Key Events in the Origins of the Cold War
Wartime Conferences
US Actions
Soviet Actions
Tehran Conference November 1943
agreed that the 'unconditional surrender' of Germany was their objective
tensions between Soviets and Poles increased in 1943
10 000 Polish officers found dead in Katyn Forest
USA and UK agreed to Soviet annexion of Eastern Europe territory
went against the Atlantic Charter agreement
Yalta Conference February 1945
agreement on the UN
Soviet agreement to join the war in the Pacific against Japan
Britain, USA and USSR signing a 'Declaration on Liberated Europe'
pledging support for democratic governments based on free elections
Potsdam Conference July 1945
UN officially created
50 nations signed the United Nations Charter
6th August and 9th August first atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Truman didn't want Eastern Europe to become a Soviet 'sphere of influence'
Border between Poland and USSR to become the Curzone Line
Border between Poland and Germany to be the Oder-Neisse Line
Allied Control Council to be set up to govern Germany
Atlantic Conference August 1941
UK and USA agreed to Atlantic Charter
USA hadn't joined the war
Germany began invasion of USSR
USA supplying arms to both UK and USSR
Bretton Woods Conference July 1944
44 Allied nations involved
agreed to certain economic arrangements to help stabilise international relations after war
set up the IMF and World Bank
USSR doesn't ratify agreement
Moscow Conference October 1944
Fourth Moscow Conference
Churchill proposed division of Central and Eastern Europe into UK / Soviet spheres of influence
Origins of the Percentages Agreement, but was never signed
Kennan's Long Telegram February 1946
Truman Doctrine March 1947
USSR's view of the world was a traditional one of insecurity
Soviets wanted to advance Muscovite Stalinism ideology
Soviet regime was cruel and repressive
caused the Novikov Telegram as a response
partial cause for the Truman Doctrine
Churchill's Iron Curtain Speech March 1946
Soviet-dominated Communist governments set up in:
Poland
Hungary
Romania
Bulgaria
Prompted by the presence of the Red Army in countries 'liberated' from Germany by the Soviets
Soviet Response:
Withdrew from the IMF
Initiated a new 5-Year plan of self-strengthening
Stalin compared Churchill to Hitler
partial cause for the Truman Doctrine
US had an obligation to "support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures"
radical change in US foreign policy
in response to unstable situations in Turkey and Greece
Soviets viewing this as evidence of USA expanding its sphere of influence
Beginning of the American policy of 'containment' of Communism
Cominform September 1947
Created as an instrument to increase Stalin's control over Communist parties
Initially compromised of USSR, Romania, Hungary, Poland, Yugoslavia, France, Italy, Bulgaria and Czechoslovakia
Zhdanov Doctrine September 1947
Americans had organised an 'anti-Soviet' bloc of countries
very similar to the 'new world order' outlined by Truman
Iranian Crisis January 1946
Stalin refusing to withdraw 30 000 Soviet troops from Iran
went against the Tehran Conference
Soviets encouraged a Communist Uprising
First crisis the UN had to deal with
Clifford Elsey Report September 1946
USA needing to be concerned about Soviet expansionism triggering open warfare
USA needing to use any means necessary to control communism
Tight restricted access to the report for fear of Soviet spies finding it
Marshall Plan June 1947
Aimed to revive European economies, and safeguard the future of US economy
4-year-aid programme of $17 billion passed in March 1948
Eventual success due to the Czech Coup in February 1948
Novikov Telegram September 1946
Soviet response to Kennan's Long Telegram
Claimed that US actions were imperialistic
"The foreign policy of the United States, which reflects the imperialistic tendencies of American monopolistic capital, is characterised in the postwar period"
Germany
Byrnes's Stuttgart Speech /
'Speech of Hope' 1946
promised Germany would be rebuilt,
united economically and governed
by themselves democratically
Committed US troops to Germany
Socialist Unity Party July 1946
Soviets merged KPD and SPD to form SED
Directive to "realise the Soviet vision" in Western zones
Bizonia created January 1947
US offered to economically unify British and American zones
against Potsdam agreement to Soviets
first step in creating a resurgent West German state
Foreign Minister Council in Moscow March - April 1947
Discussions taking place on political and economic matters to Germany
Suggested that Germany should be under an international regime
Unagreed Articles of the Draft Treaty to a Special Commission
London Conferences 1947 and 1948
SED dominated representative denied entry
Western zones created the Deutschmark
Currency reform January 1948
after Second London Conference
Western zones created Deutschmark without USSR
Czech Coup February 1948
Stalin organised pressure on Czech coalition government
12 non-Communist members forced to resign
Czech Foreign Minister, Jan Masaryk, found dead
Triggered Marshall Plan to be passed by Congress
COMECON January 1949
Soviet response to the Marshall Plan
Berlin Blockade June 1948 - May 1949
In response to the currency reform
USSR left the Berlin Kommandantur
Physical crisis in the Cold War
Centralised agency that linked Eastern bloc states to Moscow
Designed to control economic development, collectivization of agriculture and the development of heavy industry
USSR Atomic Bomb August 1949
Ends US nuclear monopoly
Increases US fear of Soviet expansionism
Brussels Pact 1948
Collective defensive alliance signed by Britain, France, Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg
Led to the formation of NATO and the Western European Union
Goal was to show that Western European states could cooperate