Cold War

Ideological differences between USA and USSR

The US- capitalism & democracy

USSR - communism & authoritarian

What is significant about the ideological differences?

The two countries feared each other’s spread of ideology and tried to destroy their government

TEHRAN conference 1943

• first major meeting of the Big Three (Britain, USA, Soviet Union)

• agreed to open a second front in Europe

• plans to defeat Germany and create the UN after war

• disagreements on Eastern Europe’s political systems after war

YALTA conference early 1945

• Germany’s defeat seemed certain

• Germany will be divided into 4 zones

• Stalin agreed to free elections in Eastern Europe (it was argued what ‘free elections' actually mean)

• Creation of the UN

POTSDAM conference late 1945

• Germany had surrendered

• Truman replaced Roosevelt, Attlee replaced Churchill

• Truman was even more suspicious of Soviet expansion - didn’t try as hard to cooperate

• The USA had already tested an atomic bomb

Soviet Control in Eastern Europe

• Established communist governments in Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania

→ buffer zones to protect USSR from future invasions

→ Western countries believed the expansion broke his promise of free elections

Importance of Hiroshima & Nagasaki

• USSR hadn’t been informed about this latest weapon advancement

• USA could have won the war anyway, but wanted to threaten and warn the USSR

• Stalin began accelerating his own nuclear programme

Long Telegram 1946

George Kennan, a US diplomat in USSR, reported back that the Soviet was keen on expanding and the West should contain communism

Deliberately left out how the Soviet had just lost 27 million lives and 30% of its wealth in the WWII, a heavily destructed country wouldn’t start a global war again.

Novikov Telegram 1946

Nikolai Novikov claimed that USA wanted global domination and was preparing for war

Deliberately omitted that USA was also rapidly dismantling their army from 12 million to less than 2 millions, it was not prepared for an immediate war.

Churchill’s Iron Curtain Speech 1946

• Gave a speech in the USA to warn that an ‘Iron Curtain’ had descended across Europe to divide the West from Eastern Europe

• He believed the Soviet influence was spreading, and Western countries must resist

→ Stalin viewed it as hostile and accused Churchill of encouraging conflict

Truman Doctrine 1947

Truman announced the USA would support countries that are threatened by communism and provide financial and military support

Marshall Plan 1947

• American financial aid to rebuild European economies after WWII

→ promote economic recovery, prevent them from turning to communism during hardships

• Stalin & Eastern European countries rejected the plan

Cominform 1947-49

• Stalin’s attempt to coordinate communist parties and ensure their loyalty

• All expected to follow Soviet policies

→ strengthened Soviet control in Eastern Europe

Comecon 1947-49

A communist alternative to Marshall Plan → strengthened economic links between USSR and Eastern Europe

Bizonia 1947

In 1947, American and British zones merged to create “BIZONIA” to improve economic recovery

→ Stalin saw this as them trying to separate Western Germany

→ Disagreements on how Germany should be governed and rebuilt

Berlin blockade 1948

• Berlin was also divided into 4 zones

• Western Allies introduced a new currency Deutschmark (Trizonia was formed), and Stalin feared this would weaken Soviet influence

→ Stalin blocked all roads, rail, canal routes into West Berlin

Berlin Airlift 1948-49

• The West supplied air, planes to deliver food, fuel, essential goods,… to the city

• Lasted 11 months - 2 million tonnes of supplies

→ May 1949, Stalin ended the blockade as it failed to force the West out of Berlin

Results of the Berlin Crisis 1949

Permanently divided Germany into 2 states (French joined to form Trizonia in 1948)

→ Berlin became the symbol of Cold War

NATO 1949

Western military alliance against Soviet expansion

Warsaw Pact 1955

Soviet military alliance of communist states in response to NATO → maintain military control over Eastern Europe

Korean War 1950-53

• Korea was divided at the 38th parallel into North and South after WWII

• North Korea was a communist, supported by USSR and China

• South Korea was a capitalist, supported by USA

• in 1950, North Korea invaded the South to unify the country under communism → The UN, led by USA intervened to defend and Chinese forces later joined to support the North

• War ended in 1953 with an armistice, divided

→ strengthened US commitment to contain communism and increase military spending

Peaceful co-existence 1953

• Stalin died in 1953

• Khruschev became leader and made this policy → communism & capitalism should compete without direct military conflict, as nuclear war would destroy both sides

• Suggests that different ideological countries could compete through economics, technology, and social examples rather than military force

Successes and Failures of peaceful co-existence

• Geneva Summit 1955 brought the leaders of the Big 4 together (USA, Great Britain, France, USSR) to discuss reducing tensions and improving communication

• Austrian State Treaty 1955 ended Allied occupation at Austria - became a neutral country

• Rivalry still continued through nuclear arms races and political competitions

Hungary context

• under a strict communist regime by a pro-Stalin supporter

• used secret police, censorship, and political repression

• economic problems, lack of freedom → widespread resentment

De-stalinisation 1956

• Khruschev’s aim to reduce the harsh policies associated with Stalin

• Criticised Stalin’s leadership and use of terror

• Released political prisoners, and censorship was relaxed

→ however, these reforms encouraged Eastern Europeans to demand for even more freedom

Nagy’s reform in Hungary 1956

• Hungarian uprising - Nagy became prime minister

• Introduced reforms, including greater political freedom and the removal of the Soviet Control

• Announced plans for free elections, declared Hungary would leave the Warsaw Pact

Consequences of Hungarian Uprising - Soviet Invasion 1956

• Soviet Union sent troops and tanks in Hungary

• The uprising was brutually crushed

• Nagy got executed, a new pro communist was installed

Public reactions to the Soviet invasion of Hungary

• Western countries condemned Soviet invasions but did not intervene militarily as direct intervention would trigger nuclear war

• UN also criticized Soviet actions but did little to stop

What did the Soviet Invasion show?

That USSR was prepared to use forces to maintain control

Nuclear Arms Race

Both developed hydrogen bombs and built large nuclear arsenals that were capable of destroying the world

Mutally Assured Destruction (MAD)

Nuclear War could easily destroy both sides, so MAD discouraged direct conflict but maintained high tensions - acted as a war detterence

Berlin Ultimatum 1958

• Khruschev demanded that Western powers withdraw from West Berlin within six months for it to become a free city and demilitarized

• It was his strategy to stop the flow of refugee from East to West

The summits in 1959-61 and its outcomes

• Geneva Foreign Minister Meeting 1959

• Camp David Summit 1959

• Paris Summit 1960

• Vienna Summit 1961

→ none of it was able to resolve the refugee problem

U-2 incident 1960

A US spy plane got shot down over Soviet Union

→ USA initially claimed it was a weather research aircraft

→ USSR revealed the captured pilot claimed to be on a spying mission

Effects of U2 incident 1960

Embarrassed the USA and worsened the relations, losing even more trust after the attempts to cooperate in the past summits

Paris Summit 1960

• Aimed to improve relations and discuss Berlin

• Khruschev demanded USA apologise for the U2 Incident

• Eisenhower (became president in 1953) refused and Khruschev walked out of the meeting

Berlin Wall 1961 context

Between 1949-61, 2.7 mullion East Germans fled to the West → created economic problems, shortages of skilled workers

→ Life in the West had better standards of living, more jobs, more political freedom, no strict censorship

Effects of Berlin Wall 1961

• A concrete barrier, guard towers, armed patrols

• Separated families, couldn’t move between 2 sides for job

→ Became a symbol of Cold War division between communism and capitalism

Bays of Pigs 1961 context

• In 1959, Castrol established a communist government in Cuba (breaking economic dependence to US)

• Soviet and Cuba relations formed

Bay of Pigs 1961

The USA supported Cubans to overthrow their own government → failed, poorly organised, embarrassed the US government

• Plan was leaked, Castrol knew about this so the troops were outnumbered

• Cubans were happy with the new government system

This strengthened USSR and Cuba relationship

Consequences of Bay of Pigs

Khruschev placed nuclear missiles in Cuba, 90 miles away from USA
→ hoped to balance the fear from USA missiles in Turkey

Cuban Missiles Crisis

• John F. Kennedy responded by announcing a naval blockade to stop further missiles from arriving

• For 13 days, tensions arose from the possibility of a nuclear war

• Soviet troops approached the blockade, and both sides prepared forces

Resolution for the Cuban Missile Crisis

Negotiations led to a compromise:

• Khruschev offered to remove missiles from Cuba if the US would not invade Cuba in return

• US also privately removed US missiles in Turkey

→ creation of the Washington-Moscow Hotline

→ encouraged the 1963 Nuclear Test Ban Treaty

Czechoslovakia 1968

• Dubcek introduced reforms, “socialism with a human face” (later known as the Prague Spring)

• Freedom of speech, reduced censorship, economic changes

Consequences of Dubcek’s reforms 1968

• Soviet and the Warsaw Pact invaded Czechoslovakia

• Brezhnev came into power to replace Khruschev and created Brezhnev doctrine

Brezhnev doctrine

It stated that the USSR had the right to invade any communist country where socialism was threatened

Nuclear Test Ban Treaty 1963

Banned nuclear testing in outer space, underwater, atmosphere & Outer Space Treaty 1967

Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty 1968

Aimed to limit nuclear weapons development in additional countries → countries without nuclear weapons agreed to not develop them

Reasons for Detente

• Fear of Mutually Assured Destruction

• USA faced huge costs from Vietnam War

• Soviet economy was struggling (e.g., huge military spending)

• Both wanted to focus on country developments in other aspects e.g resolve domestic social problems

Ping-pong diplomacy 1971

American Table tennis player was invited to China - a major interaction between the 2 countries for decades

→ symbolised improved relations, the USA hoped better relations with China would increase pressure on USSR

Why both countries feared China

USA: expansion of global communism, spread of nuclear technology

USSR: border conflicts, ideological differences (different approaches to communism), unpredictability of Mao Zedong and the potential nuclear war

SALT talks

• Began in 1969 between USA and USSR

• Limited number of ICBMs and other nuclear weapons - both had amassed enough nuclear weapons to destroy each other, and financial and strategic costs were unsustainable

• Reduced risk of nuclear war

• Both sides still continued to compete for influence around the world, and deep mistrust remained

• Detente reduced tensions but did not end Cold War rivalry