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The Potsdam Conference was held near the end of [[World War II]] in Germany 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 Germany 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.

Truman’s biggest concern was how Stalin might react to America’s development of an atomic bomb.  Stalin simply shrugged his shoulders and took an attitude of “so what?”. One explanation is that Stalin knew more from his spies about the atomic bomb than Truman did. Another explanation is that Stalin had just acquired control of half of Germany and all of Eastern Europe and did not fear the United States in the slightest.{{fact}}

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>

At the Potsdam conference, it was agreed that the German economy should not be permitted 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 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>