COLD WAR
What was the cold war?
- tension between superpowers + mutual hostility + covert war + proxy means of
upholding interests against each other + nuclear weapons development = mutual
assured destruction
Mistrust between US & USSR
- Ideology conflicted (communism threatened western ideals & way of life + dislike of
totalitarian policies i.e. forced labour, public trials, 30s deaths & purges) + (belief of
rich prospering at expense of poor)
- Russian Civil War Western Powers (Britain, France & USA) sent troops to oppose
Bolsheviks & fight for white army
- Russia + league of nations
- Mutual suspicion & distrust before WWII
> 1938 Munich Conference - USSR excluded + discussion of Czechoslovakia
> Feared German invasion + felt betrayed by west (failure curb German
expansionism prior to invasion of Poland)
> Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact limit threat of Nazi invasion (made west question
stalin’s trustworthiness)
USSR thoughts on Capitalism & The West
- Fear Invasion = German invasion 1914 & 1941
- Compensation = USSR loss of 28 million soldiers
- Misrust = fought against communists during civil war
- Stalin believed British & Americans wanted Russia to destroy itself fighting Germany
USA thoughts on Communism & USSR
- Dictatorship = USA & Britain fought 6 years against Germany + didn’t want to see
another dictator take control over Europe
- Fear of Stalin = Eastern Europe treatment
- Anger = Russia setting up pro-communist government in Poland
- McCarthyism / Red Scare = investigating people suspecting communists + careers of
communists ruined due to fear of communist spread through US
USA Capitalism
- Democracy + free elections held
- Economy = free market principles
- Private owned industry & business
- Employment = attracted by economy -> economic crisis leads to unemployment
- Wealth = big gap between rich & poor + individuals can become very wealthy at
expense of poor
- Individual freedom = freedom of speech, religion, expression & association
USSR Communism
- One party state + elections held but only vote for 1 party
- Economy = planned economy + group of planners decides production
- State owned industry & business
- Employment = most are always employed
- Wealth = wealth shared equally among the people who live in it
- Individual freedom = isn't important
Tehran Conference 1943
, - Tehran Iran + 1943 + Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin + discuss post-war Europe, future
UN & fate of Germany
- Stalin claimed territories that USSR annexed in Poland & Baltic (1939-1940) +
Poland compensated with German Territory + Churchill & Roosevelt didn’t oppose
- Key decision = British & US troops sent to France = Operation Overlord -> ensured
USSR would liberate eastern & south eastern europe by itself + be able to turn region
into soviet sphere of interest
Yalta Conference Feb 1945
- Yalta Ukraine + Feb 1945 + Allied leaders met to plan Europe after Germany’s defeat
+ Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin
- Successes + agreed on
> establishment of united nations
> division of germany into occupation zones for each power (four zones)
> Berlin (russian zone) to be split into zones
> similar arrangements for occupation of Austria
> free elections to be held in eastern europe
> stalin would join war against japan 3 months after germany’s defeat
> Baltic States Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Bessarabia would become part of USSR
- Disagreements
> Return for joining war against Japan -> Stalin wanted territorial compensation in
Manchuria & Sakhalin Island
> Allies only able to agree on ambiguous compromises regarding poland + could be
interpreted differently to West & USSR
> Agreed on Poland’s eastern border location + agreed in principle that Poland would
receive increase in territory (compensation for land lost) in north and west from land
removed from germany
> Elections would be held asap
> Appeared to be success for west but terms were vague + allowed stalin to
manipulate them + amount of land poland was receiving wasn’t fixed + democracy &
elections meant different things to the superpowers
Potsdam Conference July/August 1945
- July/August 1945 + Big Three + Potsdam (just outside Berlin)
- Germany surrendered May 1945
- Stalin, Truman (roosevelt died), Churchill (replaced by attlee after labour victory in
1945)
- Revealed distinct cooling off in relations between east & west
- Agreements:
> Germany divided into four zones of occupation
> Berlin would be divided into four zones
> Germany given chance to rebuild life on democratic & peaceful basis + elections at
some point in future
> Nazi leaders were to be put on trial
- Disagreements:
> stalin wanted germany to pay reparations for war damages
> arguments about how much USSR should be allowed to take in reparations +
western allies worried of repeating mistakes of treaty of versailles after WWI
> Poland had been an issue at Tehran and Yalta + Poland was expelling millions of
Germans + Western powers were concerned that their return to Germany (their
, zones in particular) would cause instability + requested expulsions temporarily halted
& resumed in an orderly humane manner later
> What would democratic Poland look like caused disagreement + handed over to
the council of foreign ministers to resolve
- Truman didn’t inform Stalin about nature of atomic bomb, though informed Churchill +
after conference 2 atomic bombs dropped on Japan + war ended without need for
Russian aid
- Russians declared war on Japan on 8 August & invaded Manchuria + though
annexed south Sakhalin at Yalta, allowed no part in occupation of Japan
- World entered nuclear age + raised tensions & suspicions between East & West
Satellite States
- During WWII USSR annexed independent Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia & Lithuania
+ end of WWII it annexed eastern part of poland
- Red Army (USSR) liberated Eastern Europe from Nazi control + establishment of
soviet-friendly governments in Poland, Hungary, Romania & Bulgaria (1947 & 1946)
- Czechoslovakia = communist coup took place in 1948
- Yugoslavia (1945) & Albania (1946) = people elected communist governments
- Stalin wanted Eastern European countries to act as buffer = concerned about
security of Soviet Union + wanted to prevent another invasion from Germany
- Stalin wanted Eastern European countries to help develop soviet economy (raw
materials to help industrialisation, trading partners for SU)
- Eastern Poland, East Germany, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Romania
- Western Bloc: United Kingdom, France, West Germany, United States and
considered part of the Western Bloc.
- Cuba notable satellite state of Soviet Union + maintained a close political & military
alliance with Soviet government.
1946 Iron Curtain
- Speech by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill + Fulton,Missouri, USA
- Expressed disapproval of USSR’s expansion + start of cold war
- Divide between the capitalist, democratic West & the communist, authoritarian East
1946 Long Telegram
- George Kennan (official at US Embassy in Moscow) asked to provide summary of
what soviets were up to
- Stated that USSR was heavily armed
- USSR feared rest of world
- USSR was wanting to stop spread of capitalism & couldn't peacefully co-exist with
USA
- USA stronger than USSR + communism couldn’t be contained
1946 Novikov Telegram
- Soviet response to Long Telegram
- Written by Soviet Ambassador to USA Nikolai Novikov
- Warned USA had emerged from WWII economically strong & wanted world
domination
- USSR needed secure buffer zone in Eastern Europe
1944 Truman Doctrine & 1947 Marshall Plan
- Speech to congress + official declaration of Cold War = Truman Doctrine
- Doctrine main goal = contain spread of communism in Europe + USSR = centre of
communist activity & movement throughout world + reoriented US foreign policy
What was the cold war?
- tension between superpowers + mutual hostility + covert war + proxy means of
upholding interests against each other + nuclear weapons development = mutual
assured destruction
Mistrust between US & USSR
- Ideology conflicted (communism threatened western ideals & way of life + dislike of
totalitarian policies i.e. forced labour, public trials, 30s deaths & purges) + (belief of
rich prospering at expense of poor)
- Russian Civil War Western Powers (Britain, France & USA) sent troops to oppose
Bolsheviks & fight for white army
- Russia + league of nations
- Mutual suspicion & distrust before WWII
> 1938 Munich Conference - USSR excluded + discussion of Czechoslovakia
> Feared German invasion + felt betrayed by west (failure curb German
expansionism prior to invasion of Poland)
> Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact limit threat of Nazi invasion (made west question
stalin’s trustworthiness)
USSR thoughts on Capitalism & The West
- Fear Invasion = German invasion 1914 & 1941
- Compensation = USSR loss of 28 million soldiers
- Misrust = fought against communists during civil war
- Stalin believed British & Americans wanted Russia to destroy itself fighting Germany
USA thoughts on Communism & USSR
- Dictatorship = USA & Britain fought 6 years against Germany + didn’t want to see
another dictator take control over Europe
- Fear of Stalin = Eastern Europe treatment
- Anger = Russia setting up pro-communist government in Poland
- McCarthyism / Red Scare = investigating people suspecting communists + careers of
communists ruined due to fear of communist spread through US
USA Capitalism
- Democracy + free elections held
- Economy = free market principles
- Private owned industry & business
- Employment = attracted by economy -> economic crisis leads to unemployment
- Wealth = big gap between rich & poor + individuals can become very wealthy at
expense of poor
- Individual freedom = freedom of speech, religion, expression & association
USSR Communism
- One party state + elections held but only vote for 1 party
- Economy = planned economy + group of planners decides production
- State owned industry & business
- Employment = most are always employed
- Wealth = wealth shared equally among the people who live in it
- Individual freedom = isn't important
Tehran Conference 1943
, - Tehran Iran + 1943 + Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin + discuss post-war Europe, future
UN & fate of Germany
- Stalin claimed territories that USSR annexed in Poland & Baltic (1939-1940) +
Poland compensated with German Territory + Churchill & Roosevelt didn’t oppose
- Key decision = British & US troops sent to France = Operation Overlord -> ensured
USSR would liberate eastern & south eastern europe by itself + be able to turn region
into soviet sphere of interest
Yalta Conference Feb 1945
- Yalta Ukraine + Feb 1945 + Allied leaders met to plan Europe after Germany’s defeat
+ Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin
- Successes + agreed on
> establishment of united nations
> division of germany into occupation zones for each power (four zones)
> Berlin (russian zone) to be split into zones
> similar arrangements for occupation of Austria
> free elections to be held in eastern europe
> stalin would join war against japan 3 months after germany’s defeat
> Baltic States Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Bessarabia would become part of USSR
- Disagreements
> Return for joining war against Japan -> Stalin wanted territorial compensation in
Manchuria & Sakhalin Island
> Allies only able to agree on ambiguous compromises regarding poland + could be
interpreted differently to West & USSR
> Agreed on Poland’s eastern border location + agreed in principle that Poland would
receive increase in territory (compensation for land lost) in north and west from land
removed from germany
> Elections would be held asap
> Appeared to be success for west but terms were vague + allowed stalin to
manipulate them + amount of land poland was receiving wasn’t fixed + democracy &
elections meant different things to the superpowers
Potsdam Conference July/August 1945
- July/August 1945 + Big Three + Potsdam (just outside Berlin)
- Germany surrendered May 1945
- Stalin, Truman (roosevelt died), Churchill (replaced by attlee after labour victory in
1945)
- Revealed distinct cooling off in relations between east & west
- Agreements:
> Germany divided into four zones of occupation
> Berlin would be divided into four zones
> Germany given chance to rebuild life on democratic & peaceful basis + elections at
some point in future
> Nazi leaders were to be put on trial
- Disagreements:
> stalin wanted germany to pay reparations for war damages
> arguments about how much USSR should be allowed to take in reparations +
western allies worried of repeating mistakes of treaty of versailles after WWI
> Poland had been an issue at Tehran and Yalta + Poland was expelling millions of
Germans + Western powers were concerned that their return to Germany (their
, zones in particular) would cause instability + requested expulsions temporarily halted
& resumed in an orderly humane manner later
> What would democratic Poland look like caused disagreement + handed over to
the council of foreign ministers to resolve
- Truman didn’t inform Stalin about nature of atomic bomb, though informed Churchill +
after conference 2 atomic bombs dropped on Japan + war ended without need for
Russian aid
- Russians declared war on Japan on 8 August & invaded Manchuria + though
annexed south Sakhalin at Yalta, allowed no part in occupation of Japan
- World entered nuclear age + raised tensions & suspicions between East & West
Satellite States
- During WWII USSR annexed independent Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia & Lithuania
+ end of WWII it annexed eastern part of poland
- Red Army (USSR) liberated Eastern Europe from Nazi control + establishment of
soviet-friendly governments in Poland, Hungary, Romania & Bulgaria (1947 & 1946)
- Czechoslovakia = communist coup took place in 1948
- Yugoslavia (1945) & Albania (1946) = people elected communist governments
- Stalin wanted Eastern European countries to act as buffer = concerned about
security of Soviet Union + wanted to prevent another invasion from Germany
- Stalin wanted Eastern European countries to help develop soviet economy (raw
materials to help industrialisation, trading partners for SU)
- Eastern Poland, East Germany, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Romania
- Western Bloc: United Kingdom, France, West Germany, United States and
considered part of the Western Bloc.
- Cuba notable satellite state of Soviet Union + maintained a close political & military
alliance with Soviet government.
1946 Iron Curtain
- Speech by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill + Fulton,Missouri, USA
- Expressed disapproval of USSR’s expansion + start of cold war
- Divide between the capitalist, democratic West & the communist, authoritarian East
1946 Long Telegram
- George Kennan (official at US Embassy in Moscow) asked to provide summary of
what soviets were up to
- Stated that USSR was heavily armed
- USSR feared rest of world
- USSR was wanting to stop spread of capitalism & couldn't peacefully co-exist with
USA
- USA stronger than USSR + communism couldn’t be contained
1946 Novikov Telegram
- Soviet response to Long Telegram
- Written by Soviet Ambassador to USA Nikolai Novikov
- Warned USA had emerged from WWII economically strong & wanted world
domination
- USSR needed secure buffer zone in Eastern Europe
1944 Truman Doctrine & 1947 Marshall Plan
- Speech to congress + official declaration of Cold War = Truman Doctrine
- Doctrine main goal = contain spread of communism in Europe + USSR = centre of
communist activity & movement throughout world + reoriented US foreign policy
