Study this source. Source E 'The atmosphere at the conference table was nothing like the friendliness we had enjoyed at Yalta just five months ago. Presiden...

This is a "does this source prove" question worth [7 marks]. You need to evaluate whether the source proves that disagreements at Potsdam made the Cold War unavoidable, using both source detail and own knowledge.

Evidence supporting the claim [up to 3 marks]:

The source describes a clear breakdown in relations between the Western Allies and the Soviet Union at the Potsdam Conference (July-August 1945):

• The contrast with "the friendliness we had enjoyed at Yalta just five months ago" shows how rapidly the wartime alliance was deteriorating. At Yalta (February 1945), Roosevelt had maintained a cooperative relationship with Stalin; by Potsdam, Truman was "far more suspicious."
• The specific dispute over Poland illustrates the fundamental incompatibility of Soviet and American visions for post-war Europe. Stalin backed the communist Lublin government, while Truman demanded free elections as agreed at Yalta. This showed that the two sides had irreconcilable views about what "liberated Europe" should look like.
• The diplomat's conclusion that "the wartime alliance would not survive the peace" suggests the split was already becoming apparent to those present.

Limitations as proof [up to 4 marks]:

• Hindsight bias: The source is from memoirs published in 1960, fifteen years after the events. The diplomat was writing with full knowledge that the Cold War had developed. This almost certainly shaped how he remembered and presented the conference, making the tensions seem more decisive than they may have appeared at the time.
• "Unavoidable" is too strong: Disagreements at Potsdam were serious, but some agreements were still reached. The conference agreed on the division of Germany into occupation zones, the Potsdam Declaration regarding Japan, and principles for German demilitarisation and denazification. Diplomacy had not completely broken down.
• Post-Potsdam events mattered: The Cold War developed through a series of crises after Potsdam, including the Soviet refusal to allow free elections in Eastern Europe (1945-1948), the Truman Doctrine (March 1947), the Marshall Plan (1948), the Berlin Blockade (1948-1949), and the formation of NATO (1949). No single conference made the Cold War "unavoidable."
• One perspective: This is the view of a single American diplomat, not an authoritative assessment. Soviet diplomats might have described the same conference very differently, blaming American inflexibility rather than Soviet stubbornness.

Exam technique: When a question uses strong language like "prove" or "unavoidable," your answer should challenge the absolute nature of the claim. Explain what the source does show, but argue that proving something was "unavoidable" requires far more evidence than a single memoir account can provide.