The Potsdam Conference

This conference was defined by a series of ambiguous compromises on all the most difficult issues.

POTSDAM CONFERENCE

1. How to govern Germany?
There was no central government in Germany and so an Allied Control Council (ACC) was estalblished run by commanders-in-chief of the armies of the four occupying powers. To avoid the Soviets being out voted the Russians insisted that each commander should ahve complete responsibility for his zone. This decision stopped the ACC from exercising any real power in Germany.

2. How to organise German policy?
A limited number of central German offices dealing with finaces, transport, trade and industry were to be formed at some point in the future.

3. How much should the reparations be?
The British and Americans were concerned that if all the resources were stripped from Germany the economy of Germany would collapse. They were also concerned about feeding the population of Germany. A compromise was negotiated where both the Western allies and the USSR could take reparations from their own zone. In addition to this the Biritsh and Americans would grant 10% to the Soviets and a further 15% in exchange for a supply of food and raw materials from the Soviet zone.

4. Where should the Polish border be?
The USSR had already handed to Poland the land up to the Oder-Neisse line. This line ran along the Oder and Neisse rivers. At first this followed the eastern branch of the Neisse. However, they then changed this to the Western branch of the Neisse river, effectively granted Stalin more land. They hoped that this concession would persuade Stalin to adopt a more liberal approach in Poland.

5. What was the impact of the atmomic bomb?
The Potsdam conference was delayed because Truman wanted to wait until the bomb had been tested. When this had been done he was told that the bomb had a much greater destructive power than was expected. This had a dramatic changes in US policy. The Americans no longer required the USSR to join the war against Japan. The US also hoped that the possession of the bomb would give the USA the power to force Stalin to make concessions in Eastern Europe.
Some historians have argued that the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in early August, were primarily intended to impress the USSR. The allies, due to the code breakers at Bletchley Park in Britain, knew that Japan was ready to surrender. Stalin however refused to be intimdated and if anything it made him more suspicious of the USA and wished to make the USSR a nuclear power as soon as possible.