Potsdam

• Leaders present and relations with each other

  Harry S. Truman (new president of USA) and Clement Atlee (new prime minister of United Kingdom) both struggled to get their way with Stalin.

  Truman had a 'get tough' approach, whereas Atlee simply wanted conferences to be quick so that he could get back to Britain and take charge, reforming it.
• What happened at Potsdam

  Germany was split into 4 zones as suggested at Yalta.

  Zones were managed by the Soviet Union, Britain, France and the USA.

  It was decided the German economy should be run as a whole.

  Berlin was also to be divided into 4 zones (in Soviet part of Germany) and controlled by the 4 different countries.
• Germany's division

  Each country was to take reparation from its own zone - as Soviets had the poorest zone, they were entitled to one quarter of industrial equipment from other zones.
• Additionally at the Potsdam conference, no agreement had been reached over government of Eastern Europe and Truman objected to the Polish border agreement decided at Yalta.
• Changes to superpower relations

  The relationships between the Soviet Union and USA became more tense, as Truman and Stalin found it more difficult to come to compromises

  Atlee was not really a player due to being more interested in getting back to Britain
• The Potsdam conference occurred July-August 1945 and was the last meeting of the Big Three. Potsdam is located in Germany.