Early Tension between East and West
What was the Grand Alliance?
• An alliance during WW2 between USA, USSR and UK.
Why did Stalin agree to join the Grand Alliance?
• Stalin was forced into the arrangement by the German invasion of the USSR in June 1941
When was WW2?
• 1939-1945
When was the Tehran Conference?
• November 1943
When was the Yalta conference?
• February 1945
When was the Potsdam conference?
• July 1945
Where is Tehran?
• Capital of Iran
Where is Yalta?
• A soviet resort on the Black Sea in 1945
Who attended the Tehran conference?
• Stalin, Roosevelt, Churchill
Who attended the Yalta conference?
• Stalin, Roosevelt, Churchill
What was the Alliance like during WW2?
• There were strains in the Alliance due to the different attitudes of Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill
Why was Stalin’s relationship with Truman and Churchill strained in WW2?
• Stalin was annoyed that Britain and the USA delayed opening a second front (they did so only in
1944 with the D-Day landings)
• Stalin was convinced that the British and Americans were waiting until the USSR had been seriously
damaged by the German invaders
Why was Churchill and Stalin’s relationship particularly strained?
, • Churchill had been a staunch opponent of the Bolshevik Revolution
• As Secretary of State for war, he had supported the Bolsheviks’ enemies in the Russian Civil War of
1918-21
• As British prime minister during WW2, Churchill was suspicious of Stalin’s motives in Eastern
Europe.
• He was convinced that soviet troops would remain in countries they liberated from the Germans
What was the conflict over Poland in WW2?
• Britain went to war in September 1939 to maintain the independence of Poland
• However, Stalin believed that Soviet control of Poland was essential to prevent future invasions
• Churchill became even more suspicious of Stalin’s motives in Poland when, in April 1943, German
troops discovered a mass grave in the Katyn Forest near Smolensk
• in August 1944, the Polish resistance organised an uprising in Warsaw against the German forces
occupying the city
• The Soviet army, which had reached the outskirts of the city, halted its advance and stood by as the
uprising was brutally crushed by the Germans. This defeat left the Poles defenceless against a Soviet
occupation
How many bodies were found in the mass grave in Katyn Forest near Smolensk?
• 10,000 Polish officers bodies were found, murdered by the Soviets in 1939
Why was the first conference held in Tehran?
• Roosevelt was keen to improve relations between the three allies and agreed to hold the meeting in
Tehran, near the Soviet Union
What were the main agreements of the Tehran conference?
• Britain and USA agreed to open up a second front by invading France in May 1944
• USSR agreed to wage war against Japan once Germany was defeated
• A United Nations organisation was to be set up after the war
• An area of eastern Poland was added to the Soviet Union. At the insistence of Stalin, the borders of
post-war Poland were to be along the Oder and Neisse rivers
Why was the Tehran Conference mainly a success for Stalin?
• He achieved most of what he wanted as Roosevelt was not well during the conference and, in any
case, tended to side with Stalin rather than Churchill
• For example, Churchill’s idea of an Allied Invasion through the Balkans, thereby preventing the Red
Army from taking over all of Eastern Europe, was rejected.
What was the state of WW2 by the Yalta Conference in February 1945?
• Allied armies were closing in on Berlin and Germany was close to defeat
What was the aim of the Yalta Conference?
• So that the Grand Alliance could decide what to do with Germany and Europe once victory was
achieved in WW2
What were the main agreements of the Yalta Conference?
• USSR would enter the war with Japan once Germany had surrendered
, • Germany would be split into 4 zones (USA, Britain, France + USSR)
• Berlin would be divided into 4 zones like Germany
• All Nazi war criminals would be hunted down and tried in an international court of justice
• countries that had been liberated from occupation by the German army would be allowed to have
free elections to choose the government they wanted
• USSR, Britain and USA would all join the new United Nations Organisation in order to maintain
peace once the war ended
• Eastern Europe would be a Soviet ‘sphere of influence’
What were relations like in the Grand Alliance during the Yalta conference?
• Stalin wanted the Germans to pay huge reparations but Roosevelt and Churchill agreed that it was
insensible to punish Germany too harshly
• Stalin and Roosevelt apparently enjoyed a warm relationship, and as a result Churchill felt isolated
for most of the conference
What were the main disagreements at the Yalta conference?
• They couldn’t agree on how much Germany was to pay in reparations; Stalin wanted a much higher
figure than either Roosevelt or Churchill. The decision was delayed until the next conference
• They disagreed about Poland; Stalin wanted the Polish/German border to be much further to the
West than the western allies. He also wanted a ‘friendly’ Polish government so that his country
would have some protection from Germany. The western powers feared this would be a soviet-
controlled government. They persuaded Stalin to agree to allow free elections in Poland
What were the main changes that took place between the Yalta and Potsdam conferences (USSR)?
• Soviet troops liberated countries in Eastern Europe but didn’t remove their military presence
• Stalin set up a communist regime in Poland, ignoring the wishes of the majority of Poles and the
agreements made at Yalta. Stalin ignored protests from Britain and the USA. He insisted that his
control of Eastern Europe was a defensive measure against possible future attacks
• The Red Army was the biggest in the world, but Stalin refused to cut down his armed forces after
WW2, unlike the demilitarisation occurring in the west
Which countries in Eastern Europe were occupied by the USSR by July 1945 (Potsdam conference)?
• Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Finland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania
• (8)
What were the main changes that took place between the Yalta and Potsdam conferences (Britain)?
• Halfway through the Potsdam Conference, Churchill was defeated in the British general election and
was replaced by Clement Attlee
What were the main changes that took place between the Yalta and Potsdam conferences (USA)?
• In April 1945, Roosevelt died. His vice-president Truman replaced him.
• On 16 July 1945, the Americans successfully testes an atomic bomb at a desert site in the USA. At
the start of the Potsdam conference, Truman informed Stalin who was furious that he hadn’t been
consulted beforehand
What were the ideological differences between Truman and Roosevelt?
• Truman was totally different from Roosevelt and distrusted Stalin.
, • He was convinced the USSR intended to take over the whole of Europe and was determined to stand
up to the Soviet leader
What were the agreements made about Germany in the Potsdam Conference?
• Germany and Berlin were to be divided as previously agreed
• Germany was to be demilitarised
• democracy was to be re-established in Germany, including free elections, a free press and freedom of
speech
• Germany had to pay reparations to the Allies in equipment and materials, most of it going to the
USSR, which had suffered most.
• Nazi party was banned; Nazis were removed from important positions and leading Nazis were put on
trial for war crimes at Nuremberg in 1946
• The USSR would be given a quarter of the industrial foods made in the western zones in Germany in
return for food and coal from the Soviet zone
What were the agreements made about Poland in the Potsdam conference?
• Poland’s frontier was to be moved westwards to the rivers Oder and Neisse
What were the agreements made about the Grand Alliance in the Potsdam Conference?
• Full participation in the United Nations Organisation
What were the disagreements on Germany in the Potsdam conference?
• twenty million Russians had died during the war and Stalin wanted massive compensation that
would’ve totally and permanently crippled Germany.
• Truman refused, seeing a revived Germany as a barrier to future soviet expansion
• Stalin wanted to disable Germany completely to protect the USSR against future threats
• Truman didn’t want Germany to be punished as it had with the Treaty of Versailles in 1919. It had
ended WW1 and Germany was unable to negotiate the terms of the settlement and so the treaty was
hated by the Germans, which some believed lead to Hitler’s rapid invasions
What were the ideological disagreement in the Potsdam conference?
• Truman and Stalin differed in their views about free elections
• Truman wanted free elections in the countries of Eastern Europe occupied by Soviet troops
• Stalin refused to submit to US pressure, believing it was unwelcome interference
• Truman was furious as begun a ‘get tough’ policy against the USSR
What did the USSR do after the end of WW2?
• The USSR tightened its grip on the states in Eastern Europe which had been liberated.
• This increased the rivalry with the USA who were genuinely concerned about the spread of
communism
What were the reasons for the expansion of the USSR in 1945?
• Memory of what happened in 1918-39
• Percentages deal
• Strategic importance of Poland
• security
How did ‘memory of what happened in 1918-39’ lead to the expansion of the USSR in 1945?
What was the Grand Alliance?
• An alliance during WW2 between USA, USSR and UK.
Why did Stalin agree to join the Grand Alliance?
• Stalin was forced into the arrangement by the German invasion of the USSR in June 1941
When was WW2?
• 1939-1945
When was the Tehran Conference?
• November 1943
When was the Yalta conference?
• February 1945
When was the Potsdam conference?
• July 1945
Where is Tehran?
• Capital of Iran
Where is Yalta?
• A soviet resort on the Black Sea in 1945
Who attended the Tehran conference?
• Stalin, Roosevelt, Churchill
Who attended the Yalta conference?
• Stalin, Roosevelt, Churchill
What was the Alliance like during WW2?
• There were strains in the Alliance due to the different attitudes of Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill
Why was Stalin’s relationship with Truman and Churchill strained in WW2?
• Stalin was annoyed that Britain and the USA delayed opening a second front (they did so only in
1944 with the D-Day landings)
• Stalin was convinced that the British and Americans were waiting until the USSR had been seriously
damaged by the German invaders
Why was Churchill and Stalin’s relationship particularly strained?
, • Churchill had been a staunch opponent of the Bolshevik Revolution
• As Secretary of State for war, he had supported the Bolsheviks’ enemies in the Russian Civil War of
1918-21
• As British prime minister during WW2, Churchill was suspicious of Stalin’s motives in Eastern
Europe.
• He was convinced that soviet troops would remain in countries they liberated from the Germans
What was the conflict over Poland in WW2?
• Britain went to war in September 1939 to maintain the independence of Poland
• However, Stalin believed that Soviet control of Poland was essential to prevent future invasions
• Churchill became even more suspicious of Stalin’s motives in Poland when, in April 1943, German
troops discovered a mass grave in the Katyn Forest near Smolensk
• in August 1944, the Polish resistance organised an uprising in Warsaw against the German forces
occupying the city
• The Soviet army, which had reached the outskirts of the city, halted its advance and stood by as the
uprising was brutally crushed by the Germans. This defeat left the Poles defenceless against a Soviet
occupation
How many bodies were found in the mass grave in Katyn Forest near Smolensk?
• 10,000 Polish officers bodies were found, murdered by the Soviets in 1939
Why was the first conference held in Tehran?
• Roosevelt was keen to improve relations between the three allies and agreed to hold the meeting in
Tehran, near the Soviet Union
What were the main agreements of the Tehran conference?
• Britain and USA agreed to open up a second front by invading France in May 1944
• USSR agreed to wage war against Japan once Germany was defeated
• A United Nations organisation was to be set up after the war
• An area of eastern Poland was added to the Soviet Union. At the insistence of Stalin, the borders of
post-war Poland were to be along the Oder and Neisse rivers
Why was the Tehran Conference mainly a success for Stalin?
• He achieved most of what he wanted as Roosevelt was not well during the conference and, in any
case, tended to side with Stalin rather than Churchill
• For example, Churchill’s idea of an Allied Invasion through the Balkans, thereby preventing the Red
Army from taking over all of Eastern Europe, was rejected.
What was the state of WW2 by the Yalta Conference in February 1945?
• Allied armies were closing in on Berlin and Germany was close to defeat
What was the aim of the Yalta Conference?
• So that the Grand Alliance could decide what to do with Germany and Europe once victory was
achieved in WW2
What were the main agreements of the Yalta Conference?
• USSR would enter the war with Japan once Germany had surrendered
, • Germany would be split into 4 zones (USA, Britain, France + USSR)
• Berlin would be divided into 4 zones like Germany
• All Nazi war criminals would be hunted down and tried in an international court of justice
• countries that had been liberated from occupation by the German army would be allowed to have
free elections to choose the government they wanted
• USSR, Britain and USA would all join the new United Nations Organisation in order to maintain
peace once the war ended
• Eastern Europe would be a Soviet ‘sphere of influence’
What were relations like in the Grand Alliance during the Yalta conference?
• Stalin wanted the Germans to pay huge reparations but Roosevelt and Churchill agreed that it was
insensible to punish Germany too harshly
• Stalin and Roosevelt apparently enjoyed a warm relationship, and as a result Churchill felt isolated
for most of the conference
What were the main disagreements at the Yalta conference?
• They couldn’t agree on how much Germany was to pay in reparations; Stalin wanted a much higher
figure than either Roosevelt or Churchill. The decision was delayed until the next conference
• They disagreed about Poland; Stalin wanted the Polish/German border to be much further to the
West than the western allies. He also wanted a ‘friendly’ Polish government so that his country
would have some protection from Germany. The western powers feared this would be a soviet-
controlled government. They persuaded Stalin to agree to allow free elections in Poland
What were the main changes that took place between the Yalta and Potsdam conferences (USSR)?
• Soviet troops liberated countries in Eastern Europe but didn’t remove their military presence
• Stalin set up a communist regime in Poland, ignoring the wishes of the majority of Poles and the
agreements made at Yalta. Stalin ignored protests from Britain and the USA. He insisted that his
control of Eastern Europe was a defensive measure against possible future attacks
• The Red Army was the biggest in the world, but Stalin refused to cut down his armed forces after
WW2, unlike the demilitarisation occurring in the west
Which countries in Eastern Europe were occupied by the USSR by July 1945 (Potsdam conference)?
• Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Finland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania
• (8)
What were the main changes that took place between the Yalta and Potsdam conferences (Britain)?
• Halfway through the Potsdam Conference, Churchill was defeated in the British general election and
was replaced by Clement Attlee
What were the main changes that took place between the Yalta and Potsdam conferences (USA)?
• In April 1945, Roosevelt died. His vice-president Truman replaced him.
• On 16 July 1945, the Americans successfully testes an atomic bomb at a desert site in the USA. At
the start of the Potsdam conference, Truman informed Stalin who was furious that he hadn’t been
consulted beforehand
What were the ideological differences between Truman and Roosevelt?
• Truman was totally different from Roosevelt and distrusted Stalin.
, • He was convinced the USSR intended to take over the whole of Europe and was determined to stand
up to the Soviet leader
What were the agreements made about Germany in the Potsdam Conference?
• Germany and Berlin were to be divided as previously agreed
• Germany was to be demilitarised
• democracy was to be re-established in Germany, including free elections, a free press and freedom of
speech
• Germany had to pay reparations to the Allies in equipment and materials, most of it going to the
USSR, which had suffered most.
• Nazi party was banned; Nazis were removed from important positions and leading Nazis were put on
trial for war crimes at Nuremberg in 1946
• The USSR would be given a quarter of the industrial foods made in the western zones in Germany in
return for food and coal from the Soviet zone
What were the agreements made about Poland in the Potsdam conference?
• Poland’s frontier was to be moved westwards to the rivers Oder and Neisse
What were the agreements made about the Grand Alliance in the Potsdam Conference?
• Full participation in the United Nations Organisation
What were the disagreements on Germany in the Potsdam conference?
• twenty million Russians had died during the war and Stalin wanted massive compensation that
would’ve totally and permanently crippled Germany.
• Truman refused, seeing a revived Germany as a barrier to future soviet expansion
• Stalin wanted to disable Germany completely to protect the USSR against future threats
• Truman didn’t want Germany to be punished as it had with the Treaty of Versailles in 1919. It had
ended WW1 and Germany was unable to negotiate the terms of the settlement and so the treaty was
hated by the Germans, which some believed lead to Hitler’s rapid invasions
What were the ideological disagreement in the Potsdam conference?
• Truman and Stalin differed in their views about free elections
• Truman wanted free elections in the countries of Eastern Europe occupied by Soviet troops
• Stalin refused to submit to US pressure, believing it was unwelcome interference
• Truman was furious as begun a ‘get tough’ policy against the USSR
What did the USSR do after the end of WW2?
• The USSR tightened its grip on the states in Eastern Europe which had been liberated.
• This increased the rivalry with the USA who were genuinely concerned about the spread of
communism
What were the reasons for the expansion of the USSR in 1945?
• Memory of what happened in 1918-39
• Percentages deal
• Strategic importance of Poland
• security
How did ‘memory of what happened in 1918-39’ lead to the expansion of the USSR in 1945?
