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.
East Prussia and Upper Silesia were handed over to Poland and the Soviet Union. Furthermore, based on the political ideologies, Germany was divided into, namely the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic. The former was formed by merging 3 western regions in May of 1949; while the latter was formed by Soviet Union into a communist nation. However, most western countries did not recognize the formation of the German Democratic Republic as it did not have any democratic legitimacy.
More Articles :
German Historical Museum: Germany and Berlin at the End of World War II
http://www.dhm.de/ENGLISH/ausstellungen/breakthrough/S1.htm
|
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. 