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The transformation of the Soviet Union's international position -…
The transformation of the Soviet Union's international position
The Emergence of a Superpower
before 1941 the society union had not wanted to be a superpower; Stalins main ambition was for the Soviet Union to be left alone, allowing time for the transformation of the Soviet economy to be completed
Once it was clear by 1943 that the war would be won a series of wartime summit meetings took place to decide what would happen after the war was won.
The first summit to include Stalin was at Tehran in November 1943
Churchill met Stalin in Moscow in October 1944
The 'Big Three' met in Yalta in February in 1945
The three allies met at Potsdam in July 1945, after Germany had been defeated but while the war in the Far East was still continuing. By this stage it was becoming clear that Britain, exhausted and bankrupted by the war was an empire in decline and would be overshadowed by the two 'superpowers'
US revealed it had developed an atomic bomb that was eventually used on Japan, this placed the USSR at a disadvantage
Formation of the Soviet Bloc
The outcome of WW2 led to Soviet military domination of eastern and Central Europe. This led to the formation of a Soviet bloc.
Territory of the USSR was extended and in the neighbouring national states the USSR used it military presence and its political influence over local communist parties
These states became known as satellite states which created a zone of buffer states which Stalin hoped would protect the USSR against future invasion from the west
The formation of the bloc had deep roots, in 1939, under the terms of the Nazi-Soviet Pact. The USSR invaded and captured eastern Poland
In 1940 by secret protocols of the pact the Soviet forces occupied the Baltic States
In April to May 1940, 22,000 captured Polish army officers were killed by the NVKD in the Katyn Forest Massacre to eliminate Polish nationalists who might oppose communism
The same aim was ruthlessly applied in 1944 when the Red Army halted its advances to allow time for the Warsaw uprising to be crushed by the Nazis
In several states, 'friendly' communist regimes were quickly established. From the 1930s, exiled communist party groups from European countries had been trained in Moscow, ready to infiltrate post-war governments after liberation.
The Idea of Salami Tactics named by Hungarian communist leader, Miklos Rakosi to explain the subverting bourgeois parties to gain power within by small steps
Conflict with the United States and Capitalist West
The wartime summit conferences reflected the latent disagreements between the United States, Great Britain and the USSR.
At Tehran in 1943, The allies agreed to demand unconditional surrender from Germany, not because Britain and the US thought it a good idea but to prevent ant of them making a spereate peace with Hitler
There were ideological differences; and Stalin was very critical of his western allies not opening a Second Front in the European war to relive pressure of the Red Army
The meeting between Stalin and Churchill in Moscow, late in 1944 was plagued by disagreements over the future of Poland
The Yalta conference in February 1945 was dominated by conflicting ideas about post-war borders of Germany and Poland
The Potsdam conference in July/August 1945 ended with no final peace agreement.
Event and Signficance
Long Telegram Feb 1946
Helped articulate the US government's increasingly hard line against the Soviets and became the basis for the US containment strategy toward the Soviet Union for the Duration of the Cold War
Novikov Telegram (response to L.T)
Warned that the USA had emerged from WW2 economically strong and bent on world domination
Iron Curtain Speech March 1946
Delivered by Winston Churchill where he stressed the necessity for the US and Britain to act as the guardians of peace and stability against the menace of Soviet Communism
Truman Doctrine March 1947
It established that the US would provide political, military and economic assistance to all democratic nation under threat from external or internal authortiatian forces
Marshal Plan June 1947
Was a US sponsored program designed to rehabilitate the economies of 17 Western and Southern European countries in order to create stable conditions in which democratic institutions could survive in the aftermath of WW2
Creation of Cominform October 1947
Created on 5th October with the indexed purpose of coordinating actions between European communist parties under the direction of the Soviet Union
Berlin Blockade 1948-49
The Berlin Blockade was an attempt in 1948 by the Soviet Union to limit the ability of the US, GB and France to travel to their sectors of Berlin, which law within Russian-occupied East Germany
NATO 1949
Created in 1949 by the US, Canada and several Western European nations to provide collective security against the Soviet Union. NATO was the first peacetime military alliance the US entered into outside of the Western Hemisphere
Korean War 1950-53
North Korea attacked South Korea on June 25, 1950 igniting the Korean War. Cold War assumptions governed the immediate reaction of US leaders, who instantly concluded that Stalin had ordered the invasion as the first step in his plan for world conquest
Warsaw Pact 1955
Was a political and military alliance established on May 14, 1955 between the Soviet Union and several Eastern European countries. It provided for a unified military command and the systematic ability to strengthen the Soviet hold over the other participating countries
Creation of Comecon 1949
Was formed under the aegis of the Soviet Union in 1949 in response to the formation of the Committee of European Economic Cooperation in Western Europe in 1948
The Breakdown of East-West Relations
Between 1946 and 1949, conflict between the Soviet Bloc and the Capitalist West hardened into Cold War confrontation. Attempts at diplomatic cooperation broke down in growing mutual suspicions and hostility, over a series of disagreements
Soviet expansion and the USSR's demand for recognition of its rights to have a safe 'buffer zone' against agression in the future
The Long telegram: a report sent to Washington from Moscow by the American diplomat George Kennan in February 1946, urging the US to take action to contain the spread of communism
Winston Churchill's speech at Fulton, Missouri in March 1946 warning of the existence of an Iron Curtain dividing
The announcement of the Truman Doctrine in March 1947, committing the US to a policy of containment
The Marshall Plan for US aid for European economic recovery; and the hostile Soviet response to the plan.
The Berlin Blockade of 1948 to 1949, hardening the division of Germany
The formation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) in 1949. The establishment of this Atlantic Alliance for the defence Europe was seen by the USSR as a hostile act. By this time the Cold War was fully formed
Stage One - The Land Telegram, and the Iron Curtain Speech
The US fear of Soviet expansion was exacerbated by a telegram sent to Washington by Moscow in Feb 1946.
The Horror with which the capitalist west viewed what was happening in Eastern Europe was made clear in Winston Churchills Iron Curtain Speech
At Fulton Missouri in March 1946 Churchill delivered a speech known as the Iron Curtain speech were he claimed that an Iron Curtain had descended across Europe. Churchill spoke of 'communist fifth columns' in western and Southern Europe and advised 'strength' in dealing with USSR
Stage Two - Containment and the Marshall Plan
By early 1947, Western Europe was in crisis, with fears of complete economic collapse, and of political instability, especially in Italy and France where communist parties were very strong
In March 1947, The Truman Doctrine asserted the new US policy of 'containment' and 'rolling back' of communism.
In June 1947, the US put forward the Marshall Plan: a massive injection of aid to rebuild Europe. The plan was supposedly a generous offer of assistance open to all European countries, East as well as West.
Is believed to have been a political weapon deliberalty designed to extend American Influence
Stalin was convinced that the Plan was hostile towards the USSR intrests, part of the drive towards US economic and political dominance
Soviet Bloc countries were pressured to reject the aid of the Marshal Plan
Stage Three - The Berlin Blockade and hardening Cold War divisions
The communist takeover in Czechoslovakia set the context for the Berlin Crisis of 1948. There was a clear separation between the Soviet Zone and the British-French-American zones in the west. But Berlin was an Island in the Soviet Zone
Stalin saw Berlin as a single city were Soviet interests ought to be paramount. He was frustrated by the way Soviet Control of Berlin had slipped since 1945; was alarmed when West Berlin introduced a new currency, The next day Stalin launched the Berlin blockade
Stalin believed the blockade was a trump card, he calculated that the western powers were not willing to risk war. The economic squeeze on West Berlin would force the US into settling the Berlin question on Soviet Terms
Stalin's plan was defeated by Berlin Airlift, coordinated by the US military governor. A massive operation by allied aircraft flew essential supplies into West Berlin throughout the winter of 1948-49
The population of West Berlin resisted Soviet inducements and pressure. After 318 days, Stalin called off the blockade in May 1949
The end of the blockade in 1949 confirmed the division of Germany and of Berlin. This was the year the Cold War became fully formed: NATO was formed to defend Western Europe against Soviet aggression
Stalin's Death
By early 1953, Stalin became increasingly unpredictable and menacing, seemingly ready to force through another wave of repression and terror.
Since the 1952 Party Congress, it had been clear that he was planning a purge of the 'old guard', with Molotov and Mikoyan especially vulnerable, but also mounting pressures against Beria.
This atmosphere of fear was the context for the climatic political events arising from the circumstances of Stalin's death on 5 March
Given the nature of power politics in Stalin's Russia, the manner of his death inevitably led to conspiracy theories: the favourite was that Beria had organised the murder of Stalin by poison.
The funeral provided the occasion for one last manifestation of the Stalin Cult. His body was embalmed and placed in an open coffin to be viewed by hysterical crowds