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68-735: According to the Potsdam Agreement in 1945, the SMAD was assigned the eastern portion of present-day Germany, consisting mostly of central Prussia . Prussia was dissolved by the Allies in 1947 and this area was divided between several German states (Länder) . German lands east of the Oder-Neisse line were annexed by Soviet Union or granted to Poland , and Germans living in these areas were forcibly expelled, having had their property expropriated and been robbed of most of their belongings whilst in transit to

136-738: A West German government began to be formed, a German People's Congress ( Deutscher Volkskongreß ) was elected for the Soviet occupation zone. However, the only options voters had were to approve or reject "unity lists" of pre-picked candidates from the various parties, largely made up of communists. About two-thirds of East Germans approved the list for the new Congress. In November 1948, the German Economic Commission ( Deutsche Wirtschaftskommission – DWK) assumed administrative authority in East Germany under Soviet supervision. On 7 October 1949,

204-574: A Final German Peace Treaty, i.e. southern East Prussia ( Masuria ), Farther Pomerania , the New March region of the former Province of Brandenburg , the districts of the Grenzmark Posen-West Prussia , Lower Silesia and those parts of Upper Silesia that had remained with Germany after the 1921 Upper Silesia plebiscite . It further affected the German minority living within the territory of

272-561: 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

340-466: 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." 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

408-643: A meeting of the three governments to occur in June. Truman hoped for Stalin to propose the meeting so as to avoid the appearance that the Americans and British were ganging up on the Soviets. With some prompting from Truman's aide Harry Hopkins , Stalin proposed a meeting in the Berlin area. Informed of this by the US, Churchill sent a letter agreeing that he'd be happy to meet in "what is left of Berlin". Some sources suggest Truman delayed

476-804: 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. 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

544-583: A priori any commitment to the eventual reconstitution of a central government in Germany. James F. Byrnes wrote "we specifically refrained from promising to support at the German Peace Conference any particular line as the western frontier of Poland." The Berlin Protocol declared: "The three heads of government reaffirm their opinion that the final delimitation of the western frontier of Poland should await

612-563: A result of the British general election of 1945 , had replaced Winston Churchill as the UK's representative. The three powers also agreed to invite France and China to participate as members of the Council of Foreign Ministers established to oversee the agreement. The Provisional Government of the French Republic accepted the invitation on August 7, with the key reservation that it would not accept

680-503: A whole (for example France separated Saarland from Germany to establish its protectorate on 17 December 1947), and anything that they feared might lead to the emergence of an eventual unified German government. After the end of World War II in Europe (1939–1945), and the decisions of the earlier Tehran , Casablanca and Yalta Conferences , the Allies assumed supreme authority over Germany by

748-725: The Berlin Declaration of June 5, 1945. At the Potsdam Conference the Western Allies were presented with Stalin 's fait accompli awarding Soviet-occupied Poland the river Oder as its western border, placing the entire Soviet Occupation Zone east of it (with the exception of the Kaliningrad enclave), including Pomerania , most of East Prussia , and Danzig , under Polish administration. The German population who had not fled were expelled and their properties acquisitioned by

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816-569: The Council of Foreign Ministers , which the conference established. The conference ended with a stronger relationship among the three governments as a consequence of their collaboration, which renewed confidence that together with the other United Nations, they would ensure the creation of a just and enduring peace. Nevertheless, within 18 months relations had deteriorated and the Cold War had emerged. In May 1945, Churchill wrote to Truman hoping to arrange

884-596: The People's Republic of Poland , the People's Republic of Bulgaria , the People's Republic of Hungary , the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic , the People's Republic of Romania , and the People's Republic of Albania . Many of those countries had seen failed Socialist revolutions prior to World War II . Regarding the establishment of the Oder–Neisse line , President Truman reported that Stalin had presented

952-673: The Agreement but was not finalized as Poland's permanent western frontier until the 1990 German-Polish Border Treaty , having been recognized by East Germany in 1950 (in the Treaty of Zgorzelec ) and acquiesced to by West Germany in 1970 (in the Treaty of Moscow (1970) and the Treaty of Warsaw (1970) ). In the Potsdam Agreement (Berlin Conference) the Allies (UK, USSR, US) agreed on the following matters: The Three Governments have taken note of

1020-607: 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

1088-506: The American, British, and Soviet zones. The main purpose of the SMAD was to maintain the unity of Germany. It also had to deal with refugees, such as those resettled from Poland, the homeless, and former German soldiers. Resources were short, and the economy needed to be shifted from wartime production to peacetime. However, the Soviets were also concerned with their own well-being, and dismantled entire factories and railroads to be reassembled in

1156-658: The Baltic Sea. The area would pass from the eastern shore of the Bay of Danzig to the east, north of Braunsberg and Goldap, to the meeting point of the frontiers of Lithuania, the Polish Republic, and East Prussia. After the conference considered the Soviet recommendation, it agreed for the city of Königsberg and the area next to it to be transferred to the Soviet Union. Truman and Winston Churchill guaranteed that they would support

1224-600: The Conference, the French resisted implementing the Potsdam Agreements within their occupation zone. In particular, the French refused to resettle any expelled Germans from the east. Moreover, the French did not accept any obligation to abide by the Potsdam Agreement in the proceedings of the Allied Control Council; in particular resisting all proposals to establish common policies and institutions across Germany as

1292-504: 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. The Soviet Union proposed for

1360-780: The German People's Congress formed a provisional government and established the German Democratic Republic with Wilhelm Pieck as its first president. On 5 November 1949, the SMAD was abolished and replaced by the Soviet Control Commission ( Sowjetische Kontrolkommission – SKK). However, the SKK did not formally turn over administrative responsibilities to the GDR government until 11 November 1949. Potsdam Agreement The Potsdam Agreement ( German : Potsdamer Abkommen )

1428-574: The German province of East Prussia , occupied by the Red Army during its East Prussian Offensive followed by its evacuation in winter 1945, had already been incorporated into Soviet territory as the Kaliningrad Oblast . The Western Allies promised to support the annexation of the territory north of the Braunsberg – Goldap line when a Final German Peace Treaty was held. The Allies had acknowledged

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1496-653: The Proclamation Defining Terms for Japanese Surrender (26 July 1945) wherein the Western Allies (UK, US, USSR) and the Nationalist China of General Chiang Kai-shek asked Japan to surrender or be destroyed. Already during the Potsdam Conference, on 30 July 1945, the Allied Control Council was constituted in Berlin to execute the Allied resolutions (the "Four Ds"): The northern half of

1564-605: The Soviet Occupation Zone, they were consequently excluded from 'Germany as a whole'. In the course of the proceedings, and after the German state killed around 5-6 million Polish citizens during the war, Polish communists had begun to suppress the German population west of the Bóbr river to underline their demand for a border on the Lusatian Neisse. The Allied resolution on the "orderly transfer" of German population became

1632-743: The Spanish government, which had been established with the support of the Axis powers. 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. Truman had mentioned an unspecified "powerful new weapon" to Stalin during

1700-534: The U.S. was about to use a new kind of weapon against the Japanese. Though this was the first time the Soviets had been officially given information about the atomic bomb, Stalin was already aware of the bomb project, having learned about it through espionage long before Truman did. Key final decisions included the following: Germany would be divided into the four occupation zones (among the three powers and France) that had been agreed to earlier; Germany's eastern border

1768-557: 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

1836-429: The USSR. In late 1945 a land reform confiscated the land of German nobles ( Junker ) , to be given to cottagers and landless farmhands. Banks were also nationalized that year. In 1946 an education reform established separation of church and state in elementary schools, and heavy industries were nationalized under the guise of confiscation of the property of Nazi war criminals . The SMAD set up ten "special camps" for

1904-584: 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

1972-584: The United States "had a new weapon of unusual destructive force", but Stalin had full knowledge of the atomic bomb's development from Soviet spy networks inside the Manhattan Project and told Truman at the conference that he hoped Truman "would make good use of it against the Japanese." The Soviet Union converted several countries of Eastern Europe into satellite states within the Eastern Bloc , such as

2040-548: The [final] peace settlement." Byrnes continues: "In the light of this history, it is difficult to credit with good faith any person who asserts that Poland's western boundary was fixed by the conferences, or that there was a promise that it would be established at some particular place." Despite this, the Oder-Neisse Line was set as Poland's provisional (and therefore theoretically subject to change) western frontier in Article 8 of

2108-584: The agreement of the Yalta Conference that there should be periodic meetings among the foreign secretaries of the three governments. According to the text of the agreement for the establishment of the council, this was decided: 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

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2176-425: 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 . The Soviet Union proposed to the Conference for the territorial questions to be resolved permanently after peace was established in those regions. More specifically, the proposal referred to the section of the western Soviet border near

2244-620: The challenge of the relationship between the two emerging superpowers. Both leading powers continued to portray a cordial relationship to the public, but suspicion and distrust lingered between them. 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. Truman and his advisers saw Soviet actions in Eastern Europe as aggressive expansionism, which

2312-700: The city of Prague . Though the Potsdam Agreement referred only to Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary , expulsions also occurred in Romania , where the Transylvanian Saxons were deported and their property seized, and in Yugoslavia . In the Soviet territories, Germans were expelled from northern East Prussia ( Oblast Kaliningrad ) but also from the adjacent Lithuanian Klaipeda Region and other lands settled by Baltic Germans . Potsdam Conference The Potsdam Conference ( German : Potsdamer Konferenz )

2380-666: The conference also included establishing the postwar order, solving issues on the peace treaty, and countering the effects of the war. The foreign ministers and aides played key roles: Vyacheslav Molotov , Anthony Eden and Ernest Bevin , and James F. Byrnes . From July 17 to July 25, nine meetings were held, when the Conference was interrupted for two days, as the results of the British general election were announced. By July 28, Attlee had defeated Churchill and replaced him as Britain's representative, with Britain's new Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Ernest Bevin, replacing Anthony Eden. Four days of further discussion followed. During

2448-544: The conference in order for it to meet after the results of the first atomic bomb test were known. The conference was eventually set to begin July 16 at Cecilienhof in Potsdam, near Berlin. 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

2516-437: The conference's agenda, were likely to contradict agreed-upon Anglo-American objectives. 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. France, having been excluded from the conference, resisted implementing the Potsdam agreements within its occupation zone. In particular,

2584-485: The conference, there were meetings of the three heads of government with their foreign secretaries, as well as meetings of only the foreign secretaries. Committees that were appointed by the latter for precursory consideration of questions before the conference also met daily. During the Conference, Truman was secretly informed that the Trinity test of the first atomic bomb on July 16 had been successful. He hinted to Stalin that

2652-508: The conference. Towards the end of the conference, on July 26, the Potsdam Declaration gave Japan an ultimatum to surrender unconditionally or meet "prompt and utter destruction", which did not mention the new bomb but promised that "it was not intended to enslave Japan". The Soviet Union was not involved in that declaration since it was still neutral in the war against Japan. Japanese Prime Minister Kantarō Suzuki did not respond, which

2720-407: 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

2788-677: The detention of Germans, some of them former Nazi concentration camps . In 1947, they started prosecuting Nazi crimes based on the SMAD Directive 201 with 8,300 verdicts passed. A decree of 10 June 1945 allowed for the formation of antifascist democratic political parties and called for elections in October 1946. A coalition of four parties was formed in July, consisting of the Communist (KPD), Social Democratic (SPD), Liberal Democratic and (eastern) Christian Democratic (CDU) parties. This coalition

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2856-550: The discussions which have been proceeding in recent weeks in London between British, United States, Soviet and French representatives with a view to reaching agreement on the methods of trial of those major war criminals whose crimes under the Moscow Declaration of October 1943 have no particular geographical localization. The Three Governments reaffirm their intention to bring these criminals to swift and sure justice. They hope that

2924-468: 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

2992-457: 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. The representatives would also form an estimate of

3060-454: The former Second Polish Republic in Greater Poland , eastern Upper Silesia, Chełmno Land and the Polish Corridor with Danzig. The Germans in Czechoslovakia (34% of the population of the territory of what is now the Czech Republic), known as Sudeten Germans but also Carpathian Germans , were expelled from the Sudetenland region where they formed a majority, from linguistic enclaves in central Bohemia and Moravia , as well as from

3128-406: The future pace of transfers and focus on the German occupied government's capacity to process new arrivals. The provisional governments of Poland, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia were instructed to temporarily suspend expulsions of German civilians until their respective Control Council representatives had reported these results and estimates. The Big Three took notice that the Soviet representatives on

3196-457: The legitimacy of the Polish Provisional Government of National Unity , which was about to form a Soviet satellite state . Urged by Stalin, the UK and the US gave in to put the German territories east of the Oder–Neisse line from the Baltic coast west of Świnoujście up to the Czechoslovak border "under Polish administration"; allegedly confusing the Lusatian Neisse and the Glatzer Neisse rivers. The proposal of an Oder- Bober - Queis line

3264-408: The legitimation of the expulsion of Germans from the nebulous parts of Central Europe , if they had not already fled from the advancing Red Army. The expulsion of ethnic Germans by the Poles concerned, in addition to Germans within areas behind the 1937 Polish border in the West (such as in most of the old Prussian province of West Prussia), the territories placed "under Polish administration" pending

3332-569: The negotiations in London will result in speedy agreement being reached for this purpose, and they regard it as a matter of great importance that the trial of these major criminals should begin at the earliest possible date. The first list of defendants will be published before 1st September. [t]he three Governments have also charged the Council of Foreign Ministers with the task of preparing peace treaties for Bulgaria , Finland , Hungary and Romania . The conclusion of Peace Treaties with recognized democratic governments in these States will also enable

3400-484: 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

3468-417: The proposals of the conference when peace was eventually ensured. 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

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3536-500: The prosecution of war criminals and the mass expulsion of ethnic Germans from various parts of Europe. France was not invited to the conference but formally remained one of the powers occupying Germany. Executed as a communiqué, the agreement was not a peace treaty according to international law , although it created accomplished facts. It was superseded by the Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany signed on 12 September 1990. As De Gaulle had not been invited to

3604-409: The question in all its aspects, recognize that the transfer to Germany of German populations, or elements thereof, remaining in Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary, will have to be undertaken. They agree that any transfers that take place should be effected in an orderly and humane manner. Moreover, towards concluding the Pacific Theatre of War , the Potsdam Conference issued the Potsdam Declaration ,

3672-500: 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

3740-409: The state. President Truman and the British delegations protested at these actions. The Three Power Conference took place from 17 July to 2 August 1945, in which they adopted the Protocol of the Proceedings, August 1, 1945 , signed at Cecilienhof Palace in Potsdam . The signatories were General Secretary Joseph Stalin , President Harry S. Truman , and Prime Minister Clement Attlee , who, as

3808-432: The terms of the armistice to the occupied countries. The Conference agreed on the establishment of a Council of Foreign Ministers to represent the five principal powers, continue the essential preliminary work for the peace settlements, and assume other matters that could occasionally be committed to the council by agreement of the governments participating it. The establishment of the Council in question did not contradict

3876-431: The three Governments to support applications from them for membership of the United Nations. The three Governments agree to examine each separately in the near future in the light of the conditions then prevailing, the establishment of diplomatic relations with Finland, Romania, Bulgaria, and Hungary to the extent possible prior to the conclusion of peace treaties with those countries. The Three Governments, having considered

3944-535: 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-President Harry Truman assumed the presidency, which saw VE Day (Victory in Europe) within a month and VJ Day (Victory in Japan) on the horizon. During the war, in the name of Allied unity, Roosevelt had brushed off warnings of potential domination by Stalin over parts of Europe by explaining, "I just have

4012-420: 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

4080-419: 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

4148-593: Was held at Potsdam in the Soviet occupation zone from July 17 to August 2, 1945, to allow the three leading Allies to plan the postwar peace, while avoiding the mistakes of the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 . The participants were the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States. They were represented respectively by General Secretary Joseph Stalin , Prime Ministers Winston Churchill and Clement Attlee , and President Harry S. Truman . They gathered to decide how to administer Germany, which had agreed to an unconditional surrender nine weeks earlier. The goals of

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4216-417: Was incompatible with the agreements committed to by Stalin at Yalta in February. In addition, Truman became aware of possible complications elsewhere after Stalin had objected to Churchill's proposal for an Allied withdrawal from Iran ahead of the schedule that had been agreed at the Tehran Conference . The Potsdam Conference was the only time that Truman met Stalin in person. At the Yalta Conference, France

4284-408: Was interpreted as a sign that the Japanese had ignored the ultimatum. As a result, the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima on 6 August and on Nagasaki on 9 August 1945. The justifications used were that both cities were legitimate military targets and that it was necessary to end the war swiftly and preserve American lives. When Truman informed Stalin of the atomic bomb, he said that

4352-430: Was known as the Democratic Bloc , which would be succeeded by the National Front in 1950. In April 1946 the KPD and SPD merged under Soviet pressure into the Socialist Unity Party of Germany ( Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands – SED). In the October 1946 elections, the SED won in the East German states, but lost in Greater Berlin to the local SPD, which had not merged with the KPD there. In May 1949, when

4420-419: 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

4488-424: Was rejected by the Soviet delegation. The cession included the former Free City of Danzig and the seaport of Stettin on the mouth of the Oder River ( Szczecin Lagoon ), vital for the Upper Silesian Industrial Region . Post-war, 'Germany as a whole' would consist solely of aggregate territories of the respective zones of occupation. As all former German territories east of the Oder-Neisse line were excluded from

4556-464: Was the agreement among three of the Allies of World War II : the United Kingdom , the United States , and the Soviet Union after the war ended in Europe that was signed on 1 August 1945 and it was published the next day. A product of the Potsdam Conference , it concerned the military occupation and reconstruction of Germany , its border , and the entire European Theatre of War territory. It also addressed Germany's demilitarisation , reparations ,

4624-415: Was to be shifted west to the Oder–Neisse line ; a Soviet-backed group was recognized as the legitimate government of Poland; and Vietnam was to be partitioned at the 16th parallel. The Soviets also reaffirmed their Yalta promise to promptly launch an invasion of Japanese-held areas . Views were also exchanged on a plethora of other questions. However, consideration of those matters was postponed into

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