Superpower relations and Cold War

• tehran conference

  • date - 1943
  • germany occupied most of europe. britain took back most of north africa from germany
  • aims- to help stalin by engaging two fronts and dividing nazi attention
  • agreed- USA and Britain will invade France by May 1944 and will fight until Nazi surrender. USSR will fight Japan
  • Tension was created as Churchill’s ideas were shut down
• Yalta conference

  • date - 1945 february
  • an allied victory was in order
  • they decided final military strategies and settled post war future of Europe
  • agreed- Germany will be divided into four. Nazi war criminals arrested. Democratic elections would be held in former Nazi controlled areas.
  • Disagreement- Stalin wanted to ruin Germany whereas the West wanted to rebuild Germany. Stalin wanted more Land from Poland and the borders to be more west
  • Tensions grew over Poland. Churchill and Roosevelt criticised for rebuilding too soon.
• Potsdam conference

  • Date 1945 july-august
  • Truman replaces Roosevelts death
  • truman hated communism more
  • atomic bomb not talked about even though Stalin knew from spies
  • west arguing about free elections in Eastern Europe
  • agreed- germany and berlin split into 4 zones each. Democracy reestablished. Germany would pay reparations in the form of industrial equipment and materials - most would go to USSR
  • Poland‘s borders would be moved west to the rivers, Oder and Neisse
  • United Nations set up with BIG THREE
  • Tensions increased as divide between cap and com grew whilst satellite states were forming
• Disagreements at Potsdam

  • Truman opposed massive reparation bill demanded by Stalin
  • No free elections
  • West not happy with Poland’s provisional government dominated by communists
• Countries taken over in Eastern Europe by USSR

  Poland - coalition

  Hungary - coalition

  Yugoslavia - genuine support

  Tensions rose as countries were taken over in rigged elections and by the banning of political opponents
• Poland taken over

  • coalition government formed in 1945 but USSR used large military presence to arrest non-communist leaders, mainly on false charges for collaborations with Nazis. 16 leading politicians were placed on trial in Moscow and imprisoned.
  • 1947 - won majority in rigged elections
• Hungary taken over

  • in the 1945 election of the communist party led by Rakosi, he only gained 17% of the vote. USSR pressured them into a coalition government and given key roles like control of the security police. Meaning Rakosi could arrest political opponents. The communists won in the 1947 elections after a campaign of intimidation. All other parties were then banned.
• Yugoslavia take over

  • 1948
  • communist party had genuine support, winning 38% of the vote in 1946 election.
  • However lacked majority so formed a coalition government in 1948.
  • Stalin allowed the seizing of total power. opponents were arrested or murdered. foreign minister, Jan Masaryk, was thrown out of his window. “Jan Masaryk was a very tidy man. He was such a tidy man that when he jumped he shut the window after himself”
• The long telegram

  • an 8000 word assessment of the Soviet Union by George Kennan in 1946
  • Possible co-existence between USSR and USA was not possible.
  • Soviet Union thought that USA wanted to destroy communism.
  • USA is more powerful
  • USSR wanted to destroy capitalism and spread communism
  • lead to Truman Doctrine
• Truman Doctrine- why introduced

  • To stop spread of communism
  • long telegram
  • by 1947, most Eastern European countries had been turned into satellite states
  • Civil war in Greece against communism could not be funded any longer by the British
  • Western Europe was in economic ruins, like France and italy, with widespread poverty which led countries to suppport communist parties
• Truman Doctrine - key points

  • formed off the basis of US foreign policy
  • set out by President Truman in 1947
  • response to Eastern Europe being taken over by communist like Greece’s civil war
  • Truman stated that the world was becoming divided into two armed camps - free capitalist and unfree communist
  • Purpose was to state that the USA would use their economic and military power to contain communism
• Truman Doctrine - why significant

  • identified communism as the main enemy of the USA
  • confrontational as Truman stated that he would use military and economic power to contain communism
  • led to US involvement like supplying Greece to contain communism
  • gave £13 billion of economic aid to Europe under the Marshall plan
  • Stood up to Stalin during Berlin Blockade
  • 50s and 60s fought communism in Korea and Vietnam
• Marshall Plan- why introduced

  • Europe in economic ruins after WWII
  • General George Marshall was worried that people living in poverty would most likely turn to communism
  • at first US did not want to support the plan as it was expensive. but in February 1948, the communists overthrew the government in Czechoslovakia which caused huge shock waves in the USA and the Marshall plan was eventually approved
• Marshall Plan - key points

  • £13 billion of aid was pumped into the European economy to help their recovery
  • was the economic arm of the Truman Doctrine
  • the money was used to buy new machinery in factories and farms, rebuild war damaged transport systems and buildings
• Marshall Plan - why significant

  • The soviets saw it as ”dollar imperialism” as money could only be used to buy US goods
  • Stalin claimed that the US was doing it for their own selfish interests - to dominate Europe and boost ist own economy
  • Stalin produced lots of propaganda attacking it
  • Stalin responded with the Council for Mutual Assistance(Comecon)
• NATO was formed in order to protect themselves against the Soviet Union so that if one member was attacked, others would come to aid under Article 5.
• NATO made tensions increase as US was portrayed as committed to helping Western Europe and portrayed that the Novikov telegram was correct and that the West was preparing for war. NATO led to the Warsaw Pact being formed in 1955 which deepened super-power relations
• Warsaw pact formed in 1955 as the Soviet Union was fearful of an aggressive military alliance that could eventually invade. This fear increased when West Germany joined NATO in 1955
• Warsaw members

  • Soviet Union
  • East Germany
  • Poland
  • Hungary
  • Czechoslovakia
  • Romania
  • Bulgaria
  • Albania
• OG members of NATO

  • Belgium
  • Canada
  • Denmark
  • France
  • Iceland
  • Italy
  • Luxembourg
  • Netherlands
  • Norway
  • Portugal
  • UK
  • US
• Reasons Warsaw Pact rose tensions

  • Europe divided into two camps
  • Both sides made military plans against eachother like “seven days to the river Rhine” in 1964 which was a simulation of nuclear war for seven days
  • arms raced increased - expansion in size of armies behind the iron curtain and their range of weapons
  • Soviet Unions control increased over East Europe
• July 1945 - trinity-first tested nuclear weapon in New Mexico
• August 1945 - USA dropped Atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
• 1949 -Soviet Union detonated first atomic bomb ‘first lightning’ which shocked USA for being quicker than expected
• 1952- US tested hydrogen bomb ‘Ivy Mike’ which had 700x force as Hiroshima bomb
• 1953 - Soviet Union developed its own hydrogen bomb ‘RDS-37’
• 1957 - USSR tested first ICBM, Sputnik 1(satellite)
• 1958 - explorer I released as well as Atlas Missile(ICMB)
• Significance of Arms Race

  • rivalry increased tensions
  • each side feeling more threatened so greater power and cycle continues
  • World became more dangerous - nuclear war close from Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962
  • War was less likely Mutually Assured Destruction(MAD) theory
  • Space Race - technology advancing rapidly
  • Soviets spent most money competing so less money for schools, hospitals etc. Financial crisis issues would stem from this later in Cold War
• Reaction to Marshall Plan:

  • Cominform 1947
  • Comecon 1949
• Cominform

  • Ensured that no Satellite state accepted Marshall Aid
  • Encouraged protests against Marshall plan
  • ensured same foreign and economic policies followed
  • spread propaganda attacking west - compare to Nazis
  • Removed anyone not loyal to Stalin like in 1948 for yugoslavia being too independent
• Comecon

  • Stalin’s version of the Marshall Plan
  • Not large amounts of money
  • promoted economic development by organising agreements between members
  • allowed USSR to secure access to cheap goods and raw materials
  • Discouraged Satellite states trading with West
  • State ownership of factories and farms imposed
• Berlin Blockade reasons 1948:

  • Berlin isolated in East Germany
  • Invaded Berlin in the war so thought rightfully captured it
  • he did not want Germany to be too powerful and rise up
  • Stalin was angry at the West‘s policies
• Berlin Blockade:

  • Stalin blockaded any surface traffic from entering or leaving
  • Shut off the power supplies which left Berlin in darkness
• Allied response to Blockade

  • This was an act of communist aggression so Truman felt like he had to respond
  • West decided to passively respond as force could result in a war which everyone was tired of
  • Stalin flew across air corridors and placed weather balloons in awkward places to disrupt.
• Berlin Airlift Stats:

  • 5000 tons of food and supplies per day
  • Cost USA £350 million and Britain £17 million
  • Lasted 11 months
  • Blockade lifted in May 1949 when Stalin admitted defeat
• Consequences of Berlin Blockade - short term:

  • Start of the Cold War - first serious clash
  • 78 pilots from Airlift died from accidents
  • Grand alliance war terminated ant US and USSR were now enemies
• Consequences of Berlin Blockade - mid term:

  • Germany became divided permanently
  • West called Federal Republic of Germany
  • East called German Democratic Republic
  • Stays divided for 40 years
• Consequences of Berlin Blockade- long term:

  • NATO formed in 1949 which has lasted to present
  • Intensified the Arms Race
  • USA moved heavy bombers to Europe to threaten Moscow
  • In the 50s, the US increased its army to 3.5 million men
  • Arms race led to nukes which minimised actual war from breaking
  • Rapid technology development -moon landing
• Hungarian Uprising 1956 reasons

  • Hungarian communist leader, Rakosi, used terror and violence to keep control
  • ordinary people fearful of the secret police (AVH)
  • Hungarians were mostly Roman Catholic and hated their religion was attacked - priests and nuns were arrested - Cardinal Mindzenty imprisoned for life in 1949
  • Comecon meant Soviet Union took advantage of food and industrial products for unfair prices
  • De-Stalinisation meant that the USSR would not use terror for control and Rakosi was appointed by Stalin