cold war develops

• The Truman Doctrine, 1947:

  • The USA would provide economic and military support to countries which no longer wished to be under communist rule
  • The USA must try and keep the spread of communism under control
• The Marshall Plan, 1947:

  • $13 billion from the USA would go towards helping to rebuild Europe
  • Countries must trade with the USA to get the money
• The Marshall plan was important as it helped to prevent European countries falling into poverty and therefore being more likely to turn to communism
• Cominform:

  • Set up in 1947
  • All communist parties would do what Moscow told them
  • Cominform got rid of any opposition to the Soviet Union's control of satellite states
  • It encouarged communist parties in Western countries to block Marshall Plan assistance
• Comecon:

  • Set up in 1949
  • The Soviet Union's alternative to the Marshall plan
  • It built up trade links with other communist countries
  • Prevented other communist countries from signing up to the Marshall plan
• The line dividing the two spheres of influence (Western Europe and Eastern Europe) was called the Iron Curtain.
• The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO):

  • Set up in 1949
  • A military alliance between Western European countires and the USA
  • West Germany joined in 1955
  • An alliance based on collective security
  • If one country was attacked, other countries would have to assist
  • It was directed at a possible attack from the Soviet Union
• The USA wanted a united, capitalist Germany that it could trade with.
• The Soviet Union wanted Germany to be weak and communist, so that it could never attack them again.
• The Soviet Union felt threatened by the USA's attempts at rebuilding Western Germany and Berlin.
• In June 1948, the Soviet Union closed all road, canal and rail links into Western Berlin to force the Western troops out of the city. The Soviets also blocked all supplies coming into Berlin to show off their power.
• In response to the Berlin Blockade, the Western powers decided to airlift supplies into Berlin daily between 26 June 1948 and 30 September 1949.
• The Berlin Airflift made the USA appear peaceful, while it made the Soviet Union appear aggresive.