The Cold War - Key Events

When?

November 1943

Who?

Roosevelt (USA)

Stalin (USSR)

Churchill (Britain)

What happened?

Objectives

• To discuss the group's planned invasion of Nazi occupied France - opening a second front
• Stalin was keen for this to happen as the Red Army were the only ones fighitng the Nazis on land

Outcomes

• USA and Britain wopuld invade France by May 1944
• USSR would join the USA and Britain in the war agaisnt Japan after Nazi Germany had been defeated

When?

February 1945

Who?

Roosevelt (USA)

Stalin (USSR)                   

Churchil (Britain)

What happened?

Objective

• Discuss what to do with Germany after war as allied victory seemed likely

Outcomes

• Germany and Berlin to be divided into 4 zones - each controlled by USSR, USA, Britain and France respectively

• All countries liberated from Nazi control had right to hold free, democratic elections (Declaration on Liberated Europe)
• Stalin offered a "sphere of influence" over Eastern Europe where communist ideals would dominate
• Agreed to set up the United Nations (UN)
• Commited to pursue and trial Nazi war criminals in an international court of justice
• Stalin wanted to take part of eastern Poland, using the excuse that the USSR needed Poland as a 'buffer zone' to protect from potential future German invasion, however Roosevelt and Churchill were not keen on this idea.

When?

July 1945

Who?

Truman (USA) - Roosevelt died / openly expressed dislike for communism

Stalin (USSR)

Attlee (Britain) - Churchill lost the election

What happened?

Context

• Truman revealed that the USA had successfully tested an atomic bomb, Stalin already knew about this through his spy networks but still complained about the secrecy between the supposed 'Allies'
• Despite agreeing at Yalta that free elections would be held in liberated European countries, the Red Army was in control of Poland and USSR was in the proces of setting up a communist government. 

Objectives

• To finalise a post-war settlement and to put agreements made in Yalta into action.

Outcomes

• Arguements over where zone boundaries would be drawn
• Stalin wanted high reparations in order to make Germany weak (since germany had invaded the USSR twice in the past 50 years) however the Western allies concerned that they were repeating the mistakes of the Treaty of Versailles and wanted to keep germnay economicaly strong so it would act as a buffer agaisnt the spread of communism
• Germany was to be demilitirised and democracy brought back
• The Nazi party was banned
• Germany to pay most of the reparations to the USSR in the form of equipment and materials

When?

1945-47

What?                                  How?

USSR added to Soviet territory:    The Red Army continued to occupy liberated countries after the war

• Estonia                                                                                       
• Latvia                                                                                                     
  
• Lithuania                                      
• Part of Eastern Poland

USSR took control of and set up communist governments in:

• Hungary
• Romania
• Bulgaria
• Czechoslovakia                                                           These countries became known as the Eastern Bloc

When?

22nd February 1946

Who/What?

George Kennan (American ambassador in Moscow) sent a telegram to the USA Secretary of State outlining a new strategy for diplomatic relations with the USSR:

• The USSR was building military power and was heavily armed
• The USSR was determined to spread communism
• The peaceful co-existence of capitalism and commusism was not possible
• The USA should seek to contain communism

Consequences?

• Led to the Truman Doctrine
• Unofficial start of the Cold War
• Novikov Telegram - Soviet response to the Long Telegram

When?

27th September 1946

Who/What?

Nivikov (Soviet ambassador in Washington D.C) sent a telegram to Moscow in response to the Long Telegram (Feb 1946):

• Warned that the USA had emerged from WW2 economically strong
• Warned that the USA was bent on world domination.
• Advised that the USSR needed to secure its 'buffer zone' in Eastern Europe

Causes and Consequences?

Causes

• Was a response to the Long Telegram

Consequences

• Stalin set up Cominform
• Increased tensions

When?

5th March 1946

Who?

Winston Churchill (ex prime minister)

Where?

USA

What?

Churchill referred to the division between Eastern and Western Europe as an 'Iron Curtain' between the two sides. This was not a physical division, but a political and economic one

Churchill’s speech is considered significant because it publically recognised and announced the beginning of the Cold War.

"an iron curtain has descended across the continent”

When?

12th March 1947

Who?

President Truman

What/Why?

The Truman doctrine (also known as the policy of containment) was an American foreign policy to stop the expansion of communism by using military force. Truman said he would send troops to any country that was being threatened by communism.

Causes and Consequences?

Causes

• Greek civil war - Greece (Britain's trading area) was being threatened by communist takeover and so the British asked the USA for financial aid to help fight the communists. The USA sent military resources to Greece; resulting in the defeat of the communists

• The Long Telegram - detailed the risk the Soviets posed to the USA and encouraged the USA to contain communism

Consequences

• USA became far more involved in European affairs
• USA became commited to the containment of communism
• Marshall Plan formed and implemented
• USSR set up Cominform to help spread communism and protect communist countries from American interference

When?

5th October 1947

What/Why?

When?

3rd April 1948