Alliance/2Superpowers/suspicion

• The Grand Alliance


  The big three allies from World War Two - Britain, the USA, and the USSR - who were united by their desire to defeat Nazi Germany
• The Grand Alliance discussed Europe's Future

  At Tehran and Yalta conferences
• As the war ended


  Tensions arose between the allies
• Britain and the USA were politically very different from the USSR and there were tensions between the three allies</b>
• The allies agreed the USSR could claim a sphere of influence in Eastern Europe after the war was over
• Decisions about the future of Europe

  Made at the Yalta Conference in February 1945
• The allies had different interpretations of what 'free elections' meant in Eastern Europe
• Stalin believed only communist parties should run in elections as they were the only ones that truly represented the people
• Potsdam Conference


  Allies met to work on the finer details of their plans for Germany and Europe after Germany's surrender
• Some things remained undecided at Potsdam, like when the zones of Germany could rejoin to form a country again
• Tensions were high at Potsdam as Roosevelt had died and Truman was more suspicious of the USSR
• Britain and the US were alarmed by Stalin installing a pro-communist government in Poland, which they felt went against the Yalta agreement
• Capitalism


  The USA's economic system based on private ownership, free competition, and supply and demand
• Communism


  The USSR's economic and political system with state control, no private property, and promotion of atheism
• Communism was seen by Americans as a danger to their democracy, while the communists feared American influence
• The USA kept the development of the atomic bomb secret from the USSR
• The USA's development of the atomic bomb


  Boosted the status of the USA and angered Stalin, who saw it as an attempt to intimidate the USSR
• The USSR installed pro-Soviet 'puppet' governments


  In Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Czechoslovakia between 1945-1948
• Yugoslavia was communist but more open to the West, leading to a rift with Stalin
• Iron Curtain


  The division between Eastern Europe under Soviet influence and Western Europe allied with the USA
• The 'Long Telegram' and 'Novikov Telegram' detailed the suspicions and fears of the USA and USSR about each other's intentions
• Truman Doctrine


  The USA pledged to support any nation threatened by communist takeover
• Marshall Plan


  The USA provided $17 billion in aid to help rebuild European economies, which Stalin saw as an attempt to lure Eastern Europe away from the USSR
• Cominform and Comecon


  The USSR's reactions to the Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan, uniting communist parties and providing economic aid to Eastern Europe