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[[File:Joseph Stalin, Winston Churchill and President Truman (Potsdam Conference, July 1945).jpg|right|300px|thumb|Potsdam Conference 1945. Josef Stalin in white tunic with [[Andrei Vyshinsky]] seated to his immediate right.]]

[[File:Joseph Stalin, Winston Churchill and President Truman (Potsdam Conference, July 1945).jpg|right|300px|thumb|Potsdam Conference 1945. Josef Stalin in white tunic with [[Andrei Vyshinsky]] seated to his immediate right.]]

The '''Potsdam Conference''' was held near the end of [[World War II]] in the [[Berlin]] suburb of [[Potsdam]] to discuss post-war issues.  [[Joseph Stalin]] attended for the Soviet Union, Prime Minister [[Winston Churchill]] was there for Great Britain but was replaced by Clement Attlee after Churchill lost reelection, and President [[Harry Truman|Truman]] (who had succeeded [[Franklin Roosevelt|Roosevelt]] after his death in April) represented the United States.  They met from July 17 to August 2, 1945.

The '''Potsdam Conference''' was held near the end of [[World War II]] in the [[Berlin]] suburb of [[Potsdam]] to discuss post-war issues.  [[Joseph Stalin]] attended for the Soviet Union, Prime Minister [[Winston Churchill]] was there for Great Britain but was replaced by Clement Attlee after Churchill lost reelection, and President [[Harry Truman]] (who had succeeded [[Franklin Roosevelt|Roosevelt]] after his death in April) represented the United States.  They met from July 17 to August 2, 1945.

Truman’s biggest concern was how Stalin might react to America’s development of an atomic bomb.  Stalin showed no special interest. All he said was he was glad to hear it and hoped the Americans would make "good use of it against the Japanese."<ref>Harry S. Truman, Year of Decisions (Garden City, NY: Doubleday and Company, 1955) p. 416.</ref> One explanation is that Stalin already knew about the bomb, due to his network of spies. In fact, on returning to his quarters after this meeting Stalin, in the presence of [[Marshal Georgii Zhukov]], told Molotov about his conversation with Truman. The latter reacted almost immediately and said, "Let them. We'll have to talk it over with Kurchatov and get him to speed things up." Zhukov realized that they were discussing Soviet research on the atomic bomb.<ref>Georgii Konstantinovich Zhukov, The Memoirs of Marshal Zhukov (New York: Delacorte Press, 1971) pp. 674-675.</ref>

Truman’s biggest concern was how Stalin might react to America’s development of an [[atomic bomb]].  Stalin showed no special interest as he knew of the [[Manhattan project]] (known as [[Project Enormoz]] in the [[Venona decrypts]]) years before Truman as Senator, Vice President, or President was ever briefed on the project or its ramifications. All Stalin said was he was glad to hear it and hoped the Americans would make "good use of it against the Japanese."<ref>Harry S. Truman, Year of Decisions (Garden City, NY: Doubleday and Company, 1955) p. 416.</ref> One explanation is that Stalin already knew about the bomb, due to his network of spies. In fact, on returning to his quarters after this meeting Stalin, in the presence of [[Marshal Georgii Zhukov]], told Molotov about his conversation with Truman. The latter reacted almost immediately and said, "Let them. We'll have to talk it over with Kurchatov and get him to speed things up." Zhukov realized that they were discussing Soviet research on the atomic bomb.<ref>Georgii Konstantinovich Zhukov, The Memoirs of Marshal Zhukov (New York: Delacorte Press, 1971) pp. 674-675.</ref>

At the Potsdam conference, it was agreed that the German economy should not be permitted to recover higher than the standard of living of 1932, at the bottom of the depression, the level, in fact, which had brought Hitler to power in 1933.<ref>''Tragedy and Hope: A History of the World in Our Time'', [[Carroll Quigley]], Collier-Macmillan, 1966, pg. 901. ISBN 0-945001-10-X</ref>

At the Potsdam conference, it was agreed that the German economy should not be permitted to recover higher than the standard of living of 1932, at the bottom of the depression, the level, in fact, which had brought Hitler to power in 1933.<ref>''Tragedy and Hope: A History of the World in Our Time'', [[Carroll Quigley]], Collier-Macmillan, 1966, pg. 901. ISBN 0-945001-10-X</ref>