Discuss why the Potsdam Conference Could Be Considered Less Successful Than Yalta?

Shortly after the end of the European part of World War Two, the main nations again held a conference at Potsdam, Berlin in July 1945 about what to do with Europe now that the Allies have beaten Germany and its allies. The allies represented by Stalin, Truman and Atlee decided to disarm Germany, de-Nazify Europe, Establish freedom of speech, press and religion, and for the USSR to claim the reparations from their own state, and 25% from the other allied states.

Some Historians believe that the Yalta Conference was less successful than Potsdam due to the need for Stalin’s help to finish the war in the Pacific. This led to many believing that Churchill and Roosevelt had given too much during the Yalta agreements, such as giving away parts of Korea and Manchuria, in return for Russia joining the UN and helping with the pacific. The fact that Stalin had also arrested the non-Communist leaders of Poland had showed less success with his non-acceptance of the Declaration on Liberated Europe.

While some believe that Potsdam was less successful than Yalta due to Truman controlling the meeting after the discovery of the working atom bomb, as said by Churchill “After having read this report he was a changed man. He told the Russians just where they got on and off and generally bossed the whole meeting”. This is dangerous in that the Stalin would possibly join Japan in the war against America should they feel displeased about the Potsdam experience, therefore increasing tensions. Another reason that the Potsdam Conference was less successful than Yalta was that Stalin had invited non-Communist polish leaders to meet him, in March 1945, in which he later had them arrested and created the ‘Trial of the Sixteen’, this had made the Allied relations worse as it was contradictory to the ‘Declaration on Liberated Europe’ this had already made the Conference start on the wrong foot. At Potsdam, the allies still could not truly agree about how to decide Germany, the reparations needed to pay and the Soviet policies for Eastern Europe. In the end of the Conference, due to these disagreements Truman himself agreed that it was merely a compromise, and not an actual agreement, this meant that it was allot easier to break as the Allies did not accept other policies.

In conclusion, I believe that the Potsdam Conference shouldn’t be considered less successful than Yalta, in that Yalta Conference didn’t keep to its points in that Stalin chose to disregard them and try to create his own Soviet Sphere, but not actually giving the Eastern States the democracy that was agreed. Also, the US and UK letting the Soviets take Manchuria and North Korea under their influence. However, Yalta had its positives in that it create the United Nations, and set up an actual agreement to decide what to do on the Post-War Europe Situation, however basic it was, overall Yalta was only successful for the 2nd World, (Russia and it’s later allies).