EARLY TENSIONS BETWEEN EAST AND WEST

• TEHRAN CONFERENCE 1943

  • LEADERS: Roosevelt(USA), Churchill(UK), Stalin(USSR)
  • USA and UK would open a 'second front' by attacking Nazi-occupied France
  • USSR would help US against Japan once Germany had been defeated
  • Poland would gain land from Germany but lose land to the USSR
  • An international body would be set up after the war to ensure future peace
• TEHRAN IMPACT

  • POSITIVE IMPACT (US AND USSR)
  • Stalin was pleased of a second front opening in northern France as he was concerned about the USSR fighting Germany alone in the East.
  • Stalin had agreed to support the USA in its war against Japan
  • NEGATIVE IMPACT (UK AND USA)
  • Roosevelt was sometimes more worried that British colonialism was a greater threat to world peace than the Soviet Union
  • Churchill was disappointed that Roosevelt had sided with Stalin in opening a ‘second front’ in northern France
• YALTA CONFERENCE

  • After its defeat, Germany would pay $20B in reparations and be split into 4 zones.
  • USSR agreed that free elections would be held in Eastern Europe
  • USSR would gain land from Poland and free elections would be held to decide on its government
  • UN would be established, but not all 16 members of the USSR would be given individual membership
• YALTA IMPACT

  • POSITIVE IMPACT (USA AND USSR)
  • The Soviet Union declared war against Japan in August 1945
  • The Soviet Union would be awarded half of the $20 billion reparations
  • Roosevelt was pleased that the three main states of the USSR -  Russia, Ukraine and Belarus - had agreed to join the United Nations 
  • Roosevelt was pleased free elections had been agreed to take place in Eastern Europe
  • NEGATIVE IMPACT(UK AND USSR)
  • Stalin wanted a pro-communist government to be elected in Poland whereas Churchill supported the non-communist London Poles
• POTSDAM CONFERENCE, 1945 (SAME AS YALTA)

  LEADERS: TRUMAN(US), ATTLEE(UK), STALIN(USSR)

  • Germany's four zones would be controlled by the USSR, USA, UK and France
  • Berlin would also be divided into four zones
  • USSR would receive 25% of industrial equipment from the other three zones in Germany
  • Nazi Party was banned and war criminals were to be prosecuted
• POTSDAM IMPACT

  • The conference at Potsdam had a negative impact on the relationship between the USA and Soviet Union:
  • Truman had mentioned to Stalin that the USA had successfully tested the atomic bomb through the Trinity test, which increased tensions between both countries
  • Stalin wanted harsher reparations against Germany, while Truman wanted to protect the German economy
  • Truman was concerned with the USSR’s control over Eastern Europe and the spread of communism
  • Stalin wanted to keep his Red Army in Eastern Europe as protection against future threats
• STALIN'S REACTION TO THE ATOMIC BOMB

  • Stalin was informed of the success of the Manhattan Project during the Potsdam conference in July 1945
  • After the atomic bomb exploded in Hiroshima, Stalin became even more determined to protect the security of the Soviet Union
  • Stalin wanted to create a buffer zone between Germany and the Soviet Union, full of communist countries who would protect the Soviet Union from any potential invasions from the West
  • Stalin accelerated the Soviet Union’s own atomic bomb project, the first successful test of which was in August 1949
• KENNAN'S LONG TELEGRAM

  • Kennan was the USA’s ambassador in Moscow
  • In February 1946, Kennan sent a telegram from Moscow back to President Truman:
  • It was nicknamed the ‘Long Telegram’ because it contained around 8,000 words, far more than a typical telegram message
  • The telegram contained Kennan’s assessment of Soviet attitudes towards the USA:
  • Stalin saw capitalism as a threat to communism that needed to be destroyed
  • The Soviet Union and the spread of communism could be ‘contained’
  • Peace would not be possible between the Soviet Union and the USA
• NOVIKOV TELEGRAM

  • Nikolai Novikov was the Soviet ambassador in Washington:
  • In September 1946, Novikov sent a telegram from Washington back to Stalin:
  • The Soviet Union were aware of the Long Telegram and wanted to make a similar report on the USA
  • The telegram contained Novikov’s assessment of American attitudes towards the Soviet Union:
  • The USA wanted to build up its military strength to achieve world domination
  • Following Roosevelt’s death, the USA no longer wanted to cooperate with the Soviet Union
  • The American people would support a war against the Soviet Union
• WHY THE TELEGRAMS INCREASED TENSION

  • The relationship between the USA and the Soviet Union had broken down following both the defeat of Germany and the demonstration of the atomic bomb on Japan
  • Both sides believed the other to be untrustworthy and planning their destruction
  • These fears were confirmed in both Kennan’s and Novikov’s telegram
  • The telegrams led to both sides adopting policies toward the other:
• USA'S REACTION TO SS

  • At both the Yalta and Potsdam conferences, Roosevelt and Churchill had accepted that the Soviet Union would influence Eastern Europe
  • However, they also saw free elections as an important part of post-war Europe
  • Truman saw the creation of satellite states as a deliberate attempt to spread communism
  • Churchill’s ‘Iron Curtain’ speech in 1946 worsened relations between East and West, especially between the USA and the Soviet Union
  • The satellite states challenged Truman’s policy of containment, prompting him to establish the Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan