ABBOTTS COLLEGE G12
HISTORY
TOPIC 1: THE COLD WAR
Soviet criticism of the oppressive capitalist system
1.1 The Cold War: ORIGINS OF THE WAR
(source-based questions)
The Cold War was the result of competition between the USA and the USSR
to create areas of influence. Here the two superpowers, represented by Uncle
Sam and a worker, cut the world in half.
How did the USSR and USA create spheres of interest
by the 1960s?
Terms:
political ideologies set of political beliefs and aims
arms race competition to build up armed forces
coup a violent change of government
Iron Curtain an imaginary dividing line between communist eastern Europe
and non-communist western Europe
Soviet 'satellites' the countries of eastern Europe under the influence of the
USSR
HOW DID WORLD WAR TWO INTENSIFY THE COLD WAR?
An uneasy alliance
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USA and the USSR temporarily set aside their differences when the Nazis invaded the
Soviet Union in 1941
USA together with Britain and the Soviet Union formed what became known as the
Grand Alliance to defeat Hitler but it was a "marriage of convenience"
From 1941 the USSR carried the main burden in the fight against the Nazis, Soviet
casualties began to mount
Two years before the Americans opened up a second front, Stalin viewed this delay as a
deliberate attempt to weaken the USSR
The USA ended the Lend-lease programme that was providing essential supplies to the
Soviet people
Stalin grew more suspicious over Western secrecy of the atomic bomb, Stalin was only
informed about its existence after the Nazi defeat
How did the wartime conferences change the relationship
between the Soviet Union and her allies?
Teheran Conference, November 1943
 decided that there would be no Anglo-American invasion of Germany through the
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Balkans
This left only Soviet troops to clear Eastern Europe of Nazi forces
By recognising Soviet supremacy in Eastern Europe, the Teheran Conference limited the
West's participation in the post-war political decisions in Eastern Europe
Yalta Conference, February 1945
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to plan the post-war settlement
great tension behind the official cordiality
agreements reached ended up being only temporary compromises
Decisions:
 Germany would be divided into four zones of occupation, to be administered by the
USA, the USSR, Britain and France
 Berlin, which was situated deep in the Soviet zone, would also be divided into 4 zones
 USSR had occupied Poland and had installed a pro-Soviet provisional government. At
Yalta, Stalin promised that free democratic elections would be held
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Eastern European countries were to be allowed to hold free elections to choose how
they would be governed. However, Stalin's interpretation of democracy was very different
from that of the other allies.
They would join the United Nations whose aim it was to keep peace after the war.
Stalin was determined to create a large buffer against any future German aggression because they had suffered terrible losses during the war. The Big Three agreed that
Eastern Europe would be a "Soviet sphere of influence".
Potsdam Conference, July-August 1945
These discussions also highlighted the differences between the Western allies and the Soviet
Union. Stalin was even more uncompromising. The details of the four zones of occupation
were finalized.
What did the powers not agree upon?
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Stalin proposed that Germany be crippled, whereas Truman did not want a repetition of
the Treaty of Versailles.
They could not agree upon the issue of reparations. Stalin hoped to be compensated for
the death of 20 million Russians, while Truman did not want to make the same mistakes
that were made at the end of World War One.
Although it had been agreed at Yalta that pro-Soviet governments could be set up in
Eastern Europe, Truman was totally opposed to this.
Many historians have emphasised Stalin's refusal to consider German re-unification and his
refusal to give up wartime gains in Eastern Europe as major factors in creating the Cold War.
It has been suggested that Stalin never fully understood the Western position, however it is
also true to say that the West never fully understood the Soviet perspective. Therefore the
misunderstanding was a two-way process.
How did the Cold War start?
Europe in 1949. The Iron Curtain was the border between communist eastern
Europe and the countries of western Europe, which were parliamentary
democracies with capitalist economic systems. The communist states of
eastern Europe were often referred to in the West as Soviet 'satellites'.
In this German cartoon, the banner reads: "We thank our liberators." The
countries represented are Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania and
Bulgaria.
Why was Stalin so interested in Eastern Europe?
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wanted it to act as a buffer between Germany and the USSR
saw it as vital to the development of the Soviet economy. These countries would be a
source of cheap goods and raw materials. They would also be forced to trade with the
Soviet Union
Some historians believe that Stalin's interest in Eastern Europe was part of a pattern
of conquest.
Others believe that Stalin would have been happy to allow coalition governments to
continue, but hostility from the West forced him to impose a harsh regime in this area.
"Iron Curtain"
 West grew increasingly alarmed at the situation in Eastern Europe
 saw Stalin as a dictator who had eliminated his opposition
 prompted Winston Churchill to make his famous speech in Fulton, Missouri (USA) in
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March 1946
declared that "an iron curtain" had descended across Europe from Stettin in the Baltic
to Trieste in the Adriatic. He basically stated that Europe was now divided into
separate halves by Soviet policy
On the one hand in the West, there were free democratic states, while in the East,
behind the "Iron Curtain", were the countries under communist domination subject to
the Soviet Union
He called for a Western alliance to combat the threat of communism
Stalin was angered by this speech and accused Churchill of trying to stir up war
against the Soviet Union
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The speech certainly widened the gap between the USSR and the West, but did little
to combat communist expansion in Eastern Europe.
Economic spheres of influence: containment
'dollar diplomacy'
using economic pressure to
promote American interests
Truman Doctrine
the basis of American
foreign policy aimed at
stopping the spread of
communism
Marshall Plan
American economic aid
to Europe to rebuild
war-damaged economies
Cominform (1947)
Communist Information
Bureau : to co-ordinate
communist parties in
Europe (control over
satellites)
Comecon
Council for Mutual
Economic Aid: USSR
dominated
Do not sow seed, I will sell you maize.
Do not build new shipyards.
I will sell you old ones cheaply.
Why do you want to strengthen
your currency?
Why don't you try mine?
It is difficult to carry out your you’re
policy? Carry out ours.
The first confrontation: Berlin
The post-war division of Germany and Berlin.
'Berlin Blockade'
'Berlin Airlift'.
In June 1948, the USSR
closed all surface routes
- road, rail and canal - linking
Berlin and the West, cutting off
the two and a half million citizens
in West Berlin.
The West responded to this
by launching the 'Berlin
Airlift'. Stalin had not closed
the three air lanes through to
Berlin, and so for nearly a
year the West supplied West
Berlin with all it needed.
Formal division of Germany
After the Berlin Blockade ended (’49), Germany formally divided into two
separate states: three western zones became the German Federal Republic
(or West Germany), with Bonn as capital; and Soviet zone became the
German Democratic Republic (or East Germany), with East Berlin as its
capital.
Most notorious symbol of the Cold War: The Wall 1961
1961 about 2 thousand people a week were 'voting with their feet' and opting
for the higher standard of living and greater freedom of the West. The USSR
viewed this as another challenge to Soviet control in Eastern Europe. In
August 1961, the East German authorities, with Soviet backing, built the
Berlin Wall to divide East and West Berlin. This high, fortified wall, with its
machine-gun posts and searchlights, stopped the flow of refugees. West
Berlin: island of capitalism and democracy surrounded by East Germany.
Alliance blocs emerged as a result of the Cold War
The tension between the superpowers led to the creation of two military blocs.
NATO
USA formed military alliance
with its western European allies,
the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Headquarters: Paris later Brussels
1966: France withdrew
Warsaw Pact
Military alliance between
USSR and the eastern European
Hungary(1956)+
Czechoslovakia(1968) tried to
withdraw (revolts crushed)
Brezhnev Doctrine
defined a Soviet bloc country as a
socialist one-party state belonging
to the Warsaw Pact. It spelt out the
right of the Warsaw Pact to intervene
in any member state which
threatened to break away from the
bloc and thus endanger it.
The spheres of influence of the superpowers stretched beyond Europe
SEATO
Other newly-independent
The West formed other anti-communist
Asian states refused to be
alliances. Three Asian nations (the
drawn in.
Philippines, Thailand and Pakistan) joined
USA, Britain, France, Australia and New
Zealand to form the South East Asia Treaty
Organization) in 1954.
CENTO
In the Middle East, (the Central Treaty Organization)
formed in 1955, included pro-Western states such as
Iran, Iraq, Pakistan and Turkey, together with the
USA and Britain.
Science and technology as part of the Cold War
nuclear weapons: arms race
drop first atom bomb
first Soviet atom bomb was
at Hiroshima , Second World War
produced in 1949
in 1945 - clear advantage
hydrogen bomb
arms race (1960s)
enormous quantities of nuclear weapons.and long-range missiles
MAD
each hoped that knowing this would be enough to stop the other side from
attacking first (or Mutually Assured Destruction)
SALT
talks about reducing the arms race - or Strategic Arms Limitations Talks
SALT1: agreement, signed in 1972, first step in slowing down the arms race
espionage
CIA (Central Intelligence Agency)
Spy plane (U2)
satellites
KGB (Soviet Committee for
State Security)
satellites
space race
Americans began to question
1957, the Soviet Union launched
the work of their scientists
the first satellite into space
and the quality of their education.
called 'sputnik' (which means
President ordered scientists to speed
'fellow traveller').
up work on America's own
Seemed USSR was ahead in
space programme.
science and technology
1961 Yuri Gagarin became the first
human being to orbit the earth and
return safely.
US concentrated on being the
first to land a human on the moon
(1969)
first country to send a woman into
space
contrast in lifestyles
consumer goods, material wealth,
poor living standards
leisure time, prosperous living standards
How did the superpowers make their citizens follow Cold War
ideologies?
citizens to be loyal, not only to their country but to an ideology
both sides were taught to believe the other side was evil
Politicians, government propaganda, the education system and popular
culture all reinforced this message.
The Red Scare
totalitarian control
early 1950s - a period of hysterical
No criticism or opposition
anti-communism,
allowed, independent thought
US Congress set up a committee
repressed, thousands sent to
to investigate 'Un-American Activities!
Labour camps, executed
McCarthyism
Senator Joseph McCarthy headed a
fanatical witch-hunt for communist
sympathizers in government departments
series of public enquiries was held,
to investigate communist sympathies
of prominent Americans
totalitarianism in satellites
police spies, any attempt to
break away was crushed
e.g. Hungarian Uprising,
people crossing Berlin Wall
shot
Peace Corps
Humanitarian projects in Asia,
South America and Africa.
To gain support for the US
Support programs
Asian, African to study at
Patrice Lumumba University
in Moscow
Support programs
1960s - the New York newspaper
The Tribune pay for bright school
children from Europe, Asia and Africa
to spend time in the US
Radio Moscow
SA (Afrikaans, Zulu and
English)
used for propaganda
Voice of America
Propaganda radio
'Radio Free Europe'
broadcast to the countries
of eastern Europe behind
the lron Curtain
popular culture
forms of popular entertainment, such as music, radio, and films
also reflected the Cold War
2.1 EFFECT OF THE COLD WAR ON WORLDWIDE
CONFLICTS: CASE STUDY: VIETNAM (Essay question)
Tension between USA and USSR made conflict in other parts of the
world worse.
Examples where local conflicts became worse:
 Vietnam
 Cuba
 Angola
 Middle East
Conflicts made worse by intervention of superpowers – directly or
through supply of weapons / finance.
Effect of Cold War on Vietnam
Civil war became Cold War conflict.
USA : involved to prevent communists from coming to power.
Origins of war in Vietnam
Before WW II : Vietnam part of Indo-China (French colony).
During war : occupied by Japan, strong anti-Japanese resistance by Viet
Minh (communist).
After war : Democratic Republic of Vietnam under Ho Minh.
War between France and Viet Minh for control over Vietnam.
Viet Minh supported by China – USA feared communist plot to take over
East Asia. USA supported France financially.
1954 : France defeated by Viet Minh guerillas, Vietnam gained
independence.
Why did USA get involved?
After French defeat:
Vietnam divided in North / South until elections.
USA helped to set up anti-communist Republic of South Vietnam.
Ho Chi Minh set up communist state in North.
USA prevented elections in South.
South Vietnam:
 Oppressive and corrupt government
 Police state
 Unfair land distribution
 Peasants supported Viet Cong
 Dependant on economic and military aid from USA
Viet Cong: National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam,
communist resistance group, supported by North.
1964: full-scale military involvement from USA.
US air force - massive bombing of North Vietnam to stop supply of
weapons through Ho Chi Minh trails
USA unable to defeat Viet Cong.
Public opinion grew increasingly critical of USA involvement.
Nixon wanted to withdraw without looking like defeat.
American troops returned to USA, promised aid to South Vietnam.
Aid and support never happened.
Saigon defeated by communist forces.
1975: North and South united under communist government.
INTERPRETATIONS OF THE COLD WAR
1. The 'Truman'/ Western view
• promoted at first by Churchill and acted on by Truman
According to this view:
• The USSR can be blamed for trying to destabilize the post-war world
and thereby undermining peace efforts
- Stalin wanted to extend communism and would not be stopped. His first
step was to take over Eastern Europe.
- He wanted to increase his 'sphere of influence' and did not care what was
needed to do this.
- Stalin blatantly undermined the ideals of the UN and used the USSR's veto
power to block its effectiveness.
- Once his wartime alliance with the Western powers no longer suited him,
he just dropped it.
• It was the job of the free world to resist the spread of communism
- This was done by the Berlin Airlift, the formation of NATO and the decisive
action in Korea
2. The 'USSR - we need security" view
• promoted Soviet control of Eastern Europe, but was supported by some
American and British statesmen
According to this view:
• The Soviet Union needed to protect itself from invasion
- Russia/USSR had been invaded many times via Eastern Europe, therefore
the Soviet takeover of eastern Europe was not expansionist, but defensive.
- The USSR had suffered severely in the Second World War and therefore
needed to make sure this did not happen again.
- Promoting communism was less important than protecting Soviet land.
- The USSR had no interest in taking over the rest of the world.
3. The 'Revisionist' view
• America is blamed for causing the Cold War by its aggressive
capitalism
- America was the undisputed power of the world and would no longer be
isolationist.
- It had the atom bomb.
- Its standard of living was the highest in the world. It produced a lot of
consumer goods.
- American businesses wanted to expand their investments in the world
market.
- American wealth and the CIA influenced foreign governments to follow
policies
favourable to the USA.
- America manipulated the UN and propaganda around freedom to suit its
own ends.
Although the Western interpretation usually supports the Truman' view,
most historians acknowledge that aspects of each of these theories could
be applied in different situations. The last view, discussed below, is
generally seen as too simplistic to explain the Cold War tensions.
4. The'Communist Conflict' view
• The West is completely to blame and the USSR is the victim in the
Cold War
- Capitalism is the only cause of conflict between people.
- Socialism is based on brotherhood and cooperation and therefore no
socialist
country could cause a war.
The West used the Cold War to attack Soviet policies that it did not like.
This is the
view that was published in Soviet school textbooks.
Grade 12
THE COLD WAR: Historical concepts
Make sure that you can explain / define and also apply the following
concepts:
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political ideology
communism
capitalism
superpower
bloc
Grand Alliance
zones of occupation
atomic bomb
reparations
sphere of influence
annex
satelite
coup
Iron Curtain
isolation
containment
guerillas
Truman Doctrine
Marshall Plan
Subjugation
Secretary of State
Comecon
Cominform
dollar diplomacy
free enterprise
Berlin Blockade
Berlin Airlift
flashpoint
NATO
Treaty
Defence alliance
Warsaw Pact
Breznev Doctrine
one-party state
space race
arms race
MAD
SALT
popular culture
brinkmanship / statesmanship
nationalist movement
liberators
sharecroppers
Comintern
Domino Theory
persecution
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detention
martial law
conscription
defoliant
napalm
ambush
veterans