The Potsdam Conference (1945) was the last meeting of the top leaders of the anti-fascist coalition. It was the longest in time (from July 17 to August 2) and significantly differed in character from all previous ones (in Tehran and Yalta). Instead of Roosevelt, Truman was already present at this conference, and Attlee (leader of the Labor Party) accompanied Churchill . Only the representation of the USSR was the same.
The Potsdam Conference demonstrated that by that time, relations between the Big Three countries had already been extremely tense and had reached utmost tension. America and England accused the USSR of violating the Yalta Agreements in relation to Poland and Romania; The USSR in response indicated to England that it supported national elements in Greece.
The meeting in the suburb of Berlin of the leaders of the "Big Three" - Churchill, Truman and Stalin - lasted as long as 17 days. It was necessary to develop a policy on defeated Germany.
Conference Decisions
The Big Three gathered to solve exclusively political problems. The tone of the negotiations has become sharper than before. It was more difficult to reach an agreement because there were discrepancies in the positions of countries. The main issue that the Potsdam Conference was supposed to solve was the situation in Germany. The project of its dismemberment was rejected, so it was necessary to develop new principles of policy in relation to this country occupied at that time by the Allied forces.
The military occupation of Germany was decided not to be limited in time. But the problem was that American soldiers occupied territories that were supposed to retreat to the Soviet Union according to the plan. It was decided to withdraw the US troops, in return for which they got the opportunity to enter the sector of Berlin (along with England and France). Another point that exacerbated relations between the allies was the slowness of the British in the disarmament of German troops. By order of Churchill, who wanted to be able to put military pressure on the USSR, some of them remained on alert.
Potsdam Conference : Summary
In many ways, the decisions made in 1945 echoed the ideas of the Yalta Conference, but in a more detailed, detailed form.
As a result of the negotiations, the political and economic principles of the post-war structure and attitude towards Germany were established. To control her, a control council was created from four commanders of the occupation forces.
The decisions of the meeting were documented by the Potsdam Declaration, which stipulated the condition for unconditional surrender of Japan. Stalin reaffirmed his commitment to start a war with Japan no later than three months after the end of the Potsdam Conference.
The eastern borders of Germany were moved west to the Oder-Neisse line. This reduced the country's territory by a quarter. East of this border were the lands of Silesia, East Prussia and parts of Pomerania. Mostly these were agricultural areas (except for Upper Silesia, which was a major center of heavy industry in Germany).
The lands of East Prussia were transferred to the USSR together with Koenigsberg (it was renamed Kaliningrad). On its territory, the Kaliningrad region of the RSFSR was created.
On the last day, all the fundamental decisions of the settlement of post-war issues were signed. France, not invited to the meeting on August 7, 1945, approved, although with some reservations, all of these decisions.
Currently, the Cecilienhof Palace, which hosted the Potsdam Conference, has a memorial museum dedicated to this event, as well as a modern hotel.