foreign policy after ww2 + berlin blockade Flashcards
when did hitler kill himself
30 april 1945
when did germany surrender
7 may 1945
when did the trinity test take place
16 july 1945, in new mexico (manhatten project)
-truman received news during postdam conference with allies
battle of okinawa
ended 21 june 1945. US planned to use it as staging point for invasion of japan
why did truman order the use of the atomic bomb
-cost of invading japan: 12,000 died to take okinawa. japs fought to the death. invasion of japan planned for 1946 with estimated 500,000 casualties
-bring ww2 to quick end: no evidence japan would surrender - ‘war weariness’
-soviet relations: truman wanted to demonstrate US power to stalin
when was the bomb dropped on hiroshima
6 august 1945
when was the bomb dropped on nagasaki
9 august 1945
deaths at hiroshima
140,000
nagasaki deaths
75,000
USSR invasion of korea
8 august 1945
japanese surrender
15 august 1945, hirohito, emperor overrules govt that wanted to keep fighting
relations with USSR after ww2
US POV, stalin had already broken agreements over future of eastern europe: e.g. poland, where he failed to recognise pre-war govt despite promises. clear that he was setting up puppet govts ‘satellite states’ that would be controlled from moscow (eastern/communist bloc). significant disagreement over future of germany
british decline after ww2
undergoing economic crisis + empire ending, loss of india 1947
chinese civil war
in midst of civil war: US allies, nationalists under chiang kai-shek losing to mao zedong’s communists
french decline after ww2
in ruins + already getting drawn into conflicts in asia and africa as it struggled to hold onto empire
differing economic systems US vs USSR
free market capitalism vs communist-state command economy.
differing political systems US vs USSR
multi-party democracy vs single-party dictatorship
communist expansion after ww2
-US perceived aggressive expansion of communism by soviets to other states
-not a single country that became communist between 1945-1950 did so democratically
-rigged elections in czechoslovakia, romania, bulgaria, poland
-strong communist parties in italy/france that received money/support from soviets
-chinese civil war being won by mao zedong in 1949
-civil war in greece
-feared communist guerrillas that had fought nazis would help take over
long telegram, feb 1946
feb 1946, american diplomat in US embassy in moscow, George Kennan, sent memorandum to sec. of state, james byrnes discussing the position of the USSR.
-argued russia had always been expansionist power, and would continue under communism
-believed soviets behaved logically and could be ‘contained’ as they were unlikely to risk war
long telegram quote
‘the main element of any US policy towards the soviet union must be that of a long-term, patient but firm and vigilant containment of russian expansive tendencies’
churchill’s fulton speech, march 1946
visited US and gave speech in fulton, missouri on threat posed by soviets:
‘from stettin in the baltic to trieste in the adriatic, an iron curtain has descended accross the continent.’
containment
adopted by truman to attempt to limit the expansion of communism around the world. 3 pillars:
-truman doctrine
-marshall plan
-NATO
Truman address to congress 1947
address to congress 12 march 1947: ‘it must be the policy of the US to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures’
truman doctrine
Policy of US aiding states (financially/militarily) to resist communist takeover. came into effect 1947 + remained for next 40 years
-did not aim to drive communism out of states where it already existed
-accepted division of world into ‘spheres of influence’
truman doctrine quote, jeremy isaacs and taylor downing
‘in the face of stalin’s constant probing of western weakness, truman wanted to draw a line and say, ‘no farther’’
US aid to greece and turkey
brits could no longer support govt after 1947, Truman convinced congress to send $400 mil to greece and turkey (greek civil war + soviets sought passage through turkey to mine oil in iran)
-US army took over from british forces
-stalin refused to aid communists
-communists defeated 1949
marshall aid programme
plan for economic reconstruction of europe with US financial aid. announced by sec. of state george marshall in 1947 (truman believed would fail in congress if named after him)
aims of the marshall plan
-rebuild europe’s economy after ww2
-promote free trade between US and europe (countries that accepted aid agreed to do trade with US)
-encourage european cooperation to resist soviet pressure and aggression. states had to join OEEC (organisation for european economic cooperation)
-make communism less attractive by bringing prosperity. stalin forced communist states to reject aid -> deepened divide
money made available through marshall aid 1948-1952
approx. $17bn
NATO
North atlantic treaty organisation: est. 1949 by US, canada and western european states
-mutual defence alliance: members agreed to come to the defence of any member who was attacked by another state
warsaw pact
communist version of NATO est. 1955. set up as response to re-arming of west germany after korean war + admittance into NATO.
what happened to germany after ww2
-split into 4 zones by allies (US, france, britain, USSR)
-western allies wanted eventual reunification and economic recovery
-resisted by USSR, who also rejected marshall aid -> wanted weak/divided germany
yalta conference, feb 1945
4-11 feb 1945, FDR met with stalin and churchill in yalta
-agreed to divide germany into 4 zones.
-free elections to be allowed in liberated countries in eastern europe (broken by soviets e.g. poland)
-soviets to join war with japan after german defeat in return for occupation zones in N. korea and manchuria
-USSR invited to join UN (est. oct 1945)
-Nazi war criminals to be tried after war
-reparations commission set up (cripple germany economically)
trizonia
western allies unified their territories into single political and economic unit (trizonia) in 1948. wanted to rebuild germany into a prosperous nation to act as buffer zone for communism
deutsche mark
western allies implemented new currency (DM) in trizonia
postdam conference july-august 1945
Truman lacked FDR’s charm + less willing to work with stalin (‘strong man’ appearance)
-did not discuss plan to drop atomic bomb (dropped 4 days after conference)
-confirmation of ‘zones of occupation’, trials of nazi war criminals, free elections in poland
-nazi party/state to be eliminated in germany (de-nazification)
-USSR could take reparations from their zone of occupation + 10% of industrial eqpt. in western zones. western allies could take reparations from their zones
why was the long telegram sent
feb 1946, stalin suggested inevitability of capitalism communism war, prompted long telegram
truman’s character
lacked FP experience (thrown into office after FDR death)
-blunt, straight to the point, caused issues where careful diplomacy needed
-strongly anti communist, less willing to work with stalin than FDR
ERP
european recovery council: official name of marshall aid, gave $17bn to rebuild europe
stalin reaction to trizonia
saw as a threat, refused to allow DM in soviet zones, demanded allies not use it in berlin
-people moving between zones caused issues as west berliners more affluent
berlin blockade 1948
24 june 1948: attempt to force allies out of berlin, stalin blockaded berlin, incl. western sections. all road, rail and canal links between east and west closed. attempt to force allies out by removing access to supplies. first direct confrontation of the cold war
operation vittles
truman ordered large scale airlift of supplies to berlin. (324 days, 275,000 flights, 2.3 mil tons of supplies)
-5,000 tons of supplies each day
-1.5 mil tons of coal, 23 tons of candy (‘candy bomber’)
-2.5 mil population in western berlin
risks of berlin airlift
-allied craft could have been shot down
-soviet craft sent to shadow allies may have been shot down
-restraint shown on both sides
cost of berlin airlift
$345 mil
blockade called off
12 may 1949 blockade lifted by stalin
-airlift worked, more food flown during operation than by rail before june 1948
-huge victory for truman
federal republic of west germany
created out of western zones in may 1949
german democratic republic
east germany, est. out of soviet zones oct 1949
aftermath of berlin blockade
-domino theory became central to US FP
-success for truman and containment
-est. of east and west germany, 850 mile frontier becomes heavily guarded
-berlin became centre of the cold war - berlin wall symbolised divide
-soviets harden approach to develop atomic bomb, succeed in 1949
-contributed to est. of NATO in april 1949
-warsaw pact in response to west germany being admitted into NATO in 1955
kennedy on berlin wall
‘a wall is a hell of a lot better than a war’
‘democracy isn’t perfect and freedom isn’t everywhere but we never had to build a wall to keep our people in’
