The Transformation Of The Soviet Unions International Position

Question 1

The Emergence Of A Superpower!

Answer 1

B4 1941 the USSR had not wanted to = SP - wanted to = left alone so econ could = transformed but by the end of the GPW R had emerged as a global power - it’s status = confirmed 1949 w/atomic bomb

Question 2

The Formation Of A Soviet Bloc

Answer 2

By 1948 most of a E Eur = absorbed into USSR/ turned into satellite states gov by parties closely linked to USSr - used salami tactics - comp’s jointed docs + libs to gain power + then isa to eliminate rivals
S hoped “ buffer zone” of satellite states would help protect R from future W invasion - used military presence
E Pol = annexed in 1939 in N- S Pact - Apr- May 1940 22k captured Pol army offs = killed by NKVD in Katyn Forest Massacre - elim nats. Aim also used 1944 when RA halted to allow Warsaw up rising to be crushed by the Nazis
A PG = set up in Pol by Lubin 1945 = dom by pro- coms
Coms led by Josip Tito gained control of Yugoslavia
Com regimes controlled Bulgaria + Romania
E Ger zone of occup in 1948 mos trained coms took pol control 1944
Extending into ECen Eur took longer - demo - Nat govs = selected
Salami tactics enabled pro Sov govs to control Hungary (1947) + Czechoslovakian (1948)

Question 3

Conflict With The USA & Capitalist West

Answer 3

Wartime summit conferences reflected the latent disagreements between USA Brit USSR
At Tehran 1943 the allies agreed to demand unconditional surrender for Ger - not to be US + Brit thought= good idea but wanted to prevent sep peace = ideological difs + S = crit of W allies not opening 2nd front to relieve RA
Meeting between S&CH in Mos late 1944 = plagued by disagrees over Pol future
Yalta Con in Feb 1945= dom by conflicting ideas about post war borders - Ger + Pol
Potsdam Con July-August 1945 ended w/ no final peace agreement - difs that’s ignored at Yalta = m.urgent = clear USSR = dom countries it lib

Question 4

Breakdown of East- West Relations

Answer 4

Between 1946-49 tensions hardened into Cold War confrons
Attempts at diplo coop broke down in growing mutual suspicions and hostility

Question 5

Stage 1 : 1946

Answer 5

The USA + Brit = concerned by soviet expansion + Rs demand for its right to have a buffer zone against future aggression
Exacerbated by “The Long Telegram” a report from Mos. Y USA diplomat George Kennan 1946 urging USA to contain com spread in Eur
Ch gave speech in Missouri March 1946 warned of “Iron Curtain” between Euro advising “STRENGTH “ = needed to deal with R + “com 5th Colums” in W+S Euro - showed horror felt at what = happening

Question 6

Stage 2 : 1947-48

Answer 6

By 1947 W Euro = plagued by econ decline + pol instability w/ strong comps in France + Italy
March 1947 = Truman Doc committed USA to “containment” of communism
June 1947 = Marshall Plan = US aid for Euro econ recovery received hostile Sov response - S believed would extend US influ + new W Ger power
Sov bloc countries = pressured to reject MA - Feb 1948 Kilmer Gottwald.com leader in Czech took control of- W saw as “com coup” for S = “Vic Feb” intensity split

Question 7

Stage 3 1948-9

Answer 7

Com take over of Czech set context for Berlin crisis - W+S disagreed over control S believed R should = dom += angry control slipped after 1945 + x like new cur
So launched Berlin Blockade 1948-9 - cutoff all road + rail links between B+W zones - hardened divisions - thought would force settlement in R fav on B but BerlinAirlift - co ord by Gen Lucius Clay - flew Essen I lasted 318 days
Then end of the BB confirmed B split - 1949=yr cw = fully formed
NATO North Atlantic Treaty Org = set up 1949 to defend W Eur from Soviet aggression
Seen as hostile
1st successful test of atomic bomb in Aug 1949 + com vic in Chinese CW 1950 increased tension - S met Mao Zedong to agree alliance

Question 8

Stalins Death

Answer 8

By 1953 S=73 & poor health. Inner circle knew change necessary for USSR but also knew change = x pos until S died
Had big stroke 28th Feb died 5 March
Inner circle gathered at death bed but delayed calling Drs - feared another purge. S’s unpred + menacing behaviour early 1953 suggest new wave of repression + terror if he recovered
Soc cits grieved his death + funeral untied country in its mourning

Question 9

Legacy Home & Abroad

Answer 9

USSR as an indust power + nuclear super power
National prestige following vic over Ger
Spread of Stalinism to Eur & Asia
Demographic damage to USSR from terror and famine
No clear successor Cold War tensions
LT under- investment in agri & consumer goods
Psychological damage to survivors of terror

Question 10

Problems For Stalins Successors

1

Answer 10

1. = no clear successor + at 1st = return to collective responsibility until tense power struggle led to Nikria (?) Khrushenev (?) eventually emerging as new Sov Leader

Question 11

probs 2

Answer 11

2. Beria = exec but perhaps as much for what he knew about other lship (?) as for own crimes - how will they manage terror?

Question 12

probs

3

Answer 12

3. Khrushchev denounced S’s “ crimes & errors” in his “secret speech” Feb 1956. + ppl = released from gulags. - but gulags x disappear

Question 13

probs

4

Answer 13

4. ? How to improve agri - could pay Kolkhozes m but would = less £ indust = higher prices

Question 14

Probs

5

Answer 14

5. Meeting consumer needs continue to = too complex to plan w/econ (?)

Question 15

Probs

6

Answer 15

6. = esp to keep ppl believing in Soc future in satellite states w/ unrest spreading through E Ger Pol Hungar

Question 16

way became a SP!

Answer 16

A military indust war machine w/ 7.5 mil well equipped soldiers
= increased territory by the end of the war - controlled Baltic States + E Pol
= satellite states : between 1945 & 8 R consol dom over E Ger + E Cen Euro
Had developed AB by Aug 1949. - after Beria committed m. Resources
= UN permanent member = 1 of 5 on UN Security Council
- Eur powers = weakened by war