Origins of the Cold War & The 8 Steps to the division of Europe I. Breakdown of the Grand Alliance A. With the Nazi attack of the USSR in June 41, both the Brits and Americans sent aid to Russia creating The Grand Alliance 1. This did not mean the allies liked eachother. 2. Clouds of mutual suspicion between the allies throughout the war. 3. Despite aid, Stalin still demanded more-the opening of a second front to relieve his pressure in the east. a) Stalin was suspicious that this was done purposefully to permanently weaken the USSR B. Step One: Wartime Conferences, Agreements & Disagreements 1. Tehran, November 1943 a) Stalin, Churchill, Roosevelt (The Big 3) b) Stalin demanding opening of a true second front. c) Differing views on what to do with Germany after the war. d) Stalin wanted Polish territory as a buffer, so German lands in the East would be taken and given to Poland. (1) Ensures future hostility between Germany and Poland (2) Poles would have to rely on the USSR for security-but there s no love lost there with the discovery of the Katyn Forrest massacre. e) Soviets demanded the rights to keep territories seized in 39-40 in Eastern Europe (Baltic States, parts of Finland and Romania) (1) Brits and Americans reluctantly agreed to Soviet Annexation. f) Soviets would offer a true second front to the Japanese in the Pacific once the Germans were defeated. g) Agreement for a new international organization to settle disputes through collective security 2. Yalta, February 1945
a) Stalin s position strengthened as his army occupied most of Eastern Europe b) Germany would be disarmed, de-nazified and divided. (1) 4 Zones of Occupation between the US, USSR, UK and France-this was to be temporary c) Stalin demanded reparations, of which Russia would get half of $20 billion d) Lines for Poland agreed to with Stalin s promise of free elections e) Free elections in Eastern Europe f) Stalin agreed to join the UN, allies agreed to 5 permanent members of the Security Council, each with veto power. (1) Stalin wanted 16 separate seats for all the Soviet Republics-he got 3. 3. Potsdam a) Changes since Yalta (1) Roosevelt dead-replaced by Truman who took more of a hard-line against the Soviets (2) Germany surrendered (3) Churchill s conservative party lost and he was succeeded by Labour party leader Clement talee (4) Soviets have Berlin b) Germany: Demilitarization and de-nazification would be handled individually in zones of occupation. c) Poland: Truman challenged earlier agreements, and the notion of free elections, he wanted to re-organize the government. d) Eastern Europe: Truman concerned that there were no free elections in the East while the Soviet Army had boots on the ground, but little that he could do. e) Japan: the US now had the bomb, and were not encouraging the Soviets to enter the war. f) UN becomes a reality (1) Officially at the Treaty of San Francisco in 1945 (2) Big 5-Permanent Members: USA, USSR, France, Britain, China. (a) Stalin s veto power would block any initiatives he saw as against Soviet interests. C. Post-war Developments 1. Salami Tactics in Eastern Europe to result in Communist
Governments: Slicing off opposition parties until only the Communists are left. a) Baggage Train leaders returned to their respective nations-stayed most of the war in Moscow, friendly to Soviets and would be dominated by Stalin. 2. Soviet Pressure on Iran a) Stalin kept troops in Iran after the war who encouraged a Communist uprising. b) Brits and Americans demand he remove the troops, Stalin refused. c) First crisis the UN dealt with, the Soviets pulled troops out. 3. Greek and Turkish instability. a) Post war rebellions in Greece and Turkey, believed to be supported by the USSR. 4. Communist Parties in Italy and France a) Membership increased in response to post-war deprivations and hardships. D. Step 2: Kennan s Long Telegram, February 1946 1. George F. Kennan-America s top Kremlinologist 2. Telegram to the US State Department on the nature of soviet conduct and foreign policy stressed the Soviet s inability to address the logic of reason but understood the logic of force a) USSR wanted to advance Muscovite Stalinst ideology b) Justified cruel and repressive acts by perceiving nothing but evil in the outside world c) USSR hostile to the West, but not suicidal 3. The telegram hardened American attitudes towards communism and played a key role in the policy of Containment. E. Step 3: Churchill s Iron Curtain Speech, March 46 1. Speech in Missouri by Churchill with Truman in attendance seen as one of the defining moments in the origin of the Cold War. a) Soviet-dominated Communist governments in Poland,
Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria despite the promise of free elections b) Non-Soviet linked communist regimes in Albania and Yugoslavia 2. Stalin outraged, compared Churchill to Hitler, called it a racist call to war a) Withdrew from the IMF b) Stepped up anti-western propaganda F. Step 4: The Truman Doctrine 1. US has the obligation to support free peoples who are resisting subjugation by armed minorities or outside pressures-this became the Truman Doctrine 2. Major change in US Foreign policy that had traditionally been isolationist. 3. Response to unstable situations in Greece and Turkey a) Brits could not afford to support the Greek government after the war. b) US didn t want to see a strategic partner fall to communism, so the doctrine was issued and US aid and military advisors were sent to Greece. 4. The Soviets saw this as evidence that the US was expanding its Sphere of Influence 5. Beginning of American policy of Containment of communism: Can t stop it where it is, but don t want to see it spread any farther. G. Step 5: The Marshall Plan 1. Sec. Of State George Marshall believed that economies of W. Europe needed immediate help from the US. 2. The Marshall Plan was the economic extension of the Truman doctrine. a) US Required that aid recipients open their financial records, the USSR wouldn t concede to this 3. The plan would soon evolve into Military alliances a) Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan: Two halves of the Same Walnut
4. Soviet Reaction a) Soviets rejected b) Dollar Imperialism c) Molotov Plan (1) Bilateral trade agreements aimed to tie Eastern Europe to the USSR d) COMECON: Jan 49, Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (1) Centralized agency that linked eastern bloc nations to Moscow (2) Designed to stimulate and control economic development and support collectivization of agriculture and heavy industry. H. Step 6: Red Army Occupation of Eastern Europe 1. Creation of a satellite empire in Eastern Europe a) Separate legal identies, but tied to Moscow (1) Soviet Military Power (2) Salami tactics (3) State police and spy networks (4) COMECON 2. By 1948, the satellite states were economically and militarily under the control of the USSR I. Step 7: The Czechoslovakian Coup, Feb 48 1. Czechs seen by Stalin as moving closer to the West 2. Stalin pressured the coalition government to oust non-communist members. 3. Truman called this a coup 4. This action allowed the US congress to allow funding of the Marshall Plan J. Step 8: Berlin Crisis of 1948 1. Post-War Germany a) Divided occupation (1) 4 Zones, administered by an Allied Control Council (ACC) (2) Seen as a temporary arrangement (3) Original intentions of being one united economic unit and eventually a unified nation. b) By 1949, Germay divided permanently into two separate states. (1) Germany was in a key geographic location (2) Great potential economic strength
II. (3) Differing Post-War Aims (a) USSR (And France) did not want to see a resurgent Germany that could pose a threat. (b) US wanted a viable economic partner, UK endorsed this view (4) Lack of trust between East and West. (5) Occupational Disputes (a) Planned exchanges of Foodstuffs from the East for Industrial wares from the west were inadequate or halted (6) Stalin s plans to incorporate a reunified Germany within Moscow s sphere of influence with a growing Communist party in the West. (7) By 1948, the Western Powers consolidated their zones and drew up a constitution for a unified West Germany with a new currency. (8) Berlin Blockade, June 1948 (a) Stalin s attempt to stop the unification of West Germany was to blockade West Berlin (b) from the Western Powers. Allies supplied Berlin by air (Berlin Airlift) rather than by force i) 200,000 flights in under a year delivering supplies of food and coal to 2.2 million West Berliners. (c) Stalin s Gamble failed, he ended the Blockade in May of 49 c) Results of the Blockade. (1) Divided Germany (W and E Germany. FRG/GDR) (2) Continuation of 4-power control in Berlin (3) Formation of NATO (a) US, France, UK, Canada, Netherlands, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Italy and Portugal (b) US would have a permanent military presence in Europe (4) May 54, W. Germany admitted to NATO (5) USSR Responds w the creation of the Warsaw Pact (a) All E. European states under a single Military command. K. Results of a Cold War 1. Future conflicts would be seen as a part of the struggle between Communism and Capitalism 2. US Policy of Containment would lead to the US resisting communism anywhere in the world-korea and Vietnam 3. UN was to never play its original role w the USA and USSR opposing eachother and holding vetos a) UN could not be an effective deterrent to resolve international conflicts. Cold War Historiography A. Orthodox View 1. USSR was responsible for the Cold War a) Soviets were expansionist b) US acted defensively w the Truman Doctrine, Marshall
Plan and NATO 2. Arthur Schlesinger Jr. B. Revisionist View 1. US Responsible for the Cold War a) Developed more during the Vietnam situation. b) Dollar Diplomacy c) US needs linked to the needs of Capitalism d) Containment was merely to secure markets and free trade. e) William Appleman Williams C. Post-Revisionist View 1. Neither the US or USSR can be held solely responsible. 2. Misconceptions of each side played a role in the beginning 3. Both overestimated the strength of the other. 4. John Lewis Gaddis D. Post-Cold War Historians 1. With the fall of the USSR, new Soviet sources were made available. 2. Stalin began to be seen as having a bigger role in the West s escalation. 3. Again, John Lewis Gaddis E. European Perspectives 1. Western Europe (Especially Britain) had a large role to play in heightening US awareness of the Soviet Threat 2. Great benefit from US military and economic aid F. Soviet Perspectives 1. Initially Orthodox soviet historians held that the US used dollar imperialism based on the needs of Capitalism 2. Soviets only attempting to find security to rebuild after the War and to aid in the liberation of working classes of the world. 3. Expanding Socialist ideology 4. Fear of a resurgent Germany and Japanese aggression 5. More recently, more blame laid upon Stalin s specific paranoia and suspicion.