Potsdam

Question 1

When was the Potsdam Conference?

Answer 1

July 1945 (after WW2 was over)

Question 2

Who was at Potsdam?

Answer 2

GBR - Clement Attlee
USA - Harry S Truman
USSR - Josef Stalin

Question 3

Why did the Grand Alliance dissolve?

Answer 3

• Stalin’s desire to make Germany pay reparations was totally opposed by Truman and Attlee
• Truman and Attlee wanted independence and self-determination for the countries of Eastern Europe but Stalin wanted them to remain under Soviet influence
• with the Red Army occupying most of Eastern Europe and the war in Japan still raging on, the West had to accept the situation as it was

Question 4

What were Attlee’s aims for Potsdam?

Answer 4

• focused on domestic plans (e.g. creation of the welfare state)
• worried about soviet expansion
• wanted a secure Germany
• saw Britain as weaker and needing American friendship

Question 5

What were Truman’s aims for Potsdam?

Answer 5

• wanted self-determination for the countries of Europe
• distrusted Stalin and his intentions
• thought America had the upper hand because of the atomic bomb

Question 6

What were Stalin’s aims for Potsdam?

Answer 6

• saw America as a rival and wanted security for the USSR
• thought he was in a powerful position with the red army occupying Eastern Europe
• distrusted America now it had the atomic bomb

Question 7

What were some of the key agreements made at Potsdam?

Answer 7

• the division of Germany was confirmed
• the Nazi party was banned and it’s leaders were put on trial
• Germans living in Poland, Hungary or Czechoslovakia were to be returned to Germany
• Poland was to lose some territory to the USSR