Coldwar-US,british and USSR relations in 1945

who were the two leading capitalist democracies when ww2 broke out

USA and Britain

capitalism

An economic system characterized by private property, free markets, and competitive industries, promoting individual entrepreneurship and profit motive.

communism

A political and economic ideology advocating for a classless society, where all property is publicly owned and each person works and is paid according to their abilities and needs.

communism vs capitalism

what was significant about these conflicting ideologies was the certainty of each side that its ideology should dominate in as many other nations as possible. Each viewed the expansion of the other as a threat . both the communist east and capitalist west saw the need to expand its own power and this quickly translated into global aspiration. Ideological conviction and a desire for national security through increased global influence became driving obsessions for each side.

Franklin D. Roosevelt

• 1882-1945

• been US president since 1933

• ended the USA’s isolationism when he entered WW2 in 1941

• was a committed democrat but he was prepared to support the USSR in the grand alliance, and was optimistic that meaningful international cooperation could continue after the war had ended

Winston Churchill

• 1874-1965

• became British prime minister in 1940

• established a working relationship with stalin but quickly became deeply suspicious of his post war intentions

• Churchill was anxious to ensure unity among the western capitalist powers in the face of what he regarded as a fundamental threat from the USSR

Joseph Stalin

• 1879-1953

• was born joseph Djugashvili but adopted the name Stalin because it meant ‘steel’

• one of the leaders of the Bolshevik party but was not considered an intellectual

• this made him seem less important in the early days of the soviet state, but he quietly accumulated power and had succeeded Lenin by 1929

Context before Yalta

• By the beginning of 1945,the marriage of convenience, known as the ‘grand alliance’ between the USA ,UK and USSR against Nazi Germany was beginning to break down.

• western powers had opened a ‘second front’ in 1944 by invading Nazi occupied France

• as the Nazi regime began to face impossible pressure , soviet forces swept into Poland during August 1944

• from early 1945 the soviet western front stretched from the Baltic to the Carpathian mountains and by march 1945 they had crossed the Oder river

• the western powers were conscious of the fact that many eastern European states had been liberated from Nazi occupation by the USSR

• Roosevelt was committed to post war reconstruction based on unity among the victorious powers however Stalin’s guarantee of security through a network of eastern European allies was in fundamental conflict with this view

Where did stalin, roosevelt and churchill meet before the ending of WW2

Yalta, a city in Crimea,Ukraine in february 1945

purpose of the Yalta conference

to discuss post-war reorganization of Europe and the fate of Germany and to and represented inter-allied cooperation.

the wests objectives at Yalta (roosevelt and churchill)

• collective security founded on the United Nations(UN)

• long term cooperation with the USSR

• the right to national self determination and no spheres of influence

• germany’s reconstruction and re education as a democratic nation

• world economic reconstruction through the creation of the IMF and the world bank

the easts objective at Yalta (stalin)

• the USSR to be in control of its own destiny

• cooperation with the Anglo-Americans

• the USSR’s security guaranteed through soviet spheres of influence in europe

• germany to remain weak for the indefinite future

• economic reconstruction for the USSR-mainly at germany’s expense(reperations)

Agreements at Yalta

• germany would be divided into four zones of occupation with the USA,UK,france and USSR.

• Berlin would be divided the same

• United Nations would be formally ratified

• USSR would gain land from Poland and Poland would be expanded to the north and west

• a declaration on liberated europe should be created

• 20 billion dollars in reparations to the USSR from germany

Declaration on liberated europe

the three superpower governments would jointly assist the people in any european liberated state or former axis state in europe where conditions require:

• to establish conditions of internal peace

• to carry out emergency relief measures for the relief of distressed peoples

• to form interim governmental authorities broadly representative of all democratic elements in the population and to facilitate free elections

• to facilitate where necessary the holding of such elections

How many Soviets died from WW2

25 million

Stalins supreme objective after WW2

lasting security

Stalins and Molotovs view of Grand Aliance

• it was fundamentally anti-USSR

• despite this stalin was a pragmatist and wanted to keep open an avenue of cooperation with the west

Vyacheslav Molotov

• 1890-1986

• loyal supporter of stalin

• served as soviet foreign minister from 1939-1949 and again in 1953-1957

• leading soviet representative at Yalta and Potsdam

• regarded as wanting to break down East-West relations

Stalins priorities in Europe

• focussed on ensuring that Eastern Europe lay within soviet sphere of influence

• turn the whole of germany into a communist state at some point in the future

• the dismemberment of germany would not be in the interests of the soviet union, but germany had to be kept economically weak until it could be secured as a communist state

roosevelt

• committed to cooperation as the basis for a lasting post-war settlement-however this commitment was founded on the certainty that the post-war world should strongly reflect the american concept of democracy

• not only in the interests of the USA but in the interest of all states

• convinced that stalin shared the same understanding and values inherent in the configuration of the post-war world

• certain he could secure a democratic ,non-communist future for the states of eastern europe and that international affairs could be managed through an international peacekeeping organisation

Churchill

• convinced it was stalins intention to to expand soviet power in post-war europe

• April 1944 he wrote to Anthony Eden, “I have tried in every way to put myself in sympathy with the these communist leaders. I cannot feel the slightest trust or confidence in them. Force and facts are their only realities.”

• believed USSR could threaten Britians imperial interests-essential for Britian to form a close alliance with the USA

• october 1944- percentages agreement

percentages agreement

• october 1944

• agreement between churchill and stalin to establish the percentage of predominance Britain and the USSR would each have in Eastern European states

• e.g. Romania the USSR had 90% while in Greece UK had 90%. In Hungary it was 50% each

Anthony Eden

• 1897-1977

• british foreign secretary 1940-45

• had been central to allied planning and diplomatic negotiations throughout the war

• supported churchill at Yalta

who died in April 1945

Roosevelt

who lost the general election in britain and was replaced in july by the leader of the labour party

Churchill

who were the new superpower leaders at Potsdam

Harry Truman, clement atlee and Joseph Stalin.

Harry S. Truman

• 1884-1972

• became president upon roosevelts death

• had little knowledge of international affairs

• rejected roosevelts cooperative attitude towards the USSR and was convinced that the USSR and communism was a threat to the USA’s vital national interests

• sought to promote the usa to the status of a global superpower

Clement Atlee

• 1883-1967

• replaced churchill as prime minister after the labour party victory

• shared churchills mistrust of stalin and was convinced of the importance of a continued alliance with the usa in order to protect western europe from the potential threat of communsim

when and where was the potsdam conference

17 july to 1 august 1945 and located in Potsdam, Germany.

what happened the day before the potsdam conference

the first successful detonation of the USA’s atomic bomb had taken placeon July 16, 1945, in New Mexico.

what did the success of the atomic bomb mean for truman

truman hoped that this would provide him with the diplomatic leverage he needed to ensure stalin stayed loyal to his agreements at yalta

agreements at Potsdam

• germany was to be completely disarmed and demilitarised

• de-nazification was to be carried out. War crimes would be judged and all former Nazi party members were to be removed from public office. education system was to be purged of all nazi influences.

• decentralisation of the political system was to be undertaken and local responsibility developed

• freedom of speech and a free press were to be restored, as was religious tolerance

• germany was to become a single economic unit with common policies on industry and finance

• the USSR was to recieve reparations from its own zone and an additional 25% from the western zones

Trumans aims

• like roosevelt wanted a post-war world based on national self-determination, and open world trading system based on international economy cooperation and world reconstruction through the creation of the IMF and the world bank.

• this would minimise the possibility of conditions experienced during the great depression

• it would fulfil the usa’s ideological imperatives and ensure geostrategic interests by limiting the expansion of the territorial influence of other states, especially USSR

stalins aims

• was convinced that the usa and its allies were potential rivals for dominance in europe

• this reinforced his obsession with soviet security which led to continued presence of the Red Army in Eastern Europe and the establishment of pro-Soviet regimes in these states.

• needed to ensure that eastern european states formed the basis of the USSR’s long term security system

• stalin saw the USA as having an anti-soviet agenda

Atlee’s aims

• views stalin as expansionist in europe

• saw germanys geostategic significane in europe as supreme

• therefore it was vital for the USA to act as the primary defender of the western zones of germany against any soviet threat

• british foreign policy focussed on an anti-communist soviet stance

• supported the terms of the potsdam agreement but was conscious that they weakened germany, atleast in the short term

• also concerned that potsdam offered no long term plan for thr future of germany