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Harry Truman and the Potsdam Conference

Lesson Author
Course(s)
Required Time Frame
1 hour
Grade Level(s)
Lesson Abstract
President Truman recalls many of the successes and problems of the Potsdam Conference and the postwar world in his diary entries and letters to his wife, Bess Wallace Truman. Students are given the opportunity to examine these unique documents and argue about their validity as primary sources while learning about the Potsdam Conference.
Description

On May 8, 1945, the Allies accepted German surrender terms at the conclusion of the European conflict of World War II. A new job to Harry Truman, the presidency, had been one long struggle after another and he quickly nicknamed the White House the "Great White Jail." The focus of the United States was now on the Pacific as Americans were storming the beaches of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. By June, with these victories secure, the United States was in air striking distance of the Japanese mainland. It would only be a matter of time (August 15) before the Soviets planned to enter the war. Bombing raids coupled with a naval blockade had begun to decimate the Japanese population. Still, the Japanese resolve was hardened, even resolved to fight to the end. The war was nearing an end, but heavy costs of man and might would be needed to secure peace.

Truman in July 1945 had begun to look toward the postwar world. The United States was faced with the realization that the Soviet and communist ideal were gaining increased support across the globe. According to several senators that had recently toured postwar Europe in a meeting with President Truman, " . . . Their song was that France would go Communistic, so would Germany, Italy and the Scandinavians, and there was grave doubt about England staying sane."

The Potsdam Conference, a meeting of the victorious leaders of the Allies in Europe, attempted to confront the delicate balance of power of the opposing governmental structures, democracy and communism. Held in a suburb of Berlin, it commenced July 17 lasting to August 2. Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and President Truman began the conference for their respective countries.

On the agenda was the partitioning of the postwar world and resolving the problems of the war in the Far East. This included hammering out the details regarding the division of Germany; the movement of populations from Czechoslovakia, Austria, and Italy; the creation of a Council of Foreign Ministers to administer the agreed upon zones of occupation; and issuing a proclamation demanding unconditional surrender from the Japanese government. Truman, despite his relative inexperience in dealing with foreign diplomats, was holding a trump card that would give him confidence in making demands of the other leaders. . .the atomic bomb. The most powerful and destructive armament to date, the atomic bomb was solely in the hands of the United States government.

President Truman recalls many of the successes and problems of the Potsdam Conference and the postwar world in his diary entries and letters to his wife, Bess Wallace Truman. Harry Truman was very much a nineteenth century man of letters compiling more than thirteen hundred to Bess in his lifetime. Living on a farm in rural Grandview, Missouri, twenty miles away from his boyhood sweetheart, he began a life of writing. These documents offer great insight into the life, career, and character of Harry Truman. Detailing everything from his disdain for the White House to waiters wiping imaginary bread crumbs from a table setting, Truman divulges an insight into the man behind the presidency. Most of these letters are still preserved at the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library in Independence, Missouri.

 

Vocabulary

 

limey king slang for the British king

 

loot the booty taken in war, or the gains of corrupt officials

 

Manhattan Short for the Manhattan project, it was the first successful operation to create a working atomic bomb by any government. Run by Dr. Robert Oppenheimer under direction of the United States military, the project took four years and two billion dollars to complete. plenary Fully attended or constituted as in an assembly or meeting, wrap-up session.

Rationale (why are you doing this?)

President Truman recalls many of the successes and problems of the Potsdam Conference and the postwar world in his diary entries and letters to his wife, Bess Wallace Truman. Students are given the opportunity to examine these unique documents and argue about their validity as primary sources while learning about the Potsdam Conference

Lesson Objectives - the student will

Examine a variety of primary sources and compare them for content and validity

Reconstruct a Truman presidential event

Examine the details of the Potsdam Conference and make their own judgments and decisions on issues raised

District, state, or national performance and knowledge standards/goals/skills met

MO Standards: 

2. Continuity and change in the history of Missouri, the United States and the world

6. Relationships of the individual and groups to institutions and cultural traditions

7. The use of tools of social science inquiry (such as surveys, statistics, maps, documents)

2aD-Describe and evaluate the evolution of the United States domestic and foreign policy including the Cold War.

2bG-Examine the wars of the 20th century, including:  causes, comparisons, consequences, and peace efforts.

3B-Compare and contrast governmental systems, current and historical, including those that are democratic and totalitarian.

7B-Distinguish between primary and secondary sources.

 

Kansas Standards

Benchmark 3: The student uses a working knowledge and understanding of individuals, groups, ideas, developments, and turning points in the era of the Cold War (1945-1990).

1. (K) explains why the United States emerged as a superpower as the result of World War II.

2.(A) analyzes the origins of the Cold War (e.g., establishment of the Soviet Bloc, Mao’s victory in China, Marshall Plan, Berlin Blockade, Iron Curtain).

3. (A) evaluates the foreign policies of Truman and Eisenhower during the Cold War (e.g., establishment of the United Nations, containment, NATO, Truman Doctrine, Berlin Blockade, Korean War, Iron Curtain, U-2 incident).

Secondary materials (book, article, video documentary, etc.) needed

Further Reading

Hamby, Alonzo. 1995. Man of the People: A Life of Harry S. Truman. New York: Oxford University Press.

McCullough, David. 1992. Truman. New York: Simon and Schuster.

Stimson, Henry L. 1947 "The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb," Harper's, vol. 194 (Feb.), 97-107.

Truman, Harry S. 1980. Off the Record: The Private Paper's of Harry S. Truman. New York: Harper & Row.

Truman, Harry S. 1983. Dear Bess: The Letters from Harry to Bess 1910-1959. New York: W.W. Norton and Sons.

Internet Resources

The decision to drop the Atomic Bomb

Primary sources needed (document, photograph, artifact, diary or letter, audio or visual recording, etc.) needed
Fully describe the activity or assignment in detail. What will both the teacher and the students do?

 

Document Survey-Letter

 

  1. Why was Truman writing from Berlin? Note the date of the letter.

     

  2. Who is Bess?

     

  3. Who are Byrnes, Molotov, Attlee and Bevin?

     

  4. What did Truman mean by, "I have an ace in the hole and another one showing--so unless he has threes or two pair (and I know he has not) we are sitting all right."? Note the date of the diary entry.

     

  5. What were the results of the English elections in 1945? Why did they anger Stalin?

     

  6. What was the Polish situation in 1945 at the end of World War II? Why were Great Britain and the United States against a Bolshevik backed Poland? Be sure to analyze the situation in Poland in 1939 and the flight of the government-in-exile to Great Britain.

 

Follow-Up Questions

 

  1. What is Truman's view of Stalin in the letter to Bess? 

     

  2. Bulgaria, Romania, Italy, and Hungary were all seeking entrance into the United Nations at the end of World War II. The United States supported Italy as a U.N. member, while the Soviets supported the others. In a Potsdam plenary meeting, Stalin stated, "If a government is not fascist, a government is democratic." Why was this statement made? Examine the Yalta agreement to find your answer. Argue for or against it.

     

  3. Select a quotation from the letters What does it tell you about the United States at the time it was written? What does it say about President Truman's character? Have our values as Americans changed over time, giving new meaning to the events of the 1940's?

     

  4. Create a chart that compares and contrasts Truman's letters. Note similarities and differences in diction, style, and content.

     

  5. Create a chart comparing the advantages and disadvantages of letters as pieces of historical evidence.

     

  6. In either diary or letter form, reconstruct a Truman presidential event using your own unique perspective to engage your audience. If writing a letter, be sure to create candid portrayals of the event for Bess and Margaret. 

     

  7. Examine the Potsdam Declaration specifically looking at the Allied demands of the Japanese. Did the United States expect too much in demanding unconditional surrender? Write an essay that supports or refutes the declaration.

     

  8. Research the Potsdam Conference and the postwar power struggle in depth focusing on the issues that were important to the Big Three. Divide the class into three groups, the United States, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union. Debate the primary issues that face the three nations. Be sure to discuss Poland; German reparations and division; acceptance of Italy, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria into the United Nations; how to end the war in the East; the movement of populations from Czechoslovakia, Austria, and Italy; and the creation of a Council of Foreign Ministers to administer the agreed upon zones of occupation. Record your decisions in your own classroom Potsdam Declaration. Have the students each write an essay on how similar or different their declaration turned out.

Discussion Questions

Consider some of these questions with your class.

 

  1. Why did Truman make so many demands at the Potsdam Conference? Was he justified in doing so?

     

  2. In what ways did the Potsdam Conference promote a spirit of cooperation between Great Britain, Soviet Union and the United States? In what ways was this conference a precursor to the Cold War?

     

  3. What did President Truman tell Stalin about the atomic bomb before dropping it? Should he have told him more or less than he did? Why or why not?

     

  4. Could President Truman have averted the Cold War? If yes, what should he or could he have done to prevent it?

     

  5. Imagine you were Truman, Stalin, or Churchill (or Attlee) following World War II what are your priorities and in what area of the world will you focus your resources?