cold war

• Causes of tension between the allied countries after WWII

  • Ideological differences
  • Differences between leaders
  • A new world order
  • The Grand Alliance (Russia, America and Britain)
• Rational (in classical economic theory)

  Economic agents are able to consider the outcome of their choices and recognise the net benefits of each one
• Rational agents will select the choice which presents the highest benefits
• Rational agents

  • Consumers
  • Producers
  • Workers
  • Governments
• Consumers act rationally by

  Maximising their utility
• Producers act rationally by

  Selling goods/services in a way that maximises their profits
• Workers act rationally by

  Balancing welfare at work with consideration of both pay and benefits
• Governments act rationally by

  Placing the interests of the people they serve first in order to maximise their welfare
• Rationality in classical economic theory is a flawed assumption as people usually don't act rationally
• The Wealth of Nations was written

  1776
• Differences between the allied leaders

  • Franklin D. Roosevelt
  • Winston Churchill
  • Joseph Stalin
• Franklin D. Roosevelt


  Strongly believed in democracy, but formed an alliance with the Soviet Union to protect the USA against Japan. Was not as tough with Stalin as Churchill wanted him to be.
• Winston Churchill

  Strongly believed in democracy, the British Empire and was very suspicious of Stalin.
• Joseph Stalin


  A dictator who removed any freedom in Russia to consolidate his power. Stalin was convinced the West wanted to destroy communism.
• After the Second World War, the 'old powers' like Britain and France were now less important. Two new 'superpowers', the Soviet Union and the USA had emerged. Their strong militaries and economies created rivalry between them.
• Although Britain, the USA, and the Soviet Union united against Germany and Japan in the Second World War, there was no real change in how they viewed each other. The USA and Britain were still suspicious of the communist Soviet Union, whilst the USSR distrusted the capitalist world.
• Outcomes of the Tehran, Yalta and Potsdam conferences

  • The USA and Britain would attack Germany in Western Europe, helping the Soviets fighting in the East
  • Stalin would declare war against Japan and help the USA to defeat them once the war in Europe was over
  • Agreed that the aim of the war was to defeat Germany and keep it weak at the end of the war
  • An international organisation should be set up to settle disputes through discussion and negotiation (later became the United Nations)
  • Germany to be split into four zones, each controlled by a different power: the USA, Britain, France, and the Soviet Union
  • Half of Germany's $20 billion reparations would go to the Soviet Union, the Nazi Party would be banned and war criminals prosecuted
  • The United Nations was set up
  • Stalin agreed the future governments of Eastern Europe would be decided by free elections
  • Germany split into four zones, but the economy would be run as a whole
  • Berlin split into four zones controlled by different countries, even though it was within the Soviet zone of Germany
  • Each administering country would take its reparations from the zone of Germany it controlled. As the Soviet Union controlled the poorest zone, it could take 10% of the industrial equipment from other zones
• The USA developed and used atom bombs to win the war against Japan


  Increased tensions as the Soviet Union became even more determined to spread its influence in order to create a buffer zone between itself and Western Europe
• The USA and Soviet Union both developed atom bombs

  Decreased tensions as both sides were much less willing to go to war, as the risks became much higher and many more would be killed
• George Kennan's Long Telegram to Washington

  Reported that attitudes in Moscow were hostile towards the USA, and that Stalin held a firm belief in the destruction of capitalism. Kennan believed that the Soviets would back down if faced with tough resistance from the West. This played a key role in American foreign policy in the following years.
• Nikolai Novikov's telegram to Moscow


  Believed the the US wanted to use their strong military to dominate the world, and told Moscow that the Americans no longer wanted to cooperate with the Soviets.
• In March 1946, on a visit to the USA, Churchill made a speech criticising the Soviet Union as a threat to world peace. Stalin took this to be a reflection of American beliefs, which encouraged the USSR to strengthen its forces and increase anti-Western propaganda.
• The countries that the Soviet Union freed from Nazi occupation between 1944 and 1945 became satellite states under Soviet control after the end of the war. Stalin was reluctant to give up control of these countries as they were a useful buffer zone between the Soviet Union and Germany.
• Examples of Soviet control over Eastern European countries

  • Poland: Russians allowed Polish rebels to be killed by Germans during WW2 before pushing Germans out. Promised free elections but arrested non-communist politicians and helped to install a communist government.
  • Hungary: Used fear and intimidation to force people to vote for communists. Rakosi placed into power as a communist dictator
  • Czechoslovakia: Stalin helped to overthrow non-communist leader Benes and establish a communist dictator
• On 12th March 1947, Truman delivered a speech to the US congress announcing a $400 million aid package to Greece and Turkey. This was caused by the threat of communists trying to take over Greece and America worrying about communism spreading to other countries if Greece became communist.
• Truman promised to send American aid and troops to stop communism from spreading throughout the world, especially the countries of Europe which had been devastated by war and were therefore weaker and more likely to be vulnerable to communism. This speech became known as the 'Truman Doctrine' and signalled the beginning of the US policy of containment.
• Three months after Truman's speech, George Marshall, the US Secretary of State, announced in a speech that the USA would provide economic aid to the war-torn countries of Europe to help them recover from the damage suffered in conflict, and to keep them tied to the USA instead of falling to communist ideology. Between 1948 and 1952, the USA gave $12.7 billion in aid, mainly to countries in Western Europe. Many Eastern European countries refused America's offer, under Stalin's orders.
• Stalin did not react well to the Marshall Plan. Rather than a defensive policy to stop the spread of communism, he saw American aid to Europe as a way for the USA to spread its own influence and to undermine the United Nations. This so-called 'dollar imperialism', as the Soviets referred to it, was perceived as America's way of splitting Europe in two and establishing an economic empire in Western Europe.
• A clear divide had been established between the Soviet Bloc and the USA. Stalin's suspicions of the USA as trying to crush the Soviet Union were reinforced, and a rivalry between the two superpowers that would last for over 50 years had begun.
• Purposes of Cominform and Comecon

  • Cominform: Political organisation. Gave Stalin the power to control the governments of his satellite states and ensure they followed orders from Moscow.
  • Comecon: To provide economic aid as an alternative to the Marshall Plan, and later to organise industrial planning and encourage trade between members.
• In June 1948, Stalin decided to shut off land routes across the Soviet-controlled zone of Germany into the Western-controlled areas of Berlin. The Western zone of Berlin was now cut off from the Western part of Germany, with no communication and food running out. He wanted to stop the West introducing the Deutschmark and Trizonia.
• In response America and Britain launched 'Operation Vittles', or the Berlin Airlift. They flew food, coal and other items into the Western zone of Berlin, in order to get over Stalin's land blockade. Almost a year later in May the Soviets gave in and lifted the blockade. Stalin's attempt to provoke the West had backfired: the West had responded to the blockade peacefully, and he was now portrayed as unwise and aggressive.
• Three days after the blockade was lifted, the British, French, and American zones came together to form a state, the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG). This was a democratic state, and the chancellor, Konrad Adenauer, was elected on 15th September 1949. The FRG was much larger than East Germany. In October 1949, Stalin responded by creating the German Democratic Republic (GDR). This was a country only recognised by the communist bloc countries.
• In April 1949, the USA, Britain, France, and nine other Western countries formed the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). This was a military alliance intended to protect western countries from the communist threat. All members agreed that if one was attacked, the others would come to its aid. In response to the FRG joining NATO in May 1955, Stalin created the Warsaw Pact, the equivalent of NATO for eastern communist countries. This is now seen as a defining moment in the split of Europe into two blocs: the capitalist West and communist East.
• Key events in the arms race

  • 1945: the USA develops the atomic bomb
  • 1949: the USSR develops the atomic bomb
  • 1952: the USA develops the hydrogen bomb
  • 1953: the USSR develops the hydrogen bomb
  • 1957: the USA develops the inter-continental Ballistic Missile (ICBM)
  • 1957: the USSR begins to test ICBMs
• The Soviet Union seemed to always be playing catch-up with their development of nuclear weapons between 1950 and 1958. The USA had almost a constant advantage in terms of technological ability and the power of their nuclear weapons. However, the Soviet Union was not far behind as it wanted to maintain equal capabilities to ensure the likelihood of war was reduced through the idea of the nuclear deterrent.
• In January 1953, Dwight D. Eisenhower became the new president of the USA. He and Khrushchev, who became leader of the Soviet Union in 1953, were more willing to negotiate and reduce tensions between the two superpowers.
• 1945: the USA develops the atomic bomb
• 1949: the USSR develops the atomic bomb
• 1952: the USA develops the hydrogen bomb