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East-West Boundaries - Coggle Diagram
East-West Boundaries
The Berlin crisis
Bizonia and Trizonia
In April 1949, the French part of Germany joined Bizonia to make 'Trizonia'
On the 6th of September 1946, The US Secretary of State James Byrnes said 'the US has formally announced its intention to unify the economy of its zone with any or all other zones'.
On the 1st of January 1947, the USA and Britain joined their German zones. This created a new quasi-country called 'Bizonia'.
The USA wanted a united, capitalist Germany.
On the other hand, the Soviet Union wanted Germany to be divided and under the communist sphere of influence. This would make sure that Germany could not attack the Soviet Union again.
Tensions over Trizonia
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Stalin and the Soviets thought that the creation of Trizonia broke the agreements made about the end of the war at Yalta and Potsdam.
Blockade
The Western powers did not want to look weak and also wanted West Germany to be a strong economic force against communism
8 days after the introduction of the deutschmark, the USSR shut down all transport links into West Berlin. West Berlin was now isolated from Trizonia. Essentially no food or supplies from Trizonia could reach West Berlin
However, attacking or breaking down the Soviet military blockades of roads and railway lines could cause a war between the Soviet Union & Trizonia allies
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Comecon (1949)
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Any nation that joined the Comecon was banned from accepting any money from the Americans under the Marshall Plan
The Soviet Union's satellite states - Bulgaria, Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Romania, and East Germany all joined Comecon
NATO (1949)
NATO is based on the idea of 'collective security'. Collective security means that if 1 nation is attacked, all the others will fight on its behalf
NATO is a military alliance that is still in place today. It was founded in 1949 and united the USA, France and Great Britain under a new military alliance with the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, and Canada
In 1955, the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) became a member of NATO
Cominform (1947)
Cominform would try to encourage communist parties, like the Revolutionary Communist Party in Great Britain, whilst also trying to destroy communist opposition in the USSR's satellite states in Eastern Europe
Cominform was a Soviet organisation that tried to encourage communist uprising in nations across Europe
Perspectives on NATO
As Comecon was a response to the Marshall Plan, the Warsaw Pact was the Soviet Union's response to NATO
This created a split camp of nations in NATO and accepting Marshall Aid vs nations in the Warsaw Pact (signed in 1955) and accepting Comecon money