The
Cold
War
Relationship with SU after WWII
• Soviets disagreed with Amer and British
wartime tactics and postwar plans
• US angered by Stalin signing a
Nonaggression Pact with Hitler (Hitler broke
it)
• Stalin angry that the US did not help them
fight on the Eastern front
• Different political and economic systems
Differences between Democracy and
Communism
Communism
Democracy
Economic
System
How leaders
come into
power
Rights given to
people
Yalta Conference
• Feb 1945 Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill meet
– Decide future of Germany and Poland
• Meeting Results:
– Divide Germany into 4 zones
• Berlin split: SU got East and the rest got the West
– Stalin agreed on allowing free elections in E
European within 3 months
– Stalin promised to enter war with Japanese
– Agreed to create the United Nations (UN)
May 8, 1945
Germany
Surrenders = V-E
Day
Effects of Yalta Conference
• Stalin did not honor his pledge of free
elections
• Stalin wanted Germany to pay 20billion in
war damages but Roosevelt refused
The Allies form the United Nations
A. United Nations (UN) has 2 parts
1. General Assembly
• Purpose: Countries talk about the
issues
• Each country has a representative
2. Security Council
• Purpose: Responsible for military
• 15 countries serve
• 10 serve a 2 year term –
• 5 are permanent-US, SU, GB, France,
and China
The Allies form the United Nations
B. Value/Purpose of UN
1. Worked to keep peace between
countries
2. Allowed countries to talk about issues
C. Problems with UN
1. if permanent member vetoed an action
=
no military action
2. rivalry prevented action (ex: US & SU)
3. newer, smaller countries joined
together
UN holds Nuremberg Trials
1. Held in West Germany
2. Placed Nazi
officials on trial
for crimes
during Holocaust
UN holds Nuremberg Trials
3. 13 separate trials
with 200
defendants
4. Each Allied
country involved
(US, Fr, Br, SU)
UN holds Nuremberg Trials
5. Most found
guilty >>
imprisoned or
put to death
6. Can be put on
trial if caught
even today
“From the Nuremberg trials, it
was made clear that crimes
against peace, crimes against
humanity and crimes which will
not be tolerated. It was made
clear that every person
reasonable for the involvement
in these actions will pay. It was
made clear nations will not turn
around and do nothing because
of borders or boundaries. It was
made clear justice will be
served in all scales.” http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://cghs.dadeschools.et/ib_holocaust2001/Nuremberg_Trials/nuremberg_contents.jpg&imgrefurl=http://cghs.dadeschools.net/ib_holocaust2001/Nuremberg_Trials/default.html&h=400&w=500&sz=30&hl=en&start=23&tbnid=v_jvcCaWl5vihM:&tbnh=104&tbnw=130&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dnuremberg%2Btrials%26start%3D20%26gbv%3D2%26ndsp%3D20%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN
Roosevelt fails to see dream of UN
fulfilled
• Died April 12, 1945
• VP Harry Truman takes his place
– Truman has never been involved in major foreign
policy talks
– Just heard about the information and is excited to use
it to threaten the SU
Video on The Manhattan Project
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEBY6iLnibk
Potsdam Conference
• July, 1945
• Suburbs of Berlin
Attlee, Truman, Stalin
• The Big Three: Truman, Stalin and Clement
Attlee who replaced Churchill
– Stalin faced new leaders
• Purpose: To discuss postwar Europe and war
against Japan
Truman intimidates??
• Truman hoped the Manhattan Project
would intimidate Stalin
• Stalin already knew
– HOW???
Hi. I’m Walter
Lippman.
I coined the word
“Cold War”
A Cold War is a conflict
between two countries
in which they don’t fight
each other directly.
Goals of the Soviet Union
WHY
?
Wanted buffer
states AND
“satellite” nations
2 - Wanted a warm
water port
Goals of the Soviet Union
Spread Communism
→ Enlarge Sphere of Influence
→ Cominterm = an agency intended to
coordinate activities of communist parties around
the world
The speeches that set the tone of
the Cold War
• Stalin gave speech in Feb 1946 that
predicted an ultimate triumph of
communism over capitalism
• Churchill responded with the speech, “The
Iron Curtain”
HOW THE US TRIED TO STOP
THE SOVIET UNION AND THE
SPREAD OF COMMUNISM
1. The Iron Curtain
Winston Churchill:
“An iron curtain has descended
across the continent”
2. CONTAINMENT
• Recognized that E. Europe was already lost to
communism
• The US would resist Soviet attempts to form
Communist governments elsewhere in the
world
3. The Truman Doctrine
Now has a chance to apply the
containment theory
Dardanelles Strait
Truman Doctrine signed
Feb 1947: Gave $400 million to help:
Help Turkey & Greece fight off the Communists
Marshall Plan
$12.5 billion to:
any country who
needed helping
rebuilding after
WWII
→ Economies
restored quickly!
SU thought the US
was trying to
spread democracy
Why would the US aid Europe?
• To create a strong Democracy
• To open new markets for American
good
Re-unite Western Germany
• March 1948: US, GB, and
France merge their 3
occupational zones + West
Berlin
Soviet Union Responds
SU takes over E. Europe
The Peoples’ Reaction
• Hundreds of thousands in E. Europe fled
communist nations to E. Berlin
– Crossed into Western Berlin
– Booked passage to US, Canada, or W.
Europe
Berlin Blockade
• Closed escape route by forcing Western
powers to abandon West Berlin
• How?
– New currency was introduced in Western
Germany and West Berlin.
• Since W. Berlin was in East Germany, Stalin saw
this as a threat.
• Used dispute over currency as an excuse to
blockade allied access into West Berlin
Berlin
Blockade
June,(by
1948
The
Berlin
Blockade
SU)
SU blockaded all ground traffic entering into
Western Berlin (Democratic side) for 327 days
Why did Stalin do this?
• His hopes:
– To create shortages of food and other
supplies needed by the 2.5mill people in West
Berlin
– West Germany would give up West Berlin
BERLIN AIRLIFT
• Avoid using military force
• Don’t give up west Berlin
• Moved supplies into W. Berlin by plane
– Over 200,000 flights delivered food, fuel, and
other supplies
– 13,000 tons arrived daily
Impact of Berlin Airlift
• May 1949, Soviets gave up blockade
LED TO THE BERLIN WALL
Why is the UN unable to get involved?
UN was suppose to deal with postwar
problems but…
”1. if permanent member vetoed an
action then no military action”
• Western Europe unable to rely on the UN
for protection from Soviet aggression
NATO
• Canadian foreign minister, Louis St,
Laurent proposed creating an association
of democratic peace-loving states to
defend W. Europe from SU
• Mixed view pts
– Those for:keep communism out
– Those against: Arms Race: arming half the
world against the other half
The creation of NATO
• April 1949: Canada and the US join
Belgium, Britain, Denmark, France,
Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the
Netherlands, Norway, and Portugal to form
the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
(NATO)
5th – Alliances are formed
AlliancesPurpose:
are Formed
→ An armed attack
against 1 = against all
→ Collective Security
US formed North Atlantic Treaty
Organization
with Britain, Belgium, Canada, France, Iceland, Italy,
Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Greece,
Turkey, West Germany
5th –
SU allianceAlliances are
Formed
Warsaw Pact = a military alliance with
its satellite nations in E. Europe
SU formed the Warsaw
Pact with Albania,
Czechoslovakia, Hungary,
Poland, Romania, Bulgaria,
East Germany
FROM STALIN TO KHRUSHCHEV
• Stalin died in March 1953
• Khrushchev became successor, head of
the communist party
• serving as premier of USSR from 1958 to
1964.
KHRUSHCHEV IS MORE
MODERATE
• Though he largely pursued a policy of
peaceful coexistence with the West
• inaugurated the space age in 1957 with
the launch of the satellite Sputnik
• For de-stalinization
de-Stalinization
• process of “de-Stalinization” that made
Soviet society less repressive.
• criticized Stalin for arresting and deporting
opponents
• reduced the power of the Soviet Union’s
feared secret police, released many
political prisoners, relaxed artistic
censorship, opened up more of the
country to foreign visitors and
Khrushchev also Authoritarian
• Yet Khrushchev could be authoritarian in
his own right,
– crushing a revolt in Hungary
– approving the construction of the Berlin Wall.