Cold War

• Cold war:

  • Mainly between US and USSR
  • Communist Russia:
  • Social system where trade and industry is controlled by community and share of everyone relies on their ability and need
  • Capitalist America:
  • Economic system where trade and industry is controlled by private individuals to make profit
  • Individual rights
• Yalta:

  • Conference to discuss post-war reorganisation of Europe
  • Agreed on:
  • Divide Ger in four occupation zones
  • Hold war crime trials against Nazi leaders (nuremberg)
  • UN creation
  • Soviet gain territory in Asia in exchange for support in war against Jap
  • Soviet union establish democratic gov in Eastern European countries
  • Problems (Poland):
  • Provisional gov there 
  • But, Soviet victory led to shift in Polish territory and ultimately to establish communist dictatorship in Poland
  • Led to tension between Western powers and Soviet Union → cold war
• Potsdam conference July 12 - Aug 2:

  • UK, US and Soviet Union
  • Clement Attlee, Truman and Joseph Stalin
  • Held in Potsdam Germany
  • Atomics bombs dropped on Aug 6 and 9 1945
  • Goal:
  • Determine post-war fate of Germany
  • Agreed to demilitarise Ger
  • Issue Potsdam declaration to Jap
  • Issues:
  • Reparations
  • Future
  • Ideology clashes
• Iron Curtain speech:

  • Churchill’s speech about rise of communism and how it is not what “we fought to build”
• Kennan’s long telegram:

  • Very long telegram on Stalin's aggressive foreign policy
• British decline:

  • Decolonisation
  • Economic
  • Loss of status and rise of uS
  • Social and political transformation
  • Formation of European Integration
• Soviet control in Eastern Europe:

  • Stalin wanted sphere of influence (claim by state to control over foreign area) for:
  • Invasion buffer
  • National security
  • Ideological (communism) expansion
  • Eco advantages
  • Good power status
• Stalin took over:

  • PARCH +BG
  • Poland
  • Albania
  • Romania
  • Czechoslovakia
  • Hungary
  • Bulgaria + German Democratic Republic
• Truman Doctrine:

  • Made a policy of containment to prevent spread of communism 
  • Sent aid to Turkey and Greece and said that US should ‘free’ people who are subjected to such wrong ideologies
• Marshall Aid:

  • Restore European economic
  • 13 billion to rebuild the smouldering continent
  • Poland and Czechoslovakia didn’t receive help
• Nato:

  • North Atlantic Treaty Organisation
  • Creation of new military and political alliance between US and Europe
  • Safeguard allie’s freedom and security by political and military means 
  • (Help them stay away from communism)
• Berlin Blockade:

  • Blocked off Berlin so that they could not get supplies and attempt to force allies to abandon city
  • In 318 days, 275,000 planes, 1.5 million tonnes of supplies were sent by US