L-r: British Prime Minister , US By John T. Correll President Harry Truman, and Soviet leader in the garden of Cecilienhof Palace before meeting in , , in 1945. Last

Elaborate preparations were made for the , including a Soviet star fashioned of red flowers in the courtyard between the main gate Tango and entrance to the conference room at Cecilienhof Palace. When WWII ended in Europe, the Big Three in Potsdam no longer shared a common purpose. n July 7, 1945—two months af- for purely political reasons in the ter the German surrender and 1944 election campaign—had told less than three months since he him almost nothing. During his short became President of the Unit- tenure as vice president, he was not ed States—Harry S. Truman included when important issues were Oboarded the US Navy cruiser Augusta discussed in the White House. at Newport News, Va. He was bound for It was only after assuming the pres- Germany to meet with Prime Minister idency that Truman learned the rev- Winston Churchill of Great Britain and olutionary secret he carried with him Marshal Joseph Stalin of the Soviet to Potsdam. The United States had Union to settle the future of Europe. developed an atomic bomb and was This third and last meeting of the ready to test it at a remote site in the wartime Big Three was to be held at Truman (right) and Secretary of State New Mexico desert. Potsdam, a suburb of Berlin, from July James Byrnes on the bow of USS Churchill outside the German Truman would not be the only 16 to Aug. 2. It followed conferences in Augusta en route to the Potsdam Reichstag during a tour of Berlin new leader at Potsdam. Before the Teheran in 1943 and at Yalta in Febru- Conference. before the start of the conference. conference was over, Churchill would ary 1945. be gone as well, replaced as prime At the two previous meetings, Allied and Britain to placate Stalin. And it was The war against Japan continued minister by Clement Attlee, who was leaders had reached tentative agree- becoming increasingly clear—although in the Pacific, but that was more of a as surprised as everyone else by the ments on issues ranging from the post- not as clear as it would be later—that concern to Truman and the United results of a general election back The conference table at Cecilienhof Palace. The “Big Three” and their top aides are war map of Europe to the degree of Stalin could not be trusted. States than to Churchill and Stalin, home. seated around the table, and US ambassador to the Soviet Union Averell Harriman reparations to be imposed on Germany, In many ways, Stalin held the whip who were focused primarily on the is standing at the extreme left. but the final decisions were to be made hand in the disposition of control in balance of power in Europe. UNCLE JOE at Potsdam. Europe because the Red Army was Truman, who took office when Stalin seldom left Moscow and he was chosen as the location for the Big al zone, was relatively untouched by In recent months, the situation had in possession of conquered territory Franklin D. Roosevelt died in April, flatly refused to venture beyond ter- Three conference. the bombing. It had been the capital changed. With the war against Germa- stretching as far west as the Elbe River, had to learn fast. Roosevelt—who ritory controlled by the Soviet Union. Potsdam, on the southwestern edge of the German film industry before

ny over, there was less need for the US halfway across Germany. selected Truman as his running mate It was at his insistence that Potsdam of Berlin and in the Soviet occupation- the war and numerous aristocrats Museums Library Archives; War National Imperial via Photos: Truman

62 SEPTEMBER 2017 H WWW.AIRFORCEMAG.COM SEPTEMBER 2017 H WWW.AIRFORCEMAG.COM 63 German aggression. Stalin felt justified Italy out of action and British strength front," said historian Geoffrey Roberts. in stripping to the bone what was left of depleted by the war, there was no effec- "The Germans suffered in excess of 90 Germany for reparations. tive check on the Soviets by the Euro- percent of their losses on the Eastern Truman and the British, on the other peans themselves. Churchill hoped the front." hand, wanted to avoid the mistakes of United States would fill the gap. That greatly reduced the number of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, which In April, Churchill had objected German forces available to oppose the officially ended . The harsh vigorously when the Supreme Allied US and British on the Western front, conditions imposed on Germany stim- Commander, Europe, Gen. Dwight and it gave Stalin leverage in dealing ulated the rise of Hitler and the Nazis. D. Eisenhower, halted the US-British with Roosevelt and Churchill. Punitive reparations destabilized the advance at the Elbe and left it to the Stalin pointed out that Russia had international economy and provoked Red Army to take Berlin. The postwar been invaded from the west three times, an extreme backlash in Germany. occupation zones had been decided by Napoleon in 1812 and by the Ger- The Germans defaulted on the repa- already, and Berlin was 100 miles inside mans at the beginning of both world rations in 1923, but US banks lent them the Soviet sector. Eisenhower would not wars. Now that he held what amount- enough money to make their payments expend tens of thousands of casualties ed to a large defensive buffer zone in to the French and British. Germany and risk a clash with the Russians for a Eastern Europe, he was not about to soon defaulted on the US loans as well. prize that would be turned over to the give it up. In 1933, Hitler canceled the reparations Russians anyway. "The Americans and the British gen- outright. At the time of the surrender, Al- erally agreed that future governments of "We do not intend again to make lied troops held positions in parts of the Eastern European nations bordering the mistake of extracting reparations Germany, Austria, and Czechoslovakia the Soviet Union should be 'friendly' in money and then lending Germany that were designated for Soviet control. to the Soviet regime, while the Soviets the money with which to pay," Tru- Churchill tried to persuade Truman pledged to allow free elections in all man said. to keep US troops in place instead of territories liberated from Nazi Germa- Truman's most urgent objective at retreating back to the occupation zone ny," a US State Department historian Henry Stimson, US Secretary of War, Potsdam was to obtain Russia's entry boundaries established at Yalta. said later. Residents of inspects the 2nd Armored Division in into the war in the Pacific, where an Churchill thought it might be possi- As Stalin wanted, the Polish and Lodz, Poland, Berlin during the conference. In the invasion of the Japanese home islands ble to gain concessions from Stalin by German borders would be moved to greet Soviet tanks lead armored car with Stimson are was to begin in November 1946. The refusal to withdraw, but Truman refused the west but the final boundaries were entering the city in Maj. Gen. Frank Parks, Gen. George Russians, having their hands full in to ignore the zone agreement, which not confirmed until Potsdam. At Yalta, 1945. When postwar Patton, Col. W. H. Kyle, J. J. McCloy, Europe, had never revoked a neutrality was one of several struck previously it had been decided that substantial boundaries were and H. H. Bundy. pact with Japan signed in April 1941. when times were different. reparations would be levied against drawn, a westward Stalin had promised to join the fight Germany with half of the total amount shift of Poland’s and the Soviet leadership wish to live in against Japan once Germany was de- DONE DEALS going to the Russians. How much the borders meant honorable friendship and equality with feated, but he had not yet done so. The Soviets had provided most of the Russians would be allowed to take millions changed the Western democracies. I feel also that Churchill's chief concern was the forces fighting Germany and they took away would also be determined at nationalities. their word is their bond." balance of power in Europe. The Ameri- most of the casualties. "More than 80 Potsdam. That perception had begun to wear cans had served notice that their troops percent of all combat during the Second The lines of the occupation zones thin as Stalin reneged on promises of would be going home. With France and World War took place on the Eastern in Germany had been drawn in 1943. free choice for liberated nations in east- The first plan, called "Rankin (C)," was ern Europe. In his memoirs, Truman Soviet anti-tank riflemen fire devised by the British, who offered depicted himself as talking tough to on German troops during an it for consideration at Teheran. The the Russians. Indeed, there was some engagement on the eastern eventual map for the occupation, with of that, but the main effort was toward front July 20, 1943. The Soviet the Russian zone extending to the Elbe, cooperation. Union lost about 15 percent of its was basically a British product and was Sitting alongside Truman at the table population in the war. accepted at Yalta. at Potsdam as diplomatic advisor was Churchill's push for the Americans Joseph E. Davies, the former ambassa- to adopt a more aggressive stance at dor to the Soviet Union, noted for his Potsdam ended when he was ousted and movie stars had homes there. The built in 1917 for Crown Prince Wil- uncritical admiration for Stalin. The as prime minister. The election was Russians evicted all Germans for the helm and his wife, Cecilie. The Russians current ambassador, hardliner Averell July 5, but the count was delayed until duration of the meeting. planted a huge Red Star of geraniums in Harriman, was relegated to a seat in the the votes from those serving overseas Churchill and Truman arrived be- the courtyard as a statement of power. second row with the staff. were in and counted. The expectation fore Stalin did, giving them time to Up to the German surrender on May "I can deal with Stalin," Truman was that Churchill and his Conservative see the rubble and destruction of Ber- 8, the Americans and the British had set wrote in his Potsdam diary. "He is hon- party would win. The British returned lin, including the Reich Chancellery, aside their differences with Stalin for the est—but smart as hell." In a letter to his home for the tabulation on July 25, and which had been Hitler's headquarters. common purpose of defeating Hitler. A wife July 29, he said, "I like Stalin. He is to the surprise of all, Labour won by a Churchill went down into the ruins spirit of camaraderie prevailed and both straightforward, knows what he wants, big margin. of the Hitler bunker underneath the Roosevelt and Churchill referred with and will compromise if he can't get it." Labour leader Clement Attlee had Chancellery, but Truman, traveling by some fondness to Stalin as "Uncle Joe." come to Potsdam as deputy prime min- a separate motorcade, did not. Truman picked up the usage as well. DIVERGENCE OF INTERESTS ister in the wartime coalition govern- Formal sessions of the conference As recently as his return from Yalta The Soviets had lost nearly a third ment. When the conference resumed were held in the Cecilienhof Palace, a in February, Churchill reported to the of their national wealth and about 15 July 28, he was prime minister. An

spectacular 176-room country estate House of Commons that "Marshal Stalin percent of their prewar population to outgoing Conservative official quipped RIA Federation; Novosti Archives; ofPhotos: Archive Russian the National State

64 SEPTEMBER 2017 H WWW.AIRFORCEMAG.COM SEPTEMBER 2017 H WWW.AIRFORCEMAG.COM 65 EUROPE: 1939 the Polish frontier had been pushed site in New Mexico July 16, he told deeper into the Soviet Union, almost Churchill right away but did not in- to Minsk. form Stalin until July 24. He avoided Estonia The Poles lost all of that and more the word "atomic," describing it to in 1939, when Poland was subjugated Stalin as a "new weapon of unusual Latvia and divided up between Germany and destructive power." Moscow the Soviet Union as a function of their Stalin showed little reaction, and Lithuania short-lived nonaggression pact. In Truman and Churchill thought he 1941, Germany invaded Russia from did not understand the significance. bases in its part of Poland. In fact, Stalin was already aware of Berlin At the time of the Teheran confer- the atomic bomb from reports by SIET UI ence, the Soviets had defeated the the Soviet spy network in the United GERMA PLAD invasion and were pushing the Ger- States. He had known about it before mans backward. A Polish government Truman did. Czechoslovakia in exile had set up headquarters in Soviet participation in the Pacific London, but any idea that Stalin would was still regarded as important. Tru- let Poland go once he recovered it was man's military advisors were not con- Austria wishful thinking. vinced that the atomic bomb would be Hungary Romania At Teheran and Yalta, for wartime decisive and the plan to invade Japan unity and other considerations, Roo- was still on. sevelt and Churchill agreed to shift Truman was aboard Augusta 800 Yugoslavia the Soviet-Polish border more than miles from Newport News when word 100 miles to the west and to com- came that the atomic bomb had fallen Bulgaria Turkey pensate Poland with the addition of on Hiroshima. The Hiroshima bomb The Big Two-and-a-Half—Clement Atlee, left, replaced Churchill during the a similar-sized piece of Germany on Aug. 6 and a second one at Nagasaki conference—enjoy a brief respite in the garden at Cecilienhof Palace during the the eastern side. Aug. 9 induced a rescript of surrender last day of the Potsdam Conference in Germany. EUROPE: 1945 By these actions, the Soviet Union from the emperor Aug. 15, but the So- recovered all of the territory that Lenin viets—who had declared war on Japan 60,149 pianos, 458,612 radios, 188,071 He said that "the three Great Powers had given up under duress in 1918 and Aug. 8—continued to advance through carpets, 941,605 pieces of furniture, are now more closely than ever bound the western border of a subservient Manchuria, inflicting casualties and 3,338,348 pairs of shoes, 1,052,503 together in determination to achieve Poland was established a mere 50 capturing territory, until the formal hats, two million tons of grain, and that kind of peace. From Teheran miles from Berlin. The final word on surrender Sept. 2. 20 million liters of alcohol. and the Crimea, from San Francisco Moscow the Polish-German boundary would The westward shift in the borders [where representatives of 50 nations be at Potsdam. FINAL LINES of Poland meant a change in nation- met to draft the UN charter] and Roosevelt and Churchill recognized The final arrangement at Pots- ality for almost 15 million people. Berlin—we shall continue to march the injustice to Poland but the reality dam managed to avoid the Versailles Hordes of newcomers from the gain- together to a lasting peace and a Berlin was that they could not do any bet- syndrome and the disastrous conse- ing nations surged into the trans- happy world!" East PLAD SIET UI ter without risking a breach in the quences of punitive monetary rep- ferred lands, pushing out the previous At Potsdam, the first clouds of the Germany West alliance and a major confrontation arations. This time the settlement inhabitants and creating throngs of Cold War were already visible on the Germany with Stalin. would be in kind rather than in cash. refugees in Eastern Europe. Many horizon. Czechoslovakia Germany's remaining assets and in- of these "displaced persons," mostly In a speech at Fulton, Mo., in March THE EXPLOSION AT TRINITY dustrial equipment, except for the ethnic Germans, crowded into the US 1946, Churchill declared that "an iron The US effort to pull the Soviet minimum necessary for the peacetime and British zones. curtain has descended across the con- Austria Hungary Union into the Pacific war had begun economy, were subject to confiscation In Poland and elsewhere, Stalin tinent." Truman was in the audience Romania with Roosevelt. At Teheran and again as wartime reparations. placed puppet regimes in power. He to hear him say it. at Yalta, he was willing to concede to Stalin claimed that the reparations had achieved his objective of a defen- The best that Potsdam had been Stalin territorial gains in the Far East— he sought were equal to only 20 per- sive barrier between the west and the able to produce was the creation of Yugoslavia including the Kurile islands and half of cent of the Soviet losses at the hands Soviet Union and then some. He had two great power blocs that would face Sakhalin Island—in return for joining of the Germans. locked in control of a Soviet empire each other in an uneasy standoff for Bulgaria Turkey in the war against Japan. The Russians stripped Germany in Europe and there was nothing that some 50 years. It was also a priority for Truman. clean to the extent they could. They the United States and Britain could However, Churchill's hope at Pots- that with the unprepossessing Attlee was desperate to get out of the war "There were many reasons for my had a free hand in their own zone but do about it. dam for a new balance of power was to represent Britain, the Big Three had with Germany—which had been go- going to Potsdam, but the most urgent the formula for reparations entitled Truman took one additional ac- fulfilled as Western Europe was rebuilt become the "Big Two-and-a-Half." ing disastrously for Russia—and con- to my mind was to get from Stalin a them to no more than 15 percent of complishment home from Potsdam. with aid from the Marshall Plan begin- centrate on the revolution at home. personal affirmation of Russia's entry the industrial equipment available He had secured Soviet support for ning in 1948 and US troops remained THE MAP OF EUROPE Germany's price for the armistice into the war against Japan," he said in in the western zones. To Germany's organization of the United Nations, in Europe as part of the North Atlan- Configuration of nations in Eastern was that Russia yield a huge swath of his memoirs. good fortune, the industrial base was which was a cherished goal of Roos- tic Treaty Organization, founded in Europe changed repeatedly in the first its territory, giving Germany a new Truman was elated on July 17 when concentrated in the west. evelt's and now of Truman's. 1949. J half of the 20th century. When World border 130 miles east of Warsaw. Stalin gave his promise. "I've gotten Nevertheless, the Soviets disman- War I began in 1914, the Russian em- The Versailles Treaty in 1919 re-­ what I came for," Truman wrote to tled and shipped 2,885 German facto- LEGACIES OF POTSDAM John T. Correll was editor in chief of pire included most of what had once created Poland as an independent his wife that night. "Stalin goes to war ries to Russia. According to historian Truman was not likely as optimistic Air Force Magazine for 18 years and been Poland and reached westward country. The Poles, fired up by their Aug. 15 with no strings on it." Michael Dobbs, the meticulous re- as he sounded in his Aug. 9 radio re- is now a contributor. His most recent to abut the German state of Prussia. new aspirations, attacked Russia. When Truman got the news of the cords kept by Soviet statisticians show port on Potsdam, in which he looked article, “Vietnamization,” appeared in the

In 1918, Soviet leader V. I. Lenin When the fighting ended in 1921, successful atomic bomb test at Trinity that the booty carried away included forward to a "just and lasting peace." August issue. Archives National Truman Library via Photos: Betsy illustration; Moore/Staff

66 SEPTEMBER 2017 H WWW.AIRFORCEMAG.COM SEPTEMBER 2017 H WWW.AIRFORCEMAG.COM 67