breakdown of East-West relations Flashcards
1
Q
Breakdown of East-West relations
A
- soviet expansionism and the USSR’s demand for recognition of its right to have a safe ‘buffer zone’ against aggression in the future
- the Long Telegram: a report sent to Washington from Moscow by the American diplomat George Kennan in February 1946, urging the US to take action to contain the spread of communism in Europe
- Winston Churchill’s speech at Fulton, Missouri in March 1946 warning of an iron curtain dividing
- the announcement of the Truman Doctrine in March 1947, committing the US to a policy of containment
- the Marshall Plan for US aid for European economic recovery; and the hostile soviet response to the plan
- the Berlin Blockade of a 1948 to 1949, hardening the division of Germany
- the formation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) in 1949. The establishment of this Atlantic Alliance for the defence of Europe was seen by the USSR as a hostile act. By this time the Cold War was fully formed.
2
Q
Stage 1 - the long telegram and the iron curtain speech
A
- The US fear of Soviet expansionism was exacerbated by a telegram sent to Washington from Moscow in February 1946, by the American diplomat George Kennan. Kennan was a long-serving American expert on soviet affairs, who had been sent to Moscow after war. It became known as the Long Telegram.
- The horror with the capitalist West viewed what was happening in eastern Europe was made clear in a speech delivered by the British ex-Prime in which he claimed that an ‘Iron Curtain’ had descended across Europe. Churchill spoke of ‘communist fifth columns’ in western and southern Europe and advised ‘strength’ in dealing with USSR.
3
Q
containment and Marshall plan
A
- 1947, Western Europe in crisis, fears of complete economic collapse and of political instability
- In March 1947, the Truman doctrine asserted the new US policy of containment and rolling back communism.
- June 1947 introduction of the Marshall plan; a massive injection of aid to rebuild Europe. The plan was an offer of assistance open to all European countries, East as well as West, but many historians believe the Marshall plan to be a political weapon, deliberately designed to extend American influence
4
Q
pt.2
A
- Stalin was convinced the Plan was fundamentally hostile to soviet interests, part of a drive towards US economic and political dominance
- feared that US would rebuild the industrial economy of Western Germany, leading to resurgence of German power.
- Soviet Bloc countries were pressured to turn down and reject Marshall aid
- Feb 1948, Kliment Gottwald, leader of communists in Czechoslovakia, took full control of the government, the West regarded it as a communist coup, whereas Stalin and Gottwald saw it as a victorious February
- the timing of the coup in Czechoslovakia intensified splits between East and West over the Marshall plan
5
Q
Berlin Blockade
A
- communist take over in Czechoslovakia set the context for the Berlin crisis in 1948. There was a clear separation between the soviet zone and the British-American-French zones.
- Berlin was an island within the soviet zone, and Stalin had always seen Berlin as a single city where Soviet interests ought to be paramount
- Stalin was frustrated by the way Soviet control had slipped since 1945, and was especially alarmed by the introduction of a separate currency in the Western zones in June 1948; the next day Stalin launched the Berlin blockade, cutting off all road and rail links between berlin and the west
6
Q
Pt.2
A
- Stalin believed the blockade was a trump card. He calculated that the Western powers were not willing to risk war. The economic squeeze on West Berlin would force the US into settling the Berlin question on Soviet terms. But Stalin’s plan was defeated by the Berlin airlift.
- the operation flew essential supplies into West Berlin throughout the winter of 1948-49. The West calculated that Stalin wouldn’t shoot down any of the aircrafts
- After 318 days, Stalin called off the blockade in May 1949
