime minister.

Question 2

When did Germany surrender, and what international event occurred in June 1945?

Answer 2

Germany surrendered in May 1945. The United Nations was created in the Treaty of San Francisco in June 1945.

Question 3

What was Truman’s attitude towards Stalin, and how did he approach the conference?

Answer 3

• Truman was much more suspicious about Stalin’s motives than Roosevelt had been.
• He took a ‘get tough’ approach and deliberately delayed the conference until the atomic bomb was ready, thinking this would give him an edge in discussions.

Question 4

What was Attlee’s main concern during the Potsdam Conference?

Answer 4

Attlee’s main concern was to return to Britain to take charge, and he did not want the talks to drag on.

Question 5

What decision was made regarding the administration of Germany at the Potsdam Conference?

Answer 5

Germany would be split into four zones, administered by the Soviet Union, the USA, Britain, and France, but the German economy would be run as a whole.

Question 6

How was Berlin’s administration decided at the Potsdam Conference?

Answer 6

Berlin would be split into four zones controlled by different countries, even though it was based well inside Soviet-controlled Germany.

Question 7

What agreement was reached regarding reparations from Germany at the Potsdam Conference?

Answer 7

• Each administering country should take reparations from its zone.
• The Soviet Union was allowed to take a quarter of the industrial equipment from the other zones as it controlled the poorest zone

Question 8

What objections did Truman have regarding Soviet control over liberated countries and Poland’s government?

Answer 8

• Truman objected to the control that the Soviet Union had over the countries it had liberated from German rule.
• He also objected to the arrangements for Poland and wanted to see a government with less communist influence.

Question 9

How did the Potsdam Conference impact the wartime alliance between the USA, Soviet Union, and Britain?

Answer 9

The basic disagreement and suspicion between Truman and Stalin turned the wartime alliance into peace hostility between 1945 and 1946.