The Potsdam Conference lasted from July 17th to August 2nd 1945.
The Conference was meant to follow on from the Big Power Conferences at
Teheran in 1943 and in Yalta, February 1945.
In many ways it did. Most of the major issues discussed at the Conference
were the same. These issues included what to do with Germany, carrying on
the war against Japan, what would happen to the countries of Eastern Europe.
Some things had changed by the time of Potsdam. There was a new US President,
Harry Truman. British leader Winston Churchill was replaced by Clement Atlee
after Atlee won the 1945 election in Britain. By this time the USA had a working
atomic bomb. Also, Stalin's armies controlled most of Eastern Europe.
Historians know that many of the tensions which were under the surface at
Yalta became more obvious at Potsdam.
