Bibliograph

Potsdam, the end of World War II and the remaking of Europe, by Michael Neiberg

Type

Label

Potsdam, the end of World War II and the remaking of Europe, by Michael Neiberg

Language

eng

Form of composition

not applicable

Format of music

not applicable

Literary text for sound recordings

history

Main title

Potsdam

Music parts

not applicable

Oclc number

898295337

Responsibility statement

by Michael Neiberg

Sub title

the end of World War II and the remaking of Europe

Summary

After Germany's defeat in World War II, the victorious Allies faced the daunting task of negotiating a lasting peace. On July 17, 1945, Harry Truman, Joseph Stalin, and Winston Churchill gathered in Potsdam, a quiet suburb of Berlin, to discuss, as Churchill put it, "the gravest matters in the world." Historian Michael Neiberg vividly captures the delegates' personalities: Truman, eager to escape from the shadow of the recently deceased FDR; Churchill, bombastic and seemingly out of touch; Stalin, cunning and meticulous; and the introverted Clement Attlee, who replaced Churchill as prime minister after a stunning election result midway through the conference. Stalin had the strongest position; having already conquered Eastern Europe, he saw little reason to let it go. Yet Truman had an ace up his sleeve: the success of the atomic bomb test. As Neiberg shows, amid their dramatic debates over how to end the most recent war, the delegates only dimly understood that they were giving birth to a new global conflict

Transposition and arrangement

not applicable

Classification