Pt. 1 Origins of the Cold War Flashcards
When was the Korean War?
1950-1953
Communism
- A theoretical economic system characterized by the collective ownership of property and by the organization of labor for the common advantage of all members.
- A system of government in which the state plans and controls the economy and a single, often authoritarian party holds power, claiming to make progress toward a higher social order in which all goods are equally shared by the people.
Yalta Conference (Feb. 1945)
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (USA), Winston Churchill (Britain) and Josef Stalin (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) met together in Yalta, Ukraine while the war was still going on in Europe. Roosevelt and Churchill saw much of the destruction inflicted by the Germans against the Soviets during World War II. Since the war had not yet come to a conclusion, no concrete decisions could be made. However, the Big Three discussed the following: Nazism and fascism should be destroyed and replaced with democratic institutions across Europe (“Declaration on Liberated Europe”). Nazi war criminals should be tracked down. The Big Three promised to create security, as well as provide monetary assistance and political supervision to ensure a smooth transition to democracy across Europe. They also discussed the future of Poland. The United Nations was discussed as a replacement for the failed League of Nations. Germany was to be divided into 4 zones. Germany was to pay reparations, but the details remained hazy.
Declaration on Liberated Europe
The Declaration on Liberated Europe said that Nazism and fascism should be destroyed and replaced with democratic institutions across Europe.
Potsdam Conference (July-August 1945)
Between Yalta and Potsdam, a few changes happened. 1) Roosevelt died and was replaced by Harry Truman, who took a harder line against communism. 2) Truman got word of successful tests of the atomic bomb the day the Potsdam Conference began. 3) Stalin started sending his army around Eastern Europe to control “elections.” 4) Germany surrendered, but Japan was still fighting. At Potsdam, more concrete decisions could be made. The United Nations officially replaced the League of Nations and 5 permanent members were selected (USA, USSR, France, Britain and China). Germany, as well as its capital, Berlin, was formally divided into 4 zones of occupation, to be controlled by the US, France, Britain and the USSR. However, the Allied Powers wanted to ensure that eventually, Germany could be reunited and therefore discussed the need for one economy in Germany, across division lines. Reparations payments were finalized and it was decided that the USSR should get the majority.
Salami Tactics
Stalin’s method of “slicing off” the opposition to pave the way for communism. The Red Army (USSR) would eliminate (jail, kill, exile) non-communist members of the government in a particular country so that the only remaining candidates were communists. Salami tactics made it look like people were electing communist candidates in many Eastern European nations, but the reality was that communism was the only option. The Czechoslovakian Coup is an example of Salami Tactics; Jan Masaryk, a huge voice of opposition to communism, either jumped out of his window to his death or was pushed. Most likely, he was pushed. This was one method Stalin used to create a buffer zone of satellite states around the USSR.
George Kennan’s Long Telegram, Feb. 1946
It outlined Soviet policies from an American’s perspective (Kennan, a US diplomat who was living in Moscow, USSR). It stated that the USSR was fanatically hostile toward the USA, was worried about security and was bent on expansionism. Kennan said that Stalin was repressive and cruel and perceived the world outside of the USSR as evil. The US policy of containment (Truman Doctrine) grew out of Kennan’s analysis of the USSR.
The Truman Doctrine
This was the US policy of containment. The Truman Doctrine was the idea that communism could not be allowed to spread any further than it already had. This committed the United States to an interventionist foreign policy in order to stop communist expansionism.
The Marshall Plan
It was officially called the European Recovery Plan and was created by US Secretary of State George Marshall. The plan was to give monetary aid to European nations trying to recover from World War II to help them get back on their feet; sometimes, the US loans were used to buy US-made products like tractors. The plan also included providing other essentials to help nations recover, such as mules to Greek peasants. The US committed around $17 million in aid over the course of the late 1940s. Congress was reluctant to pass the plan, but the continued aggression against Turkey by the USSR finally convinced them that action was needed. The USSR interpreted the Marshall Plan as a bribe so that European nations would not choose communism. Poverty provides the circumstances for communism to look very attractive and the USSR saw the US aid as an attempt to ensure that poverty did not continue across Europe. The humanitarianism of the Marshall Plan is definitely debatable.
Czechoslovakian Coup, Feb. 1948
Czechoslovakia was considering accepting Marshall Plan aid from the US to help recover from World War II. Czechoslovakian leaders were called to Moscow (USSR) and were summoned to a midnight meeting with Stalin. Stalin warned that Czechoslovakia should decide against accepting Marshall Plan money or else, and gave them until 4am to make a decision. Czechoslovakia did not take Marshall Plan money. Later, via Salami Tactics, the USSR ensured a communist victory in Czechoslovakian elections; Jan Masaryk, the most prominent voice of opposition to communist rule in Czechoslovakia, died mysteriously after falling out of a window. Czechoslovakia was the last country that Stalin needed to control in order to have a complete buffer zone between the East and the West.
The Berlin Crisis of 1948 (Berlin Blockade)
The Western Powers (France, US, Britain) who had been put in charge of West Berlin implemented a currency reform program to make money worth more in West Germany. The new currency would be used in West Berlin. Stalin, alarmed at the idea of a strong West Germany in contrast to an economically weak East Germany, cut off trade between East and West by blockade all land routes to Berlin from West Berlin (including roads and trains).
Berlin Airlift
In response to Stalin’s Berlin Blockade, the US flew supplies via airplanes in West Berlin. A famous propaganda image shows a US plane dropping a glass of milk with the slogan “Milk: The new weapon of democracy.” Stalin did not prevent the creation of a strong economy in West Germany and was forced to lift the blockade. This is the closest that the USSR and US came to direct confrontation in the early stages of the Cold War. Truman was unwilling to engage in direct confrontation and therefore avoided it through this peaceful solution. However, this crisis created more fear of Soviet aggression.
