A few months later, Ms Hunter was invited by the Prussian Palace and Garden Foundation of Berlin-Brandenburg to visit Potsdam – for the first time since 1945. The highlight of her stay was a visit to Cecilienhof Castle, where she was able to see the exhibition she had helped design. You can listen to Mrs. Hunter tell her story in the palace`s audio guide. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, US President Harry Truman and Soviet Prime Minister Joseph Stalin at the Potsdam Conference, codenamed “Terminal” on 23 July 1945. The Potsdam Conference is perhaps best known for President Truman`s conversation with Stalin on July 24, 1945, during which the president informed the Soviet leader that the United States had succeeded in detonating the first atomic bomb on July 16, 1945. Historians have often interpreted Truman`s somewhat firm stance during the negotiations as the U.S. negotiating team`s belief that U.S. nuclear capabilities would increase its bargaining power. Stalin, however, was already well informed about the US nuclear program, thanks to the Soviet intelligence network; so he also resisted in his offices.

This situation made the negotiations difficult. The leaders of the United States, Britain and the Soviet Union, who had remained allies throughout the war despite their differences, never met again to discuss cooperation in post-war reconstruction. Roosevelt had died on April 12, 1945, when U.S. Vice President Harry Truman took over the presidency, which saw Ve Day (Victory in Europe) in a month and VJ Day (Victory in Japan) on the horizon. During the war, and in the name of Allied unity, Roosevelt swept away warnings of Stalin`s possible rule over parts of Europe by declaring, “I have only one idea that Stalin is not that kind of man.” I think that if I give him everything I can and in return I do not demand anything from him, `nobility obliges`, he will not try to annex anything and will work with me for a world of democracy and peace. [10] In July 1945, Allied leaders met in Potsdam, Germany, confirmed earlier agreements on postwar Germany, and reiterated the demand for the unconditional surrender of all Japanese forces, explicitly stating that “the alternative for Japan is immediate and total destruction.” Cecilienhof Castle was the last castle built by the Hohenzollerns. It was built between 1913 – 1917 as an English country house and the last couple of the German crown William and Cecilia of Prussia resided here until 1945. After their move, the palace was chosen as the venue for the Potsdam Conference. The Potsdam Conference, which took place near Berlin from 17 July to 2 August 1945, was the last of the three major meetings of World War II. It was attended by the Prime Minister of the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin, the new US President Harry S.

Truman and british Prime Minister Winston Churchill (replaced on 28th July by his successor Clement Attlee). On July 26, the leaders issued a statement demanding Japan`s “unconditional surrender,” concealing the fact that they had privately agreed to let Japan keep its emperor. Otherwise, the conference focused on post-war Europe. A Council of Foreign Ministers was agreed, comprising the big three, as well as China and France. The German military administration was established, with an Allied Central Control Council (the requirement that approval decisions be unanimous would later prove crippling). The Heads of State and Government agreed on various agreements on the German economy, with a focus on the development of agriculture and non-military industry. The institutions that had controlled the economy under the Nazis were to be decentralized, but all of Germany would be treated as one economic entity. War criminals would be brought to justice. Stalin`s request to define the German-Polish border was postponed to the peace treaty, but the conference agreed to his transfer of land east of the Oder and Neisse rivers from Germany to Poland. In the case of reparations, a compromise was made on the basis of the exchange of capital goods from the western zone for raw materials from the east. He resolved a dispute, but set a precedent for the management of the German economy by zone and not globally, as the Western powers had hoped. Although post-war Europe dominated potsdam`s agenda, the war hid in the Pacific off stage.

Truman received news of the success of the atomic bomb test shortly after his arrival in Potsdam; he broke the news to Churchill, but only casually mentioned “a new weapon” to Stalin. Truman continued to ask Stalin for help against Japan, but he knew that if the bomb succeeded, Russian help would not be needed. In fact, the bomb would give the United States unprecedented power in the postwar world. The reader`s companion to American history. Eric Foner and John A. Garraty, editors. Copyright © 1991 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Truman was much more suspicious of the Soviets than Roosevelt and was increasingly suspicious of Stalin`s intentions. [11] Truman and his advisers saw Soviet actions in Eastern Europe as aggressive expansionism incompatible with the agreements to which Stalin had committed himself at Yalta in February. Moreover, Truman became aware of possible complications elsewhere when Stalin rejected Churchill`s proposal for an allied withdrawal from Iran before the timetable agreed at the Tehran conference. The Potsdam Conference was the only time Truman met Stalin in person. [13] [14] There is probably no more controversial topic in 20th-century American history than President Harry S. .