Potsdam Agreement

There was no real meeting of minds at Potsdam. It is small wonder that no sooner was the ink dry on the Potsdam agreement than the East and the West began playing the old game of power politics, paying only such attention to the actual provisions of the Potsdam agreement as seemed in their own best interests at the time. 

After World War II, the Allied leaders faced one particular problem among many others How would it be possible to dispose of the mostly German CW stocks as quickly and safely as possible According to Article 3 of the Potsdam Agreement, Germany had to be demilitarised and all war material should be distributed to the Allies or destroyed. It was also decided that each occupation authority would be responsible for the munitions in its occupation zone. One of the favoured options was the disposal of these munitions by dumping at sea, as recommended by the Allied Control Commission s Standing Committee on War Material, in November 1945. ... 

We faced a terrible decision, Byrnes wrote in 1947. We could not rely on Japan s inquiries to the Soviet Union about a negotiated peace as proof that Japan would surrender unconditionally without the use of the bomb. In fact, Stalin stated the last message to him had said that Japan would fight to the death rather than accept unconditional surrender. Under the circumstances, agreement to negotiate could only arouse false hopes. Instead, we relied upon the Potsdam Declaration. ... 

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