Chapter 2: Events in late 1940s Flashcards
When was Kennan’s ‘Long Telegram’ sent?
22nd February 1946, written by George Kennan.
What was the ‘Long Telegram’ fundamental in shaping?
US policy towards the Soviet Union and ultimately determining the USA’s role as a global power.
What approach did Kennan think the USA should adopt?
A hard line against the USSR. Before Yalta he had supported the idea of splitting Europe into spheres of influence and thereby defining a line across which Soviet and communist influence could not cross. After Yalta he came to recognise the failings of Roosevelt’s plan for cooperation and the creation of a democratic post-War structure. For Kennan, communism was uncompromising in its ideological threat to the free world.
What did Kennan believe Stalin wanted?
To replace, in the minds of the Soviet people, the fear of Germany and Japan with the fear of the USA and Britain. This would legitimise the Stalinist regime but it meant that any attempt at compromise with Stalin would be futile.
What did Kennan think was going to happen between East-West relations?
The collapse in relations was to be inevitable. He believed that the primary culprit for this was the Soviet Union due to its intent to demonise the West for domestic political reasons.
Kennan emphasised that the USSR viewed the West as..
hostile and menacing.
What conclusions did Kennan draw in the direction of US foreign policy?
Argued that the US must be prepared to threaten the use of force and ensure unity among its allies. He urged the USA to adopt a proactive role, particularly in Europe. His telegram referred to the urgency for action by the USA.
How did Kennan’s ‘X’ article resonate with Truman?
Resonated with his growing certainty that the Soviet Union was not only an enemy of Western democratic values but also a threat to the USA’s security.
What did the USA and the USSR have in common by early 1946 regarding security?
The USA’s security had become as powerful a force in the emerging post-war international relations as had that of the Soviet Union. Isolationism was not the way to protect the USA’s vital national interests.
What was the overall impact of the ‘Long Telegram’?
To feed the seeds of change, but the change would come a year later. Another pressure on Truman came quickly in the wake of Kennan’s message (Iron Curtain).
When was Churchill’s Iron Curtain speech?
March 1946.
What was the Iron Curtain speech?
Churchill, although no longer Britain’s PM, delivered a direct attack on Soviet policies.
What did the Iron Curtain speech convince Stalin of?
That the USA was complicit in a plot with Churcill and Britain to carry out an anti-Soviet ideological assault.
Iron Curtain Quote
“An Iron Curtain has descended across the Continent”, separating the communist EE with the democratic WE.
What was Stalin’s response to Churchill’s Iron Curtain?
The impact of the speech was felt more strongly by Stalin than it was by Truman. 10 days after Churchill’s speech, Stalin’s response was delivered, “these countries should have government whose relations wih the Soviet Union are loyal”. Stalin’s response presented a benign Soviet Union peacefully seeking Eastern European allies in order to reinforce the USSR’s security. This was the traditional Soviet explanation for its policies towards EE.
