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Cold War: Ideological Differences

CAPITALISM                                      COMMUNISM

American society was based on 2 key ideas- democracy and capitalism
Soviet society was based on communist ideas (1 party state)- elections but only elect comm 

Americans= rights + freedoms of individuals were more important than everyone being equal
State kept close control over press,radio,film and art> as hostile as religion 

Capitalism meant that property + busines were owned by private individuals/companies
Industry was organised/run by the state> unemp was rare but L standard of living 

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Why did the allies begin to fall out in 1945?

Personalities:
>Disagreement over germany:
-Stalin= cripple Germany
-Truman didn't want to repeat TofV

>Disagreement over reparations:
-20mil russians had died at war+ soviet union was devastated ( $10bill compensation)
- Truman didn't want that to happen again because didn't want to repeat TofV

>Disagreement over soviet policy in Eastern E:
 -Stalin- won agreement from allies that he could set up pro-soviet government in East E(saw this as an easy way of protecting the USSR)
-Truman saw it as evidence that Stalin wanted to build up a soviet empire in Europe.

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Why did the allies begin to fall out in 1945?

Actions by the USA:
>Truman replaced Roosevelt-much more anticommunism- very suspicious of Stalin
>Truman saw soviet actions in eastern Europe as preparations for a soviet takeover of the rest of Europe
>Americans had developed ans successfully tested a new weapon of awesome power (affecting future relations between superpowers)

Actions by USSR:
>Soviet troops- liberated country after country in Eastern E and didn't withdraw his troops
>Stalin had set up a communist government in Poland (ignoring the wishes of the majority of poles) Britain +USA protested but Stalin defended himself 

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Cold war (1945-49)

Damaged caused by the second world war:
> millions of lives were lost on all sides
-USSR lost millions of citizens and Stalin was determined to make USSR secure in the future

The rise of the superpowers:
>USA and USSR were in a league of their own (military strength and resources)

Conflicting ideologies: Communism and capitalism
> During the war USSR (com) and USA (capi) had united to defeat facism
> Com and capi were very different economic systems, strrongly opposed
> differences of opinion emergered

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Cold war (1945-49)

Political changes in Europe: occupation, resistance and liberation:
> In Europe most countries had been occupied by German army 
>Defeating the germans had been the main aim of all the resistance movements
>outside powers might get involved to support either the communists or non--comm
> By 1947= this was the cause of great tension between the superpowers

The allied conferences at Yalta and Potsdam:
>By early 1945 it was clear that Germany would be defeated- everyone concentrated on the problems peace would bring
-What to do with germany and its leaders
-What was to happen to the occupied countries after they had been liberated
- How to bring the war with japa to a speedy end
-Create and maintain peace

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Cold war (1945-49)

The Yalta conference (1945):
> Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin got together
-Germany would be divided into 4 zones ( run by USA, France,Britain and the USSR)
-Berlin would be divided into 4 zones and the countries of eastern e= hold free elections
-USSR would join in the war against  Japan in return for territory in Manchuria and Sakhalin

Potsdam Conference (1945):
>In 1945 Roosevelt died> Harry Truman + Churchill was replaced by Clement Attlee
> NEW LEADERS DID NOT GET ON AS WELL 
-Nazi party was to be banned and leaders to be tried as war criminals
- The oder-Neisse (two rivers) line was to form part of the border between Pol+Germ

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Cold war (1945-49)

Tensions at Potsdam:
1) Britain and USA denied Stalin a naval base in the med
-no need
-Stalin saw this as evidence that his allies mistrusted him

2)Stalin wanted more reparations from Germany that Brit and USA
-USA + Brit did not wish to cripple Germany
-Stalin was suspicious about why his allies wanted to help Germany

3)Stalin had set up a communist government in Poland

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Cold war (1945-49)

The differences between the superpowers:

1) THE USA
> Democratic system of government( president and congress chosen by free dem elect)
>Capitalist economy
>Usa was the world's wealthiest country but some were very rich, others very poor

IN 1920s and 1930s, USA has a policy of isolationism (staying out of world affairs) but now they began to step in

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Cold war (1945-49)

2) The USSR:

>communist
>People could only vote for members of the commuinist party
> Everyone was closely controlled
>Individuals were seen as less important than a good society on the whole
>USSR has a planned economy
> General standard of living was much lower that USA- but unemployment was rare and extremes didn't exist
>USSR had been attacked various times so Stalin thought they could only be safe if everything was communist

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Cold war (1945-49)

USSR's Policy on eastern Europe:

> The soviet Red Army had advanced through large areas of Eastern Europe whilst driving back the Germans
Creating Satellites:
By 1948, all Eastern European states had communist governments
Tito (Yugoclavia) refused to submit to Stalin's control
>Europe was now divided- East and West, In 1946, churchill called this division the 'Iron curtain'
> Stalin created the comniform and later comecon ( a trading alliance of communist countries-) to help him keep a tight grip on his neighbors 

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Cold war (1945-49)

American Policy on Eastern Europe:

Greece:
> Greece appeared to be the next target for communist
>Greek resistance against the Germans has been divided- the royalists (who wanted the return of the king), After the war , the royalusts restored the king but were attacked from communist forces so they seeked help from USA

Truman Doctrine, 1947
> Events in Greece convinced Truman that unless he acted, Communism would continue to spread
'I believe it must be the policy of the USA to support all free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressure'
>USA would not return to isolationism
>Aim was to contain Communism
> It was clear the 'Cold War' had started ( 2 sides believe in completely different political ideas) 

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Cold war (1945-49)

Marshall Aid, 1947

> Truman believed that poverty and hardship provided a breeding ground for communism so he wanted to make Europe prosperous again
>George Marshall came up witht the European recovery programme (MARSHALL PLAN)
- Stop the spread of communism
-To help the economies of Europe to recover
It also caused tensions as only 16 countries accepted it, Stalin refused it for the USSR and banned Eastern Europe countries from accepting it 

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Cold war (1945-49)

The Communist take over in Czechoclovakia, 1948
> Czech ended up being fully controlled by communism

The Berlin blockade and airlift, 1948-49
> At the end of the war, the allies divided Germany and Berlin into zones. Germany's economy and govern had been shattered
-Brit and USA wanted Germ to recover
-French didn' know whether to help or leave them
-USSR did not want to help Germ and Stalin was suspicious as to why they did

French and American and British zones merged to become west Germany
>Stalin thought they were doing it to attack him and when they introduced the Deutsche mark it was the last straw
>Stalin tried to blockade Berlin ( he closed all road and rail connections from Berlin to West Germ)
USA + Brit could withdraw or they could lift supplies into west Berlin by air= SUCCESS

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Cold war (1945-49)

STALIN TIGHTENS CONTROL: IMPACT OF USSR

 East G- run by the USSR under red army control until the creation of GDR in 1949
Poland- Comm joined a coalition govern + became leaders( forced non com leader out)
Hungary- Comm largest single party, imprisoned opposition politicians
Romania-Communist was elected prime minister within a left wing coalition (com abolished monarchy)
Bulgaria- Left wing won elections in 1945, com members then executed leaders
Albania- Comm gained power imm after war- little opposition
Yugoclavia- Tito had led wartime resis to Nazis- determined to apply communism in his own way and was expelled from the comniform
Czech-Left wing won elections in 1945 - became largest single party and when they were threatened they banned other parties

Greece: Britian and USA banned the royalist side in a civil war which defeated the communist opposition 

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Cold war (1945-49)

Comniform,1947
> Stalin set up the comniform- an alliance of communist countries (response to the Marshall Plan) To spread communist ideas.

Comecon, 1949
>Co-ordinate the production and trade of the Eastern European countries

NATO,1949
> Military alliance contained most of the states in Western E as well as USA and Canada 
>Defend each of its members
>When USSR made an atomic bomb it was very important

The Warsaw Pact, 1955
>West Germany joined NATO and the USSR version of this was the Warsaw pact

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Cold war (1945-49)

The beginning of the arms race:
>Development of Satellites- Nuclear bombs no longer have to be dropped from long-range aircraft but could be laaunched out
>'The Space Race' had begun
> Both then developed underground bases
> Both superpowers were developing weapons as a nuclear deterrent- to discourage eachother from attacking
> Soon they had enough to destroy the whole world

Krushchev and the Policy of peaceful coexistence:
Nikita: Stalin died in 1953- less aggresive leader- and talked of 'peaceful coexistance' with the west

Peaceful Coexistence:
> Kruschchev seemed to be encouraging greater freedom within USSR 

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