Cold War

• Conflicting ideologies:

  USSR communist

  USA capitalist
• Yalta conference 1945

  -Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin

  -Germany not yet defeated but clear they would

  -agreed on Germany- divided into 4 zones: US, Soviet, British + French

  -creation of the UN

  -USSR promised to allow free elections in eastern europe

  -disagreed on Poland- Churchill and Roosevelt however agreed to allow Stalin to move the USSR westwards into Poland

  -beginning of the increasing tension
• Potsdam conference 1945

  • Germany defeated
  • Truman, churchill, stalin
  • Stalin set up communist government against their wishes
  • USA tested atomic bomb- Truman took Stalin to 1 side
  • Disagreements: Germany- Stalin wanted to cripple Germany, Truman didn't want to repeat mistakes of Treaty of Versailles
  • Reparations- Stalin wanted compensation from Germany, truman disagreed, Stalin confused
  • Eastern Europe- Truman became concerned over Stalin's intentions for eastern Euopre
• Churchill's iron curtain speech 1946:

  • USA offered loans to USSR to improve relations and also for economic reasons- Stalin rejected (didn't want to be under US's 'sphere of influence')
  • Stalin achieved domination of Eastern Europe
  • Churchill said that an iron curtain had descended around Eastern Europe and it wasn't the liberated Europe the allies wanted
• Stalin tightens his grip

  • determined to control Eastern European governments
  • between 1945-49 the USSR took control of Eastern Europe + made them loyal to the USSR
  • USSR kept control by; controlling the army, secret police, arresting opponents
  • 1947- creation of Cominform to control the puppet governments- Stalin kept a close eye on independent leaders and replace them with people who were loyal
• USA response:

  -Truman doctrine: America would send troops and resources to help governments threatened by communism (containment)

  -Marshall aid: 17bil to help Europe recover-element of self interest

  -Stalin forbade the Eastern European countries applying for Marshall aid, he felt USA was trying to dominate as many states as possible and weaken his hold on Eastern Europe
• Berlin blockade


  1948-49
• Berlin blockade


  • Britain, France and the USA combined their zones- West Germany, Berlin divided into 4 zones
  • Stalin blockades Berlin: cut of all rail and road links
  • If USA tried to ram the roadblocks or railway blocks- act of war
  • Stalin expected Truman to withdraw from Berlin, which would give him the propaganda victory
• Berlin airlift


  1. Allies responded with massive airlift of resources from West Germany to West Berlin

  2. Lasted 318 days
• Stalin lifted blockades


  1949
• NATO formed

  1949
• NATO

  Western powers agreed to work together
• Warsaw pact

  Communist eastern European states promised to defend each other
• USSR tested first nuke- 1949

  -america immediately began building up own stock of nuclear weapons
• 1953- Stalin died and new leader Khrushchev took over

  • he talked peaceful co-existence
  • however he ruthlessly crushed uprisings in eastern Germany and Hungary in 1956
• Throughout the 1950s there was a threat of nuclear war

  • both sides stockpiled weapons
  • each side accused each other of being unreasonable
• The Berlin wall 1961 (background)

  • East Germans dissatisfied with the low standard of living contrasted with the prosperity of West Germany
  • Thousands of East Germans defected to West Germany
  • The flood of East Germans leaving Berlin was a propaganda gift to to the USA
• Why did the Berlin war become a cold war crisis?

  • New American president, John Kennedy 1961
  • Presidency didnt get off to a great start - Cuban missile crisis
  • Khrushchev chose this moment of failure to call on him to remove US troops from Berlin
  • Kennedy stood firm and refused, he also ordered 150,000 US troops to be called up for action in Germany + increased armed force funding
  • Khrushchev accused Kennedy of provoking conflict- claimed the USA + allies were using Berlin as a base for spies
  • 13th August- Berlin wall built between East and West Berlin
• Impact of the Berlin Wall crisis

  • Wall stayed and became symbol of division - division of germany, division of europe, division of communist east and democratic west
  • Kennedy had stood up to Khrushchev and he made good propaganda use of the wall
  • Khrushchev showed he was tough as Kennedy could not stop him building the wall
  • The communists presented the wall as a protective shield around East Berlin
  • Western powers presented it as a prison wall
• Cuban Missile Crisis background 1959:

  • Cuba considered USA's 'backyard'
  • fiercely anti-communist Cuban leader Batista overthrown in revolution led by communist Fidel Castro
  • Batista's followers who fled into exile in the USA pressured the US to help oust Castro
  • USA investigate ways to overthrow Castro
  • The USA refused to trade with Cuba and began a propaganda campaign against the Cuban leader and his regime
• Why did the Cuban Missile Crisis become a cold war crisis?

  • Khrushchev supports Castro
  • Castro feared a US invasion of Cuba + turned to USSR forhelp
  • Khrushchev and Castro agreed a 100mil package of economic aid and Khrushchev also sent military equipment and tehcnical advisers to Cuba
• The Bay of Pigs invasion

  -In April 1961 the CIA trained 1,300 Cuban exiles to invade Cuba

  -They landed at the Bay of Pigs and were easily defeated

  -Kennedy was humiliated

  -It also seemed to justify Khrushchev's actions because it seemed Cuba needed protection
• Khrushchev arms Castro - 1962

  -USSR supplied Cuba with arms

  -Americans questioned whether the USSR would place nuclear weapons in Cuba - Khrushchev assured he was not

  -US supply plane flew over Cuba and images showed nuclear missile sites

  -Planes also reported 20 soviet ships on their way to Cuba carrying missiles
• Why did Khrushchev place nuclear missiles in Cuba?

  • To bargain with the USA
  • To close the missile gap
  • To defend Cuba
  • To test the USA
  • To strengthen his own position in the USSR
• Cuban Missile Crisis


  1962
• US spy planes fly over Cuba

  14th October
• 16th October


  1. Kennedy forms a panel of military and political advisers called Ex comn

  2. Hawks advised bombing missile sites and invading Cuba

  3. Doves argue Kennedy should use diplomacy
• 20-21st October


  1. Kennedy decides to blockade Cuba

  2. Khrushchev tells Cuban troops to expect US invasion
• 22nd October


  1. Kennedy announces naval blockade of Cuba

  2. Kennedy warns of retaliation if missiles are launched from Cuba
• 23rd October


  1. Khrushchev explains missile sites are solely to defend Cuba

  2. Kennedy receives letter from Khrushchev saying Soviet ships will not observe blockade
• 24th October


  1. Blockade began

  2. Russian ships head for Cuba

  3. Khrushchev tells the captains to ignore blockades
• 25th October


  1. 1st missile carrying ships reaches naval blockade, they turn round

  2. US are plotting to remove the missiles in Turkey for exchange for those in Cuba
• 26th October


  1. Russia still building missile bases

  2. Kennedy considers invasion of Cuba- war seems inevitable

  3. Kennedy gets a telegram from Khrushchev offering to dismantle the missile sites if he removes blockades and promises not to invade cuba
• 27th October

  1. Khrushchev sends second letter, demanding that Kennedy promises not to attack Cuba and dismantles missile bases in turkey

  2. A u2 plane is shot down over Cuba- tensions rise

  3. Kennedy delays war + ignores second letter from Khrushchev

  4. Kennedy sends a letter to Khrushchev offering if Khrushchev dismantles missile bases, America will lift blockade and not invade Cuba- also he'll dismantle turkish missile bases (secret)
• Khrushchev agrees to Kennedy proposals-crisis over

  28th October
• Khrushchev's reaction:

  Khrushchev kept Cuba communist and won a promise from the USA that Cuba wouldn't be invaded

  Khrushchev had been forced to back down about the missiles and the missile gap never narrowed
• Castro's reaction

  Upset by the deal, but had little choice, Cuba stayed communist and highly armed, Cuba remained an important base for Communists in South America
• Kennedy's reaction


  Made Khrushchev back down, stood up to 'Hawks' in his own government, not managed to oust Castro, removed US missiles in Turkey
• Cuban Missile Crisi: impact

  Improved relations slightly between superpowers

  Superpowers signed a nuclear test ban treaty1963

  Superpoweres avoided direct confrontation from now on
• Superpowers signed a nuclear test ban treaty

  1963