The Potsdam Conference: How Germany Was Redrawn

The History of Germany: Kingdoms, War, and Rebuilding Europe — Fexingo History · Aug 23, 2026 · 10m · transcript

In the summer of 1945, as the smoke cleared over a shattered Europe, Harry Truman, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin met in a suburb of Berlin to decide the fate of Germany. The Potsdam Conference, held at the Cecilienhof Palace from July 17 to August 2, 1945, was more than a victory lap — it was the blueprint for a divided continent. Here, the Allies formalized the occupation zones, set reparations, and agreed on 'demilitarization, denazification, democratization, and decentralization' — the Four Ds. But beneath the cordial surface, tensions simmered: Truman revealed the atomic…