The Potsdam Conference marked the end of the wartime alliance and laid the foundations for post-war hostility. With reference to the period up to 1946, to what extent do you agree with this statement?

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Christopher Le May 25. ‘’The Potsdam Conference marked the end of the wartime alliance and laid the foundations for post-war hostility.’’ With reference to the period up to 1946, to what extent do you agree with this statement? The Potsdam conference was the reunion of the Allies after the end of war to decide of the post-war environment they wanted to establish. Some historians might argue that this was the starting point of the Cold war due to the major disagreements that occurred. Although there were some agreements generally the leader’s ideals conflicted with each other’s. For this reason they continually tried to put forward their demands without willing to compromise, thus furthering the tensions. On the other hand, one could argue that the conference was really just a fulfilling of the decisions made at Tehran and Yalta. The Allies had previously agreed to divide Germany and they did. We shall first look at why Potsdam could have been the sole reason of the start of the hostility and then evaluate how far other factors played a role in the debut of the Cold War. Potsdam was the end of the wartime alliance and the start of the increased suspicion that led to the beginnings of the Cold War. The Alliance had only been
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holding due to two major factors; the common enemy that the Nazi regime was, the relationship between the ‘’Big Three’’. Whilst the Nazi regime existed the three Allies coordinated together against the bigger evil. They shared intelligence and managed joint attacks which meant that they could not concentrate on their opposing ideologies and just focused on the threat, Hitler. There was also genuine compromise between the leaders and all strived to work together in order for a better post-war situation. This was all to end at Potsdam. With no common enemy and the replacement of Churchill and Roosevelt by Atlee ...

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