The Potsdam Conference was a meeting held from July 17 to August 2, 1945 in Germany. It gets its name because it took place in the German city of Potsdam.
Conference Objectives
The main purpose of the Potsdam Conference was to define the amount that Germany would pay for acts carried out during the Second World War (Nazism) and establish the division of the country.
The countries that were at the forefront of the discussion belonged to the bloc that was already considered victorious:the United States, Great Britain and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).
The leaders at the meeting were World War II allies:the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States. The representatives of each country were:the American Harry S. Truman, the Russian Josef Stalin and the British Clement Attlee.
In this way, it was established that the Germans should pay damages in the total amount of US$ 20 billion.
Of this amount, 50% went to the Soviet Union, 14% to Great Britain, 12.5% to the United States and 10% to France. Furthermore, Germany would be divided into occupation zones.
Yalta Conference and Tehran Conference
In addition to the Potsdam Conference, the Yalta and Tehran Conferences also aimed to establish borders, possessions and interests by the allied countries.
Before the end of the Second World War, the Tehran Conference took place from November 28 to December 1, 1943, in Iran.
After that, there was the Yalta Conference (or Crimea Conference) held between the 4th and 11th of February 1945 in the city of Yalta, in the Crimea region.
And, finally, the Potsdam Conference was held, already to define the post-war period. In total, there were three meetings between the United States, Great Britain and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) during World War II.
San Francisco Conference
The San Francisco Conference or Peace Treaty with Japan was signed in 1951 in the city of San Francisco, California. About 50 nations signed the treaty to establish world peace in the post-war period.
Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan
Although the United States and the Soviet Union were allies during the Second World War, the spread of Russian communism increasingly troubled Americans.
As a result, from 1947 onwards, the Truman Doctrine was implemented. The central aim was to prevent the expansion of Russian communism.
In addition, these actions were intended to assist in the reconstruction and establishment of several European countries that were devastated during the second war.
This set of strategic measures of diplomatic, economic and military content was proposed during the administration of US President Harry S. Truman (1945-1953).
From there, the two world superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union, become enemies. This triggered the arms race and consequently the Cold War that divided the world into two blocs:socialist and capitalist.
Allied to the Truman Doctrine was the Marshall Plan or European Recovery Program. The aim was to assist in the reconstruction of European countries through low interest loans.
It is worth remembering that both the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan were US strategies to combat the expansion of Russian communism in other European countries.
Learn more about WWII in the articles :
- World War II
- Causes of World War II
- Consequences of World War II
- Nazism