CW1 - The Cold War Develops

What were Truman’s concerns about Europe at the beginning of the Cold War?

• Europe was devastated after the war.

• In many countries people had no money, no jobs and were feeling hopeless.

• Communism was especially attractive in France and Italy - it made sure everyone had enough.

• Many people in Eastern Europe had been liberated from Nazi rule by the Soviets.

• Countries like Poland, Romania and Bulgaria already had communist governments forced on them and Truman feared this could happen in other countries too.

• Some governments (e.g. Greece and Turkey) lacked the funds to combat communist revolutions in their own countries.

• If Greece and Turkey turned communist, then other countries across Europe and the Middle East would follow, known as the Domino Theory.

When was the Truman Doctrine announced?

1947

What was the Truman Doctrine?

• Countries faced a choice between capitalism or communism.

• Communism was bad because it meant people were free.

• The USA must try to contain the spread of communism.

• The USA should provide money and troops if necessary to help free governments to combat communist takeovers.

When was the Marshall Plan announced?

1947

What was the Marshall Plan?

• About $13 billion from USA to help rebuild Europe.

• Communism appealed most to people who had very little, so the Marshall Plan hoped to stop the spread of communism by giving people a stake in the capitalist system.

• Countries must trade with the USA to get the money.

• 16 Western European countries took the money including Britain, France and West Germany.

• The USSR criticised the Marshall plan because it threatened Soviet control in Eastern Europe and called it ‘Dollar Imperialism’.

When was Cominform set up?

1947

What does Cominform stand for?

The Communist Information Bureau

What did Cominform do?

• Organised all communist parties in Europe and arranged their leadership so that they would do what Moscow told them to do.

• Got rid of any opposition to the USSR’s control in satellite states.

• Encouraged communist parties in Western countries to block Marshall Plan assistance.

What does Comecon stand for?

The Council for Mutual Economic Assistance

When was Comecon set up?

1949

What did Comecon do?

• It was the Soviet alternative to the Marshall Plan.

• It built up trade links between countries.

• It also prevented Comecon countries from signing up to the Marshall Plan.

• Comecon included the USSR, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland , Romania, Albania, and from 1950, the German Democratic Republic (East Germany).

What were the consequences of the Marshall Plan, Comecon, the Truman Doctrine and Cominform?

• Western Europe was now in one camp, it was linked to the USA through the Marshall Plan and the US policy of containment of communism.

  • Eastern Europe was now in one camp, its was tied to the USSR as satellite states and the USSR believed socialist would spread worldwide.

When was NATO set up?

1949

What does NATO stand for?

The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation

What was NATO?

• It was a military alliance made up of the USA, Britain, Canada, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Denmark, Norway and, after 1955, West Germany.

• It was a military alliance based around the principle of collective security: if one country was attacked, other countries had to assist it.

  • It was directed against a possible military attack from the USSR on Western Europe.

What was the significance of NATO?

• It showed that, after the Berlin Blockade and the USSR’s own development of the atomic bomb, neither the USA nor Western governments were prepared to accept future Soviet aggression.

• The USSR therefore turned to strengthening its control over Eastern Europe, resulting in the formation of the Warsaw Pact in 1955.

• There were now two military alliances, NATO and the Warsaw Pact, facing each other across the Iron Curtain.