Developing Tensions Up To 1948 Flashcards
What was Stalin’s initial focus?
- influence, rather than ideological expansion
- however, Stalins actions in Eastern Europe were motivated by a determination to do whatever was necessary to safeguard Soviet international interests and Soviet territory
- initial intent was to establish a defence zone to the west of the USSR based on satellite states - this was completed by 1948
- geopolitical + mercantile agenda rather than just ideological
What did the USSR succeed in doing by 1948?
-succeeded in establishing communist regimes in Eastern European countries - Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Albania , Czechoslovakia (all had pro soviet governments)
- buffer zone of allies reinforced defence of the USSR
- However, communist regimes were not forcibly imposed
-opposition candidates were intimated + election results were manipulated
How successful was the communist party in Czechoslovakia post war?
- in the relatively free elections held in May 1946, the communist party emerged as the largest single party and won 38% of the vote
Why did Eastern European countries flock towards communism after world war 2?
- war had left many states with mass unemployment and economic chaos
- communism offered a much better prospect than capitalism and the economic elite associated with it
- many perceived the communists as freedom fighters due to their struggle against nazism
- communism promised employment and social mobility
How did Stalin want the leaders of Eastern European states to function?
- as Stalinist puppets; the purity of communist ideology operating in Eastern European states was not a high priority for Stalin, but rather a consolidation of his power + security for the USSR
Was the existence of the exiled Polish Government significant?
- no, Stalin had still established a pro-ussr Lublin government which became an instrument of political control in Poland
- Stalin failed to conform to the full range of Yalta agreements as far as Poland was concerned - he agreed to free elections at Yalta, therefore he was able to preserve the Lublin gov.
What was formed in Poland in June 1945?
- The provisional government of national unity
- became typical of Stalin’s pluralist approach as he did not just enforce Soviet governments, but instead gave the impression of allowing free elections
- to some extent, Poland became a testing ground for Stalin’s methodology, but it was a model he was prepared to deviate from if necessary
Who led the Polish peasant party?
- Stanislaw Mikolajczyk - but the communists weakened this group by strengthening their own links with the Polish socialists
When did the polish socialists and communists merge?
- January 1947 - communists became the dominant group within this merger
What was a limitation of Soviet control in Poland?
- not all polish communists were pro Moscow, such as Wladyslaw Gomulka
- Gomulka declared that the poles should have the right to determine their own future since they fought for their own liberation
- opposed soviet policies as he felt they were irrelevant in Poland
- in 1948, Gomulka was accused of “nationalist deviation” and replaced by a compliant, pro-Stalinist Boleslaw Bierut
-Poland was now safely under soviet influence
How did communism make its way to Romania?
- communists were popular in Romania because they offered an alternative to the pre war regime
- Romania had actively taken part in the Nazi German invasion of the USSR, so the Soviets treated Romania as occupied territory and the red army remained
-these two factors made it relatively easy for Stalin to secure Romania as part of his sphere of influence - opposition was minimal
When did Petru Groza become Prime Minister of Romania?
- March 1945 - he was leader of the “Ploughmen’s Front” (Romanian communists)
- his government seemed broad, including members of most major pre war parties
What was King Michael’s attitude towards the situation in Romania?
- he was not content with the direction his government was taking
- Michael attempted to force Groza’s resignation by refusing to give him royal permissions and sign legislation - but these efforts were futile as Groza just chose to enact laws without bothering to obtain Michael’s signature
- despite Michael’s disapproval, the first Groza government brought land reform + women’s suffrage
How much of the vote did the Romanian CP gain in the November 1946 elections?
- 84% of the votes
- elections were falsified - intimidation tactics used, electoral fraud etc
- after successfully forming a government, communists began to remove the role of centrist parties by imprisoning their leaders
- other parties were forced to merge with communists
What happened in Romania in December 1947?
- King Michael was held at gunpoint and forced to abdicate
- Romania was successfully part of Stalin’s sphere of influence
Where else in Europe were communist parties rising in influence?
-Italy and France
Why was communism popular in France and Italy?
- the communists were predominant forces in Nazi resistance + post war economic crisis
How large was the communist party in France in November 1946?
- the PCF became the largest party in french parliament, with 182 seats out of 627 (roughly 29%)
Why did communism not expand further into the West?
- Stalin held back the leaders of both the French and Italian CPS
- he had no interest in undermining the West’s capitalist bloc - he did not intend to consolidate power in the Western zones
How did communism take over Hungary?
- used the tactic of allying with other political groups in order to challenge their greatest opponent - the smallholders party
- political opponents were arrested and elections were manipulated
- many Hungarian communists did not display the level of loyalty Stalin desired - eg close links with Yugoslavia were formed
- In 1949, Hungarian communist leader Laszlo Rajk was executed for anti soviet activities
- by 1949, all political opposition to the Moscow- backed communists had disappeared
Why was Czechoslovakia different to the rest of Eastern Europe?
- industrialised + had a large working class
Why were Czech communists popular among the rural peasants?
- because they had given them land at the end of the war
When did the Czech communist party leader, Klement Gottwald, become PM?
- July 1946
What was klement gottwald’s fatal error?
- his willingness to accept western economic aid in 1947 via the Marshall plan
- there was also growing opposition to communism from non communist groups - but members of these groups who were in government resigned in 1948
When did the president of Czechoslovakia resign?
- Edward benes resigned in June 1948 - left the pro Moscow communists in complete control
What was the case of Yugoslavia?
- initially pro USSR
-Tito was a committed Stalinist - communist movement in Yugoslavia was firmly in place after the war and its leader was seen as an iconic nationalist
- by 1948, it appeared that Soviet influence over Yugoslavia was limited
-Conflict between tito and Stalin was centred around Stalin’s determination to impose Soviet control over southern and Eastern Europe, particularly through their foreign and economic policies
-Yugoslavs refused to become soviet puppets
When was Yugoslavia expelled from the cominform?
- June 1948
- its leaders were accused of abandoning Marxist-Leninism and thereby no longer conforming to an acceptable political position
-Yugoslavia was able to survive because the USA was willing to offer economic aid - any state opposed by the USSR was viewed as a friend of the US
Who delivered the long telegram?
- George Kennan, the charge d’affaires in the US embassy in Moscow
When was the long telegram?
- February 22nd 1946
What did the long telegram contain?
- 8,000 word telegram to Washington on the aggressive nature of Stalin’s foreign policy
-Kennan had long favoured a hard stance against the USSR - He believed that Stalin wanted to replace the fear of Germany and japan with the fear of the USA and Britain - which would help legitimise Stalin’s regime
- emphasised that the USSR viewed the west as hostile and menacing
-urged the USA to take a more proactive role
What did Kennan also produce alongside the telegram?
- The “X” article - he focused on containment
-“ firm and vigilant containment of Russian expansive tendencies” - resonated with Truman’s growing certainty that the USSR was an enemy of both western democracy and USA security
What did the Soviet ambassador in Washington, Nikolai Novikov say about USA foreign policy?
- argued that US foreign policy is based on economic imperialism + that the aim of the USA was to use its economic power to make states dependent upon it in order to establish its own global supremacy
What was abandoned as a result of this?
- the idea of isolationism- could no longer protect US vital interests
- impact of the long telegram was to feed the seeds of change - but came a year later
When did Churchill deliver the iron curtain speech?
- 6th March 1946
- in Fulton, Missouri
What did the Iron curtain speech contain?
- an attack on Soviet policies
- “an iron curtain has descended across the continent”
- criticised Soviet sphere of influence - argued they were under “high measuring control from Moscow”
What was the soviet response to the iron curtain speech?
- Stalin compared Churchill to hitler who aimed at “Anglo saxon […] racial domination “
- the speech gave him a pretext for mobilising the soviet people against their former allies
- By October 1946, Molotov accused the USA of being an imperialistic power and effectively abandoned the Decleration on liberated Europe agreed at Yalta
When did the emergence of a Cold War seem irreversible?
- by September 1946
What sphere of influence did Greece initially belong in?
- British - Stalin had agreed to this
Who was the Greek civil war between?
- Monarchists and Greek communists - another phase of the war erupted after Greece was liberated from Nazi control
When did Britain announce they could no longer provide aid to the anti communists?
- February 1947
- US took over as a result to assume the financial burden
Who led the Greek communists?
- Markos Vafiadis, leader of the KKE
Who was aiding the KKE?
- Stalin did not aid the KKE, but Yugoslavia’s Tito was.
- Stalin was distrustful of revolutions that took place outside of his control
When was the Truman doctrine?
- 12th march 1947
What was the significance of the Truman doctrine?
-the Truman doctrine was the first in a series of containment moves by the United States
-Truman insisted that if Greece and turkey did not receive necessary aid, they would full to communism (domino theory)
-Truman did not turn to the UN as the arbiter of the dispute in Greece - although this could have been because he was convinced that the USSR would use its veto power to prevent any UN peacekeeping intervention in the Greek civil war
What were the motives behind the Truman doctrine?
- designed to protect democracy, no aggressive intent
- instead, it was a direct response to Stalin’s actions in Eastern Europe
- Truman needed to demonise the USSR + communism in the eyes of the people + justify his aim to protect the US’ vital national interests
When was the cominform set up?
- September 1947
Who was a part of the cominform?
- initially had 9 members - including Romania, Hungary, Czechoslovakia etc
Why was the cominform established?
- as a response to the Marshall plan
-communist representatives from across Europe were summoned to a meeting in Poland in preparation for cominform
-activities included publishing propaganda - Andrea Zhandov, a soviet leader + speaker at this meeting was committed in his belief that the US wanted to establish an anti soviet empire based on economic dependency upon the US
-the purpose of the cominform was to unite and coordinate the role and actions of communist groups through out Europe
