Question

State the disagreements between the war time Allies with regard to Germany at the Potsdam Conference.

Answer 1

The wartime allies were the US, UK, and USSR, which had a lot of differences at the Potsdam Conference in July 1945 about Germany, such as follows:

1. There were disagreements among the Allies about how much and how to pay for compensation. However, the USA and Britain opposed Germany paying excessive damages because they believed it would harm Germany’s economy and hinder Europe’s recovery.
2. A unified government system for Germany could not be agreed upon. Western Allies, who wanted democratic government, were worried when the USSR started to set up communist rule in its area.
3. There was no agreement on how to coordinate the governance of Germany’s four occupation zones, resulting in the implementation of different policies and increased division.
4. Unfortunately, these differences led to more mistrust, which was a big part of why the Cold War started.