US vs Soviet tensions

Question 1

November 1943

Answer 1

Tehran Conference. First “Big Three” meeting. Stalin sought to:

1. Keep the territory acquired in the Nazi-Soviet pact.
2. Ensure a “friendly government” in Poland for security against Germany.
3. Have America and Britain open a second front.

Question 2

February 1944

Answer 2

Yalta Conference. Second “Big Three” meeting. It was decided that:

• Poland’s government after the war would be a coalition of London and Lublin Poles, and it would eventually have free elections.
• Declaration on Liberated Europe: each country would have a provisional coalition government followed by free elections.
• The United Nations would be set up and replace the former League of Nations.
• Germany would be divided into four sectors: American, British, French, Soviet.
• Decisions on Germany would be made unanimously by the Allied Control Council (ACC).
• Germany’s total amount of reparations would be $20 billion, half of it would go to the USSR.
• The USSR would join the war with Japan once victory was achieved in Europe.

Question 3

July 1945

Answer 3

Potsdam Conference. Third “Big Three” meeting.

In April 1945, Roosevelt died and was succeeded by Truman.

In July 1945, there were British elections and Winston Churchill was replaced by Clement Attlee.

The Conference was delayed due to the success in the atomic bomb tests, the Americans had only informed the British but Stalin knew through spies.

It was decided that:

• The atomic bomb would be used against Japan.
• The Polish-German frontier was to be moved westwards to the Oder-Neisse rivers.

Question 4

Soviet position after WWII

Answer 4

• Suffered most from the war
• About 27 million died
• Victory against the Axis powers gave it admiration and popularity from across the world.
• Stalin wanted a security ‘buffer zone’ between Russia and Germany, and expanded the Red Army into Eastern Europe.
• Stalin was worried about the US’s economic now atomic superiority and felt Russia had to catch up.

Question 5

US position after WWII

Answer 5

• Suffered no physical damage
• Casualties were less than 1% of the total population
• Gained economic strength due to its wartime production and lend-lease programme
• Population was in favour of isolationism and expected to return to it after the war
• Population also believed it was superior and was confident in its democracy.

Question 6

Soviet take-over of Poland

Answer 6

• 1945: the Polish government was dominated by the communist Lublin Poles, but still recognized by America and Britain.
• January 1947: rigged elections took place and Poland became a communist state.

Question 7

Soviet take-over of Romania

Answer 7

• 1944: a coalition government dominated by communists was set up
• February 1945: the King was ordered by the USSR to appoint a Prime Minister chosen by Stalin
• Mid 1945, communists were in control of the country.
• 1947, the monarchy was abolished.

Question 8

Soviet take-over of Bulgaria

Answer 8

• 1945: the communist ‘Fatherland Front’ won the elections.
• 1947: the monarchy was abolished.

Question 9

Soviet take-over of Hungary

Answer 9

• 1945: the non-communist ‘Smallholders’ party won the elections.
• 1947: rigged elections took place and Hungary became a communist state.

Question 10

Soviet take-over of Czechoslovakia

Answer 10

• Had not been occupied by the Red Army.
• 1946: a coalition government between communists and non-communists was set up under President Benes (non-communist) and Prime Minister Gottwald (communist). Elections were due in May 1948.
• March 1948: communists organized a military force, seized power in Prague, and arrested non-communists
• May 1948: rigged elections took place and Czechoslovakia became a communist republic.

Question 11

Soviet occupation of Iran

Answer 11

• 1941: Iran was occupied by the USSR and Britain.
• 1945: Iran’s occupation was supposed to come to an end, but the Soviet troops remained and therefore, so did the British.
• 1946: America brought this to the United Nations Organization and the USSR was condemed by the UN’s Security Council, Stalin agreed to remove his troops. Before they left, the Soviets pressured the Iranians into a Soviet-Iranian oil deal, and to include 3 members of its government in the Iranian one. Once, the Russians had left, the Iraninas reversed all the changes.

Question 12

Soviet occupation of Turkey

Answer 12

• 1945-46: the USSR demanded naval bases in Turkey’s Dardanelle Staits (between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean) to ensure Russia’s security.
• February 1946: Turkish Ambassador in Washington died. Truman sent him back in USS Missouri military boat with aircraft carriers and battleships, as a message for Russia to back down, which it did.

Question 13

The Greek Civil War

Answer 13

• 1946-49: during the Greek civil war, the British and the Americans sent help to the Greek royalists. The USSR respected its ‘Percentage Agreement’ with the UK and didn’t send help to the Greek communists. American media said the opposite and gave a negative image of Russia
• 1949: the Greek royalists won the civil war. However, there was still a communist majority in the country.

Question 14

Stalin’s speech at the Bolshoi theatre

Answer 14

In February 1946, Stalin said:

1. The USSR had to work hard and attain an atomic bomb.
2. Capitalism made war inevitable.

The content was rhetoric but the US interpreted it as a threat.

Question 15

George Kennan’s ‘Long Telegram’

Answer 15

February 1946. George Kennan was a diplomat at the American embassy in Moscow.

He received a routine enquiry from the State Department about Soviet activity, to which he responded with an 8,000-word letter informing about Soviet policy. He wrote:
1. Conflict with the USSR would be inevitable.
2. The USSR wanted to expand communism worldwide.
3. Soviet leaders believed they were surrounded by capitalist enemies who they would eventually have to fight.
4. It was the US’s duty to stop the spread of communism.
5. The American public needed to develop negative views on the USSR through media and propaganda.

This provided the president with the material to begin the policy of containment to stop the further spread of communism.

Question 16

Churchill’s ‘Iron Curtain’ speech

Answer 16

March 1946, in Fulton, Missouri (Truman’s hometown).

Churchill’s speech painted a negative picture of Soviet expansionism by saying an “iron curtain” had been drawn across Europe.

It was pessimistic because Churchill wanted to maintain the US involved and against communism.

The media criticized the speech and saw it as too harsh, and Truman lied saying he hadn’t known what Churchill was going to say.

Question 17

The Truman Doctrine

Answer 17

February 1947. Britain announced to the USA that it could no longer uphold its military and economic aid to Greece and Turkey, Truman was afraid the two countries would fall to the East and decided to replace Britain.

In a speech, he painted a negative picture of communism and insisted it had to be contained to gain $400 million dollars from the isolationist Congress.

The ‘Truman Doctrine’ ended up being passed: $300 million would go to Greece, and $100 million to Turkey.

One member pointed out that China was in the midst of a communist-royalist civil war too, but Truman didn’t give it importance as he believed the royalists would win (wrong).

In 1948, the US gave economic help to Yosip Tito, the communist leader in Yugoslavia who was trying to form an independent communist government to that of Stalin’s. This proved America’s enemy was not necessarily communism, but the USSR.

Question 18

The Marshall Plan

Answer 18

In 1947, US Secretary of State George Marshall was in Moscow to discuss Austria and Germany in a meeting. During a casual conversation, Stalin said the talks would drag on for a while. Marshall interpreted this as the Russians being difficult.

In 1945, 26% of the French voted for the communist party. In Italy elections were timetabled for April 1948.

In June 1947, Marshall believed these countries could fall towards communism and decided to intervene: he announced America would offer economic help to those countries who wanted it. This was called the ‘European Recovery Programme’ or ‘Marshall Plan / Aid’.

Its terms were:
1. European countries would have to work together and jointly form a ‘wishlist’ of raw materials and products for the USA.
2. The aid would end in 1952.
3. US officials would make sure the aid was not taken advantage of.
4. Aid would be given to Germany through the four occupying powers.

American interests were to make Europe its dependent client.

The USSR declined because the list was to be made jointly and would show Russian vulnerability.

Between July-September 1947, Britain and France invited 20 other countries to discuss the European Recovery Programme in Paris.

Poland, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia wanted to attend. Poland and Hungary were forced by the USSR to decline, but Czechoslovakia remained.

In July 1947, Czechoslovakian ministers were called to Moscow by Stalin and ended up having to decline.

In February 1948, US Congress agreed to still send help to other countries in Europe (not in the programme) against communist threat.

In April 1948 were the timetabled elections for Italy. The Italian communists had joined with the ‘Popular Front’ socialists and were expected to win. The USA’s CIA funded the ‘Christian Democrats’ political campaign, and Americans with family in Italy were told to write a total of 10 million letters telling them not to vote for the communists. Therefore, the ‘Christian Democrats’ won.

Question 19

Cominform

Answer 19

September 1947. Stalin launched Cominform, a communist information bureau with its headquarters in Belgrade. Its aim was to strengthen bonds and exchange information between communists throughout eastern Europe. It would also bring the powers under the Kremlin’s control.

Question 20

Comecon

Answer 20

January 1949. The USSR created Comecon, a trading bloc of communist countries. Each country was told to specialize in a certain product and sell it to the other members.

Question 21

The Berlin Blockade

Answer 21

1948-1949. In January 1947, Britain and the US merged their two zones into the ‘Bizone’. Later that year, France joined, making it the ‘Trizone’. Marshall Aid was extended to these areas in Germany.

Stalin accused the western allies of breaking the Potsdam and Yalta agreements which stated that all decisions would have to be made unanimously through the Allied Control Council (ACC).

In June 1948, the western allies announced elections would be held in the Trizone for a constituent assembly, which would create a consitution for west Germany.

In June 1948, the Soviet forces halted all rail, road, and water transport from the Trizone to Berlin. West Berlin’s electricity and postal services were also cut out. This was the start of the Berlin Blockade, with the intention of making the communist east seem more attractive and the capitalist west.

Stalin said the Blockade would only be lifted in the three agreed to return to joint negotiations about Germany.

Question 22

The German Deutschmarks

Answer 22

In June 1948, the western powers introduced a new German currency called the ‘Western Deutschmark’ or ‘D-mark’, since the old currency was inflated and worthless.

In June 1948, the Soviets also introduced their own currency in East Germany, called the ‘Eastern Deutschmark’ or ‘D-mark’.

Question 23

Foreign Minister meeting in London

Answer 23

November-December 1947. The Council of Foreign Ministers met in London to discuss Germany and Austria, but failed to reach agreements and never met again.

Question 24

The Berlin Airlift

Answer 24

June 1948. Clay opted to fly supplies into Berlin in an ailift as a temporary measure.

British and American planes would take up to 1,000 flights a day to supply the people of west Berlin. Soviet planes would often harass the western ones, but never shoot.

The western allies also stopped paying the USSR reparations from their sectors of Germany.

In May 1949, Stalin ended the Blockade.