an overview, as background, of the nature of the origins and early development of the Cold War to 1948 Flashcards
Clash of Ideologies
- The nature of both ideologies meant that they were unable to coexist
- There was deep mistrust of communism in the West – particularly the lack of democracy
- Democracy had a different meaning for communists and for those in the West – one saw it as a camouflage for capitalism whereas the West saw it in terms of liberty and freedom of the individual, equality before the law and representative government (based on an elected majority and not equated to or in terms of economic liberty)
- The idea behind democracy is to prevent monopoly of political power and thus those is the west were opposed to dictatorships
- Both had different views on religion and the communists did not believe religion was necessary and there were attacks and persecution on the churches
Russia and the Bolshevik Revolution
- Communism was first seen put into practice when Vladimir Lenin, leader of the Bolshevik party, seized power in October 1917, who then established the USSR which was formed in 1922
- Eventually Russia and the USSR fell under the control and leadership of Joseph Stalin who transformed Russia into a totalitarian socialist state
- Bolshevik idea that communist revolutions needed to take place in other parts of the world caused angst amongst the Western Powers
- Immediate hostility with Western Powers started when Lenin repudiated Russia’s foreign debt and nationalised all industry (including those owned by foreigner investors)
- Further tension created with foreign intervention in the Russian Civil War in support of the White Armies
- The idea behind this support was the prevention of Bolshevism from spreading to Germany which was in turmoil and vulnerable after WW1
- The Western allies feared the whole of Europe would be at risk
- The formation of Poland so far east helped to isolate Russia geographically from Western and central Europe
- The creation of the nations of Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania after WW1 helped further this, leading to the creation of a “Cordon Sanitaire”, a zone of states to prevent the spread of communism to the rest of Europe
- Nevertheless, the USSR did not stop from supporting subversive activities carried out by communist groups or sympathizers, through the activities of the Comintern which was created in 1919 to coordinate the efforts of communists around the world to achieve a worldwide revolution
Soviet foreign pre and post World War Two
- Nazi Germany became a threat to Soviet security, particularly through its policies of living space and hatred for communism
- Thus Stalin attempted to create a defensive alliance with France and Britain
- However, mistrust and the decisions made without the Soviet Union at the Munich conference led to a breakdown in relations
- Hitler’s invasion of the rest of Czechoslovakia caused France and Britain to recommence negotiations but once again due to mutual mistrust eventually broke down
- Stalin’s priority was the defence of the Soviet Union and the recovery of the former parts of the Russian Empire
- Thus negotiations took place between USSR and Germany and ultimately led to the signing of the Soviet-German Non-Aggression Pact which declared:
o each side would not fight each other for 10 years
o the division of Poland
o the outlining of Soviet and German spheres of influence (Soviets wanted the Baltic States) - Stalin used the opportunity (and break from conflict) to build up his military defences (and personnel which had been severely affected by the purges)
- However, this changed when Germany invaded Russia in 1941 became allied with Britain against Nazi Germany
- In addition, after Japan’s bombing of Pearl Harbour, Germany was now confronted with the Grand Alliance of Britain, the USA and the USSR, the leaders of which became known as the Big Three (Joseph Stalin, Winston Churchill and Franklin Delano Roosevelt)
- However, the USSR, Britain and USA also had conflicting aims for post war Europe – which reignited tension and distrust
- Stalin wanted to create a geographical buffer of friendly Eastern European countries to safeguard against future aggression from the west
- This ‘barrier’ was to be created from the lands invaded (‘liberated’) by the Red Army on its march toward Berlin
- The USSR liberated from the east in 1944 – Finland, Poland, Romania and Bulgaria; 1944-45 – Hungary and Czechoslovakia; 1944-45 provided military aid to Yugoslavia
- The US, Britain and their allies liberated in 1943-1945 – Italy and Greece and 1944-1945 – France and Western Europe
- Thus, Eastern Europe was under the control of the Red Army while Western Europe was firmly within the sphere of the British and US
- Stalin’s main concerns were to secure Soviet borders and gain reparations from the defeated powers (Germany)
o To gain security the USSR absorbed the eastern third of Poland, East Prussia, the Baltic States and Moldavia
o Stalin also encouraged the Communist Parties of Eastern Europe to control governments - In Asia, the Soviet Union greatly expanded its influence by the occupation in 1945 of most of Manchuria and of North Korea
Yalta Conference
4 to 11 February 1945
Purpose: Plans for finishing the war and to lay the foundations of the coming peace
- Germany was to be weakened by splitting it between the USSR and the West
- German industry confiscated
- War criminals prosecuted
- Central and eastern European nations were to be given the opportunity to elect representative governments
- Stalin was determined to set up Poland as a Moscow-friendly communist buffer state
o The West had to give in to Stalin because both Roosevelt and Churchill needed Russian assurances that the USSR would join in the unfinished was against Japan (as bomb wasn’t ready)
Potsdam Conference
Purpose: To negotiate terms for the end of World War II
* Big Three had changed – Churchill with Attlee and Roosevelt with Truman
* Germany remained in four zones overseen by an Allied Control Commission which was composed of the military commanders from each of the four occupying powers
o Soviet Union = Marshal Georgy Zhukov and USA = General Dwight Eisenhower
* Germany was to be demilitarised, democratised and denazified and war criminals should be arrest and tried
* The new boundary between Germany and Poland was established along the Oder and Western Neisse Rivers
* Stalin wanted a generous reparation settlement
o The USSR was allowed to demand reparations of its Soviet-occupied German zone
o Britain and the USA would grant 10% of these reparations to the Soviets and a further 15% in exchange for the supply of food and raw materials from the Soviet zone
* Truman told Stalin that the US had successfully detonated an atomic bomb
o Thus USA no longer needed Russia to help in war against Japan and some historians believe that Truman used it to stop Russians from joining in the war (didn’t want it to become another Germany)
o The American monopoly on nuclear power had little effect on Soviet policy
o In December 1945, the Soviets agreed to the establishment of the United Nations Atomic Energy Commission
* Council of Ministers (whose role was to sort out the German problems and prepare the peace treaties) was formed to negotiate peace treaties with the former Axis powers of Italy, Romania, Bulgaria, Finland and Hungary
o It wasn’t until February 1947 that the Paris Peace Treaties were finally concluded
Truman Doctrine
- During a speech to Congress on 12 March 1947, US President Truman announced a policy of containment (the realisation that if communism could not be eradicated, it must be prevented from spreading further).
- The British Government, as of March 31, would no longer provide military and economic assistance to the Greek Government in its civil war against the Greek Communist Party
- Truman asked Congress to support the Greek Government against the Communists
o They agreed to $400 million aid immediately - At the time, the U.S. Government believed if the Communists prevailed in the Greek civil war, the Soviets would ultimately influence Greek policy
- Truman argued that the United States was compelled to assist “free peoples” in their struggles against “totalitarian regimes,” because the spread of authoritarianism would “undermine the foundations of international peace and hence the security of the United States.”
- In the words of the Truman Doctrine, it became “the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures.”
- Truman argued that the United States could no longer stand by and allow the forcible expansion of Soviet totalitarianism into free, independent nations, because American national security now depended upon more than just the physical security of American territory
- The Truman Doctrine was designed to deal with the specific threat to Greece and Turkey, but the situation throughout Western Europe was no less alarming and Western Europe would shortly be on the brink of economic ruin
Marshall Plan
- It was in this critical situation (Europe on the brink of economic ruin) that Secretary of State George C. Marshall issued a call for a comprehensive program to rebuild Europe
- Marshall announced this policy on 5 June 1947 (in a speech at Harvard)
o ‘The truth of the matter’, he said, ‘is that Europe’s requirements for the next three or four years of foreign goods and other essential products – principally from America – are so much greater than her ability to pay that she must have substantial additional help, or face economic, social and political deterioration of a very grave character’ - Immediately this offer was accepted by the British and French governments
- Fanned by the fear of Communist expansion and the rapid deterioration of European economies in the winter of 1946–1947, Congress passed the Economic Cooperation Act in March 1948 and approved funding that would eventually rise to over $12 billion for the rebuilding of Western Europe
o Congress passed it on the understanding that it would be offered to all European nations and not just Western Europe (but Stalin would never accept it and the Soviet response was to tighten control over Eastern Europe) - In order to ensure containment, the US introduced Marshall Aid. This was the process of delivering economic aid, including food, machinery, building materials, expertise and in some cases money, to countries in Europe that were seen to be in danger of being taken over by communists
- The theory was that if a country was prosperous and its people were happy, then support for communism would not exist
- Between 1947 and 1952 $15 billion was given to Western Europe to rebuild itself
- By 1950 European production had returned to 1938 levels, shortages had ended, political stability had been achieved and the nations of Western Europe entered into a period of economic boom (that lasted until the 1970s)
- However, the danger to the Western democracies was not only economic and Russia had armed forces amounting to some 4.5 million men
- The Soviets also formed Cominform (Communist Information Bureau) to coordinate the activities of the communist states and encourage international communist solidarity (particularly in the face of Marshall aid)
Germany and the Berlin Blockade
At the end of the Second World War, US, British, and Soviet military forces divided and occupied Germany
* Also divided into occupation zones, Berlin was located far inside Soviet-controlled eastern Germany
* The United States, United Kingdom, and France controlled western portions of the city, while Soviet troops controlled the eastern sector
* In May 1947 the British and US merged their zones to create Bizonia
* By 1947 the policies of the West and USSR over Germany were in conflict
* The Russians were opposed to the West’s idea of German reconstruction
* The West encouraged democratic parties to form and began to plan for a new democratic state
* Stalin opposed these developments and this contributed to a decline in cooperation and friendly relations between the two (and a breakdown in the Grand Alliance of WW2)
* In 1948 the US, British and French merged their zones of occupation and were planning a new West German state
* The USSR opposed this and the introduction of the Deutschmark
* In February 1948 the Soviets walked out of the Allied Control Council
* As the wartime alliance between the Western Allies and the Soviet Union ended and friendly relations turned hostile, the question of whether the western occupation zones in Berlin would remain under Western Allied control or whether the city would be absorbed into Soviet-controlled eastern Germany led to the first Berlin crisis of the Cold War
* Stalin had hoped that the Western Powers would abandon West Berlin
* The crisis started on June 24, 1948, when Soviet forces blockaded rail, road, and water access to Allied-controlled areas of Berlin
o Soviets claimed the blockade on “technical difficulties”
o Another reason was to prevent the old devalued currency flooding into East Berlin (the West introduced Deutschmark into West Berlin and ended rationing)
* The United States and United Kingdom responded by airlifting food and fuel to Berlin from Allied airbases in western Germany
* Over the period of the blockade 2 million tonnes of goods were flown into the city
* The crisis ended on May 12, 1949, when Soviet forces lifted the blockade on land access to western Berlin
Eastern Europe
- In Eastern Europe the USSR established pro Soviet communist government
- This resulted in Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, and Albania becoming communist
- The West protested, but they had agreed at Yalta that East Europe would be a Soviet sphere of influence
o Yugoslavia had an independent communist government led by Tito – a popular partisan leader
By mid 1949 the USSR had broken off relations with Yugoslavia and it had been expelled from Cominform
Eastern European nations were forced to purge their communist parties of ‘Titoists’ and declare their loyalty to Stalin - Stalin had agreed that Britain would retain her pre-war control in Greece
- In February 1948 Stalin aided the Czech communists in a political coup
o This helped fuel the West’s anti-communist sentiment and determination to prevent the spread of communism
