Potsdam Conference was the last meeting among the leaders of the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States during World War II (1939-1945). It took place at Potsdam, Germany, near Berlin, from July 17 to Aug. 2, 1945, following Germany’s defeat in the war. Present at the opening of the meeting were Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and U.S. President Harry S. Truman. Clement Attlee succeeded Churchill as prime minister on July 26 and took Churchill’s place for the rest of the conference.
The Potsdam Conference confirmed earlier arrangements for dividing Germany into British, French, Soviet, and U.S. military occupation zones. The conference approved the awarding to Poland of German territory east of the Oder and Neisse rivers. It also confirmed that Germany would be demilitarized, Nazism would be destroyed, and German leaders would stand trial for war crimes. Each of the four Allied powers was to receive payment for war damages from its own German occupation zone.
While at Potsdam, Truman learned that U.S. scientists had completed the first successful atomic bomb test. This news led to the Potsdam Declaration. The proclamation, issued on July 26, threatened Japan’s “prompt and utter destruction” unless it surrendered without conditions. The Japanese government ignored this warning, and on August 6, the United States dropped the first atomic bomb used in war on Hiroshima, Japan.
See also Cold War (The alliance breaks up) .
