Origins of the Cold War 1945-49
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- Created by: Erin W
- Created on: 11-06-17 13:47
Tension Between Russia and West before 1945
- Russia not allowed to join League of Nations - an organisation set up at end of ww2 to keep world peace.
- Britain only recognised the Communist Party as government of Russia in 1924.
- Hitler came to power in 1933 - he was very anti-communist but signed the Nazi-Soviet Pact (Non-agression Pact) which angered the West.
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Yalta Conference
- February 1945.
- Held in Yalta, Crimea.
- Codenamed Argonaut Conference.
- 'The Big Three' - Churchill, Roosevelt, Stalin
- Held to decide what would happend at the end of the war.
- United Nations would be set up to avoid future wars.
- Decided that Germany would be divided into four zones - controlled by Britain, France, USA, and USSR.
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Potsdam Agreement
- July 1945
- Held in Potsdam, Germany.
- Germany had been defeated - Hitler dead.
- 'The Big Three' - Harry Truman (USA), Stalin, Clement Atlee (UK).
- USA had developed atomic bomb - this angered Stalin and USA wouldn't share technology.
- Decided exactly how Germany was to be divided.
- Border between Germany and Poland changed - more land given to Poland.
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Spread of Communism 1945-47
- Albania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Yugoslavia all became communist.
- West suspected USSR caused this.
- Stalin denied this but said a 'buffer-zone' was needed to protect USSR from attack.
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'Iron Curtain' Speech
- March 1946
- Churchill (no longer PM) invited to Fulton, Missouri.
- Made a speech - criticised Stalin and communism.
- Describe spread of communism as an 'Iron Curtain' descending across Europe.
- He called on US government to join Britain to help stop communism.
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Kennan's 'Long Telegram'
- 1947
- George Kennan - American diplomat in Moscow.
- Sent a message (telegram) to Truman.
- Claimed USSR could not be trusted - Stalin wanted to spread communism around the world.
- Kennan argued USSR need to be 'contained'.
- Truman believed Kennan - it fitted with his own suspicions.
- Resulted in the policy of containment.
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Truman Doctrine
- 1947
- Truman announced that USA to stand up against USSR.
- Truman feared Greek communists taking power in Greece.
- Communism spreading to Middle East would disrupt oil trade - worried Truman.
- USA would support any country trying to resist communism.
- US Congress gave Greece $400m.
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Marshall Plan
- 1948
- US Secretary of State George Marshall agreed with Truman.
- USA would invest money into countries that agreed with America to help them stop communist takeover.
- Some already communist countries refused trade with USA - therefore didn't receive any funding.
- Over $13bn invested over four years.
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Cominform and Comecon
- Stalin furious with Mrshall Plan
- He saw plan as an attack on the USSR and other communist countries.
- He set up two organisations - Cominform and Comecon.
- Cominform - encourage political cooperation between communist countries in Eastern Europe.
- Comecon - Soviet version of Marshall Plan - encouraged economic cooperation between communist countries in Eastern Europe.
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Division of Germany
- Four zones of Germany to be administered by Britain, France, America, and USSR - Berlin also divided.
- Berlin also divided between the four powers.
- Western powers wanted Germany to recover from the war and form barrier against communism - money invested through Marshall Plan.
- USSR wanted Germany to remain weak - to stop threat of invasion.
- 1948 - Western zones were prosperous, Soviet zone was poor.
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Berlin Blockade
- June 1948.
- Four Western zones merged into one.
- Allies brought in new currency - Deutschmark.
- Stalin angered by this - 24th June 1948 Stalin closed all road, rail, and canal links with West Berlin.
- Truman airlifted supplies to West Berlin - 13,000 tonnes of supplies every day for a year.
- Stalin admitted deafeat - blockade lifted on 12th May 1949.
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Results of Berlin Blockade
- Policy of Containment worked - Communism failed to spread to West Berlin.
- NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) set up in April 1949 - twelve countries agreeed to cooperate to resist communism.
- West Germany allowed to join NATO - revived Soviet fear.
- Soviets responded to NATO with Warsaw Pact - communist countries agreed to join together.
- May 1949 - Federal Republic of Germany (West) established.
- October 1949 - German Democratic Republic (East) established.
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