History Of Potsdam Conference
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. |
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.
The Russians were keen on disarming Germany, while the other allies wanted their share of the vanquished nation. However, the US were worried that communism would spread across Germany and rest of Western Europe if a tough stance was not taken against Russia. So, after a lot of negotiation, it was decided that Germany would be divided into 4 zones, with each of the Allied nation administering one zone. The Russians were given the eastern zone of Germany and the rest of the country was divided between the US, France and the UK. Furthermore, the US also restricted the amount that the Russians would get as reparation from the Germans. However, they could do much about the occupation of Poland by Russia.
Sadly, when the Potsdam Conference came to end, no much headway was made. Things were still the same as they were before the conference. This was the last conference held during war time. And, 4 days after the conference ended, the US dropped 2 atomic bombs on Japan. Finally, the Second World War came to an official end on 14th August 1945.
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Infoplease.com: Potsdam Conference
http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/history/A0839912.html
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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. 