The Potsdam Conference

1. Read Source 17 (p 68). At Yalta, Churchill and Roosevelt had agreed with Stalin that eastern Europe would be a Soviet ‘sphere of influence’. Do you think Source 17 is what they had in mind?    

No, I do not think Source 17 is what Roosevelt and Churchill had in mind when they agreed with Stalin that eastern Europe would be a Soviet "sphere of influence." They did not want Stalin creating such a large scale of communism in eastern Europe, which is exactly what he was doing. Stalin and his troops had already taken control over Finland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Romania, and the Baltic States. He had already set up a Communist government in Poland, even though Churchill and Roosevelt opposed this.  


2. Would they agree with Stalin’s views expressed in Sources 17 and 18? Explain your answer.   


Roosevelt and Churchill would disagree with the views expressed by Stalin in Sources 17 and 18. Both Churchill and Roosevelt did not like the beliefs of the Communist party and did not want a communist government in eastern Europe. Stalin tried to justify his actions by stating "everyone imposes his own system as far as his army has power to do so, it can not be otherwise." The one thing Churchill and Roosevelt didn't want was another dictator in Europe. Churchill would disagree with Stalin's claim that Greece does not had a truly representative government because Britain had helped to created an anti-communist government in Greece.    


3.  Explain how each of the three developments described in the text might affect relationships at Potsdam.

1 Stalin’s armies were occupying most of eastern Europe: This development might affect relationships at Potsdam because Churchill and Roosevelt did not want Stalin taking over most of eastern Europe because of his communist beliefs. Even though they were suppose allies, Stalin denied Britain and the United States' wished to takeover Poland.
2 America had a new president: Once Roosevelt died, he was replaced with his vice president, Truman. This could affect the relationship at Potsdam because Churchill and Stalin don't know him very well and Truman was much more anti-communist than Roosevelt. He was very suspicious of Stalin and his anti-communism and suspicion could offset the alliance between all three.
3 The USA had developed an atomic bomb: This gave the U.S an advantage over other countries. This also made other countries jealous and worried as they felt threatened with this new weapon of warfare. The trust and alliance they had was on the edge with a weapon that could wipe out cities and created massive damage.