TOPIC 1 Flashcards
War in Europe
September 1939: German and Russian occupation of Poland
December 1941: Japanese attack on Peral Harbour
- Germany declared war on the US
1937: Japan invaded China – start of Japanese-Chinese War
June 1944: Normandy Landings or D Day
- Second front opened
- British and Americans landed in Normandy
- Liberated France and Low Countries and advanced into German
Politics of the Grand Alliance
Roosevelt
4th term of office. He died in 1945
He was a democratic politician who followed Wilson’s ideas
- He believed the US should abandon isolationism
Stalin
His intentions were:
- Territorial: ensure the security of the USSR by recovering the lost territory to Japan in the 1904-5 war.
Churchill
Believed in the need for balance of power in Europe and sought to resurrect France as a great power
Sought to establish a friendship with Stalin and demonstrated “realpolitik” through the “Percentage Agreements”
Relationship of the 3 powers
Anglo American relations were certainly close
- USSR fought alone – they tried to get Stalin’s support
Katyn Massacre 1940
After the Soviet invasion of Eastern Poland, the USSR captured and held Polish soldiers and anti-Soviet officers.
These were executed – total of 22,000
1941: Germany attacked the USSR and the bodies were discovered
1943: Germany made the discovery public
Teheran Conference: November 1943 (Iran)
The Americans agreed to stay at the Soviet embassy in Iran, and their rooms were bugged by the Russians
Stalin sought to:
- Keep the territory acquired through the Nazi-Soviet Pact
- Ensure there would be a “friendly government” in Poland to ensure future Russian security against Germany
- Ensure a second front would be opened in Europe by the Western Allies
Percentage Deal: October 1944 (Moscow)
This was made to determine the amount of influence both countries would exert over European countries.
Churchill sought to do so to protect his empire and Stalin to protect the USSR from the West
The deal stated:
- Romania (90% Russia and 10% GB)
- Greece (10% Russia and 90% GB)
- Yugoslavia (50% Russia and 50% GB)
- Hungary (50% Russia – turned into 80%)
- Bulgaria (75% Russia and 25% GB)
Orthodox: this is a huge example of Russia breaking the arguments set at Yalta and then developing their expansionist ideas in Europe
Revisionist: this deal was solely to pressure the Russians from foreign threat. It wasn’t a sign of expansionism
Post-revisionist: the lack of communication could have avoided issues that would arise from this deal
Post-post revisionist: Stalin was the one who led the talks – he was to blame for the problems they would cause. This was to create the satellite states of the USSR and war in Greece
Yalta Conference: February 1945 (Crimea)
It was decided that:
- Poland’s future government would be a coalition of London (last legal government) and Lublin Poles (communists established as a government)
- There would be free elections in Poland
- Declaration on Liberated Europe: each country would have a temporary coalition governments followed by free elections
- The UN would be set up
- Germany would be divided into 4 sectors
- Decisions about Germany would be made unanimously by the Allied Control Council
- The total amount of reparation was $20 billion – half would go to the USSR
Potsdam Conference: July-August 1945 (Berlin)
The conference was delayed due to the successful testing of the atomic bomb in the USA. The Americans had informed the British but not the Russians. Stalin knew anyway due to spies infiltrated in the Manhattan Project
It was decided that:
- The atomic bomb would be used against Japan
- The Polish-German frontier was to be established on the Oder and Western Neisse rivers
Orthodox: they deemed the USSR as they would not negotiate and were set on their ideas.
Revisionist: the USA showcased their power by having the nuclear power and used it to assert dominance
Post revisionist: both powers were wrong in these meeting, USA for their nuclear policy and USSR for their lack of compromise and the fact they had sent spies to the USA
Post-post-revisionist: the spies and the expansionism of the USSR entailed for an escalation of the conflict
