History paper 1

• USA


  • Developed out of the industrial revolution and the new social group of the middle class
  • Private business and making profits are allowed - capitalist country
  • Usually multiple political parties in elections
  • The government is usually elected by the people
  • Free economy
  • There is a great difference in wealth but most have a reasonable standard of living
  • Based on the idea of opportunity for all
• USSR


  • Based on the ideas of Karl Marx in the nineteenth century and developed by Lenin in Russia
  • All businesses are owned by the state and all profits go to the state
  • One party state - ALL OTHER PARTIES ARE BANNED
  • Economy is controlled by the government
  • Lower average standard of living, but wealth is more equally shared
  • Based on the ideas of fairness and equality
• Mistrust between USA and USSR before the Second World War
• Ideological dream - USA

  A capitalist system and placed great emphasis on the stereotypical 'american dream' of individuals becoming successful and wealthy
• Ideological dream - USSR


  Communist and its first leader, Vladimir Lenin, called for an overthrow of the capitalist system, all around the world
• In the west, governments and the media spread fear about the communist threat to people's way of life. THE RED SCARE IN 1920S saw panic and arrests in USA
• In the USSR, western governments were seen as a threat to the revolution and as the oppressors of workers worldwide
• Following the Russian revolution of 1917, the USA SENT TROOPS TO SUPPORT THE WHITES in the Russian civil war
• Nazi Germany and USSR signed a non-aggression pact in 1939
• The west saw the Nazi-Soviet pact as further evidence that the USSR could not be trusted
• Stalin's regime


  • Lenin's successor was Stalin - who was brutal and ruthless in his rule of the country
  • The secretive nature of the regime, along with the disappearances, arrests and murders of high-profile political figures, caused the western countries to have deep mistrust in Stalin
• Although Russia had fought alongside the allies in the First World War, it had withdrew in 1917 due to an economic crisis, which made it hard for Britain and France to trust the Russians in the future
• HITLER'S INVASION OF USSR IN 1941 brought the east and the west together - by working together, the east and the west were able to defeat the Nazis in 1945
• THE PERCENTAGES AGREEMENT - CHURCHILL WROTE ON A PIECE OF NAPKIN REGARDING HOW SPLIT EASTERN EUROPE, TO WHICH STALIN TICKED
• THE YALTA CONFERENCE - FEB 1945
• West aims at Yalta

  • East and west co-operation should continue
  • Germany should be rebuilt as an independent, democratic country
  • Countries in Eastern Europe should have the right to self determination and should be free from outside influence
  • The formation of the UN to help resolve any future conflicts
  • There should be economic co-operation through the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund
• Churchill


  • Aware of Stalin's aims and wanted to protect British interest
  • Wanted a close relationship with USA
  • Struggled to understand Stalin's POV
  • Strong anti-communist and deeply mistrusted Stalin
• Franklin Roosevelt


  • Committed to working well with Stalin and believed that only a capitalist Europe would prevent a future war
  • Some argued that he did not properly understand Stalin properly and just assumed that they wanted the same things
• Joseph Stalin


  • Wanted to ensure that total devastation would not occur - only wanted to protect and acted in the best interests of his country
  • Believed that creating a sphere of influence was the only way of protecting the USSR
  • Recognised the need for co-operation with the west to prevent further wars
• • Key agreements made at Yalta - the liberated countries of Eastern Europe would be allowed to hold free and fair elections
  • The UN would be formed to ensure future co-operation
  • The declaration of liberated Europe - BUT THERE WERE DIFFERENT INTERPRETATION OF THIS DOCUMENT BY THE THREE LEADERS, especially when it came to Poland
• By the time of the Potsdam conference, the unity between the east and west had begun to break down
• Stalin's desire at Potsdam

  To make Germany pay for reparations
• Truman and Attlee at Potsdam

  • Refused Stalin's desire for total reparations from Germany
  • Instead wanted to first focus on trying to improve the economy
• Clement Attlee


  • Focused on domestic plans, such as the creation of the welfare state
  • Worried about soviet expansion
  • Wanted a secure Germany
  • Saw Britain as weaker and wanted American friendship
• Truman


  • Wanted self-determination for the countries of Europe
  • Distrusted Stalin and his intentions
  • Thought America had the upper hand due to the atomic bomb
• Joseph Stalin


  • Saw America as a rival country
  • Wanted security for the USSR
  • Distrusted America as it now had the atomic bomb
• • Key agreements made at Potsdam - The division of Germany was confirmed
  • The nazi party was banned and its leaders were put on trial
  • Germans living in Czechoslovakia were to be returned to Germany
  • Poland was to lose some territory to the USSR
• HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI - AUGUST 1945 ended the war in the pacific
• Truman did not tell Stalin about the existence of the atomic bomb and did not tell him he was dropping it, but Stalin already knew about the atomic bomb and Truman's plans of dropping it, through the use of spies
• The surrender of Japan removed the need for soviet troops in japan - this caused further tension as it directly violated Stalin's sphere of influence and increased tensions between the east and west - the grand alliance further dissolved
• At the end of the Second World War, USSR CONTROLLED MOST OF EUROPE - the red army had already occupied the land that they had taken from the nazis - POLAND, YUGOSLAVIA AND HUNGARY
• Eastern Europe was mainly communist after the horrors of Hitler
• These communist countries made it hard for non-communists to come into power - rigging elections and prosecuting and executing opponents
• The long telegram on 22 FEBRUARY 1946 reported that the soviets wanted to spread the USSR's influence as widely as possible and saw the USA as an enemy, and that any attempt of co-operation would fail
• In MARCH 1946, during a visit to the USA, Churchill made a speech saying the USSR was attempting to spread its influence across the rest of Europe and increase its power, and that an invisible line was split between east and west Europe - this was known as the IRON CURTAIN
• Truman was beside Churchill, fully supporting and agreeing with the points made out in his speech
• The Truman Doctrine


  • American policy to combat communism in Europe after WW2
  • Communism posed as a threat to USA and the rest of the world
  • The USA would support any country under the threat of communism
  • 'Containing communism' - did not want communism to spread any further and wanted to keep it within the countries where it was already established
• The Truman doctrine was also a response to the situation in Greece and Turkey - where it seemed likely that those countries would soon turn to communism
• The Marshall Plan


  • Put the Truman doctrine into place
  • George Marshall put billions of dollars into rebuilding Europe
  • Aimed to aid economic recovery in Europe and prevent people from turning to communism
  • To support the containment of communism within Eastern Europe
  • To create a market for American goods in order to also build up the American economy
• The results of the Marshall Plan were vital for the recovery of Europe, allowed the economy to be rebuilt and the standard of living to rise, demonstrated how committed USA was in resolving tensions in Europe, and communism became less popular in Western Europe