Cold War 1940-1956
- Created by: A_2SpLaShY
- Created on: 03-03-22 19:28
Conflicting Ideologies
The two superpowers had very different ieologies which caused tension
USA:
- democratic government, chosen in free elections
- Capitalist county i.e. privatley owned businesses so individuals can make profit but also go bankrupt
- believe in freedom of the individual
- 1920-30 = isolationism, after the truman doct.= prepared to help other countries
USSR:
- Communist State
- Could only vote for one party
- peoples lives were closely controlled
- Rights of the individual less important than society as a whole
- Planned economy, goverment controlled production
Tehran Conference 1943
Attended by: The Big Three - Churchill, Stalin, Roosevelt
Agreed:
- Soviet Union to have a sphere of influence in the East
- UN to be set up after the war
- Poland given more land from Germany - border moved to the Oder-Neisse river lines
Disagreed:
- Stalin wanted Germany to pay severe reparations
- Churchill and Roosevelt wanted to rebuild Germany - after last war Germany had to pay reparations and led to Hitler rise.
Impacts
- Agreement to meet for the Yalta Conference (Feb 1945)
Yalta Conference - February 1945
Attended: The Big Three - Churchill, Stalin, Roosevelt
Agreed:
- The Soviet Union would join the war on Japan once Germany was defeated
- Germany would be split into four zones and Berlin into four sections
- Nazi Party banned and leaders tried as war criminals
Disagreed:
- Still no agreement on the extent of reparations to be paid
Potsdam - July-August 1945
Attended: Attlee, Truman and Stalin - there was no longer the personal trust between them and Truman did not trust Stalin. He delayed the conference until the atomic bomb was developed - Stalin had not been told about it and mistrusted the Allies further. No longer had a common enemy.
Agreed:
- Nazi party banned and leaders tried as war criminals
- Free elections to be held in Germany
- Germany to be demilitarised
Disagreed:
- Reparations - still undecided. Stalin suspicious why they wanted to protect Germany
- Stalin wanted a naval base in the medditaranian but Truman and Attlee wouldn't let him as they saw no reason for him to have one there
Iron Curtain Speech 1946
A speech made by Churchill in 1946, while in America, so clearly supported by Truman
- He said an iron curtain has decended across the continent, behind which the capitals of countries are highly controlled by Moscow
- He meant there were effectively two camps - democratic and communist, stalin had complete control of these countries
Stalins response:
- Said Churchill now adopted the position of a warmonger
- Said Churchill has friends in the USA, and likened them to Hitler and his friends
- Took the speech as as a declaration of war
Worsened tensions between the superpowers as clearly weren't Allies anymore, didn't trust eachother and Stalin saw it as a declaration of war
Secret Telegrams - 1946
The Long Telegram - from America's Ambassador in Moscow to Truman
- Stalin had given a speech calling for the destruction of capitalism
- There could be no peace with the USSR while it was opposed to Capitalism
- The USSR was building up its military power
The Novikov Telegram - from the Mosow Ambassador in America to Stalin
- America wanted to dominate the world
- Following Roosevelt's death, the American governement was no longer interested in co-operation with the USSR
- The American public was being prepared for war with the USSR
Following the telegrams both counties believed they were facing the possibility of war.
The Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan 1947
Cause: After the Long Telegram of 1947, the USA realised that Communsim would look very appealing to poorer countries, so set up to address this
The Truman Doctrine itself was a statement of intent made by Truman in March 1947. It stated the world had a choice between communist tyranny and freedom, America had a responsibility to fight for freedom and Communism should be contained.
Effects: A change in American policy of Isolationism, devided the world into two clear ideologies, marked the end of the Grand Alliance, showed Truman commited to containment.
The Marshall Plan: Committed $13 billion of American money to rebuild devastated economies in Europe. Countries who accepted had to trade freely with America - it benefitted them aswell.
Cause: It was thought by encouraging prosperity the appeal of communism would be weakened.
Effects: Stalin insisted Eastern countries under his sphere of influence refuse the aid, 16 countries accepted, comecon and cominform.
Satellite States
A satellite state is a country that is officially independant but in reality is controlled by another country.
Stalin set them up by:
- leaving soviet troops in the country
- having the communist party infiltrate key areas of the government
- having the communist party win the election
Examples of satellite states include: Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Romania
Comecon and Cominform 1947
Causes: As Communist alternatives to the Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan after Stalin made Eastern European countries reject the aid. Cominform helped Stalin extend his control.
Cominform: An organisation that represented communist countries and bought them together under the USSR. Directed communist parties in other countries.
Effects: It consolidated the power of the USSR in Eastern Europe by stamping out and removing opposition who were not totally loyal to Stalin. It also ensured the loyalty of Eatern European countires.
Comecon was the Marshall Plan for communist countries.
Effects: It minimised the western influence in the East and meant Eastern European countries did not have access to Western prosperity, as it prevente trade with the West
The Berlin Blockade and Airlift 1948-9
Causes:
- In April 1948 the 3 zones came together to form Trizonia - became West Germany in June.
- Didn't want a separate state - Germany's most valuable economy. rested in Western Germany and didn't want USA to have further influence over Germany
- Angry a new currency had been bought into Western Germany
- Wanted to cut Germany off from Berlin so that the new governement couldn't control West Germany. Want to prove a divided Germany wouldn't work
On June 24th, Stalin cut off all rail,road and canal links between West Germany and West Berlin, hoping to force the allied troops out the city.
The Allies responded with the Airlift - supplies transported round the clock. 600 tonnes a day increased to 1000. Its peak in January 1949 lifted 170,000 tonnes in a day. Ended in May 1949.
Effects: Relationship with the USSR destroyed, Truman's peaceful response made the blockade look aggressive - propaganda triumph for the West. Blockade ended.
NATO - 1949
NATO - the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation was formed in 1949. It was joined by Western European countries, USA, and Canada.
It established an aliiance - should 1 country come under attck the others would come to its aid. It was a military alliance with the specific aim of defending the west against the spread of communsim.
The USSR's response was the Warsaw Pact.
The Warsaw Pact - 1955
The Warsaw Pact was the communist eviqualent of NATO - a military alliance of Eastern European countries.
It increased the influence of the Soviet Union as it created a joint control of the armed forces, and could coordinate other member's foreign policies. It also bound it's members to come to the aid of others.
De-stalinisation 1956
Krushchev came into power in 1953. He made an attack on Stalin at the Communist Party International, draging up evidence of Stalin's purges and denounced him as a tyrant who was an enemy of the people.
He began a program of De-stalinisation:
- released more political prisoners
- closed down cominform
- dismissed Stalin's foreign minister, Molotov
- Agreed to remove Soviet Troops from Austria
Although this seemed to be signalling that Eastern Eurpean countires would now have greater freedom, this wasn't the case, as evidenced by Hungary in 1956
The Hungarian Uprising Causes - 1956
Causes:
- Matayas Rakosi - the hungarian leader in power from 1946-1956 - was a brutal ruler - called the 'bald butcher' and 'Stalin's best pupil' - he used 'salami tactics'
- De-stalinisation made the people in Hungary think they'd be allowed more freedom and hated the Russian control, partiularly:
- control of the economy made Hugary poor
- secret police
- censorship and lack of freedom
On the 23rd of October 1956 student demonstrations caused a statue of Stalin to be pulled down.
The Hungarian Uprising Events 1956
Events:
- Imre Nagy became PM and wanted reforms such as:
- Hunagary to leave the Warsaw Pact
- Communist government should end
- Free elections with more than 1 party
- abolish the secret police
- ask the UN for protection from Russia
Krushchev couldnt accept this as it would leave a gap in the iron curain and the buffer zone would be broken.
He was worried other countries wouuld follow if he allowed them to leave.
In November 1956 200,000 Soviet Troops and 1000 tanks mived into Hungary to crush the Uprising
The Hungarian Uprising Effects 1956
Effects:
- 200,000 Soviet troops and 1000 tanks moved into Hungary to crush the uprising
- 2,500 civilians killed and over 200,000 fled to Austria
- Nagy's government were defeated and replaced with pro-soviet Janos Kadar
- Hungary remained a member of the Warsaw Pact
- No help from the west - preoccupied with the Suez Crisis --> other countries believed they'd get no support if they too rebelled
- The UN condemned the invasion
- Other soviet states didnt challenge Soviet Authority
Related discussions on The Student Room
- a level history - edexcel cold war coursework »
- 2024 gcse predictions »
- HELP: GCSE History Edexcel Grade 9 Facts »
- history epq »
- cold war a level predictions »
- Edexcel A Level History American Dream Essay »
- english language paper 2 question 4 »
- gcse predictions »
- Edexcel GCSE History Paper 2 (1HI0 2A-2W) - 7th June 2023 [Exam Chat] »
- How much % does each section cover in Edexcel History GCSE? »
Comments
No comments have yet been made