Soviet Foreign Policy II

Question 1

Rise of Stalin

Answer 1

Death of Lenin in 1924:
Power struggle in the Soviet Union
Trotsky world revolution vs. Stalin socialism in one country

Stalin defeats his rivals and come to power
Rapid industrialisation collectivisation of agriculture
Expansion of foreign trade and credits from western countries
Political purges at home eliminate al of Stalins rivals

Relative isolation in foreign policy
Europe: Locarno treaty and Germany’s entrance in the League of Nations
Asia: problematic relation with Chinese nationalists and communists
Stalin watched Hitlers rise in Germany with Sympathy

Non aggressive treaties

1928 UdSSR joins the Briand Kellogg Pact which denounces war as an instrument of foreign policy
1929 Litvinov Protoco reaffirms Briand Kellog Pact in Eastern Europe

Question 2

Soviet foreign policy in 1930

Answer 2

Rise of fascism in Germany , Italy, Japan
Stalinism fears that West may encourage them to invade UDSSR
FM Litvinovs efforts for collective security: 1932 Non Aggression pacts with Poland, France, Finland, Latvia, Estonia; UDSSR enters the League of Nations in 1934; Treaties signed with France and Czechoslovakia in 1935; League of Nations fails to prevent Japanese aggression in Manchuria and Hitlers policies for remilitarization of Germany
UDSSR is not even invited to Munich conference on Czechoslovakia

nazi soviet rapprochement
Litvinov is replaced by Molotow as foreign minister
Stalin wants to keep UDSSR out of the coming war, but he also wants to increase Sovjet influence in Eastern Europe

Question 3

Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact

Answer 3

Signed between USSR and Nazi Germany 1939:
If any of the two countries enters the war the other country will remain neutral
Secret protocol: Eastern Europe is divided between USSR and Germany

Results
German and Soviet armies invade Poland
Three Baltic states are forced to accept Sovjet troops on their territories
Soviet troops attack Finnland and USSR is expelled from the League of Nations
Finnish Résistance for months Shows the weakness of the Sovjet army
USSR annexes the Baltic state after Hitlers invasion of France and demands territories from Romania

Question 4

Operation Barbarossa

Answer 4

After failing to convince to join the Axis Powers, Hitler starts planning an attack against USSRin the Summer of 1940

June 1941 German armies start invading Soviet Union

USSR joins Allied Power led by USA and Britain

German forces occupied some of the most important economic areas of the USSR including Ukraine

Until the Soviet victory at the Battle of Stalingrad in January 1943, soviets lose almost 20 million people in the war

Question 5

World War II

Answer 5

Stalins most important goal is the opening of a second front in Europe in,order to relieve pressure over Germany

Teheran meeting with Roosevelt and Churchill 1943: Stalin takes advantage of their differences and asks for more influence in Poland and over the Turkish straits

After a second front is finally opened in Normandy Re Army starts invading most of Eastern Europe

Moscow Meeting between Stalin and Churchill 1944 : USSR and Britain reach an agreement and draw spheres of influence in southeast Europe

Question 6

End of the Alliance

Answer 6

Yalta Conference feb. 1945
stalin accepts to hold free elections in Poland
USSR signs the Decclaration on Liberated Europe free elections in all liberated Countries
Establishement of the United Nations USSR is one of the permanent members of security council
Roosevelt accepts to give Stalin some territories and privileges in Japan and China in return for a Soviet Declaration of war against Japan

After Jalta
Stalin starts to establish communist government that are under Sovjet command
Roosevelt is replaced by Harry Truman in April 1945

Potsdam Conference july 1945
Serious disagreement between the Allies over the future Eastern Europe and Turkish Straits

Question 7

Beginning of Cold War

Answer 7

Cold War
A suistained state of political and military tension between countries in the Western bloc and countries in the eastern bloc

Main developments
US drops atomic bomb over Japan end of the world war
Communism expands to eleven more states in East Europe
February 1946 George Kennans long telegram
Long term, patient but firm an vigilant containment of Russian expansive tendencies
March 1946 Churchill s Iron Curtain speech
1947 soviets establish the cominform ( communist information bureau)
Andrey zhadovs theory of the two camps
War and conflict is inevitable between the imperialist bloc led by USAa and democratic bloc led by USSR
Due to Stalins pressure over Iran Turkey and Greece the USA declared the Trueman doctrine and Marshall Plan

Question 8

Early Cold War

Answer 8

Confrontation in Europe
1948 Titos Yugoslavia is expelled from Cominform and Berlin Blocade
1949 Federal Republic of Germany and NATO are founded as a response to the Berlin blockade crisis

USSR turns to Asia
1950 Alliance with Mao Zedongs Communist China
1950 communist North Korea invades South Korea
Soviet boycott in UN Security Council results in the first UN military; China sends soldiers to help the North Koreans against the Allies support of USSR

Stalins death 1953
USSR becomes a superpower: huge industrial government, first soviet atomic bomb in 1949
However enormous price paid millions of people died during the years of Stalin terror