History of Europe

The leaders at potsdam agreed that germany should?

At the Potsdam Conference, held in July and August 1945, the leaders of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union (Joseph Stalin, Winston Churchill, and Harry Truman) agreed on the following regarding Germany:

1. Denazification: The complete elimination of Nazism and all its vestiges from German political, economic, social, and cultural life.

2. Demilitarization: The permanent disarmament of Germany to prevent the country from waging war again.

3. Decentralization: The breaking up of Germany into smaller states to reduce its power and prevent the re-emergence of a strong centralized government.

4. Democratization: The establishment of democratic institutions and practices in Germany to ensure that the country would never again become a dictatorship.

5. Reparations: The payment of reparations by Germany to the Allied powers to compensate for the damage caused by the war.

These agreements were made as part of the broader goal of preventing Germany from ever starting another war and to ensure lasting peace in Europe. However, the Potsdam Agreement did not provide specific details on how these objectives would be achieved, leaving much of the implementation to the occupying powers.