Which of the following is an agreement formed during the potsdam conference?
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Top image: View of the conference table at Cecilienhof Palace, scene of the Potsdam Conference in Potsdam, Germany. President Harry S. Truman is in left foreground. Adm. William Leahy is seated to the right of the President. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill is seated at upper left of table. Clement Attlee is seated two to the right of Mr. Churchill. Soviet leader Josef Stalin is at upper right of table. Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov is to the immediate left of Mr. Stalin in the photo. Averell Harriman is standing at extreme left. “Scene of Potsdam Conference,” July 19, 1945, National Archives and Records Administration, Office of Presidential Libraries, Harry S. Truman Library, (NAID) 198890. Show
“So often in history has the dilemma of how to treat an aggressive nation baffled its conquerors!” Herbert Feis, Between War and Peace: The Potsdam Conference Between July 17 and August 2, 1945, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill (replaced on July 26, 1945, by Prime Minster Clement Attlee), and US President Harry Truman met at Potsdam, Germany, to negotiate the terms for the end of World War II. Even though the Allies remained committed to fighting a joint war in the Pacific, mutual distrust stemming from differing views of what a postwar world should look like led to disagreements on several key issues. Consequently, some historians have pointed to the Potsdam conference as one of several fissures between the Soviet Union and the West that set the stage for the Cold War. The three most pressing issues discussed at Potsdam concerned how to handle a defeated Germany, the fate of Poland, and the final destruction of Japanese military power. Questions dealing with German reparations, the economic rehabilitation of Germany, Poland’s postwar borders, and the composition of Poland’s government proved to be the most contentious. The Big Three, however, also had to make decisions regarding the stabilization of China, Axis satellite states, and orderly population transfers. Unlike the previous conferences at Tehran and Yalta, Stalin and his Western counterparts were becoming increasingly suspicious of each other’s postwar intentions. On the one hand, the United States and Great Britain feared a Soviet-backed communist domination of Europe, which drove their decision making at Potsdam. On the other hand, Stalin believed that his Western Allies did not appreciate the sacrifices made by the Red Army and Soviet citizens during the war, remarking at times that the West was committed to denying the Soviet Union appropriate compensation. As the historian Michael Neiberg argues in Potsdam: The End of World War II and the Remaking of Europe, the disagreements at Potsdam also depended on how each leader viewed history as much as each leader’s strategy and visons for a postwar world. Differing World ViewsStalin came to Potsdam with the impression that the West had depended on the Soviet Union for victory in Europe. Estimates place Soviet military deaths in battle between 8.8 million and 10.7 million and civilian deaths at 14.6 million, which equated to about 13.9 percent of the country’s total prewar population. In comparison, Britain lost approximately 383,800 in battle and 67,000 civilians while the United States had about 416,800 deaths in battle and 1,700 civilian deaths. “Soviet loss and suffering played a profound role in the attitudes and behaviors of the Soviets at Potsdam,” argues Neiberg, which complicated matters since the Soviets possessed a desire for revenge that the West did fully comprehend and, therefore, “badly underestimated.” Britain came to the table as they did during the 1919 Paris Peace Conference, which outlined the parameters of the Treaty of Versailles that ended World War I, with the same conviction: protecting the balance of powers in Europe. In 1919 Britain viewed France as the biggest threat to that balance, but now its leaders, especially Churchill, saw the Soviet Union as the greatest danger. Some within the British government even argued that communism was more menacing than Nazism, and prior to Potsdam, Churchill made it clear that the West would “respond in meaningful ways to Russian aggression.” As a result, the British foreign delegation advocated for policies aimed at containing both Germany and the Soviet Union. The United States remained divided on how much of a threat the Soviet Union posed to European peace. While some officials, such as Admiral William Leahy, agreed with Churchill that one of the Soviet Union’s main goals was the spread of communism, others held a more optimistic view. Truman, for instance, thought the mistrust between Stalin and the West stemmed from miscommunication during the weeks between FDR’s death and the German surrender. He also believed that Soviet desires to have control over Poland, recover lands lost to the Japanese in 1905, and a guaranteed access to the Dardanelles were similar to those of Russian tsars. As a result, he did not think the West needed to fear Soviet power plays in other areas of the world. George Kennan, who Neiberg maintains came the closest to predicting Stalin’s mindset, thought that the last three decades of revolution and total war had brought out the worst features of the Russian system, including “paranoia, a sense of insecurity, and a willingness for acts of cruelty.” Kennan and his supporters advocated for an acceptance of Soviet domination over the areas it already controlled as well as plans to divide Europe into two spheres of influence. The difficulty reading Soviet intentions increased in the weeks leading up to the Potsdam conference as the Soviets began to limit the freedom of movement of American officials in Eastern Europe, which only heightened tensions among the Big Three. Pre-Conference ChallengesOne of the biggest challenges facing the Allies during the Potsdam Conference dealt with changes to the heads of government in the United States and Britain. During the interim months between Yalta and Potsdam, Franklin Roosevelt died, leaving an enormous void in US foreign policy. FDR had conducted most of US war diplomacy himself, often shutting his own State Department out of the process, which left Truman unprepared for his new role as a member of the Big Three. Conversely, in the middle of the Potsdam Conference, Britain’s Labor Party won the general election and Clement Attlee replaced Winston Churchill as Prime Minister. Similar to Truman, Attlee had served as Churchill’s deputy prime minister in a coalition government, but was rarely involved in making any key decisions.
The new "Big Three" meet for the first time at the Potsdam Conference in Potsdam, Germany. Left to right: the new British Prime Minister Clement Attlee, President Harry S. Truman, and Soviet Prime Minister Josef Stalin. “The new Big Three meet for the first time at the Potsdam Conference,” July 29, 1945, National Archives and Records Administration, Office of Presidential Libraries, Harry S. Truman Library, (NAID) 198950. Which of the following is an agreement formed during the Potsdam Conference Soviet Union?The Consequences of Brown V Board 6 Which of the following is an agreement formed during the Potsdam Conference? The Soviet Union agreed with the other Allied powers to put Nazi officials on trial at the end of thewar.
What were 3 major outcomes of the Potsdam Conference?In the end, the Big Three agreed to divide Germany into three zones of occupation (one for each nation), and to defer discussions of German reunification until a later date.
What was an agreement made by the Allies at the Potsdam Conference quizlet?What was agreed at the Potsdam Conference? germany would be divided and reparations would be paid. poland's eastern boarder would be moved west. the nazi party was banned and its leaders would be tried as war criminals.
Which of the following is a result from the Potsdam Conference?which of the following is a result from the Potsdam Conference? Germany was divided into four occupation zones, each controlled by an Ally.
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