HISTORY IGCSEo

UNIT 4 - Who was to blame for the Cold War?

1945-1975

Allies against Hitler

★ USA, USSR and Great Britain became allies
★ Nonetheless, this was only a strategic wartime alliance.
★ The USA and Great Britain hated communism, the characteristic government of the
USSR.
★ Alliance made to defeat Germany.

Rivals with differing world views

★ Most Americans were proud of how their government had defeated Germany. And
believed they had the best living life.
★ Soviet people believed the same about their nation, the USSR.
USA USSR

Capitalists, business and property were Communists, all industry was owned
private. and run by the state.

Democratic government, government One party dictatorship, all candidates

was chosen freely. belonged to the Communist Party

Wealthiest country, nonetheless, some An economic superpower, standard of

people were extremely poor and others living was much lower but
extremely rich. unemployment was very rare.

Being free of control > Everyone being Being free of control < Everyone being
equal equal

Believed that other countries should be Believed other countries should be run
run the American way. the Soviet way.

Alarmed by the Communism spreading. Wanted to expand the communist

revolutions worldwide.

Saw their policies as doing the right Saw USA’s policies as selfishly
thing rather than serving the interests of building its economic empire and
the USA. political influence.
Superpowers
★ After World War II, the USA and USSR became the two main superpowers, while
countries like Britain and France lost their dominance.
★ The US shifted from isolationism in the 1930s to actively opposing communism by
the 1940s.
★ Under Roosevelt, America committed to confronting any communist actions instead
of allowing dictators to gain power.

The Yalta Conference, February 1945

★ In February 1945, as Germany was losing the war, the Allied leaders (Stalin,
Roosevelt, and Churchill) met at the Yalta Conference in Ukraine to discuss post-war
Europe. Despite their differences, they managed to agree on several key issues,
showing they could still negotiate effectively.

Solved;
➢ Japan: Stalin agreed to enter the war against Japan once Germany had surrendered.
➢ Germany: They agreed that Germany would be divided into four zones: American,
French, British and Soviet.
➢ Elections: Countries freed when Germany was defeated could now choose the
government they wanted.
➢ United Nations: Kept achieving peace as their aim, all the big three agreed to join.
➢ War Criminals: Big 3 agreed to hunt and punish war criminals who were responsable
for the massive genocide and the concentration camps.
➢ Eastern Europe: The USSR suffered a lot in WW2. Stalin was concerned of a future
attack, so the Big 3 decided that it was ok to set Eastern Europe as a “Soviet Sphere
of Influence”.
Not Solved;
➢ Poland:
- Stalin : wanted the border of the USSR to move westwards into Poland, and
said that Poland could move its border westwards onto German territory.
- Churchill: didn’t agree but knew that there was not much he could do since
Stalin’s Red Army was in total control of both Poland and eastern Germany.
- Roosevelt: didn’t agree either, but was persuaded by Churchill in order to
accept it. As long as the USSR agreed not to interfere in Greece where the
British were attempting to prevent communists taking over, Stalin accepted it.

The Potsdam Conference, July 1945

★ May 1945: Allied troops reached Berlin, Hitler committed suicide, Germany
surrendered and the war was won.
★ This conference was arranged in Potsdam, a suburb of Berlin.
Changes since Yalta;
➔ Stalin’s armies were occupying most of Eastern Europe.
-
Soviet troops had liberated the countries from Eastern Europe, but when
done, Stalin didn’t withdraw his troops.
- Refugees run in order to escape communism, in fact, Stalin placed a
communist government over Poland without considering the Poles wishes. He
argued that all of this would help him to defend themselves from future
attacks.
➔ America had a new president.
- Roosevelt died (12/04/1945) and his place was taken by Harry Truman, who
was very different from Roosevelt.
- Harry Truman: Very anti-communist and was suspicious of Stalin. He and his
advisers saw Soviet actions in Eastern Europe as preparations for a Soviet
take-over of the rest of Europe.
➔ The Allies have tested an atomic bomb.
- July 16th, 1945: Americans successfully tested an atomic bomb. At the start
of the Potsdam Conference Truman informed Stalin about it.

Stalin VS Truman
★ The Potsdam Conference started on July 17, 1945, but it wasn’t as smooth as Yalta.
Midway through, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was replaced by Clement
Attlee after losing an election.
★ Without Churchill, tensions grew between Stalin and Truman, leading to
disagreements as they struggled to understand each other’s perspectives.
➢ Disagreements at Potsdam:
- Germany: Stalin wanted to incapacitate Germany completely to
protect the USSR against future threats, while Truman didn’t want to repeat
the mistake of the Treaty of Versailles.
- Reparations: Stalin wanted compensation from Germany for all of
the dead soviets. Truman, once again, didn’t want to repeat the mistakes from
the Treaty of Versailles.
- Eastern Europe: At Yalta, pro-Soviet governments in Eastern Europe
were allowed to place for Stalin, he stated that if all the Slav united no one
would dare to place a finger on them. Truman didn’t like this and decided to
get tough on Russia.

How did the USSR gain control of Eastern Europe by 1945?

The Iron Curtain

The Potsdam Conference ended without resolution. Over the next nine months,
Stalin established communist governments in Eastern Europe, including Poland, Hungary,
Bulgaria, Albania and Romania. Churchill called this divide the "Iron Curtain."
Stalin Strengthens his grip
Stalin expanded Soviet power in Eastern Europe by setting up communist
governments. He tightened his control in each country, and the secret police arrested
anyone who opposed the communist regime.

Cominform
★ In October 1947, Stalin created the Communist Information Bureau (Cominform) to
oversee communist parties in Eastern Europe.
★ Cominform brought leaders to Moscow for informative sessions (briefings), allowing
Stalin to monitor them closely.
★ He removed independent leaders and replaced them with loyal supporters. The only
exception was Tito in Yugoslavia, who resisted control and was expelled in 1948.

How did the USA react to Soviet expansion?

★ The Western powers were alarmed by Stalin's complete takeover of Eastern Europe.
While they accepted the USSR's need for friendly governments, they expected some
to be democratic.
★ Truman viewed Stalin's actions as a dangerous spread of communism.
★ Czechoslovakia was the only Eastern European country without a communist
government, and the U.S. feared that Greece, Czechoslovakia, Italy, and France
were also at risk. Events in these countries would greatly impact U.S. policy.

Greece, 1947
★ When the Germans left Greece in 1944, two rival groups emerged: monarchists,
who wanted the king to return, and communists, who sought a Soviet-style republic.
★ Churchill sent British troops in 1945 to help restore order and support the
monarchists, leading to the king's return.
★ In 1946, the USSR protested to the UN about British troops, saying that these troops
were a threat to peace in Greece, but no action was taken.
★ As the communists attempted to seize power, a civil war broke out. The British
announced they would withdraw in 1947 due to costs, and Truman stepped in,
funding some British troops to support the king's government.
★ By 1950, the royalists remained in power but were weak and faced ongoing crises.

The Truman Doctrine

★ American intervention in Greece → new era in U.S.A.’s attitude to world policies.
- Known as the Truman Doctrine.
★ The USA decided to send money, equipment and aid to any country that was
threatened by communist take-over. (At least in the American view.)
★ Truman accepted that Eastern Europe was now communist, nonetheless, he
wouldn’t stand communism from spreading any further. → Policy known as
Containment.
The Marshall Plan
★ Truman believed that when a country was poor → communist approach
would be more likely to succeed.
★ He sent George Marshall (Secretary of state of Europe & former US Army
general) to assess the economic state of Europe. → found a ruined
economy
- Countries of Europe owed $11.5 to the USA (due to the loans asked before
the Depression.)
- There were extreme shortages of all goods. → In winter 1947,
Britain had to cut off electricity for a period each day.
★ Marshall suggested that about $17B would be needed to rebuild Europe’s economy.
★ December 1947 → Truman put his plan to Congress.
- At first the American Congress refused, and many Americans didn’t want to
be involved in foreign affairs. Adding to this, it was a lot of money.

Czechoslovakia, 1948
It was a country ruled by a coalition government→ had been trying to pursue
policies independent of Moscow.
★ March 1948 → communists came down hard.
- Anti-soviet leaders were purged.
- One pro-American minister was found dead below his window →
communist said “he had jumped”. Americans suspect he’d been
pushed.
★ The Congress accepted the Marshall Plan and all the money was available in 4 days.

Marshall Aid
★ USA wanted;
- To prevent another worldwide slump: The US wanted to create new markets
for American goods, Truman remembered the effects of the Depression and
was going to do everything to prevent it.
★ Many argued on whom to deliver the aid: Many said that aid should be given to
countries which embraced democracy and free markets. (An economy the USA
would approve of.) They wanted no tarifs or restrictions to stop US companies.
- This policy was called; “Open door”

Points of view
★ Some people said that it was an extremely generous act and others said that it was
also motivated by American self-interest.
★ Stalin initially showed some interest in Marshall Aid but quickly rejected it, forbidding
Eastern European states from participating. He believed the aid had anti-communist
motives that would undermine Soviet control in Eastern Europe and saw it as a U.S.
strategy to expand dominance by making countries economically dependent on
American dollars.
The Berlin Blockade → causes & consequences
1948 ↘
★ The distrust between the USA and USSR led to an arms race, with both sides
increasing their weapon stocks and engaging in a propaganda war, criticizing each
other's policies.
★ Truman and Stalin were determined to show strength, both to each other and their
own people, without engaging in direct military conflict.
★ Tensions peaked in 1948 over Germany, raising fears that the Cold War could
escalate into actual fighting.

The problem of Germany

After the war Germany was divided into 4 zones;
★ Initially, the U.S.
planned to dismantle
German industry under
the Morgenthau Plan
to prevent future wars.
★ However, as tensions
with the USSR grew,
Truman saw the value
of a strong Germany
as an ally. Additionally,
allowing Germany's
industry to recover was
necessary to prevent
widespread starvation.
1946 → Britain,
France, and the USA
merged their zones,
forming West Germany in 1949.

Stalin blockades Berlin

★ Stalin wanted to show Western leaders he would defend the Soviet sphere of
influence. In
June 1948 → he blocked supply routes to West Berlin, cutting off access for the
Western Powers.
- Since Berlin was deep in the Soviet zone, any attempt by the U.S. to break
the blockade could be seen as an act of war.
- Stalin expected Truman to back down and withdraw from Berlin, which would
give the Soviets control of the city and a propaganda victory.
The Berlin airlift
The U.S. saw the West Berlin situation as a crucial test → If they withdrew,
other parts of Germany might fall to Soviet control.
★ Truman responded with the Berlin Airlift, flying supplies into West Berlin.
- Despite fears that the Soviets might shoot down the planes, no shots were
fired.
- For ten months, all necessary supplies were airlifted into the city.
May 1949 → Stalin lifted the blockade.

Consequences of the Berlin Blockade

The end of the Berlin Blockade did not resolve Cold War tensions but had significant
impacts:

★ A powerful symbol: Berlin became a symbol of Cold War opposition. The U.S. viewed
it as a beacon of democratic freedom of communist control, while the Soviets saw it
as a threat to their regime in East Germany.
★ Cold War flashpoint: Berlin was a key Cold War flashpoint where U.S. and Soviet
troops faced off daily, making it a vulnerable spot in future conflicts.
★ Cold War patterns of thinking and acting: The Berlin crisis demonstrated that direct
war between the superpowers was unlikely, but conflict would continue in other
forms, such as proxy wars and propaganda battles. Neither side trusted the other,
and formal alliances began to shape Cold War policies.

NATO and Warsaw Pact

★ During the Berlin Blockade, war between the USSR and the USA seemed possible.
- April 1949 → the Western Powers formed NATO (North Atlantic Treaty
Organization) to work together.
- 1955 → West Germany joined.
- Stalin took further actions → Soviet leader Khrushchev established the
Warsaw Pact, a defensive alliance between the USSR and its Eastern
European allies, pledging mutual defense if any member was attacked.

★ NATO: USA, Belgium, Canada, DEnmark, France, West Germany, Greece, Iceland,
Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands Norway, Portugal, Turkey, UK

★ Warsaw Pact: Soviet Union, Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany,

Hungary, Poland, Romania.