paper 2: cold war

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Franklin D. Roosevelt

believed in self-determination and personal liberty, supported the UN, supported a revived German economy

Harry S. Truman

was not very involved in decision making as FDR’s VP, and spoke more bluntly about Soviet leadership

Joseph Stalin

Concerned with security, former ally of Hitler, had the advantage over the Allies since he marched on Berlin and secured Eastern Europe

Winston Churchill

Conservative politician who wanted to maintain the British Empire - interested in the fate of Poland and supported sphere of influence

tehran 1943

agreements: 2nd front, UN, western borders of USSR, divide germany post-war
disagreements: clash between self-determination and USSR wanting territory

potsdam july 1945

agreements: german reparations decided
disagreements: USA and UK wanted strong german economy - USSR didn’t, eastern europe controlled by Soviets

yalta feb 1945

agreements: soviets to fight japan for territory
disagreements: soviets not supporting warsaw uprising, signs of soviet expansionism

truman doctrine + marshall plan 1948

influenced by long telegram, economic and military aid sent to countries in danger from soviet expansion - active resistance by US

ussr reaction: cominform

long telegram 1946

george kennan sent a telegram to Truman advising active efforts to counter soviet expansion

bizonia 1946

merging of economic zones in allied controlled germany - ganging up on ussr

berlin blockade 1948

deutschmark created to stop black market + increase western economic influence - stalin saw deutschmark as a threat to communist germany - cut off east berlin - led to creation of west germany - united against ussr

john lewis gaddis eval

post-revisionist, american, friends with george kennan, adviser to george bush, believes in US hard power

formation of NATO 1949

acts as a deterrent/scare for USSR - ‘attack on one is an attack on all’

communist china 1949

mao wins civil war - shift in geopolitical balance and two huge nations are communist

korean war 1950-1953

example of us containment - proxy war - roll back policy - increased tensions between China and US - first time China faces US militarily

khrushchev hawk

1955 = warsaw pact, 1961 = creation of berlin wall, 1962 = cuban missile crisis

khrushchev dove

1956 = de-stalinisation + peaceful coexistence, 1959 = visiting the us, 1962 = negotiated well + improved communication after cuba

sino soviet split 1956-1966

relations worsened over ideological differences (hungarian uprising, bombing taiwan) - russia cut economic aid - led to china trading with US - 1970s = competing for US help

detente 1970s

1972 = SALT treaty (slowed production of nuclear weapons), 1979 = official recognition of china, 1987 = removal of 4% of ICBMs

economic problems in USSR (khrushchev)

khrushchev: virgin lands scheme - infertile soil, shifted to consumer goods - couldnt compete with West

economic problems in USSR (brezhnev)

soviet-afghan war = costly, energy crisis, era of stagnation, overspent on military budget

economic problems in USSR (gorbachev)

glasnost - openness and restructuring, encouraged open market + free speech, sinatra doctrine, led to political unrest

fall of the ussr

end of direct intervention (brezhnev doctrine), changed political system, fall of berlin wall, power vacuum in europe

Nikita Khrushchev (1958-1964)

focused on peaceful coexistence - denounced stalin - still had tensions (berlin wall, cuba)

John F. Kennedy (1961-1963)

leader during cuba, anti-communist, encouraged space race

Ronald Reagan (1981-1989)

fierce anti-communist, built ‘star wars’ (1983), eventually helped ease tensions

Mikhail Gorbachev (1985-1991)

glasnost - reformed economy, ended interventionism, saw fall of USSR

Leonid Brezhnev (1964-1985)

era of stagnation, conservative economic policies, brezhnev doctrine (interventionism)

hungarian uprising 1956

crushed by soviets, showed world ussr was in total control of eastern europe

cuban missile crisis 1962

increasing communist presence - soviet missiles planted - ended in naval blockade and removal of weapons from cuba and turkey - better communication + more weapons made

soviet-afghan war 1979

proxy war between USSR and US, costly and drawn out, reignited tensions after detente

fall of berlin wall 1989

signified end of iron curtain - opening of USSR - near the end

john lewis gaddis perspective

• cold war started because both nations kept their own security and interests at heart

• after ww2 there was of miscommunication

• soviet dislike of the marshall plan served as moral initiative of the cold war for the us

• after soviet archives opened he revised his views: stalin played a bigger role than he thought before

arthur schlesinger jr eval

advisor to kennedy, served in ww2, williams’ nemesis

arthur schlesinger jr perspective

• outbreak of cold war was because of soviet aggression and expansionism

• american policies were a brave and essential response to soviet expansionism

• stalin was a crazy dictator - ussr expansionism was motivated by leninist ideology and totalitarian society

• only reason the cold war did not become an active war was because of nuclear weapons and M.A.D.

william williams eval

revisionist, american, enlisted in ww2, PhD in us-ussr relations

william williams perspective

• us was an imperialist power who wanted to enrich itself through trade

• scared ussr with atomic bomb - forced other countries economic borders open - “Open Door policy”

• us responsible for cold war - always inflexible with bolsheviks - scared ussr

creation of east and west germany 1949

symbolised further seperation of us and ussr

historiography: brezhnev

robert service: stifled innovation and worker efficiency
edwin bacon: he brought stability, improve standards of living, and avoided conflict

edwin bacon eval

professor of russian studies, educated in UK

robert service eval

author on russian history, criticised for villainizing some leaders