Background+to+the+Cold+War

THE START OF THE COLD WAR 1945 – 1949  A. Background to the Cold War B. Yalta and Potsdam 1945 C. Communism and Capitalism D. The problem of Eastern Europe E. The Berlin Blockade 1948 – 194 9

A. Background to the the Cold War
  Russia had been a communist country since 1917. Democratic countries like  Britain and America were very worried that Russia would try to spread communism and so relations between these countries in the 1920’s and ‘30’s were poor.  In 1939, Russia signed a military agreement with Nazi Germany - the Nazi - Soviet Pact. This was a big surprise to all as Hitler hated communism. The <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">deal was made so that Hitler could invade Poland. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">In 1941, Hitler betrayed the Russian leader, Stalin and invaded Russia. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> Britain agreed to help Russia, as did America from December 1941 when she <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">entered the war. And so from early 1942, Russia, America and Britain (“The    <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Allies”) were fighting on the same side against Hitler and his allies (Italy     <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">and Japan) <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Although they were allies, tensions quickly emerged between Russia and <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">America/Britain. The main source of friction was the time that it took to    <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">open a “Second Front” in Europe. Stalin wanted Britain to launch an    <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">invasion of France as soon as possible to relieve pressure on the eastern <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">front ; this, however, did not finally happen until 1944 (D - Day). Stalin was <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">very supcicious - he believed that this was a deliberate attempt to weaken <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> Russia, so that when the war ended, America and Britain would be in a    <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">stronger position. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">

<span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">B. The Allied Conferences 1945 : Yalta and Potsdam
<span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">By early 1945, the war was coming to a close. The Allies decided to meet to    <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">decide (a) what to do with Germany once defeated (b) what should happen <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">to eastern Europe (c) how to end the war against Japan (d) how to ensure a    <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">lasting peace. Two important conferences were held in 1945 to discuss <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">these matters : <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">** Yalta **** Conference, February 1945 ** <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Leaders present : Stalin (Russia) ; Churchill (Britain) ; Roosevelt (America) <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">What was agreed : Germany and capital city of Berlin to be divided into 4 <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">zones ; countries of eastern Europe to hold free elections ; Russia to help in    <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">war against Japan ; trials of Nazi war criminals ; a new peace - keeping <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">organisation ; Germany to pay reparations <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">** Potsdam **, ** July/August 1945 ** <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Leaders present : Stalin ; Truman (America) ; Attlee ( Britain) <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">What was agreed : the Yalta proposals were confirmed ; details of how <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> Berlin would be governed ; border between Poland and Germany agreed <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">However, although many important agreements had been made, there were <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">many new tension between Russia and America/Britain, such as : Truman <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">disliked Stalin and did not trust him ; Stalin wanted Germany to pay heavy <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">reparations but Truman disagreed ; Stalin had already set up a communist <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">government in Poland ; America had exploded the very first atomic bomb - <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> Russia, as yet, did not have the scientific knowledge. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">

<span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">C. Communism and Capitalism
<span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The main reason why relations between America and Russia began to worsen <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">in 1945 was because of their ideological differences (political beliefs) <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> AMERICA   || <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> RUSSIA <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> || <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> America was a democratic country. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The people elect the government <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> || <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> Russia was a comunist country. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">There were no political parties except the communists <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> || <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> America had a capitalist economy - <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">people could run their own businesses and make profits. || <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> Russia had a planned economy - all <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Business and factories owned by the <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">government  || <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">capitalism could make people rich ; <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">at the same time peole could also be very poor. ||  <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">in a planned economy, people could <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">not become rich, but few people were very poor D. The Problem of Eastern Europe  || <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">By 1945, Stalin had 6 million Russian troops in eastern Europe. He was <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">determined to make sure that he kept control of eastern Europe when the <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">war was over ; he believed that this would then act as a “buffer zone” <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">between Russia and central Europe, protecting Russia from the possibility <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">of any future attacks. (Russia had twice been attacked by Germany in the    <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">previous 30 yeas - she wanted to make sure that it never happened again) <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">With 6 million troops in eastern Europe, Stalin saw this as an opportunity to    <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">begin the process of spreading communism worldwide, starting first of all <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">with eastern Europe. At Yalta, Stalin had agreed to free elections ; the <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">reality was that he had no intention of keeping to this. By 1948, vitually all <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">east European countries had communist governments - Poland, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Albania. The only exception was Yugoslavia - it became communist under General Tito but was not <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">a“satellite” state of Russia, as were the others. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">By 1948, Europe had become divided into communist east and non - <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">communist west - in 1946, Winston Churchill used the phrase “The Iron <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Curtain” to describe the division between east and west. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Truman was very concerned by events in eastern Europe after the war and <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">was very suspicious of Stalin. Since 1919, America had kept out of the <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">affairs of Europe and the world, but now there was a change of policy. In    <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">1947, Truman made a promise to any country worldwide that if that country <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">was threatened by the communists, America would help - advisers, money, <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">troops and weapons.This was known as the “Truman Doctrine” : it was a    <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">statement that committed America to a policy of “containment” ie. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">containing the spread of communism worldwide. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The Truman Doctrine ws first put in to action in 1947, when America <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">provided money for the non - communists in Greece against the communists. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">It worked - the Greek communists were defeated. It was next seen in the <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">“Marshall Plan” of 1947. 13 bilion dollars were given to west European <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">countries to help them recover between 1947 - 1951. Why did America do    <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">this ? The main reason was to help western Europe recover quickly from the <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">war and so act as a barrier to the spread of communism. Also, it would help <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">trade revive more quickly. Stalin was offered this aid also but turned it    <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">down. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">
 * <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Russia’s Policy towards eastern Europe  **
 * <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">American Policy toward Eastern Europe  **

<span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">E. The Berlin Blockade 1948 – 49
<span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">In 1945, Germany had been divided into 4 zones of occupation - the ame <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">thing happened to the capitalBerlin. One problem, however, was the act that <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> Berlin was inside of the Russian zone.At first, the Allies had agreed that <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> Germany should be kept weak, but with Stalin’s take - over of eastern <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Europe, Americaa, Britain and France decided that it made good sense to    <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">help Germany recover as soon as possible so providing a barrier against <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">communism. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">In 1948, America, Britain and France brought together their 3 <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">zones known as West Germany) and began to plan for a new currency.    <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Stalin was angered by this and feared a strong, united Germany and so in     <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">response, he closed off “west Berlin” to America, Britain and France in May     <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">1948. He hoped that they would agree to withdraw from Berlin as a result.     <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The Allies, however, were not prepared to give up Berlin and soover the     <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">course of the next 11 months, Berlin was supplied by air. This whole episode     <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">was known as the “Berlin Blockade”.    <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">It worked. Stalin was not prepared to stop the planes landing as he realised <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">that this could lead to war and so in May 1949, he lifted the blockade. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Relations between East and West had hit rock bottom. In 1949, West <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> Germany was officially created ; in response, Stalin created the German <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Democratic Republic out of the Russian zone. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">