The transformation of the USSR's international position Flashcards
Brief summary of the USSR’s international position at the time of Stalin’s death
It was a permanent member of the security council of the United Nations and a nuclear power to rival the US.
What summits took place between the ‘Big Three’?
Tehran - 1943
Churchill travelled to Moscow to meet Stalin - 1944
Yalta - 1945
Potsdam - 1945
What was agreed at the Potsdam conference?
The USSR would receive $10 million of reparations
Confirmed that Germany would be split into four zones
Agreement not reached about government in Eastern Europe (Truman objected to the USSR’s control over countries it had liberated)
How did Stalin use his military presence in eastern European countries?
By 1948, most of these countries became satellite states closely linked to the USSR (e.g. Romania, Hungary etc..)
Evidence that the formation of a Soviet bloc was part of a long-term plan
In 1940, 22,000 captured Polish army officers were killed by the NKVD in the Katyn Forest Massacre, to eliminate Polish nationalist elements who might oppose communism
Example of Stalin ensuring that communist governments were set up in his sphere of influence
From the 1930s, communist exiles from European countries had been trained in Moscow to infiltrate post-war governments. For example, as soon as the Red Army entered Poland, a provisional government was quickly set up in Lublin.
In countries where the transition to communism was less likely, communist parties were instructed by Moscow to join with non-communists to gain some influence in government which could be built upon. (salami tactics)
Examples of ‘salami tactics’ in use
Enabled pro-Soviet governments to gain power in Hungary in 1947 and Czechoslovakia in 1948
Stages in the breakdown of East-West relations
The Long Telegram and the Iron Curtain speech
Containment and the Marshall Plan
The Berlin Blockade
When and what was the Long Telegram?
February 1946
A telegram sent to Washington by American diplomat George Kennan exacerbated the US’s fears of Soviet expansionism.
Argued that Soviet leaders are driven by the idea that the outside world is ‘evil, hostile and menacing’ and will stop at nothing until ‘the rising power of socialism (…) gives way to a better world’
When and what was the Iron Curtain speech
March 1946
A speech made by Churchill in Missouri, proclaiming that an ‘iron curtain’ had descended across Europe
(Stalin responded to this in an interview in Pravda called it ‘a mismatch of slander, rudeness and tactlessness’)
What was containment?
In 1947, the Truman Doctrine asserted a new policy of ‘containment’, meaning that the US would do what it could to prevent the spread of communism.
When and what was the Marshall Plan?
In June 1947, the US put forward the Marshall Plan, a huge economic aid package to help with post-war reconstruction in Europe.
How did Stalin respond to the Marshall Plan?
Stalin thought the Marshall Plan was deliberately designed to promote US economic and political dominance at the expense of the USSR.
Soviet bloc countries were pressured to reject Marshall Aid
What happened in February 1948 which intensified splits between the East and West?
Kliment Gottwald, the leader of the communists in Czechoslovakia, took full control of government.
The US saw this as a ‘communist coup’ backed by the USSR.
When and what was the Berlin blockade?
In June 1948, in response to the introduction of a separate currency in the Western zones of Germany, Stalin cut off all road and rail links between Berlin and the West.
This was solved by the Berlin Airlift, a massive operation in which Allied aircraft flew essential supplies into West Berlin throughout the winter of 1948-9.
