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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>
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>
The UK, US and Russia reached an agreement called the Potsdam Agreement on 30 July 1945. The Allied Control Council was constituted in Berlin to execute the Allied resolutions known as “Four Ds":
*[[Denazification]] of the German society to eradicate Nazi influence
*Demilitarization of the former Wehrmacht forces and the German arms industry
*Democratization, including the formation of political parties and trade unions, freedom of speech, of the press and religion
*Decentralization resulting in German federalism, along with disassemblement as part of the industrial plans for Germany.
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>