In July 1945, inside the Cecilienhof palace in a ruined Germany, the leaders of the United States, Britain and the Soviet Union met to plan the post-war world. This episode examines the Potsdam Conference of July 17 to August 2, 1945, and argues that while the Big Three drafted agreements and ultimatums, they were really laying the groundwork for the Cold War. It sets the scene with a changed cast: Harry Truman replacing Franklin Roosevelt and abandoning conciliation for suspicion, Winston Churchill voted out mid-conference and replaced by Clement Attlee, and Joseph Stalin as the only veteran, already occupying much of Central and Eastern Europe.

The episode walks through the division of Germany and Austria into four occupation zones, the exclusion of France, the five D's of demilitarization, denazification, democratization, decentralizatio ...