History Of Potsdam Conference
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The Potsdam Conference held between 17th July and 2nd August 1945 was attended by the heads of state of the UK, the US, France and the USSR. The main aim of the conference was to implement the agreement reached during the Yalta Conference. Another outcome of this conference was that the growing tension between the US, the UK and the USSR increased. Also, the US and the Russians grew suspicious of one another.
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During the conference, the countries also wanted to discuss what to do with the war being pursued by the Japanese. However, the US and the UK were suspicious about the intentions of the Russians, as the Russian army had spread its wings across major part of Eastern Europe. During the course of the conference, the western allies found that Joseph Stalin had no intentions of decreasing Russian army presence in any of the occupied countries. More...
How Was Germany Affected By Potsdam Conference ?
The Potsdam Conference held in 1945 between the Allied nations had an effect on Germany. The conference was convened to decide how the territories that were occupied by Nazi Germany were to be divided between the UK, the US, France and the Soviet Union. This conference managed to reduce the size of Germany and also divided the country into two.
Berlin, the capital of Germany, was perhaps the most affected. It was divided into 4 regions based on the district borders that were in existent in 1920. Each of the Allied nations got one region. However, there were no physical barriers to separate the regions occupied by the Western nations and that by the Soviet Union. So, many people from Soviet occupied Berlin use this as an opportunity to escape to the WestBerlin. It was only in 1961 that barrier (the Berlin Wall) was erected to prevent people from going to West Berlin. However, by the time the barrier came up, nearly 16 million Germans had fled to West Berlin. More...
Why Did Tension Between Soviet And The West Increased After The Potsdam Conference ?
The Potsdam Conference attended by Britain, the US, France and Soviet Union was called to decide how to divide the territory of Germany, who had been defeated. The Germans had laid down the arm on 7th and 8th May 1945 and conference was held in July. It was during this conference that major differences between the Soviet and other western nations emerged. There was already no love lost between the Soviet and the other Allies; and the Potsdam Conference brought this to a peak.
Earlier, all the other conferences held between these nations were attended by President Roosevelt. However, with Roosevelt's demise, the office was taken over by Harry S. Truman. Unfortunately, the new US president did not know the agreement that President Roosevelt had agreed with the Soviet Union. So, Truman went ahead with matters as advised by his advisors. More...
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