The general thrust of U.S. policy on Indochina was confirmed when American, British, and Soviet leaders convened in the Berlin suburb of Potsdam in July. Nazi Germany had surrendered in May, and the Allies now gathered to determine the postwar order and to clarify and implement agreements made previously at Yalta. De Gaulle was not invited, despite his persistent efforts to gain representation. He had earned Washington’s and London’s ire for sending French troops to the former French mandates of Syria and Lebanon, both of which had recently established their independence,
