Origins of the Cold War (1941-58)

what were the early tensions between east and west?

the Soviet Union was communist and its political and economic systems were at odds with those of the USA which were capitalist

what did the soviet union believe about human rights?

• the government harshly supress freedom of speech, press, assembly

• rights of workers more important than rights of individuals

what did the USA believe about human rights?

• individual freedoms valued but limited by majority opinion

• the right to private ownership

Soviet Union social structure

classless society, everyone is equal

USA social structure

some people more powerful than others (family background, wealth, education, achievement)

Tehran Conference Agreements (Nov 1943)

• Britain and USA agreed to open up a second front by invading France in May 1944

• USSR was to wage war against Japan once Germany was defeated

• a united nation organisation would be set up after the war

Yalta Conference Agreements (Feb 1945)

• to divide Germany + Berlin into 4 zones: US, British, French, USSR

• to hunt down and try Nazi war criminals in an international court of justice

• allow countries liberated from german occupation to have free elections

Yalta Conference Disagreements (Feb 1945)

• Stalin wanted germans to pay huge reparations but Roosevelt and Churchill disagreed

• western powers feared that Poland would become a soviet controlled government

• churchill wrote to roosevelt after the conference saying 'USSR has become danger to the free world

Potsdam Conference Agreements (July 1945)

• germany to be demilitarised + democracy to be re-established (incl. free elections, press, speech)

• germany to pay reparations to Allies in equpiment and materials; most to soviet union who had suffered the most

• Nazi Party was banned + leading Nazis were put on trial for war crimes at Nuremburg 1946

Potsdam Conference Disagreements (July 1945)

• Stalin wanted to disable Germany to protect the USSR against future threats

• Stalin refused to giev free elections to countries of eastern Europe occupied by Soviet troops

• truman started 'get tough' policy againt USSR

examples of countries from soviet expansion

Poland, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia

eg. Soviet expansion (Poland)

• June 1945 a coalition government of several parties was set up

• Jan 1947 elections were rigged to ensure the election of a totally communist government

Impact of the expansion of soviet union on superpower relations

• fuelled the emergence of the Cold War

• heightened a feeling in the west that Stalin intended to spread communism (the Red Scare)

• this fear was displayed by the long telegram + iron curtain speech

Iron Curtain Speech

• Churchill was worried that the soviets intended to take over the world

• that because of this ‘iron curtain’ the west will be cut off from the rest of europe

Long Telegram (Feb 1946)

• US ambassador George Kennan wrote a telegram to Truman warning him about the Soviet Union’s determination to expand

• that there could be no peaceful co-existence between the USSR and the USA, so communism needed to be ‘contained’.

Impact of the Long Telegram for superpower relations

• caused tension between the two superpowers

• showed how much relations between the former allies had broken down

Novikov Telegram

• this was the Soviet response to The Long Telegram

• the Soviet ambassador, Nikolai Novikov, warned that the west were the ones bent on world domination

• and that the USSR needed to secure their buffer zone in eastern europe

Impact of Novikov Telegram for superpower relations

• caused tension between the two superpowers

• showed how much relations between the former allies had broken down

Consequence of Long + Novikov Telegram

• USA would commit to a policy of containment, which meant stopping the spread of communism into Western Europe

• USSR secured its buffer zone in eastern europe

Reasons for USA development of Atomic Bomb

• to establish a stronger bargaining position with the USSR

• made the countries of western europe feel more secure about placing themselves under american protection

• make it easier to persuade Stalin to allow eastern european countries more freedom

impact of the development of the atomic bomb for superpower relations

• drastically increased cold war tensions between the two superpowers as it made Stalin feel threatened

consequences of the development of the atomic bomb

• Soviet scientists started working on their own version of the atomic bomb with their first successful test 29 August 1949

• the superpowers entered an arms race were each side tried to make their nuclear weapons more powerful than the other

Truman Doctrine ( March 1947)

• President Truman made a speech were pledged that America would do whatever they could to support European countries and stop the spread of communism

• pledging $400 million to Greece and Turkey for economic and military aid

Marshall Plan (1947)

Marshall Aid money would be spent to help the economies of Western Europe recover after World War Two and make them less likely to fall prey to communism

Impact of the Marshall Plan and Truman Doctrine on superpower relations

• caused further tensions between the two superpowers as this was a direct challenge to the soviet expansions in eastern europe

• this increase in tension is shown when Vyshinksy (Deputy Soviet Foreign Secretary) made a speech to the UN (Sep 1947)

• he claimed that the Marshall Plan was an attempt to split Europe and create a bloc of countries hostile to the Soviet Union

Consequences of Marshall Plan and Truman Doctrine

• invited countries were to meet together and decide how to use the US aid which created the Organisation for European Economic Recovery (OEEC)

• europe became firmly divided between east and west

• 1953= the US had provided $17 Billion to help european countries to recover

Soviet Response to Marshall Plan

• Soviet union declared the Marshall Aid to be ‘dollar imperialism’ and claimed the USA was throwing its economic weight around to gain influence in europe

• Soviet Union forbade the Eastern Bloc countries under its control to apply for Marshall Aid

• Cominform (Sep 1947) = (Communist Information Bureau) its aim to tighten Soviet control in Eastern Europe and to create a trade network between Communist countries

• Comecon (Jan 1949) = (Council of Mutual Economic Assistance) to administer its own Molotov Plan of financial aid to keep the Eastern Bloc countries on side

Significance of Comecon and Cominform

• served as an instrument for the USSR to keep close control over eastern Communist parties

• the aim was to ensure that European Communists were in line with Soviet policies

• this increased tensions and played a significant role part in the USA and Western European countries creating NATO

Reasons for the Berlin Crisis

• USA + Britain create Bizonia (1947)

• West Germany wants to become one and holds a meeting without Stalin

• West Germany wants their currency to be in West Berlin

• Stalin got angry and the blockade began in Berlin

Long Term Cause of Berlin Crisis

• Stalin suggested to unite the communist and socialist in East Berlin but the socialists refuse

• the west wanted to speed up economic recovery of Germany while the Soviet Union wanted to keep Germany weak to secure itself from future attack

• the allies were allowed access to zones - Stalin did not want the allies in Berlin as he thought the capitalist lifestyle would be on display in East Berlin

  • the west wanted to remain in Berlin so they could observe Soviet activities

Short Term Causes of Berlin Crisis

• Jan 1947= the US and British zones in Berlin and Germany merged into bizonia

• April 1947= allied zones were included in the Marshall Plan

• June 1947= the west announced plans to create West German state and currency (western deutschmark) and Soviets created their own (ostmark)

• 24 June 1947= Stalin cut off road, rail and canal traffic to try and starve West Berlin

  • Stalin was trying to make the allies leave their zones and abandon plans for development of their separate zones

Berlin Airlift (Operation Plainfare)

• began 1948 and lasted 10 months

• the only way to berlin was by air, so the allies decided to airlift supplies from their bases to West Germany

Impact of the Berlin Crisis

• it confirmed the divisions of Germany and Berlin

• it greatly increased tensions between east and west

• it led to the formation of NATO (April 1949)

• May 1949= western allies announced their zones would join together to form Federal Republic of Germany (FRG)

• October 1949= Soviet zone became the German Democratic Republic (GDR)

• August 1949= the USSR exploded its first atomic bomb.

formation of NATO

• formed in April 1949

• aim was to resist an attack by the USSR on the USA or its Allies in Western Europe

• that an armed attack on one of its members was an attack on them all

• USA, UK, West Germany, France, Belgium, Italy etc.

consequence of formation of NATO

• the USA was now committed to the defense of Western Europe

• stalin believed is was aimed against the Soviet Union

• intensified the arms race between the two sides

• the development of more powerful weapons of destruction

• USSR set up the Warsaw Pact which was a military treaty between the Soviet Union and its european satellite states

significance of the arms race

• USA and USSR were locked into an expensive battle to develop the most advanced weapons

• stockpiling so many weapons, they guaranteed their own safety under the theory of MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction)

• Neither side would launch their weapons because they knew the other side could retaliate and wipe them out as well.

• However, this situation didn’t help to calm relations between the two sides and neither could afford to fall behind in either race

formation of the Warsaw Pact

• formed May 1955

• aim was to resist an attack on the Soviet bloc by the USA or its NATO allies

• this group, along with Comecon, would become even more important in keeping the Soviet bloc together after 1956 when Cominform disbanded

• USSR, Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, East Germany (GDR) etc.

Events Leading to the Hungarian Uprising (1956)

• July 1956 = Stalinist Prime Minister, Mátyás Rakosi falls from power

Events Leading to the Hungarian Uprising (October)

• Oct 1956 = in budapest protests against communist rule turn to riots

• people start to protest about their lack of freedoms and problems created by fuel shortages and poor harvest

• 24 Oct 1956= Khrushchev agrees Imre Nagy can new Prime Minister

• Khrushchev decided to replace Rakosi with Nagy; he was a former Prime Minister who was communist. He ended one-party state in Hungary

• 28 Oct 1956 = Soviet troops withdraw from Budapest and the government promises free elections and freedom of speech

Events Leading to the Hungarian Uprising (November)

• 1 Nov 1956 = Nagy announces Hungary is leaving the Warsaw Pact

• 4 Nov 1956 = Soviet troops return and after a bloody street battle, Soviets regain control

• 1600 troops come into Budapest; supporters of Nagy begged the west to help, but no one came

• Soviet army came with great brutality and up to 20,000 Hungarians were killed

• Soviet forces re-established control and a new pro-communist party was set up under Janos Kadar

Khrushchev’s Response to Hungarian Uprising

• Khrushchev feared that if Hungary left the Warsaw Pact other Eastern European countries might follow

• Khrushchev then ordered a Soviet invasion of Hungary (4 Nov 1956)

• July 1958 = Hungarian Government (under Janos Kadar) announced that Nagy had been tried and executed

• Khrushchev described his death as a ‘warning to all the leaders of socialist countries’

International Reaction to Soviet Invasion of Hungary

• the countries of NATO were unwilling to intervene as there was a threat of nuclear war

• a meeting by the UN resulted in condemnation of the Kadar regime

• aid money was raised for refugees