A number of changes had taken place in the five months since the
Yalta Conference and greatly affected the relationships among the leaders. The Soviets occupied Central and Eastern Europe. The
Baltic states were forcibly reincorporated into the USSR, while the Red Army also occupied Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Romania. Refugees fled from those countries. Stalin had set up a puppet communist government in Poland, insisted that his control of Eastern Europe was a defensive measure against possible future attacks, and claimed that it was a legitimate sphere of Soviet influence.
Winston Churchill, who had served for most of the war as British prime minister in a
coalition government, was replaced during the conference by
Clement Attlee. Churchill's government had a Soviet policy since the early 1940s that differed considerably from
Franklin D. Roosevelt's and believed Stalin to be a "devil"-like tyrant, who led a vile system. A
general election was held in the United Kingdom on 5 July 1945, but its results were delayed to allow the votes of armed forces personnel to be counted in their home constituencies. The outcome became known during the conference, when Attlee became the new prime minister. Roosevelt had died on 12 April 1945, and US Vice-
Harry Truman assumed the presidency, which saw
VE Day (Victory in Europe) within a month and
VJ Day (Victory in Japan) on the horizon.
William Bullitt had been ambassador to the Soviet Union until 1936, and ambassador to France until 1940, until having a falling out with Roosevelt and a demotion in the State Department. He later claimed Roosevelt told him in January 1943 with regards to potential Soviet domination over eastern Europe - "I just have a hunch that Stalin is not that kind of a man. ... I think that if I give him everything I possibly can and ask for nothing from him in return, 'noblesse oblige', he won't try to annex anything and will work with me for a world of democracy and peace." Bullitt wrote a memo criticizing FDR and his focus on Europe over Asia, which was published in the press in May 1943. While a
United States Senator and later as
Vice President, Truman had closely followed the Allied progress of the war.
George Lenczowski noted that "despite the contrast between his relatively modest background and the international glamour of his aristocratic predecessor, [Truman] had the courage and resolution to reverse the policy that appeared to him naive and dangerous," which was "in contrast to the immediate, often
ad hoc moves and solutions dictated by the demands of the war." With the end of the war, the priority of Allied unity was replaced by the challenge of the relationship between the two emerging superpowers. Despite this, on 17 July, the first day of the conference, Truman noted "I can deal with Stalin. He is honest — but smart as hell." Truman was much more suspicious of the Soviets than Roosevelt had been and became increasingly suspicious of Stalin's intentions. At the Yalta Conference, France was granted an occupation zone within Germany. France was a participant in the
Berlin Declaration and was to be an equal member of the
Allied Control Council. Nevertheless, at the insistence of the Americans,
Charles de Gaulle was not invited to Potsdam — just as he had been denied representation at Yalta — for fear that he would reopen the Yalta decisions. De Gaulle thus felt a diplomatic slight, which became a cause of deep and lasting resentment for him. Other reasons for the omission included the longstanding personal mutual antagonism between Roosevelt and de Gaulle, ongoing disputes over the French and American occupation zones, and the anticipated conflicts of interest over
French Indochina. It also reflected the judgement of the British and the Americans that French aims, with respect to many items on the conference's agenda, were likely to contradict agreed-upon Anglo-American objectives. == Agreements == (click to enlarge) At the end of the conference, the three heads of government agreed on the following actions. All other issues were to be resolved by the final peace conference, which was to be called as soon as possible.
Germany • The Allies issued a statement of aims for their occupation of Germany:
demilitarization,
denazification,
democratization,
decentralization,
dismantling, and
decartelization. More specifically, as for the demilitarization and disarmament of Germany, the Allies decided to abolish the
SS; the
SA; the
SD, the
Gestapo; the
air, land, and naval forces; and organizations, staffs, and institutions that were in charge of keeping alive the military tradition in Germany. Concerning the democratization of Germany, the "Big Three" thought it to be of great importance for the
Nazi Party and its affiliated organizations to be destroyed. Thus, the Allies would prevent all Nazi activity and prepare for the reconstruction of German political life in a democratic state. • All Nazi laws would be abolished, which established discrimination on grounds of race, creed, and political opinion and as a result could not be accepted in a democratic country. • Both Germany and Austria were to be divided into four occupation zones, as had been agreed in principle at
Yalta, and similarly, each capital (
Berlin and
Vienna) would be divided into four zones. • Nazi war criminals were to be
put on trial. Specifically, at the Potsdam Conference, the three governments tried to reach an agreement on trial methods for war criminals whose crimes under the
Moscow Declaration of October 1943 had no geographical restriction. Meanwhile, the leaders were aware of ongoing weeks-long discussions in London between the representatives of the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and the Soviet Union. Their purpose was to bring the war criminals to trial as soon as possible and eventually to justice. The first list of defendants would be published before September 1. The leaders' objective was that the London negotiations would have a positive result validated by an agreement, which was signed in London on 8 August 1945. • All German annexations in Europe were to be reversed, including the
Sudetenland,
Alsace-Lorraine, Austria, and
the westernmost parts of Poland. This was an important policy in order to moderate the geopolitical ambitions of Germany in the post-war scenario. • Germany's eastern border was to be shifted westwards to the
Oder–Neisse line, which effectively reduced Germany in size by approximately 25% from its 1937 borders (and approximately 34% from its 1913 borders). The territories east of the new border were
East Prussia, almost all of
Silesia,
West Prussia, and two thirds of
Pomerania. The areas were mainly agricultural, with the exception of
Upper Silesia, which was the second-largest centre of German heavy industry. • Expulsions of the German populations remaining beyond the new eastern borders of Germany were to be carried out from
Poland,
Czechoslovakia, and
Hungary but not
Yugoslavia. • Nazi Party members who held public positions and who opposed postwar Allied aims were to be removed from office. They were to be replaced by those who, based on their political and moral beliefs, were in support of a democratic system. Stalin successfully proposed for Poland to be excluded from the division of German compensation and to be later granted 15% of the compensation given to the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union did not make any claims on gold captured by Allied troops in Germany. • The conference concluded that it was necessary to set limits regarding the disposition and future use of the defeated German navy and of merchant ships. The American, British, and Soviet governments decided that they would assign experts to co-operate, which would soon lead to principles to be agreed upon and announced by the three governments. • The German standard of living was to be prevented from exceeding the European average. The types and amounts of industry to be dismantled to achieve that was to be determined later (see
Allied plans for German industry after World War II). • The German industrial war potential was to be destroyed by the destruction or control of all industries with military potential. To that end, all civilian
shipyards and
aircraft factories were to be dismantled or otherwise destroyed. All production capacity associated with war potential, such as metal, chemicals, or machinery factories, were to be reduced to a minimum level, which would later be determined by the
Allied Control Commission. The manufacturing capacity thus made "surplus" was to be dismantled as reparations or otherwise destroyed. All research and
international trade were to be controlled. The economy was to be decentralised by decartelisation and reorganised, with the primary emphasis on agriculture and peaceful domestic industries. In early 1946, an agreement was reached on the details of the latter in which Germany was to be converted into having an agricultural and
light industrial economy. German exports were to be coal, beer, toys, textiles, etc., which would take the place of the
heavy industrial products that had been most of Germany's prewar exports. France, having been excluded from the conference, resisted implementing the Potsdam agreements within its occupation zone. In particular, the French refused to resettle any Germans expelled from the east. Moreover, the French did not accept any obligation to abide by the Potsdam agreements in the proceedings of the Allied Control Council. In particular, it reserved the right to block any proposals to establish common policies and institutions across Germany as a whole and anything that could lead to the eventual emergence of a unified German government.
Austria The Soviet Union proposed for the authority of
Karl Renner's
provisional government to be extended to all of Austria. The Allies agreed to examine the proposal after British and American forces entered
Vienna. • Poles serving in the British Army would be free to return to Communist Poland but with no guarantee of their security upon their return. • All Poles who returned to Poland would be accorded personal and property rights. • The provisional western border would be the
Oder–Neisse line, defined by the Oder and Neisse Rivers. Silesia, Pomerania, the southern part of East Prussia, and the former
Free City of Danzig would be under Polish administration. However, the final
delimitation of the western frontier of Poland would await the peace settlement, which would only take place 45 years later, in 1990, during the
Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany.
Italy The Soviet Union made a proposal to the conference concerning the mandated territories and conformed with what had been decided at the Yalta Conference and the
Charter of the United Nations. After various opinions on the question had been discussed, the foreign prime ministers agreed that it was essential to decide at once the preparation of a peace treaty for
Italy, combined with the disposition of any former Italian territories. In September, the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs would examine the question of the Italian territory.
Orderly transfers of German populations At the conference, the
Allied leaders confirmed their previous commitment to the removal of German populations from Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary, which the provisional governments of those countries had already begun to put into effect. The three allied leaders agreed that transfers of German civilians should proceed in an orderly and humane manner, but according to modern estimates, between
600,000 and 2.2 million Germans died during the flight and expulsions. The leaders decided that the
Allied Control Council in Germany would deal with the matter, giving priority to the equal distribution of Germans among the various zones of occupation. Representatives on the Control Council were to report to their governments and to each zonal administration the number of people who had already entered Germany from the eastern countries.
Revised Allied Control Commission procedures in Romania, Bulgaria, and Hungary The Big Three took notice that the Soviet representatives on the Allied Control Commissions in Romania, Bulgaria, and Hungary had communicated to their British and Americans colleagues proposals for refining the work of the Control Commission since the war in Europe had ended. The three leaders agreed on the revision of the procedures of the commissions in these countries and took into consideration the interests and responsibilities of their own governments, which together presented the terms of the armistice to the occupied countries. • (I) The council should meet in London and form the Joint Secretariat. Each of the foreign ministers would be accompanied by a high-ranking deputy, properly authorized to continue the work of the Council in the absence of their foreign minister, and by a small staff of technical advisers. (II) The first meeting of the council should be held in London not later than 1 September 1945. Meetings could also be held by common agreement in other capitals.
Concluding peace treaties and facilitating membership in United Nations The Conference agreed to apply common policies for determining, at the earliest opportunity, the terms of the peace. In general, the Big Three desired that dispositions of Italy, Bulgaria, Finland, Hungary, and Romania should be resolved by the end of the negotiations. They believed that the other Allies would share their point of view. As the disposition of
Italy was one of the most important issues that required the attention of the new Council of Foreign Ministers, the three governments were especially concerned with concluding a peace treaty with Italy, especially as it had been the first of the Axis powers to break with
Germany and to participate in Allied operations against Japan. Italy was making significant progress in gaining its freedom and rejecting the previous fascist regime, and it had paved the way for the re-establishment of democratic governments. If Italy had a recognized and democratic government, it would be easier for the Americans, the British, and the Soviets to support the membership of Italy in the United Nations. The Council of Foreign Ministers also had to examine and prepare the peace treaties for
Bulgaria,
Finland,
Hungary, and
Romania. The conclusion of peace treaties with recognized and democratic governments in those four countries would allow the Big Three to accept their requests to be members of the United Nations. Moreover, after the termination of peace negotiations, the Big Three agreed to examine in the near future the restoration of the diplomatic relations with Finland, Romania, Bulgaria, and Hungary. The Big Three were sure that the situation in Europe after the end of World War II would allow representatives of the Allied press to enjoy freedom of expression in the four countries. Article 4 of the
Charter of the United Nations read: 1. Membership in the United Nations is open to all other peace-loving States who accept the obligations contained in the present Charter and, in the judgment of the organization, are able and willing to carry out these obligations; 2. The admission of any such state to membership in the United Nations will be effected by a decision of the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council. The leaders declared that they were willing to support any request for membership from states that had remained neutral during the war and fulfilled the other requirements. The Big Three felt the need to clarify that they were reluctant to support application for such membership from the Spanish government, which had been established with the support of the Axis powers.
Potsdam Declaration ,
James F. Byrnes, and
Anthony Eden, July 1945 In addition to the Potsdam Agreement, on 26 July, Churchill; Truman; and
Chiang Kai-shek,
Chairman of the
Nationalist Government of China (the Soviet Union was not yet at war against Japan), issued the Potsdam Declaration, which outlined the terms of surrender for Japan during World War II in Asia. == Aftermath ==