Summary A* Cold War Timeline AQA A Level

Table of Contents
EUROPE, 1945 - 1949.........................................................................1
ASIA, 1947 - 1953.............................................................................14
ARMS AND SPACE RACE...................................................................31
SINO-SOVIET RELATIONS 1949-1970 (SINO-SOVIET SPLIT)................35
Vietnam 1954-1975.........................................................................46
SINO-SOVIET SPLITS.........................................................................75
DÉTENTE 1969-1980.........................................................................78
Aftermath + SECOND COLD WAR......................................................97
END OF COLD WAR........................................................................104
EUROPE, 1945 - 1949
Important quote for whole period:

- WESTAD: Over and over again, events that were in origin local and specific
metamorphosed into manifestations of a global struggle. The main reason for this
was that both the Soviets and the Americans—as Kennan had pointed out in his
Long Telegram— stood for models of human endeavour that had
universalist pretensions.

Why the Cold War Began- Roberts

- The term cold war only came into currency in 1947; by the end of 1947, the public
harmony had been replaced by mutual recrimination about who was to blame for
the post-war breakup of the marriage of convenience
- The story of the origins of the cold war is fundamentally how and why
the grand alliance disintegrated
- Eastern Europe: the USSR was determined to establish dominance of the region,
as many of the states had fought alongside Germany. Security, to Stalin, required
pro-Stalin governments and exclusion of Western influence. The US and UK
opposed this dominance, as it went against the Dec on Liberated Europe agreed
in Yalta and excluded Western influence.

Nov 44 Percentages Agreement

- Dividing countries
- Britain gets much of Scandinavia, France, Italy, shares Germany
- Britain gets an interest in Balkans, such as Greece, and the rest goes to the USSR

, - The US were expected to go back into isolationism, but they actually shift to
globalism

State and aims of powers in 1945

Germany:

- 5m dead, 40% of housing damaged beyond prepare
- 33% of the railroads impassable

Britain:

- Close to bankruptcy, dependent on US aid, fearful that its empire was about to
collapse
- Retain Mediterranean
- Be America’s most important cold war ally

US:

- Having escaped from the effects of conflict on its own soil, the US emerged the
world’s leading industrial and financial power
- Wants Pax Americana
- Roosevelt wants to restructure international relations to benefit from the peace

USSR:

- Devastated by the loss of 27m, 70,000 villages, 31,000 factories, 65,000KM of
railroad
- In 1945 producing 60% of the 1940 total
- Buffer zone- non negotiable
o The first target was Poland, as it was a bridge between Germany and
Russia 3 times in the past
o Stalin is a defensive expansionist
- This comes into direct conflict with Stalin’s second aim- good relations with the
West for breathing space, wants western loans to rebuild
- Work with west to hold Germany down denazify, demilitarise, take $10Bn in
reparations

4-11 February 1945 – Yalta Conference

Key issues:

 Declaration on Liberated Europe: the issue of democratic elections
o FDR got Stalin to agree- a joint pledge in a public document to support
the democratic process in each of Europe’s nations liberated from Nazi
control
o Democratic processes in Europe
o Stalin did not consider it binding
 FDR considered this a fait accompli- the Red Army had already
asserted their power, and there was little besides invasion the
US and UK could do about it
 Poland
o Free and Fair elections
o Some London officials will be in government
o Borders:
 USSR annexed into Eastern Poland, and Poland annexed into
East Germany
 6-9 million Eastern Germans expelled
 Soviet expansionism?
 Germany was divided
o France, USSR, USA and UK

, o Stalin wanted to keep them economically weak, he would receive
reparations from his zone and 25% from the western zones
o Stalin believed that the figure of $10B of reparations for the USSR
had been agreed on
 War with Japan:
o After 3 months, Stalin would join the war with Japan if he got control
over Manchurian railways and Port Arthur
o FDR wanted to keep American military casualties to a minimum
 The UN
o Was created and Stalin joined – major achievement for Roosevelt
 WESTAD:
o The declaration on liberated Europe was considered a major
soviet concession by Roosevelt and Churchill
o Roosevelt and Churchill wanted peace after the war, and they
hoped Stalin would help them deliver that peace. But their
oversell of the Yalta agreements in their own countries
increased the risk of conflict rather than reduced it. Stalin had
no intention of allowing Western-style elections in Poland.
 Stalin’s aims:
o Stalin’s most pressing goal was to retain his vast territorial gains in
Poland and install a pro-Soviet government in the country.

 Has been used 4 times to invade USSR or Russia, bridge
between them and Germany
 The buffer zone is non-negotiable, it’s the premier
foreign policy aim
o This dominated the agenda for 7/8 plenary sessions.
o The Soviet leader held the upper hand, for his troops had already
overrun Eastern and Central Europe, and much of Poland,
Czechoslovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, and Hungary was under Red Army
control. – MILTON
o During WW2- 25-7m dead, soviet economy only producing 60%
of what it was producing in 1940, 2,000 towns and cities wiped
off the map, 70,000 villages destroyed, 31,000 factories
destroyed, 65,000 km of railroad track destroyed, 50% of
railroad bridges collapsed, 25m homeless
 They want security, and to rebuild
 Wanted to cooperate with the west to prevent cold/hot
war- wants to keep the grand alliance going, sue to his
huge losses
 Roosevelt’s aims:
o To persuade the Soviet Union to join the war against Japan, which was
proving so costly in American lives
o to cajole Stalin into accepting his proposals for a new organisation, the
United Nations. He believed that such a body was the only means of
avoiding future global conflict. – MILTON
o he wants ‘PAX AMERICANA’ – an American peace, participation
in world affairs to create a world in which America can dominate
o Morgenthau plan – 6/7 German zones de-industrialised and neutralised,
which Roosevelt was considering
 Churchill’s aims:
o to preserve the integrity and status of both Great Britain and her
empire, which still ruled over a quarter of the world’s population.
o He also had strong views on Poland, on whose behalf Britain had first
declared war on Nazi Germany.

, o Above all else, he was determined to prevent post-war Europe
from being dominated by the Soviet Union. – MILTON
o Britain in 1945 was bankrupt; surrendered leading position as
an imperialist power to the US
 Stalin appeared in fine humour, yet behind the smiling facade was an ingrained
distrust of both Churchill and Roosevelt. Just a few months earlier, he had
described the prime minister as ‘the kind of man who will pick your pocket of a
kopeck if you don’t watch him!’ As for the American president, he said that
Roosevelt ‘dips his hand only for bigger coins’ - MILTON




Spring 1945 Morgenthau Plan dropped

- A buffer zone of states incapable states
- Roosevelt’s plan to break Germany up into 6-7 equal states which would
be completely de-industrialised and neutralised, which he then gave up
on
- He changed his mind due to reality




16th July 1945 – USA’s first successful detonation of the atomic bomb

 In the Potsdam conference, atomic diplomacy was used

17th July- 1st August 1945 – Potsdam Conference

- Truman:
o Replaced Roosevelt after he died from a massive brain haemorrhage in
April
o No one knew his foreign policy, and he had no experience, having only
travelled abroad once
o He was convicted, however, that post war Europe should not be
dominated by any power hostile to democracy
o Morgenthau plan is abandoned
o Didn’t have to cooperate, takes a tougher line
- Stalin:
o Came believing he had a trump card, as his army was in control of huge
swathes of Eastern Europe
o Expected $10 billion from Germany
- Churchill:
o Had control over the German navy
o Listless and drunk, refused to read any notes
o Would lose the election on the 9th day, to be replaced by Atlee
o Atlee followed Churchill’s policy of becoming US’ number 1 ally
 Accepted that Polish borders will be extended – but there were disagreements on
any other Soviet expansionism
 Atomic diplomacy was used
o Failed – Stalin and Molotov continued to do as they please
 Germany: demilitarisation, denazification, decentralisation, disarmament,
reparations, dismantling of industry, reorganisation of police and judiciary
o Stalin wanted to cooperate in keeping Germany ‘down and out’
 De-Nazification would be carried out
 Divisions in Germany and Berlin were confirmed
 Germany would be de-militarised
 Democracy would be re-established in Germany

,  Germany would pay reparations to the USSR
o However, Truman was very wary as he did not wish for another Treaty of
Versailles
o USSR would receive reparations from its own zone and 25% from
Western zones
 Truman, Attlee, and Stalin
 Stalin effectively won Potsdam:
o Huge expanse of territory carved from Poland
o Soviet backed Polish govt.
o Massive reparations from Soviet and wester zones
o He even got a third of the German naval fleet
 WESTAD:
o At Potsdam the Soviet leader mainly wanted US and British
acceptance of his country’s predominant position in eastern
Europe.
o The US development of nuclear weapons, which Truman alluded
to during their conversations, came as no surprise to Stalin; his
spies had been following the US development of the atomic
bomb since 1942. There is no evidence that the Soviet leader
felt threatened by the US atomic monopoly in 1945, even
though it made him speed up his own nuclear program.

September 1945: The Council of Foreign Ministers broke up in disarray in its first meeting in
Sep 1945 as Western states refused to recognise the legitimacy of pro-soviet govts in
Bulgaria and Rumania.

 Although this deadlock was resolved, these public negotiations
resulted in the development of inflexible policy and
propagandistic polemics
o Beyond the CFM, the most important development in the Soviet-Western
dispute over Eastern Europe was the Iron Curtain Speech March 1946,
an influential strand of foreign policy thinking that resonated strongly
with Truman




Summing up the beginning of the C/W

- At these meetings, Stalin, Churchill, Roosevelt, Truman and Atlee agreed
on the need for a peacetime gran alliance
- The post-war world should be governed by the Big Three to assure
peace, security and prosperity for all nations
- There were already barriers to these goals: practical problems of
working together in liberated Europe (above all in Germany), the fact
that the US had an A-Bomb, and the Soviet need for human and material
resources to rebuild their war-devastated economy. These issues made a
cold war inevitable: (in order of importance)
- EASTERN EUROPE
o Moscow saw control of East European states as essential to
soviet security
o Pro-soviet govts were necessary, and this goal was helped by
the Soviet army presence and support from East European
communist parties
o This concerned the West, who saw it as violation of the Dec on
Lib Europe, as Britain and the US argued Stalin was interfering
with elections by rigging ballots

, o The Council of Foreign Ministers broke up in disarray in its first
meeting in Sep 1945 as Western states refused to recognise the
legitimacy of pro-soviet govts in Bulgaria and Rumania.
 Although this deadlock was resolved, these public
negotiations resulted in the development of inflexible
policy and propagandistic polemics
o Beyond the CFM, the most important development in the Soviet-
Western dispute over Eastern Europe was the Iron Curtain
Speech March 1946, an influential strand of foreign policy
thinking that resonated strongly with Truman
o Truman went onto make his Turman Doctrine speech in March
1947 – ‘it must be the policy of the US to support free peoples
who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities of
outside pressures
- GERMANY
o During the war it was agreed that Germany should be de-
Nazified, demilitarised, and democratised
o After the division of zones in Jan 1647, both the Anglo-
Americans and Russians pursued policies which indicated an
East-West political and economic division of Germany
o The western priority was German Economic Recovery, so they
rejected reparations to Stalin in May 1946
o By the end of 1947, Soviet-Western attempts at negotiations on
a German peace treaty had, to all intents and purposes, broken
down
- EUROPEAN RECONSTRUCTION
o In May 1947, Stalin stressed to an American senator that he
desired continued peaceful coexistence and co-operation, but
this changed with the Marshall Plan
o The communist parties in France and Italy were strong, but
Marshall Plan undermined this, strengthening the political
position of anti-communist parties
o September 1947 politburo member Zhdanov delivered the two
camps speech, where he demanded action to defend post-war
left-wing gains from imperialist threat and encroachment
- The Cold War Begins
o The break-up of the grand alliance – signalled by the Truman
Doctrine, Zhdanov two camps speech and the breakdown of
Soviet-Western negotiations over Germany and Marshall plan
o In Eastern Europe Moscow’s communist allies launched full scale
soviet-style authoritarian regimes
o Germany remained divided
o In 1948 a crisis emerged with the Berlin Blockade
o The military-political division of Europe further deepened with
the setting up of NATO in April 1949

COMMUNIST EXPANSION IN EUROPE, 1945-1948 – this was imposed top down:
‘revolutions without permission’

- Stalin did not impose full communism until late 1947-8, and he did so
using gradual takeovers of communist/ fellow traveller coalitions, who
use patronage to make the army and police power bases for the
communist/fellow travellers
o The problem is that there was ramifications before the full style
communism (Kennan Telegram, Iron Curtain Speech)
o Marshall plan is launched as an anti-Soviet plot
- Bulgaria (October 1945)

, o Despite winning over 20% of the popular vote in the October elections,
Petkov was executed
o By April 1947, other political parties than the communist one was
banned, but there is still a pretense that there is multi-party democracy
until the Marshall Plan
- Romania (1945-47)
o March 1945 – Dr Petru Groza became prime minister, associated with
the Ploughness Front
o 8 November 1945 – Anti-communist party demonstration in Bucharest
o 19 November 1946 – BPD claimed 84% of the votes
o 30 December 1947 – King Michael removed from power
- Hungary (1947 and August 1949)
o August 1947: Communists became the largest party
o August 1949: Newly elected National Assembly released a new
constitution to an almost exact copy of the Soviet Union one
o August 20th 1949: Renamed Peoples Republic of Hungary.
o In Hungary the communists allied with other political groups. Opponents
were arrested and elections were rigged. The only opposition was a
group of non-soviet communists , who formed links with Yugoslavia, the
leader of which was executed in 1949 for ‘anti-soviet’ activities
- Yugoslavia (1945- June 48)
o Tito was a committed Stalinist, who had genuine popularity due to
kicking the Germans and Italians out
o By 1948, it was clear that soviet influence over Yugoslavia was limited,
as he was determined not to be a ‘soviet puppet’,
o In June 1948, Yugoslavia was expelled from Cominform
o They were supported by the US which allowdd thme to survive, as any
state which opposed the USSR was a friend of the US
- Czechoslovakia (June 1948)
o May 1946: Communist won 38% of votes
o Gottwald accepted economic aid from the West in 1947 – forced to
resign in June 1948 and was replaced by pro-moscow communists
- Poland - 1948
o Gomulka, was a polish communist and the deputy PM
o He was replaced by the complaint pro-stalinist Bierut in 1948, due to his
rejection of some soviet policies which he felt did not apply to Poland.
o WESTAD: it could still be argued that the Cold War began in Poland.
There, Stalin’s policy of imposing strict Soviet control clashed with the
wishes of his allies and those of the great majority of Poles. Britain had
gone to war with Germany over the fate of Poland in 1939, and it would
be hard for any British government to accept Soviet occupation and
dictatorship in that country. Churchill was led by the exigencies of war
and a great deal of wishful thinking about Stalin’s intentions to accept
the Soviet plan for a reorganization of the Polish government over the
heads of the Poles themselves.
o Harry Truman believed that the Yalta agreements on Poland ensured
democratic freedom and an inclusive transition government that would
prepare free elections. The Soviets were not living up to their
commitments, Truman thought.

22nd February 1946 – Kennan’s Long Telegram (containment policy)

 Correctly predicted the Bolsheviks regime, Russian nationalism, an increase in
police power and Russian dictatorship.
 Kennan believed that the soviets were hostile, and wished to demonise the West
 Believed that Stalin wanted to replace the fear of Germany and Japan in the
Soviet people with the fear of the USA and Britain, which would make compromise
difficult

,  Determined the US role as a global police man and the US policy to Soviets
 WESTAD:
o George Kennan’s message was more a summing up of where many US
policy-makers were already heading than an innovative policy
prescription. It was also in parts contradictory: the Soviets were
inherently aggressive but also able to compromise. But for officials
hungry for ways of explaining an increasingly complicated world, it
resonated
o Kennan described Moscow’s policy as inherently aggressive and
expansionist because of its Marxist-Leninist ideology.

March 1946 – The Iran Crisis is resolved

- One of the first crises of the Cold War, sparked by the refusal of Stalin to
relinquish occupied Iranian territory, despite repeated assurances
- The United States pressure on the Soviet Union to withdraw is the earliest
evidence of success with the new strategy of Truman Doctrine and containment.
- Truman’s ambassador told the soviet delegation: ‘If the people of the United
States were ever to become convinced that we are faced with a wave of
progressive aggression on the part of any powerful nation or group of
nations, we would react exactly as we have in the past’

5th March 1946 – Churchill’s Iron Curtain speech

 To students in Fulton, Missouri
 A direct attack on soviet policies
 Americans idolised Churchill
 Argues for containment of Stalin
 Convinced Stalin that the USA and Britain might attack
 WESTAD: From the start of his tenure, President Truman believed that the
Soviets were expansionist in nature, but also that they would not take the risk of a
complete break with the United States and Britain. But over the next two years,
Truman started to doubt his original judgment. He was furious over Soviet
behaviour in eastern Europe, where he felt that Stalin had reneged on promises
given to FDR about establishing democracies there.

13th March 1946 – Stalin’s response to Churchill’s speech

 13th march in Pravda
 Stating that the Soviet Union are only peacefully seeking EE allies for USSR
security

April 1946 Socialist Unity Party founded

- In Germany; not allowed to practise outside of the Eastern zone

May 1946 – the British and Americans refuse all reparations

September 1946 – Novikov telegram

 Nikolai Novikov concluded that the US foreign policy was based on economic
imperialism and that the aim of the USA was to use its economic power to make
states dependent upon it in order to establish its own global supremacy

10th October 1946 – Molotov on ‘Equal Opportunity’

, - Spoke to the differences in US and USSR post-war states: the US was profiteering,
whereas the USSR was physically harmed

November 1946 – Truman’s midterm elections

- Truman’s Democrats had fared badly in the November 1946 midterm elections,
with the Republicans taking control of both Houses of Congress for the first time
since 1932.
- In the campaign, his opponents had castigated Truman for being too preoccupied
with helping foreign countries and for being too soft on Stalin and the
Communists.
- With public opinion moving in different directions at the same time, Truman felt
that the situation called for bold leadership
o This led directly to the Truman doctrine

1947 – Grand Alliance is dead

 US reasons:
o Atomic diplomacy
o Bizonia and Trizonia
o Stopping of reparations in Western Germany
o Formation of SED
o Long Telegram
o Potsdam disagreements
o Iron curtain speech
 Soviet reasons:
o Revolutions without permissions
o Salami tactics
o Potsdam disagreements
o Iron curtain speech replies
 ‘Marriage of convenience’

January 1947 – Bizonia

 Bizonia reinforced that the US was interested in creating a clearly defined west
German state
 the development of a west German economic recovery, rather than a wider
reunified Germany, would be more manageable and therefore ensure the US
influence in Europe more easily
 the intention was for the western half of Germany to be self-sufficient by 1949

February 1947 – Paris Peace Treaty Signed

- Peace treaties with the Axis Powers; Italy, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary and
Finland
- Gave them sovereignty and allowed them to qualify for UN membership
- The USSR took reparations from Romania, Hungary, Finland and Italy, totalling
$900M
- Promoted democracy in those states

February 1947 – Britain stops aiding Greece

 The British aid the Greek government and, in line with the Percentages
Agreement, the USSR abstain from helping the Greek communists
 Markos Uafiadelis is the leader of the communist party
 In 1944, Britain removed paratroopers in Greece

,  Stalin told Greece not to revolt, but the KKE did so anyway
o The West failed to recognise this and believed this was Stalin being an
aggressive expansionist
 February 1947, Britain declared bankruptcy, triggering the Truman Doctrine
 WESTAD:
o Truman’s Democrats had fared badly in the November 1946 midterm
elections, with the Republicans taking control of both Houses of
Congress for the first time since 1932. In the campaign, his opponents
had castigated Truman for being too preoccupied with helping foreign
countries and for being too soft on Stalin and the Communists.

12th March 1947 – The Truman Doctrine

 Truman didn’t turn to the UN as the arbiter of the dispute in Greece, as the USSR
may have used its veto power to prevent any UN peacekeeping intervention in the
Greek Civil War
 The doctrine was a rather blunt piece of diplomacy initially designed to keep the
USSR from aiding the greek communist movement, and had no relevance to US
policy beyond the civil war
 Policy of containment
o $300m to Greece
o $100m to Turkey
 WESTAD: Truman’s address—known later as the Truman Doctrine—frightened
Congress enough to grant the president’s wishes.

May 1947 – William Clayton’s conclusions

 In may 1947, the under-secretary of state for economic affairs (William Clayton)
concluded, after a tour of western Europe, that failure to revive the economies of
European states would damage the US economically
 Led to Marshall aid

Spring 1947 – Moscow Conference of Foreign Ministers

 Soviet tried to destroy Bizonia by demanding a new central government for
Germany
 However, Ernest Bevin rejected this, hence Stalin rejecting it too

5th June 1947 – Marshall Aid



 “Dollar Imperialism” - soviets
 “The most unselfish act in history” – Churchill
 $13b to 16 countries over 4 years
 American international body was able to supervise your economic accounts
 Had to pay back the money without interest
o some of it had to be spent on importing goods from the US, and
recipients were required to share economic information with the USA.
the plan was aimed to benefit the us economy by helping the European
economies, and to inspire European togetherness- a stable European
bloc would reinforce Truman’s idea of containment.
 By 1947, Czech and Hungary were not yet fully under communist control and their
governments had interest in receiving the aid.
 In July 1947 the Soviet Union walked out of the Paris Peace Conference and by
September they had established Cominform. Any Eastern European states