Who was to blame for the Cold War?

How did national pride and sense of identity cause a clash between the USSR and the USA?

• Americans strongly thought that their way of life was superior and were proud of the USA’s major leading role in defeating the Nazis.

• Soviet people were also very proud of the USSR’s role in crushing Nazism, and thought that their way of life was superior.

Describe the ideological clash between the USSR and USA

• USA was Capitalist whereas the USSR was communist

• USA was a democracy whereas the USSR was a dictatorship with 1 - party rule.

• USA was the worlds wealthiest country but there were extreme wealth disparities within the USA. The USSR was rapidly growing and industrialising, but the standard of living was much lower than in the USA. However, extreme poverty was rarer.

• Americans thought being free was more important than equality, whereas communists thought that the rights of the individual were less important than society succeeding.

• Americans believed countries should be ran their way (capitalist). Soviet people thought the same (communist).

• People the USA were alarmed and scared of communism - communist theory encouraged a global communist revolution.

• Americans thought there policies were morally correct whereas many soviet people thought that the USA was selfish and its policies were only to grow its influence and economic power.

What was the Yalta conference?

• In February 1945, Stalin, Roosevelt, and Churchill met at Yalta in Ukraine. At the time, they were still at war against Germany but it was clear that Germany was going to lose. They met to plan what to do after.

What was agreed at the Yalta conference

• They agreed: Stalin to enter the war against Japan after Germany’s surrender.

• Germany to be divided into 4 zones - French, British, American, Soviet.

• They agreed that free elections would be held in countries liberated from the Nazi rule

• That the big three would all join the UN to keep peace

• That the big three would hunt down and punish Nazi war criminals.

• That Eastern Europe would be a “Soviet sphere of influence” as an estimated 20 million Soviet people had died in the war and Stalin was concerned about the future.

What were the disagreements at the Yalta conference?

• Over Poland - Stalin wanted the USSR to expand into Poland, and argued that Poland could expand into Germany.

• Churchill was displeased with this plan, but knew he couldnt do much as the Red Army were in control of Poland at the time.

• Roosevelt was also displeased - Churchill had to persuade him to accept it.

• They accepted it on the terms that the USSR would not interfere in Greece during a British attempt at preventing Communist takeover.

• Stalin agreed.

What was the Potsdam conference?

• May 1945, 3 months after Yalta. After German surrender and allied victory in Europe. Allied powers meet again in Potsdam in Berlin

What were the key changes from Yalta to Potsdam?

• Stalins armies occupied most of eastern Europe - Stalin left his armies in East European countries after “liberating” them from the Nazis. He set up a communist government in Poland. He insisted this was for defence, but people living in these countries werent happy and many fled fearing communist takeover.

• America had a new president - Roosevelt died in April 1945 and was replaced by his vice, Truman. Truman was more anticommunist and was suspicious of Stalin.

• The allies had tested an atomic bomb at a desert in the USA. Truman told Stalin about it at the start of the conference.

• Churchill had been replaced by Attlee - without Churchill, rivalry and suspicion grew between Truman and Stalin and neither could sympathise with the other side.

What were the disagreements at Potsdam?

• Germany - Stalin wanted to cripple Germany, Truman didnt want to replicate the mistakes of the ToV.

• Reparations - Stalin wanted compensation from Germany: The USSR had suffered with over 20 million dead. Truman didnt want to replicate the mistakes of the ToV.

• East Europe - At Yalta, Stalin’s sphere of influence was established, saying he could set up pro-soviet governments in Eastern Europe. The new American president, Truman, wasn’t happy about this and was determined to be tough on Stalin.

Why and when did Churchill speak in the USA?

• In March 1946, he spoke about the USSR’s “iron curtain”

• In the 9 months following the Potsdam conference, Stalin gained domination over Eastern Europe. By 1946, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Albania had communist governments which were loyal to Stalin

• Churchill called it an “iron curtain” and the name caught on.

• He critiqued it, saying it was “not the liberated Europe we fought to build” and one that does not “allows permanent peace”

• Stalin replied to the speech and said that the USSR deserved these countries being loyal to them due to their effort in WW2.

Describe cominform

• In October 1947, Stalin set up cominform to coordinate the work of communist parties in Eastern Europe.

• Cominform regularly brought party leaders to Moscow to be briefed by Stalin.

• Stalin spotted independent leaders and replaced them by those loyal to him.

• The only communist leader to escape Cominform was Tito in Yugoslavia, who was expelled in 1948.

What happened in Greece in 1947?

• After Germany’s 1944 retreat from Greece, the communists and the monarchists were left as 2 rival groups who wanted to rule. The Communists wanted Greece to be a soviet republic and the monarchists wanted the king to return to power. Churchill sent British troops to “oversee free elections” but the King was actually supported and returned to power.

• In 1946, the USSR complained the the UN that British troops in Greece threatened peace.

• The UN didnt act to the communists tried to control Greece by force.

• A civil war broke out and British withdrew their troops in 1947.

• Truman stepped in and paid for some British troops to stay and support the royalist government.

• By 1950 the royalists were in control but were weak and unstable.

What was the Truman doctrine?

In 1947, Truman announced a foreign policy pledge to provide political, military, and economic aid to countries threatened by Communism.

For instance, the USA provided $400 million for Greece and Turkey to help stop communist expansion.

It signified a shift from isolationism to intervensionism, and begun with Greece.

It formalised the start of the cold war and of containment

What was the Marshall plan?

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