Origins of the Cold War 1941-45 - Tensions in the Wartime Alliance + The Allied Conferences

(Briefly) Describe what Operation Barbarossa was? Why did Churchill offer help to the Soviets?

Operation Barbarossa was the Nazi invasion of the USSR in June 1941. The Soviets were under-equipped and unprepared and Stalin was in desperate need of help in the early weeks.
Churchill saw that the vast size of the USSR prevented German victory and was quick to see the potential of their might in Britain’s war against Germany

What was the impact of Operation Barbarossa on East-West wartime tensions?

Eases tensions — It transformed the image of the Soviets in Britain’s eyes - from a brutal dictatorship to patriots that were resisting the Nazi’s. Britain and the USSR now had this common enemy and despite old hostilities, they began to work together. Churchill was prepared to put aside his hatred of communism to confront the greater evil of Nazi Germany.

When the USSR was facing defeat in 1941, how much aid did Britain send the USSR?

September 1941 - Churchill agreed to send 2250 tanks and 1800 fighter aircraft to the USSR and the first Arctic convoy arrived in Archangel. 3 million pairs of army boots to the Soviet soldiers.
These initial supplies proved critical in preventing the German army reaching Moscow.

What did the amount of aid that Britain were willing to send the USSR suggest about relations between the two superpowers?

The huge assistance that Britain were now prepared to give reflects the changing nature of the Anglo-Soviet relationship

How did Pearl Harbour alter the course of the war and relations between East and West?

The USA joined the Grand Alliance in December 1641 after the Japanese raid on Pearl Harbour brought them into the war — US, Britain and USSR working together for common aim.

What was the idea behind a second front?

Stalin wanted Britain to invade France so that Nazi Germany would be forced to fight a war on two fronts, easing pressure on the Red Army. Britain’s Army, however, were still recovering from 1940 defeat in France when Stalin first requested a second front in 1941 and so there was a significant delay in opening a second front.

How did the delay in opening a second front until 1944 create tensions in the Grand Alliance?

Exemplified the mistrust and suspicion that still existed between the superpowers - Stalin was anxious for pressure to be taken off the Red Army and he believed that Britain not invading France until June 1944 was intentional to ensure an overthrow of communism by Nazi Germany, believing that the West wanted Germany and Russia to bleed each other dry so the West would easily be able to take over. It seemed that Stalin perhaps failed to see why the West wanted to delay opening a second front while the West failed to appreciate the pressure that Soviet forces were under against Germany and that is why they needed Germany to divert some of its forces.
The Red Army were under such pressure that Stalin even considered a secret peace with Germany up until September 1943 but the West were aware of these considerations and so made them view Stalin as untrustworthy — both sides suspicious of each other.

In contrast to Stalin’s suspicions, what were perhaps the real reasons behind the West’s delay of a second front?

Stalin perhaps failed to see that the West didn’t believe an amphibious landing would be successful, particularly after the Dieppe fiasco in 1942, as the Atlantic wall was not complete.

How might the tensions caused by the delay of the second front be seen as somewhat limited?

Though constant delays did cause tensions, the consistent supply of weapons to the USSR from Roosevelt did help to ease some concerns and tensions were eventually eased in 1944 with the events of D-Day.

Why might it be suggested that the West were unable to appreciate the military pressure that was on the USSR?

Germany had committed 4 million men to defeating the USSR and by contrast, the only fighting between British and Axis troops was in North Africa, where Hitler had only sent 3 divisions. There were around 360,000 deaths of Soviet soldiers and 3.3 million soldiers were captured.

What were the main tensions between Churchill and Stalin during the war and the wartime conferences?

• The Second front - Churchill was unwilling to open the second front that Stalin was demanding - made Stalin suspicious of the West, feeling as though they might be delaying to ensure the overthrow of communism by Germany and feeling as though most of the fighting was being left to the Red Army

• Russian advances after 1943 - Alarmed Churchill, particularly in relation to Poland - despite the fact that they had gone to war to defend Poland, by 1944, they were having to accept its domination by the USSR

• The Tehran Conference 1943 - Churchill felt an invasion of France should be complemented by Allies attack through Italy but Stalin felt that this would weaken the invasion of France. Stalin pushed for control in Poland and the Baltic states — already looking to post-war situation in Europe while FDR and Churchill felt that these discussions could only take place after the war.
  Made Churchill more wary of Soviet expansion.

• Yalta - Both Churchill and Stalin wanted control of Berlin — agreed to divide Germany, hadn’t decided on what to do with Berlin

• Potsdam - Churchill hated that Stalin was seizing control of Eastern Europe and not allowing fair elections

What were the main agreements between Churchill and Stalin during the war and the wartime conferences?

• Mutual respect and goodwill between the two leaders

• Tehran Conference 1943 - Western allies agreed to invade Northern France by May 1944

• The Percentages Agreement, 1944 - Agreement that Eastern Europe was to be divided between the USSR and the West into spheres of influence

What were the main tensions between the US (FDR, then Truman) and Stalin?

• Truman replaced FDR for the Potsdam Conference

• Truman was very openly anti-communist and anti-Stalin and had less inclination to make concessions to Stalin than FDR — meant that at Potsdam, it was much more difficult to make decisive decisions

• Potsdam Conference - The USA had successfully tested the A-bomb and almost goaded Stalin with it into doing what Truman wanted, increasing tensions between the two powers

What were the main agreements between the US and USSR during the war and the wartime conferences?

• FDR accepted Russian domination of Eastern Europe as he needed Russia to fight Japan and felt he could get deals over elections in Russian territories

• Yalta - Stalin agreed to free, democratic elections though it quickly became clear that he had no intention of this

• By 1945, the division of Germany had been agreed as had a new United Nations for keeping peace

What were the main tensions between the US and Britain during the war and at the wartime conferences?

• Military strategy - By 1943, the US was having doubts over the way Britain was fighting the war, particularly its focus in North Africa and the Mediterranean. FDR worried that the war it was fighting for the British Empire would greatly restrict trade opportunitity and it ran counter to the US’s beliefs in freedom

• The US dominated the D-Day invasion and the war from 1944-45 in northern France and Germany

What were the main agreements between Britain and the US during the war and the wartime conferences?

Churchill agreed to an Atlantic Charter of shared democratic principles.
Churchill was quick to reinforce a friendship between himself and FDR after Hitler declared war on the USA and gained US commitment to war in Europe.

What were the main issues discussed at the Tehran conference in 1943?

• Germany - The USSR had felt that most of the burden of fighting fell upon them. The Allies committed to D-Day as a ‘Second Front’ against Nazi Germany with Stalin agreeing to launch a simultaneous attack in the East.

• Reparations - Agreed to concessions for the USSR after the war; Stalin felt that controlling parts of Eastern Europe would ensure security for the USSR

• Poland and Eastern Europe - Agreed that Stalin would annex Eastern Poland; Guaranteed a Soviet zone of influence in Eastern Europe (+ the Baltic states and Bessarabia to join the USSR)

• War with Japan - USSR committed to joining the war against Japan

• United Nations - Stalin agreed to support the establishment of the UN to manage international affairs, security and peace

What changes occured between the Tehran conference in 1943 and the Yalta Conference in February 1945?

• The state of the war - The opening of the second front with D-Day had occured, the Red Army had advanced from the East; Germany were close to defeat

• Poland and Soviet control - Polish resistance seized Warsaw from Germany and Germany counter-attacked - the USSR didn’t help — Warsaw destroyed and Poland under Soviet occupation

• The ‘liberation’ of Europe.

What were the aims of each of the Big Three going into the Yalta Conference?

• FDR - Didn’t want the power of the British Empire to increase; didn’t want Stalin to feel as though he and Churchill were ‘ganging up on him’; Less focused on Berlin - wanted support to defeat Japan

• Churchill - Wanted the three leaders to work together to promote world peace; wanted control of Berlin; Wanted free, democratic elections in Eastern European nations such as Poland

• Stalin - Wanted a buffer zone around the USSR; Wanted strong, pro-communist governments in Poland and other Eastern European countries; Wanted reparations paid in kind over a 10 year period (factories, communication equipment, investment abroad etc.); Wanted control of Berlin

What were the main agreements made at the Yalta Conference?

• Agreed to split Germany into 4 zones, occupied by Britain, France, the USA and the USSR

• Even though Berlin was within the Eastern (Soviet zone), it was agreed that it too would be split into 4 zones

• All countries freed from Nazi control were guaranteed the right to hold free elections and choose their own governments. Stalin was offered a ‘sphere of influence’ over Eastern Europe.

• That the USSR would annex the Polish territory that they had occupied in 1939 - in return, the Polish border would move west and previously German territory would become Polish - The Poles weren’t consulted on this matter

• Agreed that the USSR would receive reperation payments of $20 billion from Germany, paid in goods or services over 5 years

• Stalin promised to join the war against Japan once Germany was defeated

• Agreed to de-nazify Germany and the world — all allies committed to hunt down Nazi war criminals

• All allies agreed to set up and join the UN

What were the disagreements at the Yalta Conference?

Still disagreements about Poland - Stalin wanted a communist friendly Polish government and USSR’s borders to move further west into Poland.
The West worried that this government would be Soviet controlled.

What about the Yalta conference perhaps suggested that the breakdown of the Grand Alliance was inevitable?

• Stalin's insistence on establishing pro-communist governments and the West's concerns over Soviet influence foreshadowed future tensions

• The USSR had already began spying on the US at this point, suggesting that there was suspicion of each other

• Agreements to hold free elections could easily be manipulated by Stalin

What were the major changes between the Yalta and Potsdam conferences?

• State of the war - Germany had surrendered and the war had ended - Western Allies no longer needed Stalin to defeat Germany so less pressure to appease the USSR

• Leaders of the Big Three - Truman replaced FDR and Atlee replaced Churchill

• 25 million in Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia and East Germany now under Soviet control

• Atom bomb tested by the US - Truman uses it as a threat and Stalin speeds up his nuclear projects

What was the significance of the change in leaders of the Big Three?

Stalin was the only leader that remained the same - new relationships lacked the mutual wartime respect, cordiality and collective experience that had previously existed between the Big Three. FDR had been willing to work with Stalin while Truman made little secret of his hatred of communism and Stalin, adopting a far tougher and more hostile attitude in his dealings with the USSR.

What agreements were made at Potsdam? What were the sources of disagreements/tensions?

• German and Berlin 4 occupational zones confirmed

• Reparations - Stalin wanted compensation for destruction to the Soviet economy so 25% of industrial equipment from Western Germany was shipped east

• Stalin had not gone through with free elections — Churchill claimed that an ‘Iron fence has come down around them’ — seen as expansionist aims of Stalin, increasing tensions

• Soviets seized control of Albania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Poland through executions and imprisonment of non-communists - re-enforces West’s vision of East as dictatorship brutally seizing power to expand influence across Europe — there was now the presence of Soviet troops in the East which increased the tensions surrounding the problem of free elections at Potsdam

• The aims of the powers had clearly shifted - West promoting democracy and the USSR promoting communist governments

What had been left unresolved by the end of Potsdam?

No agreement about the long-term future of Europe, particularly Germany and its economic fate and division had already begun between the USSR and the US - The US wanted to rebuild the German economy while Stalin wanted to extract the maximum amount possible as reparations to ensure Germany remained economically weak.

What was Stalin’s personality like and how might that have influenced relations between the Big Three?

Stalin’s personality - He didn’t trust anyone and this mistrust affected how he dealt with foreign policy, only going along with treaties as long as they coincided with the wishes of him and the USSR and would renege on deals that had been made if they no longer suited his purpose, such as his initial agreement to free elections in Eastern Europe. Stalin’s priorities were to ensure that the USSR was able to recover economically, which is why he wanted a buffer zone of states with pro-Soviet, communist governments.

What was the relationship like between FDR and Stalin on a personal level?

Roosevelt felt that he had a good relationship with Stalin and felt he could persuade him to compromise, trusting him to deliver on his promises of a democratic future for Eastern Europe. With this trust, however, Roosevelt ignored Churchill’s advice and that of his own staff of adopting a tough line. While many view FDR’s approach as naive, it was also due to the need for Soviet manpower in the war with Japan and so was prepared to agree for Soviet wishes for a buffer zone.
- Both Stalin and Roosevelt joined together at the Yalta conference to persuade a reluctant Churchill to agree to the second front in May 1944. It was FDR that managed to persuade Stalin to join the UN.

What was the relationship like between Stalin and Truman?

Truman took a much harder line against Stalin than FDR had - he had a deep-rooted suspicion of communism, viewing the Soviets as very much the agressor and the US as a defender of liberties and democracy. With war in Europe now over and the successful test of the atomic bomb, Truman was also far less dependent on the USSR than FDR had been and he became convinced that Stalin would only respond to force and so he began to talk of containing communism.
- Truman saw Stalin as someone who couldn’t be appeased nor negotiated with
There wasn’t the respect or wartime experience as had existed between FDR and Stalin to keep negotiations civil or productive.

What was the relationship between Stalin and Churchill like on a personal level?

Churchill had always held strong anti-communist views but was quick to reach an alliance with the USSR in 1941 and had sent a significant amount of resources to the USSR. Their relationship was turbulent, however, and Stalin enjoyed baiting him, joking at Tehran that he would shoot 50,000 German soldiers after surrender, horrifying Churchill with his cold-blooded violence. Nearing the end of the war, Churchill became increasingly suspicious of Churchill’s motives and was enraged by Soviet actions in Poland during the Warsaw rising - Churchill met with Stalin and Moscow and this was where they devised the percentages agreement.

How did Soviet actions in Poland in 1945 after Yalta impact relations between Churchill and Stalin?

- Relations almost completely broke down between Britain and the USSR after Yalta, with the British increasingly concerned over Soviet actions in the areas the Red Army had liberated, most of all Poland
- Though the Soviets had agreed to a joint government of communist and non-communist Poles at Yalta, the Soviets imposed a communist regime in Poland and brutally suppressed opposition.
- March 1945 - 16 representatives of the Poles invited to discussions on the future of Poland and they were arrested and sent to Moscow for interrogation by the NKVD. June - they were put through a show trial after torture.
- This betrayal was firmly in Churchill’s mind when negotiations began at Potsdam
- Half way through Potsdam, Churchill was replaced by Attlee — Stalin saw this as yet another example of the weaknesses of the Western capitalist system

What were the relations or personal differences like between Atlee and Stalin?

Atlee was more sympathetic to the USSR than Churchill was but still viewed them as expansionist, also fearing that Stalin couldn’t be trusted after his failed promises over Poland. Attlee was also more concerned over the reconstruction of Britain and was a relative novice to foreign policy, and so allowed the US to conduct most of the negotiations.