Near the end of World War II, global politics were at peak level. The Allies: Britain, the US and Russia, otherwise not on the most friendly of terms, were united only in their quest against Germany and the Nazis, as well as securing victory in the war. In 1945, two conferences were held with the top political leaders of Russia, the United States, and Britain. The "Big Three", as they were known, met in February 1945 at Yalta, Crimea, USSR, and then again in July at Potsdam, Germany. These conferences, the Yalta Conference and the Potsdam conference respectively, were meant to decide the future of the world after the war--decisions made by the three most powerful men in the world at the time, from the three most powerful nations. While both conferences were meant to attempt a smooth transition into post-war life, the two summits still differed greatly, even though they were intended to accomplish the same things. The main differences between the Yalta Conference and the Potsdam conference were the changes in the Big Three between the conferences, alterations in the aims of the leaders, and a general heightening of tensions between the three nations.
The Yalta Conference took place in February 1945 at the Soviet Black Sea resort of Yalta, among the Big Three: Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin. As the war against Germany was coming to a close, the United States and Great Britain sought to bring the Soviet Union into the still-unfinished war against Japan. The contest there was no longer seriously in doubt; the Japanese had been virtually defeated militarily. Nevertheless, they continued to fight, inflicting terrible casualties on the Americans and, to a lesser extent, on British and Commonwealth troops. Indeed, more Americans were being killed—by a defeated enemy no less— in this closing phase of the Pacific war than in all the combat between December 7, 1941, and the beginning of 1945.
Up to this point, with his hands more than full fighting the German invasion of the Soviet Union then prosecuting an offensive against Germany, Stalin had avoided war with Japan. At Yalta, however, Roosevelt persuaded him to agree to declare war against Japan “two or three months” after the surrender of Germany. In return, the Soviet Union would acquire part of Sakhalin Island and the Kuril Islands—territories that Russia had lost to Japan in the 1905 Russo-Japanese War. Stalin was also assured of postwar Soviet dominance in Outer Mongolia and Manchuria. All of these terms were set down in the “Yalta Agreement on the Kuriles and Entry of the Soviet Union in the War against Japan,” signed on February 11, 1945.
The Yalta Agreement was an excellent bargain for the Soviets. The successful use by the United States of atomic bombs against Hiroshima and Nagasaki made a costly invasion of Japan unnecessary and ended the war much sooner than anticipated. Biding his time, Stalin had delayed declaring war well beyond the time frame specified in the Yalta Agreement, but he finally did so on August 8, 1945, two days after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. By this expedient, the Soviets reaped the rewards of the agreement without having had to commit to a long battle.
Potsdam was the last of the major Allied conferences of World War II. Held from July 17 to August 2, 1945, in the Berlin suburb of Potsdam, its principal participants were President Harry S. Truman, Soviet premier Joseph Stalin, and (at the beginning of the conference) British prime minister Winston Churchill, whose place was later taken by Clement Attlee, when he replaced Churchill as prime minister.
The major subjects of the conference were the European peace settlements; the urgently pressing issue of administering a defeated and substantially destroyed Germany; the determination of Polish boundaries; the terms of the occupation of Austria; the Soviet role in Eastern Europe; reparations; and, not least, the continued prosecution of the war against Japan.
The conference produced the Potsdam Declaration. With regard to Germany, the declaration asserted the Allies’ intention to give the “German people . . . the opportunity to prepare for the even- tual reconstruction of their life on a democratic and peaceful basis.” Four zones of occupation were demarcated in Germany, each to be administered by military governments under the commanders in chief of the U.S., British, Soviet, and French armies of occupation. Austria was also divided into four zones of occupation, as were the capital cities of Berlin and Vienna. Coordination among the occupation zones was to be handled by an Allied Con- trol Council. The conference agreed that occupation policy would embody the principles stated in the Yalta Agreement, including demilitarization, denazification, democratization, decentralization, and deindustrialisation.
Regarding the issue of reparations, each Allied power was to recover reparations from its own zone of occupation, with the proviso that the Soviet Union was entitled to recover 10 to 15 per- cent of the industrial equipment in the western zones of Germany in exchange for agricultural produce and other natural products from its zone.
With regard to the settlement of the Polish border, this was fixed at the Oder and Neisse Rivers in the west, and the country absorbed a portion of what had been East Prussia. This settlement required relocating millions of Germans from these areas.
The settlement of the Soviet role in Eastern Europe was highly contentious, as Stalin refused to permit Western intervention in those Eastern governments already controlled by communists.
At Potsdam President Truman revealed to Stalin the existence of the atomic bomb and that he intended to use it against Japan. Stalin hardly reacted to this revelation—because (as it turned out) his espionage network had already informed him of the existence of the bomb. However, because of the weapon, the conferees were emboldened to issue an ultimatum to Japan on July 26 demanding unconditional surrender. After Japan rejected the ultimatum the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The difference in the leaders involved in the two conferences was a major factor in the differentiation between Yalta and Potsdam. At Yalta, the Big Three was composed of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin. At Potsdam, Attlee replaced Churchill after his defeat in the British elections, and Truman took Roosevelt's position. The only constant figure in the conferences was Stalin, the leader of one of the most controversial nations in the world. As previously mentioned, the only issue the three countries truly saw eye-to-eye on was eradicating the Nazi presence from the world. Two capitalist nations allied with a vehemently communist one already poses some problems with communications, and the change from Roosevelt to Truman between the conferences only added to the discrepancies between Yalta and Potsdam. Truman stated of his "ally" Stalin that he was "tired of babying the Soviets". Roosevelt, a much more diplomatic figure, was one of the key factors in the disparity between Yalta and Potsdam. While he also had doubts about Russia, Roosevelt kept these feelings between himself and Churchill, without truly laying them out in the open. Truman openly stated that he was going to "get tough" with the Russians, and so contributed to the difference in policies that the US had regarding the Russians at Potsdam. The change in the Big Three at Yalta and Potsdam was a large part in the disparities in the two conferences.
Other contributing issues in the difference between Yalta and Potsdam concerned the objectives of the Big Three at Yalta and the disagreements over them at Potsdam. At Yalta, Germany and Japan were both undefeated at the time, yet plans were being made as to Germany's division after its predicted loss. The Big Three intended to divide up Germany into French, British, Russian, and American sections. Russia also wanted reparations to pay for the losses it had suffered at Germany's hands during the war, totalling at about 20 million deaths and the destruction of over 1000 towns. Stalin wanted harsh payment from the Germans, involving the confiscation of about 80% of its industry, allied control of the economy, and annual reparations payments made to the allies. These numbers are vital to later understanding the mentality of the Russians by the time of the so-called Long Telegram. To look into the matter, a reparations commission was set up. Furthermore, in exchange for Soviet control of Poland (reorganizing the government to be made democratic), the Russians agreed to facilitate the formation of democratic states in Eastern Europe that would be freed from German control. Lastly, it was agreed upon that once Germany was defeated, Russia would formally enter the war against Japan to aid in its defeat. At Potsdam, however, these aims and objectives were forced into close scrutiny by the Big Three, and major disagreements between the three leaders occurred. By this time, Germany had been defeated, although the US was still at war with Japan. Regarding Germany, which was agreed upon at Yalta to be split into four zones, the Big Three faced open contention over the boundaries of the four sections. Germany was also forced to pay reparations to Russia, and was forced to give up 10% of its industry. However, Britain and the US felt that it was too much and that milking Germany of all its assets would leave its people poor and starving. Other disagreements that arose involved the Eastern European democratic states that were supposed to be established by Russia; Britain and the US claimed that communism was manifesting itself in those states with the aid of the Soviets, rather than the intended democracies. Lastly, Truman and Atlee had doubts in the Soviet control of Poland, after Stalin arrested all non-communists in the Polish state. Stalin wanted Atlee and Truman to recognize his authority over these "puppet states", which they refused to do. The main difference between Yalta and Potsdam was the level of consensus reached in each of the conferences. The objectives were mapped out at Yalta, and then disputed over at Potsdam. Although they apparently remained the same on paper, there was much disagreement over the application of the aims, which then translated into the major difference between the two conferences.
Another main difference between the Yalta Conference and the Potsdam Conference was the level of tensions between the Big Three. At Yalta, while there were still tensions present, most of it was hidden behind the scenes; at Potsdam, open disagreement was the case. When Churchill was part of the Big Three, he wrote to Roosevelt during Yalta "The Soviet Union has become a danger to the free world." However, at Potsdam, there were open accusations regarding Russia's approach to communism and their attempt at transforming the rest of Europe into a communist society. The changes in their objectives also inflamed tensions, with the disagreements over Germany's new borders, Soviet entitlement to reparations, and Russian power over Eastern Europe heightening the power struggles between the Big Three. Truman was also obviously angered by Stalin's move to arrest all of Poland's non-communist leaders. Additionally, at Yalta, Russia had agreed to aid the US in their war against Japan; however, by Potsdam, Truman had had news of the atomic bomb testing and avoided notifying Stalin. Stalin was furious when he discovered news of the atomic bomb's successful testing and the fact that Truman had kept Stalin in the dark. Tensions also increased when the US and Britain demanded free elections be held in Romania, Hungary and Bulgaria, whereas Stalin insisted that they would remain under his control. In general, one of the main differences between the Yalta Conference and Potsdam was the increase in strained relations between the Big Three.
Yalta and Potsdam were the two major peace conferences in World War II. They were both intended to achieve a state of post-war peace, and yet somehow metamorphosed into the arising of further global discord. Even though issues at both conferences were the same, the conferences were not. The major differences between Yalta and Potsdam were the changes in the leaders involved, a shift in the objectives and aims of the conferences, and a great heightening of tensions between the Big Three. These two conferences were what set the standards for life after World War II, and were the preludes to the events of the Cold War.
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http://www.johndclare.net/cold_war4_YaltavPotsdam.html
http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-potsdamc1.html
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