The Start of the Cold War
(1945 – 1949)
 Capitalism.
 Communism.
 The Yalta Conference.
 The Potsdam Conference.
 The Iron Curtain.
 The Truman Doctrine.
 The Marshall Plan.
 The Post-War Division of Germany.
 The Berlin Blockade.
 The Berlin Airlift.
GCSE Revision Notes
The Cold War (1945 - 1949)
The Start of the Cold War (1945 - 1949)
The USA and the Soviet Union (Russia) had been allies during the war against Nazi
Germany but as the Second World War came to an end the alliance between the two
countries began to break down. The Cold War is the name of the era of tension and
rivalry between the US and the Soviet Union between 1945 – 1990. It was due to
competition between capitalism and communism, which represented two rival
economic systems for running the economy of a country. The US was a democratic
country whose government was chosen through elections while the Soviet Union was
a totalitarian dictatorship where there were no free elections and the Communist Party
controlled every aspect of life in the country. Both sides distrusted and feared the
intentions of the other side. This rivalry led to an arms race and the threat of nuclear
war between the two sides for more than forty years after the end of the Second World
War.
Key Term: Russia under Communism between 1917 to 1990 was called the Soviet
Union or more formally the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).
The Causes of the Cold War were:
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Capitalism verses Communism.
The Yalta Conference.
The Potsdam Conference.
The Communist takeover of Eastern Europe (The Iron Curtain).
The Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan.
The Division of Germany.
The Berlin Blockade and the Berlin Airlift.
Capitalism:
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The US and its Western European allies’ economies were based on the
principles of capitalism.
It’s based on a laissez-faire economy where individuals and businesses are
free to invest money and make profits from their investments.
In capitalism there are both rich and poor people depending on the type of jobs
people work in.
It is usually based in countries that are democracies that guarantee the right of
individuals and businesses to own private property like land, houses, shops
etc.
It usually leads to customers getting to choice between plenty of consumer
goods of varying prices and quality.
Communism:
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The Soviet Union and its Eastern European allies’ economies were based on
the principles of Communism.
In Communism the government controls and plans every aspect of the
economy rather than individuals and businesses.
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GCSE Revision Notes
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The Cold War (1945 - 1949)
In theory there were no rich or poor people under Communism because
everyone should be paid the same wages regardless of what jobs they did.
It was based in countries that were totalitarian dictatorships where the
Communist Party controlled all aspects of life in a country backed by the
secret police.
It usually leads to customers having to queue for long periods of time for
rationed consumer goods that are for poor quality but all cost the same.
The Yalta and Potsdam Conferences
The Yalta Conference (February 1945):
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In 1945 during the war the leaders of the three Allied countries, Roosevelt
(US), Churchill (Britain) and Stalin (Soviet Union), met to discuss the future
of Europe.
They agreed that after the war Germany should be divided into four zones of
occupation with one for the US, Britain, France and the Soviet Union each.
The agreed that the city of Berlin (the German capital) which would be well
inside the Soviet zone of occupation would also be divided in four zones of
occupation.
The Soviet Union was to gain control of Eastern Europe but Stalin promised to
allow free and fair elections in the countries under Soviet occupation.
They agreed to create the United Nations to replace the failed League of
Nations to keep the peace after the Second World War.
But tension arose over the future of Poland to allow free elections, which was
important because WW2 started over the invasion of Poland.
They agreed to meet again at Potsdam (Germany) to work out the details in
greater depth after the defeat of Nazi Germany.
Changes between Yalta and Potsdam:
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Nazi Germany had been defeated with the US and Britain liberating Western
Europe and the Soviet Union liberating Eastern Europe from German rule.
The Soviet Union’s army now controlled all of Eastern Germany and Eastern
Europe after the loss of more than 20 million Soviet military and civilian
casualties.
The US President Roosevelt died and was replaced by President Harry
Truman.
The British Prime Minister Winston Churchill lost a national election and was
now replaced by Prime Minister Clement Attlee.
The US and the Soviet Union had emerged as the world’s sole two leading
superpowers because everyone else was too weak after WW2.
The Potsdam Conference (July 1945):
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In 1945 after Germany’s defeat the three Allied countries, Truman (US),
Attlee (Britain) and Stalin (Soviet Union), met again to discuss the future of
Europe.
They agreed to divide Berlin and Germany into four zones of occupation.
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GCSE Revision Notes
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The Cold War (1945 - 1949)
They agreed that Germany should pay reparations to the Soviet Union.
They agreed to put Nazi leaders on trial for war at the city of Nuremberg.
They agreed to new boundaries for Poland allowing the Soviet Union at the
expense of Germany allowing the Soviet Union to keep the lands it had
captured under the 1939 Nazi-Soviet Pact before the war.
The Communist Takeover of Eastern Europe
The Iron Curtain Speech (1946):
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By 1946 with the support of the Soviet Union Communists took over Poland,
Czechoslovakia, Hungry, Bulgaria, Rumania, Yugoslavia and Albania.
In March 1946 in a speech to an American audience, Winston Churchill,
described the division of Europe between the West and East as being like an
Iron curtain.
Western Europe, which was democratic and capitalistic, was allied to the US
while Eastern Europe, which was Communist, was allied to the Soviet Union.
Arguments that the US did not start the Cold War:
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The US only wanted free and fair elections across the whole of Eastern
Europe.
The US was a democracy with free and fair elections with democratic rights
for its citizens while Joseph Stalin was a ruthless bloodthirsty dictator.
The US learned from the mistakes of the past and believed that the
appeasement of dictators did not work.
The US quickly demobilised and sent its army home after the war while the
Soviet Union kept its army mobilised for war and in occupation of Eastern
Europe.
Arguments that the Soviet Union did not start the Cold War:
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The Soviet Union wanted to control Eastern Europe to protect the Soviet
Union from any future attack by the West.
Russia had been attacked three times by the West in the Twentieth Century
during the First World War, the Russian Civil War and during the Second
World War.
The Soviet Union had done the bulk of the fighting against Nazi Germany and
therefore deserved to gain great compensation from Germany.
The US did not tell Stalin about its development of nuclear weapons or its
decision to use them against Japan.
The US was full of politicians who were fervently opposed to Communism
that increased Soviet suspicions now that the US alone had nuclear weapons.
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GCSE Revision Notes
The Cold War (1945 - 1949)
The Containment of Communism
The Truman Doctrine (1947):
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In March 1947 Communists were threatening to take over Turkey and Greece.
President Truman made a speech in which he promised US help to any
country threatened by Communism that became known as the Truman
Doctrine.
The Truman Doctrine was based on the idea of “containment” which meant
stopping the further spread of Communism beyond the Soviet Union and
Eastern Europe.
The US therefore gave $400 million in aid to Turkey and Greece and set up
ballistic missile sites in Turkey along its border with the Soviet Union.
The Marshall Plan (1947):
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The US was worried that the devastated countries of Western Europe might
also become Communist unless they became prosperous again.
The US therefore gave $15 billion in free aid to help rebuild the economies of
Western Europe to make them prosperous again.
This was part the US containment strategy to prevent the spread of
Communism.
The US itself benefited from the Marshal Plan because rebuilding European
economies would make them strong trading partners for the US businesses.
The Marshall Plan was offered to the Soviet Union and Eastern European
states but Stalin rejected it arguing that it would make them dependent on the
US.
Stalin’s response to the Truman Doctrine & Marshall Plan:
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The Soviet Union announced the Molotov Plan that introduced the Council for
Mutual Economic Assistance (Comecon) to offer Soviet aid to help rebuild the
economies of Eastern Europe but it was not as effective as the Marshall Plan.
In 1947 Stalin invited Communist leaders from across the world to Warsaw
where he set up the Communist Information Bureau (Cominform) designed to
spread Communism and protect Communist countries from US attack.
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GCSE Revision Notes
The Cold War (1945 - 1949)
The Cold War and the Division of Germany
The division of Germany:
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The allies had agreed to consult each other on the future of Germany, the need
to keep Germany weak and pay reparations at Yalta and Potsdam.
The US now viewed the Soviet Union as a greater threat than Germany and
believed that a strong Germany would be a powerful ally against the Soviet
Union.
The US believed the ending of reparations, introducing a new currency and
rebuilding the German economy was essential to rebuilding Western Europe
as a whole.
The US, Britain and France therefore merged there zones of occupation to
create a strong democratic and capitalist West Germany allied to the US.
The Soviet Union was angered by this and therefore turned East Germany into
a Communist state allied to the Soviet Union.
Stalin wanted to keep Germany as weak as possible because Germany had
twice attacked Russia during WW1 and WW2.
The Berlin Blockade (1948):
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Berlin was in the heart of Soviet controlled East Germany but was divided
between the US controlled West Berlin and Soviet Controlled East Berlin.
Stalin wanted to gain control of West Berlin and therefore imposed a blockade
on West Berlin by stopping road and rail links through East Germany to West
Germany.
The two million inhabitants of West Berlin only had enough food and fuel to
last for six weeks after which they would have to surrender.
The US could either give in to Stalin and surrender West Berlin or invade
Eastern Germany but that might lead to World War Three with the Soviet
Union.
The Berlin Airlift (1948 - 1949):
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The US and Britain sought to save West Berlin from the Soviet blockade and
avoid war by organising the delivery of food and fuel supplies using cargo
aeroplanes.
The allies succeeded in landing aircraft full of supplies every three minutes,
day and night, in West Berlin that kept the city fully supplied.
Stalin tried to raise the pressure by cutting off electricity to West Berlin and
offering its people extra rations if they moved to East Germany but few
accepted the offer.
Stalin did not shoot down the allied planes bringing supplies to West Berlin
because this would have been an act of war possibly leading to World War
Three.
In May 1949 Stalin ended the Berlin Blockade when it became clear that he
could not starve West Berlin to surrender.
Germany would now remain divided between West Germany (The Federal
Republic of Germany) and East Germany (The German Democratic Republic).
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GCSE Revision Notes
The Cold War (1945 - 1949)
GLOSSARY
Blockade (Not allowing ships to enter or leave enemy ports with weapons or goods.)
Capitalism (A laissez-faire economy where individuals and businesses are free to
invest money and make profits from their investments.)
Cold War (The name of the era of tension and rivalry between the USA and the
Soviet Union between 1945 – 1990.)
Collective Security (The principle that if one member of the League of Nations were
attacked all other members would come to their protection.)
Comecon (The Council for Mutual Economic Assistance was the Soviet Union’s
answer to the Marshall Plan offering aid to rebuild the economies of Eastern Europe.)
Communism (Belief in creating an equal society by workers organising a revolution
against the ruling class.)
Cominform (Communist Information Bureau set up by the Soviet Union to spread
Communism and protect Communist countries from US attack.)
Congress (The American Parliament.)
Containment (The idea of keeping Communism confined to the Soviet Union and
Eastern Europe and making sure its spreads to no more countries.)
Democracy (Countries whose governments are chosen by free and fair elections.)
Dictator (When an individual holds absolute power and answers to nobody.)
East Germany (The Soviet occupied part of Germany at the end of the WW2 which
became an independent communist country allied to the Soviet Union.)
Economy (The wealth of a country or how businesses in a country are doing.)
ICBM’s (Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles.)
Iron Curtain (The name given by Winston Churchill for the imaginary dividing line
between Democratic Western Europe and Communist Eastern Europe.)
Laissez-Faire (Government non-interference in the economy.)
Leftwing (Parties that want to change things to create a more equal society e.g.
socialists, communists etc.)
Marshall Plan (The US funding the rebuilding the economies of Western Europe.)
NATO (The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation which was the military alliance
between the USA and democratic capitalist countries of Western Europe.)
Rightwing (Parties that want things to stay the same or get even stricter e.g.
nationalists, fascists, Nazis etc.)
Secret Police (A political security force in charge of keeping a dictator in power by
arresting, torturing, imprisoning and killing without trial all enemies of a dictator.)
Soviet (Russian word meaning “council”.)
Soviet Union (The old name for Russia short for the USSR or the Union of Soviet
Socialist Republics.)
Totalitarianism (When one political party controls all aspects of life in a country.)
Truman Doctrine (The US promise to help any country threatened by Communism
with the aim of containing Communism to the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.)
United Nations (The organisation set up to keep the peace after the WW2 which
replaced the failed League of Nations.)
USSR (The old name for Russia standing for the Union of Soviet Socialist
Republics.)
Warsaw Pact (The military alliance between the Soviet Union and the Communist
States of Eastern Europe.)
West Germany (The US, British and French occupied part of Germany at the end of
WW2 which became an independent democratic capitalist country allied to the US.
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GCSE Revision Notes
The Cold War (1945 - 1949)
The Start of the Cold War (1945 - 1949).
No
Unsure
Yes?
The Causes of the Cold War.
- Capitalism.
- Communism.
The Yalta and Potsdam Conferences.
- The Yalta Conference.
- Changes between the Yalta and Potsdam Conferences.
- The Potsdam Conference.
The Communist Takeover of Eastern Europe.
- Churchill’s Iron Curtain Speech.
- Arguments that the US did not start the Cold War.
- Arguments that the Soviet Union did not start the Cold War.
The US Strategy of Containment.
- The Truman Doctrine.
- The Marshall Plan.
Stalin’s response to the Truman Doctrine & The Marshall Plan.
- The Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (Comecon).
- The Communist Information Bureau (Cominform).
The Cold War and the Division of Germany.
- The Division of Germany.
- The Berlin Blockade.
- The Berlin Airlift.
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