Early tension between east and west Flashcards
Stalin’s suspicion of the west
The USSR had been attacked previously, Germany had invaded Russia in 1914, in 1918, Allied forces had invaded Russia during the Civil War. Hitler had invaded in 1941. Stalin believed it was essential to have friendly countries on his border to prevent this happening again.
Stalin did not trust the West. The West had been appeased Hitler in the 1930s - Stalin believed they had wanted Hitler to destroy communism. The West was also slow to open a Second Front during the Second World War to help the Russians fight Hitler.
What was The Grand Alliance ?
The Grand Alliance was established by USSR, USA and Britain from 1941 to defeat the axis powers led by Germany, Japan and Italy. Following the end of the Second World War the Big 3 hoped to continue their friendship but as it became clearer that the Germany was defeated the Big 3 began to have conflicting aims and objectives
Tehran, nov 1943
Aim
Areas of agreement
Impact
1943 ( Roosevelt, Stalin, Churchill
Aim: To plan a strategy to find the war
Areas of agreement : USA and Britain would open a second front to ease pressure on the eastern front
- Stalin would declare war against Japan and supply soviet troops to help the USA win the war against Japan but only hen War in Europe was over
- Discussed what would happen to Germany after the war - no formal agreement but agreed Germany should remain weak
- An international body should be set up to settle disputed
Impact
- Stalin felt that USA and Britain was deliberately delaying the second front so has was pleased with the agreement of the second front
- Agreement with Stalin and Roosevelt over where the 2 front should be = good relations between the two
Yalta Conference (February 1945)
Aim
Areas of agreement
Areas of disagreement
AIM : Discuss winning the war and the government of post war Europe
- 2 front launched in France
- Soviets defeated Germany in SU and had control of most of central, EE
Areas of agreement
- Germany split into 4 zones - each controlled by different power
- Germany pay 20 billion in reparations
- Nazi party banned and war criminals prosecuted
- United nations would be set up
- Stalin agreed to join war against Japan
- Stalin agreed that future governments of countries in Eastern Europe would be decided in free elections
Areas of disagreement
- Stalin wanted all 16 soviet republics to be given individual membership to the united nations. Britain and France disagreed.
- Issues over Poland - agreed that the border of Poland should be returned to their position and there would be free elections, But Stalin wanted to ensure a pro-communist government came to power.
Potsdam Conference (July 1945)
The leaders present were Stalin , Truman, and Attlee
Areas of agreement
Areas of disagreement
Truman replaced Roosevelt. Truman was determined to take a get tough approach with Stalin and was very anti-communist.
Churchill had lost the election and replaced by Atlee. Issues in Britain so Atlee rushing discussions to get back to Britain.
Germany surrendered in may 1945
USA developed atomic bomb
Areas of agreement
- Germany + Berlin divided into 4 zones
- Each country take administered reparations from its own zone
- SU had poorest zone
Areas of disagreement
- Disagreements over the governments of EE - Stalin wanted pro communist GOV = security for USSR
- How much reparations Germany should pay, USSR wanted Germany to pay significant amount, Britain, USA thought it would not be fair for Germanys recovery
The atomic bomb
On 16th August, during the Potsdam Conference, the USA successfully tested their first A Bomb. Truman informed Stalin about it, but was not willing to share the technology. This made Stalin even more suspicious of the West and encouraged him to begin an arms race to make the USSR’s weapons equal in force to those of the USA. The Arms Race was pushed along by fear.
Until 1949 the USSR could not risk a war against USA. When the USSR exploded its own nuclear weapon in 1949 tension began to increase. The USA began to develop the H bomb. In 1952 the USSR exploded its own H-bomb. The USA began to build bomber aircraft, to deliver the H-bomb, in the mistaken belief that the USSR had more bomber aircraft than the USA did.
Arms race
USA drops atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki 1945
1949 The USSR’s first successful atomic bomb test
The UK carries out nuclear tests in Western Australia 1950
The USA successfully tests the first Hydrogen bomb, 2500 times more powerful than the atomic bomb 1952
1953 The USSR tests its own Hydrogen bomb
The USA publishes its Doctrine of Massive Retaliation stating that any attack on the USA or its allies would be met with incredible destructive force 1955
1957 The USSR launches Sputnik 1 Sputnik 2 was launched later that year and carried a small dog named Laika – the first living animal in space
Launch of the first (ICBM),
The USA tests its own ICBMs. 1958
The American astronauts, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, become the first men to walk on the moon 1969
The Secret Telegrams
TRUMAN and STALIN both feared the breakdown of the GRAND ALLIANCE and the subsequent threat of a new war. Both had secret reports from their embassies for information on the other leader and their plans. The reports were sent as telegrams.
The long telegram
TRUMAN received a worrying telegram from Kennan – he was Americas
ambassador in Moscow.
Kennan reported that:
*Stalin had given a speech calling for destruction of capitalism
*America could have NO peace with Russia while it opposed capitalism
*Russia was building military power.
*The USA should seek to contain communism
The Novikov telegram
Stalin received a worrying telegram from Novikov – he was Russia’s ambassador in Washington.
Novikov reported that:
*America desired to dominate the world.
*Following Roosevelt’s death, the American government was no longer interested in co-operation
with the USSR.
*The American public were being prepared for war with the USSR.
Effect of the telegrams
Following both telegrams, both countries believed that there was a great possibility of war. The USSR believed that war was inevitable whereas the Americans had labelled Stalin as ‘the new Hitler’. By the end of 1946, the Grand Alliance was all but over. America believed the USSR were preparing for world domination and vice versa. This was the unofficial start of the Cold War.
Iron curtain speech 1946
Churchill made a speech in Fulton which stated that an iron curtain has descended across Europe. Imaginary line diving capitalist west from communist east
The creation of Satellite States
The USSR responded to its nuclear inferiority by
strengthening its control over Eastern Europe.
Rigged elections, violence, intimidation and other methods were used to gain control over Eastern European states
including Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland and Romania.
By 1947 all eastern European states apart from
Czechoslovakia had communist governments
No free elections had been held as agreed to at Yalta.
The USSR justified its actions;
- It had created a buffer zone against the West.
- It was afraid of the USA’s atomic power
- It was afraid of an attack by the West in the near future.
- It had created a ‘sphere of influence’ as agreed at Yalta.
The USA claimed;
- The USSR had seized control of Eastern Europe and rejected free elections as agreed at Yalta
The USA claimed;
- The USSR had seized control of Eastern Europe and rejected free elections as agreed at Yalta.
- The USA feared that the USSR was determined to extend its influence into Western Europe (and
then the rest of the world!!)
The USSR claimed that their measures were defensive, but the USA claimed they were aggressive and a threat to the west.
