Allied plans for post-war Germany

• Tehran Conference (1943):

  • meeting between the big 3 to decide military strategy and post-war territorial change
  • Discussed the Polish/German borders - Stalin demanded Polish land gained in 1939 Nazi- Soviet Pact, US and UK agree to his demands
  • Roosevelt suggests the breaking of Germany into states, eliminating the German threat
• Moscow Conference (1944):

  • Stalin and Churchill discussed the USSR’s entry in war against Japan and the control of post- war Europe
  • Informal agreement
• Yalta Conference (Feb 1945):

  • Churchill, Stalin and Roosevelt met at Crimean city of Yalta
  • Decided that Germany would be divided into four sections (and so would Berlin), with the ACC taking control of the whole of Germany
  • UN set up
  • Roosevelt was ill and his ideals were very idealistic
• Potsdam Conference (1945):

  • No Churchill or Roosevelt - replaced by Attlee and Truman
  • France not present
  • Truman didn't like Communists so was tense with USSR (refused to cooperate)
  • Arguments over where the boundaries between the zones would be drawn - no agreements over long term future of Germany
  • Polish borders made a 'fait accompli'
  • Little real progress was made at Potsdam beyond an agreement to put into action the commitments made at Yalta.
• The Potsdam Agreement: they agreed on a 'protocol of proceedings' and not a formal treaty. Stated that Germany was to be built on the principle of the four Ds
• Occupation zones agreed at Potsdam:

  • Four zones of occupation, each occupying power was to administer its zone independently
  • All issues concerning the country were to be decided by all four powers unanimously
• All German military forces were disbanded and they were prevented from having any independent military pressure under Allied occupation