At the Potsdam Conference, Allied leaders decided that the leaders of Nazi Germany would be tried for war crimes.

At the Potsdam Conference, which took place between July 17 and August 2, 1945, near Berlin, the main Allies of World War II – the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union – came together to discuss how to administer the defeated Nazi Germany, which had unconditionally surrendered a few months earlier. One of the decisions made during this conference was to prosecute Nazi war criminals.

The decision to hold these trials was a response to the various atrocities and war crimes committed by the Nazis throughout the war. It was agreed that those responsible especially leaders and key officials should be held accountable in a formal judicial setting. This led to the establishment of the Nuremberg Trials, where leading Nazis were tried for crimes against peace, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.

Extra: The Potsdam Conference was significant for several reasons. This conference saw the participation of the leaders of the three major Allied powers: U.S. President Harry S. Truman, British Prime Ministers Winston Churchill and later Clement Attlee (after the 1945 election), and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin. They discussed not only the fate of Germany post-war but also the re-establishment of the nations conquered by Germany, the demilitarization of Germany, the reparations to be paid by Germany, the role of France, and the further actions to be taken in the war against Japan.

The agreement to hold the Nuremberg Trials stemmed from a commitment to legal process and the principle that even leaders of a country are subject to international law and norms. It also set a precedent for subsequent international courts and tribunals for war crimes and human rights abuses. The Nuremberg Trials were conducted between November 20, 1945, and October 1, 1946, and they led to the conviction of many top Nazi officials. Some were sentenced to death, others received long prison sentences.

The Potsdam Conference was one of the key historical moments that shaped the post-World War II order, establishing the occupation zones in Germany and setting the stage for Cold War tensions that would divide East and West for the next several decades. The decisions taken regarding the prosecution of Nazi leaders also had lasting impacts on international law, affecting how we deal with war crimes and the treatment of prisoners of war today.