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KQ4: Start of the Cold War (Beginnings (Yalta – Feb 1945 (USSR would enter…
KQ4: Start of the Cold War
Beginnings
What was the Cold War
Increasing tensions between the USA and the USSR
Frosty atmosphere, no actual fighting
1945-1989
Tension between Capitalism and Communism
Included the arms race
War of words and propaganda
Yalta – Feb 1945
USSR would enter the war against Japan
Germany would be divided into American, British, French and Soviet occupation zones
Berlin to be temporarily divided into four occupation zones
Nazi war criminals hunted down and punished
Liberated countries allowed to hold free elections
USA, USSR and Britain would join the UN and use it to keep peace
Eastern Europe considered a Soviet sphere of influence
Soviet-Poland border fixed westwards, Soviets would not interfere in Greece
German surrender unconditional, would pay reparations
Provisional government in Poland; border moved westwards into German territory
Russia would receive land in Manchuria in return for fighting Japan
Important events between Feb and July 1945
Soviet troops moved to occupy most of Eastern Europe after liberating them
=> refugees fleeing fearing a Communist takeover
Stalin set up a Communist government in Poland – defensive measure against possible future attack
Roosevelt died in April, replaced by Truman
–> more anti-Communist, suspicious of Soviets
USA successfully tested its first atomic bomb
Halfway through Potsdam Churchill was replaced by Clement Attlee
Main disagreements at the Potsdam Conference, July 1945?
Dominated by rivalry and suspicion between Truman and Stalin
Germany
Stalin wanted Germany crippled to protect USSR
Truman and Attlee wanted Germany to be reconstructed, fearing a repeat of Versailles
Stalin wanted access to the industries of the Ruhr – was rejected
Reparations – Stalin wanted massive compensation for damage and 20Mn Russian lives – resisted by Truman
Eastern Europe
Truman unhappy at Eastern Europe being a sphere of Russian influence
No agreement over the future government of Poland
Truman thought Stalin should honour free elections in Poland agreed at Yalta
Stalin would only recognise the Lublin Polish government, not the authority of the Polish government exiled in London
Japan – USSR wanted to be involved against Japan, Truman rejected this
What caused the Cold War
Ideological differences: Communism vs Capitalism
Stalin's failure to abide by agreements made at Yalta and Potsdam
Yalta: free and fair elections in E European countries
–> Stalin did not allow free elections in Poland, Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary
Czechoslovakia: Jan Masaryk was murdered and fellow colleagues resigned
Truman Doctrine and Marshall Aid
Economic and military aid for Greece to fight off communism
Stalin refused to allow Soviet bloc countries to accept aid
Soviet expansion
Cominform 1947 – coordinate work of communist parties
Iron Curtain Speech
Buffer states were like an iron curtain descending across Europe
Created ill-feeling in the Kremlin
Communism/USSR
Why did the USSR want to dominate Eastern Europe
Stalin wanted communist governments bordering the USSR – would be compliant
Had been invaded twice by Germany – wanted a buffer zone of friendly states facing the West
Wanted communism to spread
Stalin wanted a line of states which he could influence and control from the Baltic to the Black Sea – KA the Iron Curtain
How far did Communism spread after 1945
Poland – coalition in '45, ruling party in '47
Hungary – largest party in '47, imprisoned opposition politicians
Romania – communist Prime Minister at head of left-wing coalition, 1945
Bulgaria – left-wing coalition '45, execute leaders of other parties
East Germany – run by USSR under the Red Army until creation of the communist German Democratic Republic in 1949
Czechoslovakia – left-wing coalition in '45, largest party in '46, one-party state in '48
Albania – gain power after war with little opposition
Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania – absorbed by USSR
Yugoslavia – Tito president in '45, tries to rule independently of USSR, expelled from Cominform in 1948
France and Italy – had strong communist parties belonging to Cominform
Developments in Czechoslovakia 1945-48
Russia liberated Czechoslovakia
Left-wing coalition won in 1945
Free elections in '46
coalition formed of communists and other left-wing parties
Communist Prime minister – Klement Gottwald
Communists seize power in a coup before elections of May 1948
–> all non-communist ministers resigned
Elections in May – all candidates were communist
Stalin tightens his grip
Secret police – imprison opposition and critics of the USSR
1947 – set up Cominform to coordinate the work of communist parties in E Europe
Communist party leaders summoned to Moscow to be briefed by Stalin
Independent-minded leaders replaced by men loyal to Stalin
Tito was the only one to escape close Soviet Control – refused to take orders from Stalin – expelled from Cominform in 1948
Why did the wartime friendship between USA and USSR break down?
Were only friends to win the war – distrusted each other before the war
US troops had been sent to fight the communists in the Russian Civil War 1918-21
Stalin signed the Nazi-Soviet Pact in 1939
Had very little in common – Capitalist democracy vs Communist dictatorship
Stalin thought his policy in E Europe was for security, Truman believed Stalin wanted to expand the Soviet Empire
Main differences between USA and USSR
Economic: USA was capitalist, USSR was communist
Political: USA was a democracy, USSR was a one-party state
America: freedom from government control was more important than equality
USSR: it was okay to control the lives of citizens if it was good for society as a whole
Both thought other countries should follow their system
What happened to Greece after the war?
Communists wanted a Soviet republic, monarchists wanted a return of the king
Churchill sent British troops in 1945, to restore order and supervise free elections
–> actually Britain supported the monarchists and the king of Greece returned
1946 – communists tried to take control
=> civil war developed
US paid for some British troops to remain in Greece to prop up the royalist government
Royalists controlled Greece in 1950
–> was a weak government
American action:
Truman Doctrine
A new determination by Truman to resist any further spread of Communism – AKA
containment
–> Italy and France were vulnerable to a communist takeover
US intervention in Greece marked the start of this new policy
USA sent money, equipment and advice to any country threatened by a communist takeover
Truman said that the policy of the US would be to support all free people to resist subjugation by armed minorities or outside pressures
Marshall Aid
A way of taking economic steps to put the Truman Doctrine into practice
To provide economic assistance to countries vulnerable to communism – communism thrived in areas or poverty and hardship
–> after the War, European countries were still rationing
–> Truman wanted to rebuild Europe's prosperity
Masterminded by General George Marshall
Initially rejected by Congress
–> approved after the purge of anti-Soviet leaders in Czechslovakia
$17Bn paid out to Western European countries over four years
Good for US business – creating new markets for US goods and helping to prevent another worldwide economic slump
E European countries offered it
–> Stalin did not permit it
–> would weaken his hold on E Europe and would make E European countries dependent on the US dollar
Berlin Blockade
Why did the USSR blockade Berlin in 1948
B, F and USA combined their zones in 1946 to form the German Federal Republic, AKA West Germany
1948 – new currency introduced into West Germany
–> Marshall aid invested in Western zones of Berlin
–> seen as a threat by Stalin – had to reassert Soviet control by trying to gain control of West Berlin
Stalin felt US handling of West Berlin was provocative
–> could drive western powers out of Berlin by blocking off all rail and road routes to the rest of W Germany
=> increasing tensions, Western Allies Airlift
What was the Soviet plan and how well did it work
June 1948 – USSR blocked all supply lines into W Berlin
–> roads, railways, canals
=> cutting off 2Mn W Berliners from W help
Hoped that the Americans would abandon W Berlin
–> wouldn't use tanks to ram road/railway blocks to prevent a war
Plan didn't work – USA not prepared to abandon West Berlin
–> prove that USA was serious about containment
Berlin supplied by air for 10 months
=> May 1949 – Stalin gave up
Significance of the Berlin Blockade
Could have resulted in war if USA had used tanks / USSR shot down American planes
Showed the west would not abandon West Berlin and it would continue with containment
But: Stalin just wanted to test the resistance of the Allies
–> could make demands elsewhere in Europe if they backed down
Led to founding of NATO in April 1949 to act as a defensive military alliance against the USSR
Berlin became a symbol of freedom behind the Iron Curtain