cold war beginnings

• communism

  • USSR (Russia, Soviet Union)
  • Stalin
  • No democracy
  • No free press
  • The state owns everything
• capitalism

  • USA (and GB, France)
  • Democratic
  • Free press
  • Private ownership of property, businesses
  • “The West”
• changes that happened between yalta and potsdam

  • Stalin (USSR) was now occupying most of Eastern Europe (including Poland where he had set up a Communist government).
  • FDR (Roosevelt) had died and been replaced as USA’s President by Truman (more ant-Communist than Roosevelt)
  • USA had tested an atomic bomb (nuclear bomb)
• who were the big three at the yalta conference

  • USSR- Stalin
  • USA – FDR (Roosevelt)
  • GB - Churchill
• when was the yalta conference?

  febuary 1945
• what was agreed at the yalta conference?

  • Divide Germany into four ‘zones’ (Britain, France, the USA and the USSR).
  • Nazi war-criminals to trial.
  • Set up a democratic Polish Provisional Government.
  • Help the freed peoples of Europe set up democratic and self-governing countries.
  • Commission to look into reparations. 
  • Russia would join the war against Japan (which is what Roosevelt really wanted).
  • Russia agreed to join the United Nations.
• who were the big three at the potsdam conference?

  • USSR- Stalin
  • USA – Truman
  • GB - Attlee
• when was the potsdam conference?

  july/august 1945
• what was agreed at the potsdam conference?

  • 4 ‘zones of occupation’ in Germany.   
  • Nazi Party, government and laws were to be destroyed – denazification of Germany.
  • Bring Nazi war-criminals to trial.
  • Free elections in Poland ASAP
  • Russia = allowed to take reparations from the Soviet (Russian) Zone, and also 10% of the industrial equipment of the western zones as reparations. 
• what was disagreed at the yalta conference?

  Poland: 

  • Stalin wanted the border further west (i.e. which would make the USSR bigger).
  • USA and GB agreed, but were unhappy.

  USA and GB = were criticised for giving away too much to Russia (e.g. influence in China).
• what was disagreed at the potsdam conference?

  Germany:

  • USSR: cripple them
  • Truman: keep Germany stronger

  Reparations:

  • Stalin wanted huge reparations because the USSR had lost 20 million people in WWII
  • Truman: less harsh

  Soviet (Russian) policy in Eastern Europe: 

  • Stalin wanted Soviet-friendly, communist governments in Eastern Europe, as a “buffer zone” against the West.
  • Truman = unhappy about this and became more anti-Stalin
• iron curtain speech:

  relations between the USA and the USSR were breaking down, especially because Stalin was taking control of Eastern European governments. Churchill said in March 1946 that an Iron Curtain had descended across Europe.
• How had the USSR gained control of Eastern Europe by 1948? bulgaria

  1945: a left-wing coalition was elected; 

  1946: the Communists  executed 15000 opponents;

  The Tsar (emperor) was driven into exile;

  1947: the Communists won the election and adopted a Soviet-style government led by Dimitrov (trained in the USSR).
• How had the USSR gained control of Eastern Europe by 1948? poland

  1945: a coalition 'Government of National Unity' took power;

  1945: Stalin arrested  the non-Communist leaders;

  1945-7: thousands of non-Communists were imprisoned;

  1947: the Communist leader, Bierut (trained in the USSR), won an election and became head of state.
• How had the USSR gained control of Eastern Europe by 1948? hungary

  1945: a coalition government took power  - few Communists were elected;

  Rakosi (the Communists' leader) got opposition parties banned;

  Rakosi got control of the police,

  Thousands of non-Communists were arrested;

  By 1947 Rakosi had power.
• How had the USSR gained control of Eastern Europe by 1948? romania

  1945: King Michael came back from exile and a left-wing government was elected; 

  1946: there was a campaign of violence against the non-Communist parties; the Communists won the 1946 elections and forced King Michael to abdicate.
• How had the USSR gained control of Eastern Europe by 1948? czechslovakia

  1945: the Communists (led by Gottwald) took over the radio, police and army;

  1947: secret police arrested non-Communists;

  1948: Gottwald organised demonstrations demanding Communism. Masaryk (a leading anti-Communist politician) 'fell' from a window and Gottwald took over.
• How had the USSR gained control of Eastern Europe by 1948? east germany

  East Germany became the Russian zone completely under Russian control;

  The Social Democrats merged with the Communist Party to form the Social Unity Party, which won the 1946 elections;

  1949: the Russians turned their zone into the 'German Democratic Republic'.
• how did the USA react to soviet expansion? truman doctrine

  why? - containment (keep communism contained)

  how? - Money, equipment and advice to be sent into any country which might be in danger of becoming Communist.

  examples - Greece – GB was supporting the monarchists against the Communists. President Truman (USA) paid for British troops to stay in Greece (1947) to help defeat the Communists.
• how did the USA react to soviet expansion? marshall aid

  • Money which was given to Europe by the USA to help it recover from WWII and to stop Communism spreading there.
  • $17 billion was sent to Europe
  • Many Americans thought it was too much to give away
  • Congress approved the $17 billion after they heard that the Soviets had killed Masaryk in Czechoslovakia.
  • The USA also wanted to keep Europe strong because of trade and investment opportunities (i.e. not just to contain Communism).
• why did the berlin blockade occur?

  • Berlin was divided between the Soviet Zone (EAST Berlin) and the combined zones of USA, GB and France (WEST Berlin).
  • BUT – the whole city was inside Soviet East Germany (see map).
  • West Germany and West Berlin were doing well 
  • new currency, democracy, Marshall Aid money
  • Financially much more successful than East Germany
  • The newly united zones were called Bizonia
  • This angered Stalin who decided to cut off the supply routes into West Berlin, in order to force out the Americans and British and make the whole of Berlin part of East Germany.
• what happened in the berlin blockade?

  • Truman decided to supply the blockaded West Berlin with food and propaganda by air.
  • Known as the Berlin Airlift – 1948-49
  • Planes landed in West Germany every 3 minutes
  • They saved the West Berliners from starvation
  • 1.5 million tonnes of supplies were delivered to Berlin by the planes.
• results/consequenses of the berlin blockade -

  1. cold war got worse: it almost started an all-out war

  2. East and West Germany: Germany split up.   

  • In May 1949, America, Britain and France united their zones into West Germany
  • In October 1949, Stalin set up East Germany.  
• results/ consequenses of the berlin blockade -

  NATO and the Warsaw Pact: rival international organisations:

  • NATO: western countries (USA, GB etc.), 1949
  • Warsaw Pact: alliance of Communist countries (USSR, eastern European countries), 1955

  Arms Race

  • After Berlin, the USA and the USSR realised that they were in a competition for world domination
  • They began to build up their armies and weapons. 
• over all the berlin blockade...

  • It prevented war.
  • Stalin would have seen any aggressive act by the USA as a declaration of war.
  • The Airlift was a peaceful solution.
  • It showed Stalin that the USA would not allow West Berlin to fall to the USSR.
• the USSR was to blame for the cold war

  • Stalin was aggressive and expansionist
  • He wanted a buffer zone of Eastern European states; he was insistent on taking parts of Poland at Potsdam.
  • His actions in Eastern Europe (salami tactics etc.) show that he wanted to dominate the region
  • Berlin Blockade was seen as an attack against the West.
• the USA was to blame for the cold war

  • Atom Bomb was seen as a threat by Stalin
  • Truman Doctrine and Marshall Aid were deliberately targeted against the USSR
  • The USA wanted a powerful sphere of influence and did not want the USSR to have the same
  • NATO seemed like an aggressive organisation to the USSR, which found itself surrounded
• both were to blame for the cold war

  • Both sides = untrusting and suspicious of the other
  • Both were self-interested
  • Ideological differences could not be solved
  • Both sides were involved in Berlin Blockade and Airlift
• neither were to blame for the cold war

  • WWII alliance was based on the need to defeat Nazi Germany
  • Once that had happened, the two sides were bound not to remain allies
  • Too many basic ideological differences (Communism vs. Capitalism; Dictatorship vs. democracy)
• why did the USA–USSR alliance begin to break down in 1945? background

  • USA, GB and USSR were allies (gfriends) during WWII against Nazi Germany.
  • They defeated Germany in May 1945, the USSR (Russia, the Soviet Union) entering from the east, the Americans (USA) and British entering from the west.
  • Near the end of the war was the Yalta Conference (February 1945) and just after the war was the Potsdam Conference (July-August 1945) to decide what to do with the defeated Germany.