Potsdam Conference 1945

Question 1

What changed between the Yalta conference in February 1945 and Potsdam in July?

Answer 1

• The war in Europe had ended and Hitler was dead.
• Soviet troops were spread throughout Eastern Europe
• Plans were being made to return most US troops home.
• Roosevelt had died in April 1945 and was replaced by Harry Truman, Truman’s advisors were urging him to take a harsh line against Stalin during the conference at Potsdam.
• Labour’s Clement Atlee replaced Churchill as Britain’s Prime minister during the conference at Potsdam
• US & British attitudes towards the USSR were hardening as they watched Germany being stripped of resources and saw puppet governments being set up in several of the countries now under soviet control

Question 2

The Atomic bomb

Answer 2

During the conference Truman told Stalin that the US had developed a new weapon of ‘exceptional power’ (the atomic bomb) but did not share with him US knowledge of the bomb. This made Stalin angry as it indicated the West’s continued hostility to Russia and further increased his suspicions as he questioned what they were hiding. The evident lack of trust between Truman and Stalin only made relations worse. Soon afterwards Stalin ordered his own scientists to ‘speed things up’ in their own research on the atomic bomb.

Question 3

Decisions made at Potsdam

Answer 3

• How Germany was to be divided and occupied. Each power could take reparations from their own zone, although not so much as to endanger the lives of ordinary Germans. The USSR could also take some reparations from the British and US zones in return for providing food, fuel and raw materials.
• How Austria was to be divided and occupied
• Changes to Germany’s borders with Poland. This border was moved westward to the Oder and Niesse rivers. This created a natural border between the two countries. All former German territory to the East of the new borders became part of Poland and all Germans still living within this area were expelled. At the same time the USSR’s border with Poland was also moved to the West.

Question 4

Why was there increased tension between the USA and the USSR at the end of 1945?

Answer 4

The world at the end of 1945 was very different than it had been just six years earlier.

• The USSR and the USA were both far stronger than any other nation.
• Each feared each other wanting to spread their influence.
• Each believed the other wanted to destroy them, in particular the USSR feared the atomic bomb which the USA had used to such devastating effects against Japan in August 1945. In turn the USA was concerned at the huge size of the red army.
• Each was suspicious of the reasons behind the other’s actions and began to act defensively against the other.