cold war-developing tensions up to 1948

what did stalin think would happen because of the percentages agreement and yalta conference

that eastern europe and the states that the USSR had liberated from nazi occupation would fall within a soviet sphere of influence

what were stalins actions in eastern europe motivated by

a determination to do whatever was necessary to safeguard soviet international interests and soviet territory

when was stalins buffer zone completed

1948

what countries did the soviets establish communist regimes

poland hungary bulgaria romania albania czechoslovakia

who would communists form alliances with and then take control of them

left wing parties

what country was communism popular in after WW2

czechoslovakia - communist party emerged as the largest single party and won 38 percent of the vote in the free elections May 1946

why did communism look good post-war

• offered a much better prospect regarding unemployment and economic instability than capitalism

• perceived communists as freedom fighters due to their struggle against nazism

• communism promised employment and social mobility

what did stalin believe he needed first before commitment to ideology

power - the USSR needed to be powerful and stalin as leader needed to be all powerful

what was the name of the government stalin controlled in poland

lublin government

agreeing to free elections at yalta meant stalin in poland could

preserve the role of the lublin government

what was formed in 1945 in poland

the provisional government of national unity

what was the provisional government of national unity

contained parties from both ends of the political spectrum - this became typical of stalins pluralist approach - he didn’t simply impose a pro soviet communist regime in poland

one of stalins tactics in poland

allow free multi party elections but with a clear intent to ensure that the result he wanted would eventually emerge

wladyslaw gomulka

• 1905-82

• communist who believed in the notion of different national versions of socialism

• post 1945 worked to crush any opposition to communism in poland

• 1947 supported the rigged elections- which succeeded in finally eliminating opposition

• victim of the factional rivalry within the polish communist movement

• expelled from the polish communist party in 1951 as stalinisation gripped poland but in 1956 seen as a national hero who could deliver change

who was polands peasant party led by

stanislaw mikolajczyk

when did the peasant party and communists merged

january 1947 - communists became the dominant group within this merge

example of polish communist who weren’t fully pro-moscow

wladyslaw Gomulka

why was gomulka not pro-moscow

• believed because the poles had fought for their own liberation they should have the right to determine their own future

• he opposed soviet policies which he felt were irrelevant in poland

• 1948 - accused of nationalist deviation and replaced by pro stalinist boleslaw bierut

• poland safely under soviet influence

why was communism popular in romania post war

• they offered an alternative pre war regime

• red army occupied romania

how did stalin install pro soviet regimes in bulgaria

• gradualism - manipulated elections and the forced removal of opponents characterised the takeover

• strongest political opponent facing the communists was the agrarian party led by nikola petkov - won 20percent of the vote in the october elections petkov was faced with trumped up charges and was executed

• his party was forcibly absorbed into the bulgarian communist movement

• by 1947 all political parties had been banned

how did stalin install pro-soviet regimes in hungary

• allied with other political groups in order to challenge the power of their greatest opponent - the smallholders party

• political opponents were arrested and elections were rigged in order to produce the desired outcome of for the communists

• many hungarian communists didn’t display the same level of support and loyalty to Moscow as expected - they formed close links to yugoslavia where non soviet regime was in place

• 1949 - hungarian communist leader laszlo rajk was executed for anti soviet activities

• by 1949 all political opposition to the moscow backed hungarian communists had disappeared

what was the only country in eastern europe that was industrialized and had a large unionised working class

czechoslovakia

why were czech communists popular among rural peasants

because they had given them land at the end of the war

what czech communist party leader became prime minister

Klement Gottwald

what was gottwalds fatal error

showed a willingness to accept western economic aid in 1947

how communists took control of czechoslovakian government without force

• there was growing opposition to communist leadership from non-communist groups

• however members of these groups who were in government resigned in 1948 - this advantaged the communists because it enabled them to present it as an attempt to create an alternative right wing group

what highly respected president agreed to support a communist dominated government

Edvard Beneš

edvard benes

• 1884-1948

• led the czechoslovak government in exile in london during the war

• NOT a communist but willing to work with stalin - having decided there was more to gain from such cooperation than an alliance with poland

• 1946 - returned as czech president - tried and failed to resist a communist dominated government

when did benes resign

june 1948 and this left the pro-moscow communists in complete control

josip broz tito

• 1892-1980

• communist leader of yugoslavia

• one of the founding members of cominform

• first to reject soviet dominance

• cold war stance= non alignment with neither east or west - this enabled yugoslavia to flourish and it contributed to holding together national unity in a very disparate state

when was the communism movement firmly in place in yugoslavia

when the war ended

by 1948 soviet influence in yugoslavia was

limited

why was there conflict between tito and stalin

stalins determination to impose soviet control over southern and eastern european states particularly through their economic and foreign policies

why did yugoslavs become anti salinist

• they didn’t want to conform to soviet policies and have to be in line with soviet interests

• refused to become soviet puppets

when was yugoslavia expelled from cominform

june 1948

why was yugoslavia expelled from cominform

its leaders were accused of abandoning Marxist-Leninism and thereby no longer conforming to an acceptable political position

why was yugoslavia able to survive after becoming opposition to USSR

USA was willing to offer economic aid

when was the long telegram

22 february 1946

what was the long telegram

• george kennan in the US embassy in moscow sent a lengthy despatch to the US state department in washington

george kennan

• 1904-2005

• US diplomat

• responsible for persuading truman to commit the USA to containment of communism and to controlling the international power of the USSR

what does john gaddis argue about the long telegram

it was fundamental in the shaping of US policy towards the soviet union and ultimately determining the USA’s role as a global power - feeling like the USA needs to become the worlds policeman and protect from communists

kennan view on soviets

• had long favoured a hard line against the soviets

• before yalta he supported the ide of splitting europe into spheres of influence and thereby defining a line which soviet and communist influence cannot cross

• after yalta came to recognise the failings of roosevelts plan of international cooperation

• believed communism was uncompromising in its ideological threat to the free world

when was the iron curtain speech

6 march 1946

who delivered the iron curtain speech

churchill

what was the iron curtain speech

A speech that highlighted the division between Western powers and Soviet-controlled regions in Europe, warning about the spread of communism - a direct attack on soviet policies

what did the iron curtain speech convince stalin of

that the USA was complicit in a plot with churchill and britain to carry out an anti-soviet ideological assult

stalins response to iron curtain speech

• 10 days after churchills speech stalins response was delivered in a soviet newspaper called pravda (the truth)

• stalins response presented the USSR as peacefully seeking eastern european allies in order to reinforce the USSR’s security

• by october 1946 - USSR had developed a robust analysis of the state of international relations which was to act as a further justification for soviet policy in eastern europe

what did foreign minister Molotov accuse the USA of

being an imperialistic power and effectively abandoned the declaration on liberated europe( agreed at yalta)

when was the paris peace conference

september and october 1946

what was the paris peace conference

• leaders of the UK USA USSR france met to draw up peace treaties for the defeated european powers : austria bulgaria finland germany hungary italy and romania

• although settlements were not agreed for austria and germany , treaties were signed for the other countries in 1947

what did all the treaties include

clauses regarding….

• territorial adjustments

• reparations

• anti-facist requirements for the post war governments

how did both the USSR and USA view eachother

threat to national security and being expansionist and a global strategic threat

what happened when greece was liberated from nazi occupation

a civil war erupted between monarchists and greek communists

who had been providing aid to the anti communist forces in greece

Britain

when did UK announce that aid to greece was no longer available

february 1947

who did UK appeal to for help the financial burden

USA

when was the truman doctrine

March 1947

what was the truman doctrine

US policy established to provide military and economic assistance to countries resisting communist influence, particularly Greece and Turkey

what was stalins response to marshall plan

cominform

when was cominform created

september 1947

what was cominform

a soviet organisation to unite and coordinate the role and actions of communist groups throughout europe in order that the communist party functioned as a united whole under the direction of moscow.

why was cominform created

• response to marshall plan

• stalin convinced USA was not interested in international relations that was based on multiple spheres of influence that could seemingly coexist

• believed that capitalist states would ultimately collapse due to the economic rivalry that would develop among them - this view was now replaced by a certainty that the USA was engineering an anti soviet US led global alliance

what was the zhdanov doctrine

A policy asserting that the world was divided into two opposing camps: the imperialists led by the USA and the democrats led by the USSR. This thinking was transferred to soviet cultural policy and it forced artists writers and intellectuals to reflect this worldview through their work.

Andrei Zhdanov

• 1896-1948

• stalinist

• brought his extremism into his responsibility for soviet culture

• responsible for developing cominform

• dismissed from office in 1948