Cold War Origins Revision Notes The Origins of the Cold War 1945-1949 Leaders • Roosevelt 1945 / Truman 1945-53 • Stalin • Churchill 1945 / Attlee 1945-51 • 1945 - US drops first Atom bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Does not tell her ally the SU. Stalin assumes it is in part to intimidate the SU but refuses to be intimidated. • 1945 - Failure of Baruch Plan to limit nuclear weapons • 1949 - SU develops its own atom bomb. • Long Term Causes of Cold War Russian Revolution 1917 • Some historians trace the beginning of the Cold War to the Russian Revolution of 1917, led to first socialist state being established. • West viewed this with fear as it seemed to represent a threat to capitalism, liberalism and democracy. Russian Civil War 1918-21 • ‘Whites’ wanted to topple newly established socialist state. USA supported the ‘whites’. • West also upset by Lenin’s decision to pull Russia out of WWI in 1917. • Bolsheviks won the war, tensions remained with the West. War Debts • Soviets refused to pay war debts from WWI, saw the war as imperialist war, imperialism being what they’re ideologically opposed to. The Comintern 1919 • Comintern, set up by communist groups to spread communism, goal of MarxismLeninism. • Stalin scrapped this in 1943, in favour of “communism in one country”. • USA remained fearful Soviets would try to undermine them and spread revolution still. The Red Scare 1919 • No significant left-wing party in US before American Communist Society founded, caused a ‘Red Scare’ across the US. • January 1920, 6,000 suspected communists were arrested and imprisoned, many deported. Nazi-Soviet Pact 1939 • August 1939, Stalin signed pact with Hitler, guaranteeing that neither would invade each other. • Other countries followed appeasement too. • USA saw this pact as the work of two similar dictators. 2.The Collapse of the Grand Alliance The alliance between Britain, the US and the USSR was a ‘marriage of convenience’. Tehran Conference - 1943 Roosevelt, Stalin & Churchill Agreements: • Soviets would have influence over Eastern Poland. • Poland has part of Germany, makes Germany smaller, doesn't want to lose Polish buffer zone. • Poland have no choice, Churchill had positive relation with Stalin. Problems which contributed to causing CW: • Roosevelt neither agreed nor disagreed. • Stalin bugged the rooms (later this was found out by Churchill and Roosevelt). • No 2nd Front. Moscow Conference - 1944 Stalin and Churchill Agreements: • • • • The Percentages Agreement Greece = 50% each Yugoslavia = 50% each Hungary = 50% each • Romania = 10% West, 90% USSR. • Bulgaria = 25% West, 75% USSR. • Stalin was pleased with this deal - kept the buffer zone. Problems which contributed to causing CW: • No US involvement in making the deal. • Apparently Roosevelt ‘nodded’ but no verbal agreement - Roosevelt was ambiguous. • Notion of Percentage influence is unclear in actual post-war terms. Yalta Conference - 1945 Stalin, Roosevelt, Churchill Agreements: • • • • Lay foundations of peace. Each part allocated a zone including a section of Berlin. Poland’s Eastern border would run along the Cur-zone line. Re-Organise the provisional government by including democrats from Berlin and the London gov into exile. • Election held ASAP. • UN made. Problems which contributed to causing CW: • • • • Sense of ambiguity, which could be read differently by USSR or Western powers. Details of what part of Germany Poland would have wasn't stated. Terms very vague Stalin could manipulate them. democracy meant two very different things for Churchill + Roosevelt and then Stalin. Potsdam Conference - July to August 1945 Stalin, Truman, Churchill (Replaced by Attlee) Agreement: • • • • • • • • German Demilitarisation Agree Poland can be moved West to the Oder-noisse line. 5 Million Germans kicked out of the new USSR. 5 Million Germans kicked out of Poland. Agree USSR should receive reparations. Allies agree 25% reparations will come from Allies zone. Limited German involvement in government. Set Allied control council to rule Germany. • Germany to be one economic unit - free movement of goods and one currency. Problems which contributed to the CW: • • • • • • Stalin forcibly relocates 5 million Germans & 5 million Poles. USSR can take as much as they want. Soviets assest ***** Germany (industries etc). Stalin insists they control their own German zones. Tense relations boosted at Truman boasting about the A Bomb. No free elections held. 3.Growing Hostility British Policy of Appeasement • Britain responded in the 1930’s to Nazi aggression by allowing Germany to keep new conquered territories, to keep the peace. • Munich conference in September 1938, British PM Chamberlain agreed with Hitler that Germany could keep Sunderland, if he left Czechoslovakia alone. Hitler then invaded the Czech’s in March 1939, Britain only declared war in September 1939, after Hitler took Poland. Russian Spies • Russian organised spies in the Manhattan Project as early as 1942. • Manhattan project was the USA’s atomic bomb development programme. American Spies • The Verona Project was US attempt to decode Russian messages - set up in 1943. Russian Brutality Stalin’s Role • John Gaddis, Argues that Stalin’s tactics were aggressive and that he aimed to achieve and ensure soviet dominance Katyn Massacre • 1940, Russian Army Massacred 15,000 Polish army officers. • In 1943, the Germans discovered the mass grave, Believed that the Russians did this to disable the polish army. **** of German Women • 1945, Russian army invaded Germany - 2 million German women and girls were ***** by Russian soldiers. Warsaw Uprising • The Polish Home Army led an uprising against Nazi Occupation. The Uprising lasted 63 days and up to 250,000 poles were killed. • Some believe that there were Russian troops just outside the city, but didn't intervene as Stalin wanted the Poles to be weak. Russian Suffering Russian view of Appeasement and Nazi-Soviet Pact • They hoped to appease Hitler by giving him some of the Czech territory. Wanted to direct German aggression eastward against the USSR and the disgraceful Munich deal achieved this. • As a result, the USSR stood alone in the face of the growing facist threat. • In this situation, the USSR had to made a non-aggressive with Germany. Russian suffering at Leningrad with Germany • Russia experienced the greatest of hardships in the war against the Nazi’s. The Germans besieged Leningrad for 2 1/2 years over 1 million Russians died (mainly from starvation). • Ratio of USA to USSR deaths was 1:50. Second Front • From 1942, Russia who had bore the brunt of fighting the Germans - demanded the opening of a second front to take pressure off of them. • The Americans only opened a second front with the D Day landings in June 1944. Russian Fears • Stalin feared that the US and British might sign a separate peace deal with the Germans. Believed their aim would be to destroy Communism. 4. Developing Tensions; Soviet occupation and control of Eastern and Southern Europe East Germany • Eastern zone of Germany - Communists instructed by Stalin to merge with the much bigger Socialist party to form the Socialist Unity Party. • Communists purged members of the former Socialist party. • Were now in a position to rule East Germany for 40 years. Berlin Blockade 1948-49 • Berlin Blockade was one of the Soviet Unions most drastic attempts to influence the soviet future. • Causes; At Yalta and Potsdam it had been agreed to divide Germany and its capital Berlin. • Causes: Eastern Zone, USSR, took all resources from WWII, denied East Germans access to Marshall fund. Romania • 1946 - Rigged elections for communists to secure role. • 1947 - Peasant Party dissolved - King Michael was forced to abdicate. Bulgaria • Communist formed coalition with Peasants Party • 1947 - Petkov, leader of Peasant based party hung for allegedly plotting a coup. Poland • October 1947 - London poles removed from government. • Had secured grip on political parties, only communist party left. Hungary • Communists worked with Peasants Party. • Applied salami tactics - said leader was anti - soviet and pro-facist. • 1947 - Communists accused leader of Peasants Party as being against the Red Army, this dissolved the party. Czechoslovakia • This process took longer than the other countries, only democratic country remaining in Eastern Europe. • Failure of government to receive Marshall aid blamed on Communists - the money USA tried to give was to keep Eastern Europe democratic. • Just before elections the Communists staged a coup. All other parties removed, President replaced. • Only 500 Red Army soldiers in Czech. • Only time where force was used to establish Communist control. • There was growing opposition to communist leadership from non-communist groups - however members of these groups resigned in 1948. • A coalition government was set up and led by the non-Communist Benes. • However, the Communists' leader Gottwald made sure they controlled the radio, the army and the police. Gottwald became prime minister and set up a secret police force. Non-Communists were arrested. In 1948, Communist workers went on strike, the non-Communist minister Masaryk committed suicide and Gottwald took over the government. Comecon • Soviets set it up in 1949 by Stalin to respond to the USA’s Marshall Aid. • Intended to help Socialist economies, direct and control development, and to support the USSR. Cominform • Set up by USSR in 1947 to politically control Eastern Europe. • Set up in response to the Truman Doctrine in 1947. • Eastern Europe had to follow Soviet political model; One state party, Censorship, No elections, Hard leadership. What were Stalin’s methods for imposing Communist governments in Eastern Europe? 1. Hungary 1947 - Stalin used salami tactics gradually getting rid of all opposition, bit-by-bit. 2. Albania & Bulgaria (1945) Stalin took power after the war without opposition from – a left-wing coalition gained power in 1945; the Communists then executed the leaders of all the other parties. 3.Poland 1945 a coalition government took power in 1945, but Stalin arrested all the nonCommunist leaders in 1945, and the Communists forced the other non-Communists into exile. 4.Romania 1945-47)a left-wing coalition was elected in 1945; the Communists gradually took over control. 5.Czech (1945-1948) - a left-wing coalition was elected in 1945. In 1948, the Communists banned all other parties and killed their leaders. 6.East Germany (1949) – the Russian turned their zone of Germany into the German Democratic Republic in 1949. Why was Communism so popular with the people in countries like Czechoslovakia? Czechoslovakia government wasn’t communist but were willing to work with Stalin, having decided there was more to gain from such cooperation than an alliance with Poland. Czech communists were popular swell with the rural peasants because they had given them land at the end of the war. 5 . Developing Tension; Containment Containment • Containment was a United States policy using numerous strategies to prevent the spread of communism abroad. A component of the Cold War, this policy was a response to a series of moves by the Soviet Union to enlarge its communist sphere of influence in Eastern Europe, China, Korea, and Vietnam. It represented a middleground position between détente and rollback. • The basis of the doctrine was articulated in a 1946 cable by United States diplomat, George F. Kennan (below). As a description of United States foreign policy, the word originated in a report Kennan submitted to the U.S. defence secretary in 1947—a report that was later used in a magazine article. What did Kennan say in his ‘Long Telegram’ about Stalin and Communism? • The long telegram said exactly what the US wanted to hear, he said that the soviet rule was like “parasites” and that Stalin wanted to replace the fear of Germany and Japan with fear of the US and Britain. • Kennen said in his long telegram that the USA needed to approach this problem with force and end in fight with the USSR. Soviets had to be destroyed. What did Churchill say in his ‘Iron Curtain’ speech and how did Stalin respond? • Advancing allied and Soviet forces from the West and East defeated Nazi Germany. While American and British forces liberated France, Italy and the Low Countries, Soviet forces replaced Nazi forces in a string of countries in Eastern Europe. The Americans and the British could do nothing about this while Nazi Germany remained undefeated; the USSR after all was an ally at this time. • It was clear, however, that Stalin was very reluctant to relinquish control of Eastern Europe, a Soviet sphere of influence. President Roosevelt and Winston Churchill did not like the Soviet domination of Eastern Europe, but they needed the USSR as an ally and they could do very little to prevent Stalin’s military annexation of this region. • In 1946 Churchill referred to the division of Europe, East and West, communist and capitalist, as the descending of an iron curtain. • A shadow has fallen across the scenes so lately lighted by Allied victory. From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the continent. Churchill, Fulton, USA, 1946. “There was no real physical barrier, but there was a clear division between the democratic states of the West and the communist states of the East. Many in the West were concerned that Stalin would not stop in Eastern Europe, would he now turn to the West?” • Churchill in the “iron curtain” speech attacked USSR politics, but didn't name them out specifically. this convinced Stalin that the USA was complicit in a plot with Churchill and Britain to carry out an anti-soviet ideological assault. Greek Civil War • War between the capitalists and the communists of Greece. • Stalin didn’t intervene in this Civil War, one of the reasons being is that in the percentages agreement he agreed to less influence (90% USA, 10% USSR) therefore kept out of their war. • This war was supported by the USA. • In 1947, Great Britain had to retreat from supporting Greece as they had no money. Therefore in March 1947, Truman creates the Truman Doctrine. 6. The USA’s involvement in Europe Marshall Plan • • • • • • In June 1947, General George Marshall made a visit to Europe to see what was needed. He came away thinking Europe was so poor that the whole of Europe was about to turn Communist. Marshall and Truman asked Congress for $17 billion to fund the European Recovery Programme nicknamed the Marshall Plan - to get the economy of Europe going again. Congress at first hesitated, but agreed in March 1948 when Czechoslovakia turned Communist. The aid was given in the form of food, grants to buy equipment, improvements to transport systems, and everything "from medicine to mules". Most (70 per cent) of the money was used to buy commodities from US suppliers: $3.5 billion was spent on raw materials; $3.2 billion on food, feed and fertiliser; $1.9 billion on machinery and vehicles; and $1.6 billion on fuel. Soviet and Eastern European reactions to Marshall Plan • Stalin rejected the plan and vetoed the inclusion of any states in the Soviet Bloc. • Soviet Minister of Foreign Affairs, Molotov, labelled the Marshall Plan dollar imperialism. • In response the Soviets tightened their grip on Eastern Europe, and established Cominform in 1947 and Comecon in 1949. 7. Conflict over Germany; Reforms and the Blockade At Yalta and Potsdam, it was agreed to divide Germany and Berlin into four zones of occupation to be administered by the wartime allies for a temporary period. Western zones were run by Britain, France, USA and the Eastern zone run by the USSR, Berlin being located in the Soviet-controlled zone. The post-war division of Germany and the Berlin Crisis of 1948-49 • At first relations between the forces were good as all were united in the belief that Nazism should be crushed. • However, the USA, Britain and France saw quickly that Germany would have to be supported economically if communism was to be prevented. The allies wanted a strong, democratic ally acting as a buffer against the communist states of Eastern Europe. • In contrast, Stalin wanted to weaken Germany as a punishment for the war, to help rebuild the USSR by stealing German industrial technology and to make communism seem more attractive to the Germans. These conflicting policies soon led to a crisis. • The West depended upon Soviet goodwill to keep open routes to the British, French and American zones of the city. • By 1948 the Western zones of Germany were recovering and the allies decided to join their zones together. The Crisis • Stalin was very worried by a resurgent and prosperous Germany; his response in June 1948 was to close all roads, canals and railways leading from the West to West Berlin. Stalin believed that the West Berliners would be starved into submission. Truman’s choices were to give into Stalin and lose face, to go to war over the Berlin blockade or to keep the West Berliners supplied from the air. • The Berlin airlift was the result. To maintain Berlin over 4000 tons of supplies needed to come in each day; by the spring of 1949, 8000 tons were being supplied daily. • Stalin realised that the allies would not give in. He could order allied supply planes to be shot down, but this would have been an act of war. In May 1949 Stalin ended the blockade of West Berlin. The allies were now determined to build up West Berlin as a showcase for capitalism. • Many Germans from the Soviet zone crossed into West Berlin. • Any hopes for a united Germany had ended. • In 1949 the three Western zones, including West Berlin, became the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany), with its own democratically elected government. • The USSR responded by turning its zone into the German Democratic Republic (East Germany), which had a communist government. Aftermath of Berlin Crisis • The Marshall Plan and the Truman Doctrine were very successful in creating a strong, democratic Western Europe. • After the Berlin crisis of 1948-49, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) was formed as a military alliance of most of the Western European countries and the USA. All members agreed to go to war if any one of them was attacked. • Stalin tried to respond to the Marshall Plan with Comecon and to the Truman Doctrine with Cominform. When Stalin died in 1953 there was a ‘thaw’ in relations between the superpowers, but when West Germany joined NATO in 1955, Soviet fears were revived. • The Warsaw Pact of 1955 was a military alliance controlled by the Soviet Union made up of all the communist Eastern European countries. This was the USSR’s response to NATO. • Europe was now divided economically, politically and militarily into two armed gangs of hostile opponents.
