Chapter 2

• How was the USSR able to ensure communist regimes developed in Eastern Europe?

  1. 'Salami Tactics'

  Communist Party gradually weakened non-communist groups by forming alliances and creating divisions within them.

  
  

  2. Popularity of Communists

  In some countries the communists played a big part in anti-fascist resistance movements and were popular.

  
  

  3. Intimidation and Manipulation

  Opponents were intimidated, arrested and the elections were rigged.
• What was the main motivation for Stalin's actions in the eastern bloc countries?

  - Defensive / National Security concerns

  (A buffer zone to protect USSR from invasion)

  -Spread Communist ideology

  - Great Power Rivalry (To increase Soviet power and that of Stalin)
• How does the Percentages Agreement encourage Stalin to extend Soviet influence over Eastern Europe after WWII?

  - Had Churchill's approval

  - US left out = controversial

  - 1944
• What impact did eastern and southern Europe turning red have on the tensions?

  - At end of WWII - Red Army was stationed in large parts of Eastern Europe.

  - Its presence was a source of anxiety for the West who realized that it provided Stalin with a powerful weapon.

  - Pro-Communist governments were set up in Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Albania.

  - By the end of 1947 every state in Eastern Europe was controlled by a communist government, except Czechoslovakia.

  - The US government was suspicious of Stalin's intentions and was worried that there was a threat of Soviet expansion across Europe. These fears were also raised by Churchill.
• Common actions taken by USSR against Eastern Europe

  - Rigged elections

  - Intimidation of political opponents

  - Communists formed alliances with other parties then took over - gradual response

  - Loyalty had to be towards Moscow not towards ideology. Satellite States had to be Puppet States of the USSR
• Soviet expansion in Eastern Europe: POLAND


  Lublin government (communist) established in 1944 and preserved by Stalin although free elections were promised at Yalta

  
  

  June 1945 - 'Provisional government of National Unity' (moderate party) created, allowing free elections

  
  

  Jan 1947 - Stalin merged Communists + Polish socialists to weaken the Polish 'Peasant Party' = Communists formed alliances with other parties then took over - gradual response

  
  

  1948 Deputy PM Gomulka replaced by pro-Stalinist Bierut
• Soviet expansion in Eastern Europe: ROMANIA


  - Communism already popular. Offered an alternative to the pre-war regime

  - Red Army occupied the country = opposition minimal

  - Soviets disarm Romanian army

  - King abdicates Dec 1947 = new communist government in place. Communists also abolished the monarchy

  - Election in November 1946 falsified and gave communists huge majority = Rigged elections. Gained 80 % of the votes
• Soviet expansion in Eastern Europe: BULGARIA


  - Gradualism

  - Rigged elections.

  - Forced removal of opponents e.g. Despite winning 20% of vote in October elections, Agrarian Party leader, Petkov, was arrested on trumped up charges and executed.

  - Agrarian party absorbed into Communist movement

  
  

  - April 1947 - All other political parties banned in Bulgaria
• Soviet expansion in Eastern Europe: HUNGARY


  - Soviets allied with other political groups to challenge opponent - Smallholders party

  - Rigged elections

  - Stalin unhappy as non- Soviet regime in place so Communist leader Rajik was executed for anti-Soviet activities in 1949

  - Arrest of political opponents - all opposition eradicated by 1949
• Soviet expansion in Eastern Europe: CZECHOSLOVAKIA


  - Communism was popular - Czechoslovakia was industrialised and land given to working class + rural peasants

  - Communists gained most votes in genuinely free election of 1946 (38 %)

  - Communist leader Gottwald became Prime Minister

  - Gottwald's fatal error = willingness to accept Marshall Aid in 1947

  - Communists advantaged Feb 1948 as non communist leaders resigned

  - June 1948 - Pro Moscow communists left in full control because of resignation of President Benes
• Death of Czechoslovakian foreign minister


  March 1948

  - pro-American diplomat Jan Masaryk found dead beneath an open window.

  - American suspicion is that he was pushed and killed
• consequences of the Czechoslovakian coup(communist gov in place)

  US congress showed greater acceptance of the Marshall plan, and hostilities between USA and USSR became more intense
• Soviet expansion in Eastern Europe: YUGOSLAVIA

  - Tito was a pro Moscow Communist leader and very popular in Yugoslavia

  - 1948 - Soviet influence limited as Tito criticised Stalin's desire to impose Soviet control

  - Tito refused to let Yugoslavia become a puppet state run from Moscow through their economic and foreign policies

  - June 1948 - expelled from Cominform

  - Tito accepted Marshall Aid from US to survive
• why weren't the Soviets able to gain control in countries such as Italy where communism was still present?

  because the presence of the Red Army in E. Europe gave the Soviets so much power and physical influence. Strong non-communist political forces
• What actions did the USSR take in Eastern Europe 1945-48?

  1. Rigged elections:

  Romania 1946

  Bulgaria

  Hungary

  
  

  2. Gradual approach / SALAMI TACTICS

  Romania

  Bulgaria

  
  

  3. Communism was already popular

  Czechoslovakia - 38% of the vote

  Yugoslavia

  
  

  4. Intimidation of Political opponents

  Bulgaria - Petkov and Peasant party

  Hungary - all political opponents arrested and Rajik executed by 1949 - prime Minister's son held hostage

  Romania - King deposed
• when was the 'Long Telegram' sent and who sent it?

  22 February 1946

  George Kennan - Expert in Moscow - been there a long time - diplomat
• Main arguments of the "Long Telegram"

  - Stalin viewed the West as a threat

  - America must be prepared to threaten and even use force to ensure security

  - USA needed to be proactive in Europe urgently
• what did Kennan believe?

  - Take a hardline approach against Soviet aggression

  - must be prepared to use force if necessary.

  - The US should unite the west against the USSR

  
  

  Kennan thought communism presented a ideological threat to the free world - it wanted to weaken the west
• "Long Telegram's" X Article

  Call for systematic CONTAINMENT of the USSR's expansionism - USSR = aggressive and ideological

  - Resonated with Truman's growing certainty that USSR was an enemy of Western democratic values + US Security
• When was Novikov Telegram

  September 1946

  - Novikov = the Soviet Ambassador to the United States
• what was the purpose of the Novikov telegram?

  - to provide Stalin with evidence of the USA's 'aggressive' policies e.g. the USA's foreign policy based on economic imperialism + the US wanted to make states dependent on it to establish global supremacy
• The Two Telegrams

  Similarities:

  - Both men were writing for their bosses- Stalin liked hard facts while Truman had little experience of FP concerns, so Kennan kept it simple rather than nuanced.

  - Both men worked in their respective Embassies, either in Washington or Moscow

  - Novikov consciously mirrored the breathless /apocalyptic tone of Kennan.

  - Both men were considered to be experts

  - Both Telegrams highlight the threat of the other superpower:

  Kennan = global ideological threat of the USSR

  Novikov = the USA as an emerging as a superpower and their bid for global domination

  - Kennan ignores the Soviet desire for security while Novikov used the emerging situation in 1946 to support his analysis
• who gave the 'Iron Curtain' speech and who was the audience?

  - 6 March 1946

  - Churchill - expert - speaking freely as he is not Prime Minister in GB anymore. Worked closely with Stalin (knew what he was talking about due the the 'percentages agreement')

  Hated communism.

  
  

  - audience = US government, President and people - wanted to sound the alarm about the USSR after treating Stalin as Uncle Joe during the grand alliance years
• Location of Churchill's "Iron Curtain" speech

  Missouri (Truman's home state)
• Main arguments of Churchill's "Iron Curtain" speech

  - Europe had become divided over capitalism and communism

  - Stalin's expansionism was intended to be on a global stage
• Stalin's reaction to Churchill's "Iron Curtain" speech

  - He compared Churchill to Hitler + called him a 'warmonger' in "Pravda" (Soviet State newspaper)

  - He became convinced that Britain and America were conspiring against the USSR

  - Audience = The West - his old allies

  
  

  - Stalin justifies USSR actions as reinforcing USSR's security.

  - Foreign Minister, Molotov, accused USA as being an imperialist power and effectively abandoned the Declaration of Liberated Europe
• When was the Greek Civil War?

  Why was this area important for Britain?

  1946 - 1949

  Fear that it may threaten Britain's oil imports from Middle East through the Mediterranean. Strategic importance?
• why didn't Stalin support communists in Greek Civil war?

  - Stalin was unsympathetic to communist revolutions in independent states as he could not ensure Moscow's control

  - He kept his word from the percentages agreement not to intervene and didn't help Greek Communists overtly
• British and Soviet views on the Greek Civil War

  - UK supported the monarchists ( anti-communist) forces in Greece but in Feb 1947 it withdrew aid and appealed to USA to assume the financial burden

  - Stalin had no interest in aiding the communists
• Arguments for motives of the Truman doctrine

  - Keep USSR from aiding Greek communists = NARROW MOTIVE

  
  

  - Protect democracy and freedom, no aggression intended, defence of democratic values which were under threat in Europe. = IDEOLOGICAL MOTIVE

  
  

  - Demonise USSR so USA could become a global power + to justify greater US intervention in Europe = WIDER MOTIVE

  
  

  - Wanted to provoke USSR to start a Cold War so USA could justify their role as defender of freedom = AGGRESSIVE MOTIVE

  
  

  - First step of containment

  - Truman was trying to develop the USA's ECONOMIC power and his Doctrine was part of this. Make other countries militarily and economically dependent on the USA - trading partners.
• When was the Truman Doctrine?

  12th March 1947
• Main arguments of the Truman Doctrine

  - 12th March 1947

  - America would aid any anti-communist movements

  - America would commit itself to containing communism

  - US isolation would end
• When was Cominform set up?

  September 1947
• The Soviet Response to the Truman Doctrine: COMINFORM

  Cominform ( Communist Information Bureau)

  - Set up by the USSR in 1947 and developed by Zhdanov

  - Aimed to coordinate the roles and actions of communist parties in Europe.

  - Controlled by Moscow.

  - Strongly anti-American.
• The Soviet Response to the Truman Doctrine: ZHDANOV DOCTRINE - main arguments

  - Zhdanov was a hard line Stalinist

  - He believed the world was dividing into 2 camps.

  - The West was becoming economically dependent on the USA and thus the USA was developing an anti Soviet sphere of influence
• Why were there growing Cold War tensions between 1946-1947?

  1. Kennan's Long Telegram forms a basis for American attitudes towards the USSR

  2. Churchill's 'Iron Curtain Speech'

  3. Confrontation refined: The Truman Doctrine

  4. Gradual Sovietisation of Eastern Europe up to 1947 - Stalin increased his control + Cominform consolidates USSR's influence over Eastern Europe
• Aims of the Molotov Plan + Successor of the Molotov Plan

  - Rebuild European nations post-War

  - Strengthen economic and political links with Soviet allies

  
  

  Council for Mutual Economic Assistance = Comecon