Developing tensions up to 1948

Lublin government

This was the pro Stalin government established in Poland after the exile of the previous Polish government in London. Established during wartime

How did the Lublin Government impact the future of Poland

it had become Stalin's instrument of political control

How had Stalin manage to gain influence in Poland (what tactics were used)

Appeared to allow free elections of June 1946 but ensured that the outcome was what he wanted by only allowing opposition candidates of the Polish Peasant Party (insignificant).
25% of socialists were removed from power, 1000s arrested.
Resistance fighters were ordered to the gulags in Siberia.
'Rule of Terror' - Red Army.
Outlawed any non-Soviet right wing party by 1947.
President Beirut oversaw the opponents of the regime's trials and signed death sentences, imposing Stalinism.
Coalition group of 2 Com parties by 1947 \> formation of the Republic of Poland/PRL

What was the Trial of the 16?

staged trial, outcome was already decided \> charged with terrorism, collaborating with Nazi Germany. 10 yrs-4 months sentencing.

Who was replaced in Poland as Deputy PM?

Wladyslaw Gomulka replaced with Beirut.

Puppet state - define

A state clearly under control by another more powerful state for that own states needs

How was the takeover in Romania different?

Easy, Communism offered an alternative for pre-war regime. Red Army occupied Romania.

What was the process of takeover in Bulgaria like?

Gradualism - a policy of gradual reform.
Manipulated elections, forced removal of opposition.
Agarian Party leader won 20% of vote in Oct 1946 and so was executed on false charges.
April 1947, all other opposition parties banned.

What was Soviet expansion into Hungary like?

Communists allied with other similar parties to gain majority over Smallholders Party.
Political opponents arrested, manipulated elections.
Communists here did not show as much loyalty to Stalin as he wanted - close links to Yugoslavia.
Rajk, the Communist leader in Hungary, was executed by 1949.

Why was the Czech PM removed?

Accepted Western aid in 1947 when Stalin forbade his sphere of influence to.

Why was communism popular in Czechoslovakia?

Heavily industrialised, large working class group. Communists gave peasants more land at the end of WW2.

How did Soviets gain total control of
Czechoslovakia?

Growing opposition to communism. They resigned in 1948. This gave communists an opportunity to present this as a chance to secure power by presenting it as an attempt to create a far-right group. President Benes agreed to support a communist dominated gov. He resigned in June 1948, left pro-Stalinists in control.

What change did Tito put forward?

Initially a committed Stalinist. Communism already established before Stalin wanted to gain control. Conflict between Tito and Stalin, Tito did not want to become a puppet for Stalin. Tito was regarded as an iconic nationalist.
June 1948, Yugoslavia was kicked out of Cominform. USA gave it economic aid instead. Tito remained unaligned with East or West.

What was the 'Long Telegram' ?

Kennan's telegram.
Gave USA the USSR's point of view (but from an American??).

What was the Long Telegram's influence?

Shaping US policy towards the Soviets, determining the US' role as a global superpower

What did the Long Telegram say? (Summary)

Communism was uncompromising in its ideological threat to the 'free world'. Stalin wanted to replace the fear of Germany+Japan with the fear of USA and Britain to legitimise his own regime. USSR viewed
West as hostile and menacing. Advised US foreign policy to threaten the use of force, create alliances/strengthen allies; adopt a proactive role in Europe; containment of Soviet expansionism.
Soviets were aggressive and ideologically driven (not security).

When was the Long Telegram?

22nd February 1946

When and where was the Iron Curtain speech?

Fulton, Missouri 6th March 1946

What was the significance of the Iron Curtain speech?

Confirmed Stalin's belief that the USA and UK were in a plot together to create an attack on Soviet ideology. Churchill, although not PM, was still influential as the PM who won WW2. Impacted Stalin more than Truman, Stalin responded.

What was in Stalin's plan on Eastern Europe?

In Stalin's mind, he had assumed that Eastern European and the states that the USSR had liberated from Nazi occupation would fall within a Soviet sphere of influence.
Stalin's intention to establish a buffer zone was completed by 1948 with Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Albania and Czechoslovakia had pro- Soviet communist regimes in place.

What was Stalin committed to?

Power over ideology
He believed that the ideology could only be fulfilled if both the USSR was powerful, and Stalin was all-powerful.

How was Poland brought into the Stalinist fold?

A pro-Stalin Lublin government was firmly in place despite an exiled Polish government existing in London. Stalin used a pluralist approach - despite agreeing to free elections at Yalta, Stalin preserved the role of the Lublin government.
Poland had a Peasant Party and the communists weakened this party by strengthening their own links with the Polish socialists. Gomulka opposed soviet policies and was then accused "nationalist deviation" and replaced by the compliant pro-Stalinist, Boleslaw Beirut.

The Provisional Government of National Unity

Established by Stalin in June 1945 to deflect Western criticism of his policies in Poland and govern until elections could be held. It included 4 representatives of democratic, non-communist parties.

How was Romania brought into the Stalinist fold?

The communists were popular because they offered an alternative to the pre-war regime and the Red Army already occupied Romania. Opposition was minimal.

How was Bulgaria brought into the Stalinist fold?

Gradualism, manipulated elections and the forced removal of opponents characterised the takeover.
The leader of the opposition party, Nikola Petkov (Agrarian Party) was faced with false charges and executed. His party was absorbed into the Bulgarian communist movement despite winning over 20% of the popular vote
All other political parties had been banned by April 1947.

How was Hungary brought into the Stalinist fold?

The communists used the tactic of allying with other political groups in order to challenge the power of the Smallholders Party. Similarly to Poland, Political opponents were arrested and elections were manipulated and rigged to produce the desired outcome for the communists.
They formed close links with Yugoslavia: a non-Soviet regime was in place then. By 1949, the Hungarian communist leader was executed for "anti-Soviet" activities and all political opposition to the Moscow backed Hungarian communists had disappeared.

How was Czechoslovakia brought into the Stalinist fold?

It was industrialised and had a large working class unlike the rest of Eastern Europe.
Czech communists were popular among the rural peasants because they had given them land at the end of the war. The Czech communist party leader became Prime Minister but his fatal error was to show a willingness to accept Western economic aid in 1947. Members of the non-communist groups who were in government resigned in 1948 (including Edward Benes, the highly respected President) - this left the pro-Moscow communists in complete control.

USSR's difficulty with Yugoslavia

it was initially firmly embedded in the Soviet camp as its leader Marshal Josip Broz Tito was a committed Stalinist. By 1948, Soviet power over Yugoslavia was limited as Stalin's determination to impose Soviet control over Southern and Eastern European states- through economic and foreign policies.
In June 1948, Yugoslavia was expelled from Cominform and its leaders were accused of abandoning Marxist- Leninism. Yugoslavia was able to survive due to USA support.

Who was George Kennan?

The Charge d'affaires in the US embassy in Moscow. (second ranking officer)

What is Kennan's Long Telegram?

He sent a lengthy despatch to the US State Department in Washington. Historians such as John Gaddis regard it as being fundamental in shaping US policy towards the Soviet Union and determining the USA's role as a global power.

What stance did Kennan favour?

Kennan favoured the USA adopting a hard line against the USSR. He saw communism as uncompromising in its ideological threat to the free world.
He believed that a collapse in east-west relations was inevitable and the Soviet Union wanted to demonise the west for domestic political reasons.

What did the Long Telegram say?

He emphasised that the USSR saw the west as hostile. He drew clear conclusions on the direction of foreign policy - argued that the USA must be prepared to threaten the use of force, ensure unity amongst allies and that they must be more proactive in Europe.
Referred to urgency for action

Kennan's "X" article

He called for systematic and focused containment of Soviet expansionist tendencies. It resonated with Truman's growing certainty that the Soviet Union was not only an enemy of Western democratic values but also a threat to USA's security.

Impact of the Long Telegram

In September 1946, The Soviet ambassador in Washington concluded that US foreign policy was based on economic imperialism and that the US wanted to make states dependent on it in order to establish its own global supremacy.
Isolationism no longer viable to protect USA's interests.

When was the Iron Curtain speech?

5th March 1946

What was the Iron Curtain speech?

Winston Churchill's speech when he said that the world is divided by "an iron curtain"
Winston Churchill, though no longer British Prime Minister, delivered an attack on Soviet policies
Convinced Stalin that the US was complicit in a plot with Churchill and Britain to carry out an anti-Soviet ideological assault.

What was Stalin's response to the Iron Curtain speech?

Stalin's response in an interview in a Soviet magazine, Pravda in March 1946, presented the image of Soviet Union peacefully seeking Eastern European allies in order to reinforce their own security.

What did Stalin do to provide further justification of expansionism?

By October 1946, the USSR had developed a robust analysis of the state of international relations which was to act as further justification for Soviet action in Eastern Europe.
Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov accused the USA of being an imperialistic power and effectively abandoned the Declaration on Liberated Europe.

Greece's position at the end of the war

By September 1946, the emergence of a Cold War seemed irreversible as east-west relations were grounded in mistrust and fear.
Stalin had agreed that Greece should remain within the western sphere of influence after the war.

The impact of the Greek civil war

When Greece was liberated from Nazi ocupation, a civil war had erupted between the communists and monarchists
Britain had been providing aid to the anti-communist forces but in February 1947 this aid was no longer available
Greece appealed to the USA to assume the financial burden....

The Truman Doctrine

1947, President Truman's policy of providing economic and military aid to any country threatened by communism or totalitarian ideology, mainly helped Greece and Turkey

Why did the USA not turn to UN to help Greece?

Truman did not bother turning to the UN because he was convinced that the Soviet Union would use its veto power to prevent any UN peacekeeping intervention in the Greek civil war

When was the Truman Doctrine?

March 1947

What were some of the potential motives for the Truman Doctrine?

- It could be argued that it was a simple blunt piece of diplomacy designed to keep the Soviet Union from aiding the Greek communist movement and had no relevance to US policy beyond this
- Designed to protect democracy and freedom with no aggressive intent towards any other state - more a response to Soviet aggressive expansionism.
- Truman needed to demonise the Soviet Union and communism in the minds of the American public in order to justify his aim of protecting US national interests and turning the USA into a global power
- To provoke the Soviet Union into enabling a Cold War which would justify the USA's role as a defender of freedom and allow it to function as a world power
- It would develop the USA's economic power by portraying the USA as a protector encouraging other states to depend on the USA not only militarily but economically as well and encourage close trade relations.
- First step in the creation of containment. The basis of US foreign policy

Why was Cominform set up?

Stalin was determined to respond to American imperialism and the reconstruction of Germany.
Stalin had previously believed that capitalist states would collapse due to the economic rivalry however he was becoming increasingly convinced that the USA was developing an anti-Soviet, US-led global alliance

How was Cominform set up?

In order to undermine this US strategy, communist representatives from across Europe were summoned to a meeting in Poland in preparation of the Communist Information Bureau (cominform)
In Stalin's mind, two camps had clearly emerged and so Soviet influence in Eastern Europe had been consolidated

What was the purpose of Cominform?

The purpose of Cominform was to unite and coordinate the role and actions of communist groups through Europe in order that the Communist Party functioned as a united whole under the direction of Moscow.