cold war origins - 1. US, British and USSR relations in 1945

• Jan 1945 - Most Eastern European states are liberated by the Soviet Union 
• Feb 1945 - Yalta Conference takes place
• April 1945 - Roosevelt dies; Hitler commits suicide
• May 1945 - the war in Europe ends
• July 1945 - Churchill is defeated in the General Election; successful test of the USA's atomic bomb
• July / August 1945 - The Potsdam Conference takes place
• August 1945 - Two atomic bombs are dropped on Japan at Hiroshima and Nagasaki
• September 1945 - Japan agrees to an unconditional surrender to American forces
• Free market economy – an economic system the prices of goods are set by the forces of supply and demand, and competition is allowed through minimal interference by the state 
• Proletarian – the workers, but they owned very little; they were the exploited majority and were able to rise against their oppressors 
• Bourgeoisie – term to signify the class in society that controlled the means of production and distribution; this gave them power to exploit the masses of workers 
• Geostrategic – those geographic areas that have some degree of strategic importance to a state; the term usually relates to a location in terms of how an area impacts on the power of states within a particular region  
• Marxism and communism – Marx expressed his political theory in The Communist Manifesto (1848). One of the opening lines was, ‘The history of all hitherto existing society Is the history of class struggles’. Marx ultimately believed that capitalism would destroy itself and be replaced by a communist system 
• The percentages agreement, 1944 – Churchill and Stalin met in Moscow. The basis of the agreement was to establish the percentage of predominance Britain and the USSR would each have in Eastern European states. For example, in Romania, the USSR was to have 90% while in Greece, Britain had 90%. In Hungary, it was to be 50% each 
• Deteriorating relationships after Yalta – Disagreement quickly emerged over how the Declaration on Liberated Europe was interpreted and how it was to be applied specifically to Poland. Stalin decided to reach the view that the communist government would stay in place, while Roosevelt viewed it in an entirely opposite way 
• The Lublin Government – During the war, a Polish government in exile existed in London. The USSR supported a pro-communist government which had been set up on Poland’s liberation, This was based in the Polish city of Lublin. Stalin had ensured that non-communist leaders who had resisted the Nazis were eliminated so they couldn’t transplant the Polish government in exile back into post-war Poland  
• Atomic Bomb – Nuclear technology had finally been refined to a point where a weapon of mass destruction could be successfully deployed. Two bombs were dropped on Japan in August 1945. The news of the completion of the atomic bomb was given to Stalin at Potsdam. Truman saw the bomb as a form of absolute pressure that could be used to persuade Stalin to fulfil the agreements he had made over Europe’s future. It had the effect of reinforcing Stalin’s anxiety for future Soviet security  
• The Great Depression – after 1929, most of the world faced an economic crisis that for most countries began with the Wall Street Crash in the USA. After the USA faced its crisis in confidence, it requested that foreign firms and governments repay their loans immediately, causing other countries to plunge into even deeper crises. Some countries, such as Italy and the Soviet Union were the exceptions. They were somewhat protected by their economic policies of autarky (essentially closed economic that don’t participate in international trade) 
• Joseph Stalin (1879-1953) – was born Joseph Djugashvili, but adopted the name Stalin because it meant ‘steel’. He was one of the leaders of the Bolshevik party, but was not considered an intellectual. This made him seem less important in the early days of the Soviet state, bur he quietly accumulated power and had succeeded Lenin by 1929 
• Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945) – had been the US president since 1933. He ended the USA’s isolationism when he entered the war in 1941. FDR was a committed democrat but he was prepared to support the USSR in the Grand Alliance, and was optimistic that meaningful international cooperation could continue after the war had ended 
• Winston Churchill (1874-1965) – became prime minister in 1940. He established a working relationship with Stalin but quickly became deeply suspicious of his post-war intentions. Churchill was anxious to ensure unity among the Western capitalist powers in face of what he regarded as a fundamental threat from the USSR 
• Vyacheslav Molotov (1890-1986) – loyal supporter of Stalin. He served as the Soviet Foreign Minister from 1939-49 and from 1953-1957. He was the leading Soviet representative at Yalta and Potsdam, and many regarded his attitudes as making a major contribution to the collapse of East-West relations  
• Anthony Eden (1897-1977) – British Foreign Secretary between 1940-45. Eden had been central to allied planning and diplomatic negotiations throughout the war, and he supported Churchill at Yalta  
• Harry S. Truman <3 (1884-1972) – had little knowledge of international affairs when he became president upon Roosevelt’s death. He rejected Roosevelt’s co-operative attitude towards the USSR and was convinced that the USSR and communism was a threat to the USA’s vital national interests. He sought to promote the USA to the status of a global superpower. 
• Clement Attlee (1883-1967) – replaced Churchill as prime minister. He shared Churchill’s mistrust of Stalin and was convinced of the importance of a continued alliance with the USA to protect Western Europe from the potential threat of the spread of communism