Ch. 3 Churchill and international diplomacy 1939-1951

p58-p82

Lend-Lease Act

March 1941

Britain’s role in the war in 1940

• the US had been persuaded to prioritise defeating Germany, rather than fighting the war in the Pacific where its main interests lay

• Britain had nowhere near the same number of casualties as the USSR - total British deaths were 452,000 and US deaths 420,000, whilst in one battle, the Stalingrad had over 1m casualties. The USSR were essentially fighting the war for Britain

• despite agreeing to the Atlantic Charter in 1941, Britain was not forced to make a commitment to ending her Empire in exchange for US support

therefore, Churchill still has the role of Britain’s moral leader, and the champion of civilisation

Yalta Conference

February 1945

it was clear that Germany was losing the war, so the allied leaders met in Ukraine to decide the next steps for Europe

at this point, Stalin was occupying most of Eastern Europe

agreements at Yalta

• general agreement that free elections should be held in liberated Nazi countries

• a Soviet sphere of influence in Manchuria would be granted in exchange for participation in the Pacific war against Japan

• all parties agreed to the US plan for a United Nations

• agreement that major war criminals would be tried by an international court

disagreements at Yalta

• the USSR wanted Germany to pay high reparations, whereas Britain and the US disagreed as they wanted to prioritise trade and did not want a repeat of the ToV

• Stalin wanted to cripple Germany and keep it economically weak

• Stalin wanted the Polish-German border to be pushed further West, but Britain feared expansionism, and the Roosevelt was unhappy at this idea too

• Stalin did not want France to have a zone in Berlin as he feared that a unified Western front would obstruct his Soviet domination of Germany

final terms decided on at Yalta

• Stalin agreed to join the fight against Japan

• As countries were liberated they were allowed an election to decide their own government

• Agreed to hunt down and punish war criminals

• Agreed to join the United Nations

• Germany would be split into four zones: America, Britain, France and USSR

• Eastern Europe was seen as a ‘Soviet sphere of influence’

• Stalin moved his borders further westward into Poland

Tehran Conference

1943

attended by Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin

they met to coordinate their strategy against Hitler, as by this point the war had turned in their favour

The key outcome was agreement to launch Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied France (later D-Day in June 1944)

agreements at Tehran

• Second front in France: The US and GB agreed to open a major second front in France to support the Soviet Union's struggle on the Eastern Front.

• An agreement was reached that Poland would gain territory from Germany

disagreements at Tehran

• they disagreed about the location of the Second front; Churchill wanted it to be in the Balkans but Roosevelt and Stalin wanted it to be through Northern France

• there was significant disagreement over the extent of the Polish-Soviet border.

• Disagreements over how to defeat Hitlers army, they said he only depended on around 50,000 men, Churchill declared he would be no party to such mass retribution, FDR jokingly suggested they only kill 49,000. Churchill stormed out of the room :(

Potsdam Conference

1945 July 17th - August 2nd

Truman successfully tested the atomic bomb on the 16th July - tension

Churchill was replaced by Attlee on 26th July

The Big Three (Stalin, Churchill, Truman) met to negotiate terms for the end of WWII

agreements at Potsdam

• Germany

  • A demilitarized and disarmed Germany under four zones of Allied occupation

  • German society was to be remade more equal by repealing all discriminatory laws from the Nazi era and arresting the ‘war criminals’

  • Democratic political parties would be encouraged to participate

• they approved the formation of a Council of Foreign Ministers

• They agreed to revise the 1936 Montreux Convention, which gave Turkey sole control over the Turkish Straits

• They released the “Potsdam Declaration,” which threatened Japan with “prompt and utter destruction” if it did not immediately surrender

disagreements at Potsdam

• The handling of Germany

  • Truman was keen to avoid a repetition of the ToV

  • Stalin wanted to cripple Germany and demanded high compensation figures

• The revision of the German-Soviet-Polish borders and the expulsion of several million Germans from the disputed territories

• The USSR was unwilling to hold free and fair elections as previously agreed at Yalta

relationship between Churchill and Roosevelt

Yalta

• their correspondence reveals much more affection from Churchill than from Roosevelt

• They were good friends - Churchill allowed FDR in whilst he was getting out of the bath

• The alliance was very strategic for both parties:

• Britain benefitted very heavily

  • November 1939 the USA repealed the Neutrality Act

  • Roosevelt defended the sales of arms to Britain

  • The Lend-Lease Act was passed in March 1941, resulting in $31.6b of assistance going to Britain by 1945

• FDR also benefited from the alliance

  • The US took Britain's gold reserves in South Africa as security for Lend Lease payments

  • The USA made large profits from supplying arms

• Roosevelt sometimes saw Churchill as a difficult ally, and felt frustrated by his personality and imperialism

• It was clear that relationships between Churchill and FDR had changed when they met Stalin in Tehran

  • Roosevelt refused to meet Churchill privately to decide on a joint policy before the conference

  • He met the Chinese leader without Churchill’s knowledge

  • The US had abandoned ‘Europe First’

  • Roosevelt clearly favoured Stalin over Churchill at Tehran

  • Churchill’s plan of bringing Turkey into the war and setting up a Balkan front were rejected

• At Quebec in 1944, Churchill got no commitment for post-war financial assistance for Britain 

relationship between Churchill and Stalin

• shared need to defeat Nazi Germany

• Anglo-Soviet Agreement July 12, 1941: formally cemented the alliance and established military cooperation

• Churchill’s support for an alliance with Stalin was more of a support for the lesser of two evils, as he thought that Britain couldn’t fight two totalitarian regimes at once.

• Churchill was concerned throughout the war about Stalin’s post-war intentions in eastern Europe.

• Tehran Conference 1943 - bad

the Percentages Agreement 1944

Informal secret deal between Churchill and Stalin.

Divided influence in Eastern European countries using percentages.

Britain kept strong influence in Greece, whilst the Soviets dominated Romania and Bulgaria

relationship between Truman and Stalin

initially tense

Truman was very suspicious of Soviet expansion

Truman Doctrine 1947 - US promised to support countries resisting communism

Marshall Plan 1947

very hostile relationship

relationship between Attlee and Truman

• largely cooperative

• Britain was one of the largest recipients of the Marshall Plan

• they worked together on NATO 1949

relationship between Attlee and Stalin

• cool and distrustful

• Berlin Blockade

relationship between Churchill and De Gaulle (free France)

• Churchill loved France and was devastated by the French surrender

• Vichy France was created, and Britain took brutal actions against the French fleet in Vichy France, killing 1297 French servicemen when 5 ships were sunk

• France saw the British retreat as a betrayal

• Churchill admired De Gaulle but found him very hard to deal with, as he was uncompromising and uncooperative

• Churchill and FDR struggled to accept De Gaulle as the leader of post-war France

• relations between Churchill and De Gaulle were stormy throughout the war

What contribution did Churchill make to the wartime international conferences?

• in total, Churchill attended 16 meetings, Roosevelt 12, and Stalin 7, demonstrating Churchill’s dedication

• Churchill was now the junior partner in the Big Three - due to the vast amount of resources the USA and USSR had in comparison to Britain, Churchill was concerned with Soviet expansion and didn’t understand why Roosevelt wasn’t

• Roosevelt and Stalin were frustrated with Churchill’s decision to not open a Western Front

• Soviet casualties were 9 million, American 420,000, British 452,000

• Churchill behaved unwisely, ‘behaved like a bull in a ring’ ‘temperamental like a film star’

• Percentages agreement- unwise as it was undemocratic and sneaky (he knew this) and it threatened his relationship with the USA

• Churchill’s skill in maintaining Stalin as an ally - when Hitler invaded USSR, June 1941, Churchill flew to Moscow to form a personal bond and alliance with Stalin

Churchill’s plans for post-war Europe

March 1946 Churchill delivered his Iron Curtain Speech- Sinews of Peace- In Fulton Missouri

• The speech had a major impact worldwide

• It was seen as a very hostile speech and increased tensions between the West and the East

• He believed that a strong Anglo American friendship would be the basis of peace and stability is post war Europe

• He was a strong imperialist and didn’t see Britain losing her empire 

• He wanted British influence in the Middle East so that Britain could have control over the Suez Canal and easy transport links to Asia

• Churchill was fearful of being too harsh on Germany like the Treaty of Versailles had been