◀ Potala Palace
Comprehensive index starts
in volume 5, page 2667.
Potsdam Conference
Bōcítǎn Huìyì ​波 茨 坦 会 议
The Potsdam Conference, held in 1945 in a
suburb outside Berlin, was the occasion for
the World War II Allies to focus on ending
the war and to plan for the future. Leaders
discussed possible strategies for an invasion
of Japan, the reconstruction of Europe, and
German reparations for the war. They also discussed the founding of the Council of Foreign
Ministers, which included China.
H
eld at Cecilienhof Palace outside Berlin, the
Potsdam Conference (17 ­July–​2 August 1945)
was the final of several meetings of Allied leaders during World War II. Present at Potsdam were the
“Big Three” heads of state: U.S. president Harry Truman (1884–​1972), Soviet premier Joseph Stalin (1879–​
1953), and British prime ministers Winston Churchill
(1874–​1965) and Clement Attlee (1883–​1967). (Churchill
played a major role at Potsdam but was replaced by Attlee at the end of July after the Labor Party’s victory in
the British general elections.) Potsdam was the first conference held since Germany’s surrender on 8 May 1945,
but World War II continued in Asia. U.S. victories at Iwo
Jima and Okinawa in June had positioned the Allies for a
planned invasion of Japan. Divergent national interests
and competition, however, made consensus difficult.
Many analysts point to the Potsdam Conference as a
harbinger of the Cold War.
On 1 August Allied leaders agreed to the ­t wenty-​
o­ ne-part “Protocol of the Proceedings.” Foremost were
the procedures for the reconstruction of Europe, particularly Germany. The Allies divided Germany into
four zones for the purposes of disarmament and demilitarization, called for the destruction of Nazism, and
proposed trials for major war criminals. The controversy over German reparations was settled by giving
the Soviets access to resources both inside and outside
their zone, while the United States and England renounced claims to German assets in ­Soviet-​­controlled
areas. National borders throughout Europe, with the
notable exception of western Poland, were established
in order to facilitate the resettlement of populations.
The Allies also created the Council of Foreign Ministers, comprised of representatives of the five World
War II ­a llies—​­China, France, United Kingdom, United
States, and the ­USSR—​­which would meet no later than
1 September 1945 to discuss many unresolved issues,
such as peace treaties for Italy, Romania, Bulgaria,
Hungary, and Finland; the disposition of colonies of
former Axis states; and the withdrawal of Allied troops
from Iran.
The conclusion of the war with Japan was the subject
of the Potsdam Declaration of 26 July. At the earlier Yalta
Conference (February 1945), U.S. president Franklin D.
Roosevelt (1882–​1945) had negotiated Moscow’s declaration of war on Japan and a joint invasion scheduled for
August. Truman, who sought to limit postwar Soviet involvement in Asia, was bolstered by the news on 17 July
of a successful test of the atomic bomb at the Trinity Site
1790
© 2009 by Berkshire Publishing Group LLC
Potsdam Conference n Bōcítǎn Huìyì n 波茨坦会议
1791
Soviet leader Josef Stalin and President Harry S. Truman meet for the first time, during the Potsdam Conference in Germany, at the “Little White House,” the residence
of President Truman during the conference. Left to right: Vyacheslav Molotov, Soviet
­foreign minister; Secretary of States James Byrnes; Charles Bohlen, interpreter for
President Truman; President Truman; Admiral William Leahy; V. N. Pavlov, interpreter for Stalin; and Josef Stalin, 17 July 1945. National Archives.
in New Mexico. Nevertheless, given the uncertainty of
the new weapon, Truman forged ahead with the plans
conceived by Roosevelt for an Allied attack. The final section of the Potsdam protocol demanded Japan’s surrender: “We call upon the government of Japan to proclaim
now the unconditional surrender of all Japanese armed
forces, and to provide proper and adequate assurances of
their good faith in such action. The alternative for Japan
is prompt and utter destruction.”
June GRASSO
Further Reading
Feis, H. (1960). Between war and peace: The Potsdam Conference. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
McCullough, D. (1993). Truman. New York: Simon &
Schuster.
Mee, C. L., Jr. (1976). Meeting at Potsdam. New York: Dell
Publishing.
Paterson, T. G. (1972). Potsdam, the atomic bomb, and
the Cold War: A discussion with James F. Byrnes. The
Pacific Historical Review, 41(2), 225–​230.
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