1.2 - From World War to Cold War

Did peace emerge in Europe after WWII? Why or why not?

No, because:

1) Poland's new borders led to displacement of citizens and territorial conflict

2) Poland's political situation was unstable and the USA and the USSR argued over how to resolve it

3) Germany and Berlin were divided

4) The Two Camps developed; West Europe ran to the USA, East Europe to the USSR

What were “Salami Tactics”?

Stalin's way of turning Eastern European nations into communist states

What are the stages of Salami Tactics?

1) Soviet supervision of Eastern European governments’ organization

2) Slicing parties off (via deregistration, imprisonment, etc)

3) Communist core is left; a Moscow trained leader would replace locals if needed

What were “Baggage Train Leaders”?

Eastern European leaders who ran to Moscow for protection during WWII and returned to their nations to benefit the USSR

Who were some Baggage Train Leaders?

1) Boleslaw Bierut (Poland 🇵🇱)

2) Vasil Kolorov (Bulgaria 🇧🇬)

3) Ana Pauker (Romania 🇷🇴)

4) Matyas Rakosi (Hungary 🇭🇺)

How did Salami Tactics occur in Poland?

1) Campaign of murder, censorship, and intimidation

2) Over 50K people sent to Siberia

3) 146 candidates disqualified, 149 arrested, and 18 murdered in Mikolajezyk’s party

4) Over 1M voters taken off the registry

What caused the Iran Crisis?

The USSR’s refusal to withdraw troops from Iran due to his “claim to Iranian oil and the Black Sea Straits”

Why was this refusal an issue?

It violated agreements made at Yalta between the 3 powers to withdraw troops from Iran after WWII

What were Truman's concerns regarding this?

He believed Stalin sought to invade Turkey and the Black Sea Straits

How was the crisis resolved?

Iran filed a complaint with the UN who condemned Stalin’s aggression, forcing him to withdraw

What happened in Turkey and Greece?

1) Civil unrest in both countries

2) Civil war in Greece in 1946

3) Both things led to fear of a communist revolution occuring in these nations

What happened in Italy and France?

1) Increased support of communist parties

2) Led to suspicion that the USSR is behind these parties

What was discussed in Kennan’s Long Telegram?

1) Soviet regime was cruel, hostile to the West, and sought to expand

2) The USA should respond forcefully in order to prevent the spread of communism

What did Churchill's Iron Curtain Speech discuss?

It warned the West to be wary of the USSR

What was the actual name of the speech?

The Sinews of Peace

How did Stalin respond?

1) Withdrew from the International Monetary Fund

2) Increased anti-West propaganda

3) Initiation of a new Five Year Plan

4) Likening Churchill to Hitler

What is containment?

A tactic in which communism is stopped from spreading, but it isn't actively pushed back on

What did the Truman Doctrine entail?

It is the duty of the USA to help European nations who are at risk of being subjugated by communism

What were some examples of the Truman Doctrine being employed?

1) Sending military arms and aid to Greece to defeat communist guerrillas

2) Sending aid to Turkey to prevent communist uprisings

What was the Marshall Plan?

The sending of economic aid to Western nations (it was sort of an extension of the Truman Doctrine)

What was a condition of the Marshall Plan that turned the USSR away from it?

The need for the nation that is accepting Marshall money to reveal their financial records

What did the USSR view the Marshall Plan as?

A form of Dollar Imperialism

What was the Molotov Plan/COMECON?

1) Response to the Marshall Plan

2) The USSR would assist Eastern European nations in their collectivization of agriculture and industrialization

What was the Communist Information Bureau (Cominform)?

Allowed for all communist nations to have direct ties to Moscow and each other (it succeeded Communist International [Comintern])

What was Stalin's “satellite empire”?

The collection of Eastern European states that he had under his control

Why did Yugoslavia cut ties with the USSR?

1) The USSR saw them as diverging too much from Soviet political policy

2) They accepted Marshall money

Why did the Czechoslovakia Coup of 1948 occur?

Stalin wanted the nation and Salami Tactics weren't working so a more direct approach was needed

What occurred during the coup?

1) Forced resignation of 12 non-communist members of the coalition government

2) Forced formation of a communist government

3) Murder of Foreign Minister Jan Masaryk