Origin of Cold War

• 1945 - Truman elected. Wanted to confront communism
• Richest country in the world
• Democracy w/ free elections led by an elected president
• Freedom of Speech and belief
• Capitalism
• Led by Truman (believed communism was evil)
• Atmoic Bombs - scared of Russias conventional army
• Feared spread of communism 
• Anger towards Nazi Soviet pact 
• Wanted reconstruction - make Germany a democracy and trading partner

• Saw the rights of an individual as less impartant than the good of society
• Stalin believed he had to set up communist governments as they had been attacked so many times.
• People could vote in the Supreme Soviet but only for communists
• Biggest country in the world
• One party state led by a dictator
• State Control - censorship, secret police, terror and purges
• Communism
• Led by Stalin
• Biggest army in the world
• Was angry as USA and UK invaded Russia in 1918-19 to destroy communism
• Believed USA and UK delayed opening 2nd front to let Germany and Russia destroy each other
• Wanted to make Germany pay reparations

• Germany not yet defeated
• Still tension in Poland
• Stalin Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin
• Split Germany into four zones as well as Berlin
• Allow free elections in Eastern European countries
• Germany should pay reparations
• Russia invited to UN 
• Russia promised to join war against Japan when Germany was defeated
• Government of National Unity to be set up in Poland, comprimising communists and non communists

• Germany defeated
• Roosevelt died, Churchill lost election. Truman, Atlee and Stalin
• Truman didnt tell Stalin about the atomic bomb
• Details of zone boundaries
• Disagree on amount of reparations Russia wanted to take (10% of industrial  equipment in western zones) UK and USA thought this was too much
• Stalin arrested non-com leaders in Poland
• Communists were coming to power in the East
• Nazi party banned and leaders trialled as war criminals
• UK and USA denied USSR a naval base in the Mediterranean
• No longer had a common enemy so they no longer has to stick together
• Stalin set up com gov in capital of Poland
• Stalin wanted Germany to pay more reparations
• Afterwards Truman dropped atmoic bomb. Stalin was furoius

• 150,000 killed
• Increased tension
• Soviets viewed it as a betrayal of trust and swing in favour of US in balance of global power
• Horrified public and people in the West
• Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
• 1949 USSR developed own bomb
• Mutually Assured Destruction
• Prevented conflict between superpowers turning into a hot war
• Arms race emerged
• Stalin viewed it as a warning to the USSR

• Satellite state = a country under the influence of another
• 20 million Russians died in WW2
• Stalin wanted a buffer zone of friendly states to ensure Russia wouldnt be invaded again
• Soviet Red Army advanced through the East whilst driving back Germans and remained stationary 
• Elections were held in Europe but evidence suggest they were rigged to allow USSR backed governments to take control
• Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, Albania and Poland, opponants of communism were beaten, murdered of frightened into submission
• 1948, all eastern european states had com govs
• Russia used salami tactics

• Europe was divided into the east and west and churchill called this division the Iron Curtain in his Fulton Speech. The soviet power was growing and had to be stopped. Stalin viewed the speech as a declaration of War
• It was not a physical division but a political and economic division
• One side were the one party communist state and the other were the capital democratic
• Churchill, who was speaking at Trumans invitation wanted the convince america that they needed to maintain a military presence in europe to prevent the spread of communism

• Czechoslovakia was not fully part of Stalins eatern bloc as coms were not fully in control
• Spring 1948 elections were due and it seemed likely coms would do badly
• coms organised protests and marches
• non com ministers resigned
• foreign minister Jan Masaryk was killed (murdered)
• May 1948 elections took place but only coms were allowed to stand
• Czechoslovakia was now fully part of the Bloc
• non coms were arrested in Czechoslovakia Poland and Hungary
• the coms used radio in Czechoslovakia
• the coms joined a coalition government at first but plotted to take over Czechoslovakia Poland and Bulgaria
• non coms were executed in Bulgaria and Hungary
• coms used secret police to gain power in hungary and Czechoslovakia
• the catholic church was attacked in Poland

• Greece 1947 one of few countries that hadnt turned com. The com rebels were prevented by the UK army. The royalists restored the king with the help of the UK. They came under com attack and the British troops withdrew. UK told USA they couldnt afford involvement.
• March 1947 Truman told congress it was USA job to contain com (Truman Doctrine)
• USA provided Greece with arms, supplies and money. com defeated in 1949 after civil war
• After WW2 Stalin demanded partial control of Dardanelles (strategic passage between black sea and mediterrenean) which belonged to Turkey). UK assistance ended in Turkey in 1947 and USA dispatched Military Aid
• Truman believed his policy was vital  to support all free poeple who are resisting com subjagation
• the USA wouldnt return to isolationism
• policy of containment

• USA was committed to economic recovery in Western Europe
• General George Marshall went to Europe and saw the poverty and thought all were going to turn com
• Asked congress for 17 billion dollars to fund European recovery programme (marshall plan) to get europe economy going again
• congress agreed once Czechoslovakia turned com in 1948
• aid was given in food, equipment grants, infrastructure
• 70% of money was used to buy commodities from US suppliers
• only 16 countries accepted (all in West)
• Stalin refused Marshall aid and banned east from accepting it and created own organisations
• cominform 1947 was an alliance of communist countries
• aimed to spread com ideas but help stalin control his com allies as it restricted contact with the west. Marshall Tito of Yugoslavia didnt accept and split with moscow but yugoslavia remained communist
• comecon 1949 was set up to co ordinate production and trade of e. europe. It favoured the USSR more than any other member. Established mutual economic assistance. Stalin wanted world control

• January 1947 Bizonia formed
• December - London Conference to discuss Germanys future and Russia wasnt present
• January 48 - Russia startes to stop Western Literature being sold in the Soviet zone
• March - the USA offers Marshall aid. Stalin forbids cominform coountries to take part
• Russia imposes a partial blockade to w Berlin allied transport to the city has to apply for a permit and is inspected
• 1 June - trizonia
• Many skilled workers were fleeing to the W it was a more attractive place to live. In E there was poverty and hunger
• 23 June - Deutschmark causes economic chaos in Russian zone
• in a month he closed all road and rail connections from Berlin to w germany hoping to force allies out of city.
• USA and Britain could either withdraw from B (embarassing and gives Stalin upperhand to invade) or life supplies to w berlin via air - planes could be shot down
• air lift lasted following spring 1949 and reached peak in april when 1398 flights lanned nearly 13000 tonnes in 24 hours. 
• W Berliners recieveed food and clothes and oils and building supplies
• great success for the W

• may 1949 stalin lifted the blockade
• relations with west and east hit rock bottom
• indirect fighting
• cooperation in future with germany was unlikely and country would remain divided
• Trizonia became federal republic of G in August 1949 and E Germany became Democratic republic in October 1949 until 1990
• the iron curtain became permanant
• the cold war broke out into open confrontations and two superpowers began arms race
• 1949 allies set up NATO as a military alliance to resist Russia
• Hostility was far from over
• lasted 318 days

• military alliance containing most states in W europe as well as USA and Canada
• purpose was to defend every one of its members
• when the USSR developed its own A bomb in 1949, NATO seemed even more important to the defence of europe since no other european country had atomic weapons
• they were aggressive in the Korean war as they jumped at the chance to fight
• NATO never assembled a force large enough to stop the soviets
• the formation of NATO meant permanant presence in Europe of a US army
• USA now formally committed to defence of europe
• stalin didnt see it as a defensive alliance but as a direct threat to the USSR
• the USA was able to build air bases in W europe where planes armed with nuclear weapons could be stationed ready for use against the USSR

• 1948 - US air force had 50 B-29 bombers
• 1949 - only the USA had the atomic bomb
• 1950 - soviets developed their Atomic bomb
• 1952 - american scientists developed the hydrogen bomb which was 2500 times more powerful than the A bomb
• 1953 - Russian scientists developed the H bomb
• 1955 - America had roughly 2000 nuclear warheads
• USSr had 50 atom bombs
• 1978 - USSR caught up with USA
• The American army in W germany recieved its first nuclear weapons test for use on battlefields

• 1945 Korea was split along the 38th parallel between a com north (Kim Il Sung) and non com south (Syngman Rhee)
• com was growing in far eart. China had turned com in 1949. US developed the domino theory. 1950 American Nation Security Council report recommended US stopped containing com and started rolling back
• Kim Il Sung visited Stalin and persuaded him he could invade and overthrow SK with help. Stalin agreed and though US wouldnt be involved. Sung got support from China leader Mao Tse Tung as well
• Rhee boasted he was going to attack NK and NK used this as a reason to invade
• Stalin was support com Asia. America feared spread in Asia and China. Determined to prevent com in this area
• End of WW2 - USSR taken control of NK and set up com state
• South - US set up a democracy but it heavily relied on military backing
• SK prsident and NK president both claimed to be president of all of Korea
• Tense Relations
• NK invaded SK

• NKPA easily defeated Republic of Korea at first (ROK)
• Sept 1950 - NKPA almost conquered all of SK
• USA went to UN and sent troops to defend SK
• Russians couldnt veto the idea as they were boycotting the UN
• Sept - UN troops led by General MacArthur landed in Korea and drove NKPA back
• Oct - UN forces almost conquered all of NK
• Nov - Chinese peoples volounteers attacked and drove USA back
• Recaptured NK and advanced into SK
• USA landed more troops and drove chinese back to 38th parallel. Truman ordered MacArthur to stop and sacked him when he disagreed
• The war went on as border clashes until 1953 when new president Eisenhower offered peace but threatend use of the A-Bomb if China didnt accept

• 1/10 koreans dead
• SEATO formed in 1954 - contain com in ASIA
• UN stood up to agressoin
• China became a superpower and impacted world
• America viewed war as a success
• Superpower trust grew further
• Economic and social impact on Korea
• Potential MAD threat
• Truman doctrine upheld
• Many were worried that USA saw it as a success and they had used UN for own purposes
• There were more UN fighters than there were korean fighters
• Chinese/USA relations already tense now further

• Stain died 1953
• Nikita Khrushchev won power battle to succeed him. Seemed less agressive than Stalin and talked of peaceful co-existance.
• 1956 closed session of 20th congress com paryu and attacked stalin for being a dictator. Stalin was a terrible tyrant and insisted on destalinisation.
• EXPECTED to improve east/west relations but turned to greatest danger in cold war - competed in arms, space and sport
• Kruschev encouraged greater freedom within the USSR
• Warsaw 1956, indicated polish should be allowed more freedom
• Destalinisation led to anti-soviet rebellions in 1956 Poland and Hungary, Russian troops were sent in to enforce control
• Waged an arms race developing H bombs and ICBMs
• Warsaw Pact 1955 - military alliance of com countries to rival NATO (US increased NATO troops in Germany)
• Propaganda war and clash of ideologies
• US agressive response. Senator McCarthy led a series of public trials of suspected coms - witch hunts
• Both Spied on each other (U2 planes on Russia)

• 1955 - soviets agreed to sign Austrian State treaty ending their occupation in Austria since 1945
• Austria was divided into 4 zones at end of WW2 and soviets had taken many food supplies in reparations from their zones
• This came to an end - Austria became independant and her 1937 frontiers were restored

• Khrushchev was determined to strengthen Eastern Europe in the face of NATO
• Annoyed by intergrations of the federal republic of Germany into NATO in 1955
• Warsaw Pact = com version of NATO. Soviets hadnt forgotten pain Germany inflicted during the war
• military alliance of friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance'. 
• Soon after, SU cancelled wartime alliance w/ UK France and to let E Germany into the W pact
• countries included buffer zone countries i.e poland, czechoslovakia, hungary, romaina, bulgaria, albania

Causes - 

• The policy of detente caused the uprising.
• Romania had broken free from Russian control and was improving relations with the West
• The Czechs hated Russian control
• Control of the economy which made Czechoslovkia poor
• Censorship and lack of freedom
• Some Czechs thought the USA would help them

Events - 

• For 4 months, there was freedom in Czechosolovakia. But then the revoloution began to run out of control. Dubcek announced that he was still committed to democratic communism, but other special parties were set up
• Dukcek stressed that Czechoslovakia would stay in the Warsaw pact but it August, President TIto of Yugoslavia(not in the warsaw pact) visited Prague
• At a meeting in Bratislava on 3rd August 1968, Brezhnev read out a letter from some Czechoslovakian communists aking for help. He announced the Brezhnev Doctrine-the USSR would not allow any country to reject communism
• 20th August 1968, 500000 Warsaw pact troops invaded Czechoslovakia. Dubcek and other leaders were arrested and sent to Moscow

• The Czechs didnt fight the Russians. They stood infront of their tanks and put flowers in the soldiers hair. Jan Palach burned himself to death in protest
• Prague radio instructed people to carry out passive resistance and do not resist
• Eventually soviet forces crushed all resistance
• Dubcek was taken to Moscow and made to abandon his reform programme. He was forced to resign and expelled from the communist party
• Brezhnev put in Gustav Hasak, a supporter of Russia as the leader of the KSC
• The soviets grip on Czechoslovakia was once again firm

Summary of some points

• Jan 68 - Dubcek took over as leader of the com party
• Government realeased state control of industry and allowed freedom of speech which was viewed as a threat by Brezhnev

• After the failure of czechs trying to regain control and freedom from soviet rule, the new leader Husak returned to the old ways. The prague spring reforms were reversed and the USSR were firmly in control of Czech policies
• Brezhnev made the Brezhnev doctrine - argued that a threat to one socialist country was a threat to all of them. (The doctrine echoed the Truman Doctrine of 1947 and the fear of the domino effect).
• He said force would be used when necerssary to keep satellite states under soviet influence
• This did nothing to improve east west relations. Yet in spite of it, there was a thaw in relations very quickly in what became known as detente
• Results - West had welcomed Dubceks reforms and watched the invasion with horror. There werent prepared to intervene as risk of war
• Showed that Soviet Union wouldnt allowed political reform or opposition
• Showed the west were powerless to stop the soviet union behind the iron curtain
• Brezhnev doctrine stated iron curtain countries were not allowed to abandon communism even if it lef to world war three
• Czechoslovakia returned to communist control and russian troops were stationed there. Half the leadership of teh KSC along with directors of many firms such as publishing companies were sacked and 47 anti communists were arrested