Ib History Paper 2

Breakdown of the Grand Alliance (1943–1949)

1. Key Facts

   • Fact 1: Yalta & Potsdam Conferences (1945): Stalin demanded a friendly communist buffer zone in Eastern Europe (especially Poland) after losing ~27 million Soviets in WWII, while US President Truman distrusted Stalin and revealed the US atomic bomb at Potsdam.

   • Fact 2: Iron Curtain & Truman Doctrine (1946–47): Winston Churchill warned that an "Iron Curtain" had divided Europe; in response to communist threats in Greece and Turkey, the US pledged to "contain" communism globally, officially abandoning wartime cooperation.

   • Fact 3: Marshall Plan & Berlin Airlift (1947–49): The US gave $13 billion to rebuild Western Europe ("dollar imperialism" to Stalin); Stalin blocked road and rail access to West Berlin, but an 11-month Western airlift led to the creation of NATO (1949) and a permanently divided Germany.

    

2. Debate / Perspective

   • Defensive security vs. Expansionist aggression: The Grand Alliance broke down because Soviet fear of another invasion clashed with American economic and ideological goals, making each side view the other's defensive moves as pure aggression.

    

3. Link to Concept

   • Shows how ideological mistrust, economic rivalry, and competing postwar security priorities destroyed wartime cooperation and entrenched the bipolar division of Europe.

    

Containment & Peaceful Coexistence (1950–1964)

1. Key Facts

   • Fact 1: Korean War (1950–53): North Korea (backed by Stalin and Mao) invaded South Korea; the US led a UN force to push them back, proving containment had expanded from Europe to Asia and tripling US military spending.

   • Fact 2: Death of Stalin & Geneva Summit (1953–55): After Stalin died in 1953, new Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev called for "Peaceful Coexistence" with the West, leading to the 1955 Geneva Summit (the first superpower meeting in 10 years) and an agreement to withdraw troops from Austria.

   • Fact 3: Limits & Post-Cuba Cooperation (1956–63): Superpower rivalry remained dangerous as Khrushchev crushed the Hungarian Uprising (1956), built the Berlin Wall (1961), and placed missiles in Cuba (1962); shaken by the crisis, JFK and Khrushchev established the Moscow–Washington Hotline and signed the Limited Test Ban Treaty (1963).

    

2. Debate / Perspective

   • Rhetorical thaw vs. Ongoing confrontation: While "Peaceful Coexistence" briefly lowered tensions after Stalin's death, containment policies and competition over global spheres of influence ensured systemic rivalry remained intense.

    

3. Link to Concept

   • Demonstrates that peaceful coexistence functioned primarily as a mechanism to manage risk and avoid direct nuclear conflict rather than a genuine resolution of ideological confrontation.

    

Sino-Soviet Split & US–China Relations (1949–1979)

China's relationships with both superpowers were driven by national self-interest, territorial security, and sovereignty rather than shared communist ideology.

• 1950 Sino-Soviet Treaty: Shortly after taking power, Mao signed a friendship treaty with Stalin, receiving a $300 million loan and Soviet advisors, though Mao strongly resented Stalin treating China like a junior partner.

• 1956–60 The Sino-Soviet Split:

  • Mao angrily rejected Khrushchev's 1956 de-Stalinization speech and his policy of "Peaceful Coexistence" with the West

  • 1960 Khrushchev withdrew all Soviet scientists and economic aid from China.

    

Détente: Causes, Successes & Collapse (1969–1979)

1. Key Facts

   • Fact 1: Causes of Détente (Late 1960s): Both superpowers faced economic pressures (the US drained by Vietnam; the USSR facing economic stagnation) and mutual fear of nuclear war after reaching nuclear parity (Mutual Assured Destruction).

   • Fact 2: Major Treaties (1972–75): President Nixon and Leonid Brezhnev signed the SALT I Treaty (1972) to freeze ICBM numbers; 35 nations signed the Helsinki Accords (1975), recognizing post-WWII European borders in exchange for Soviet human rights commitments.

   • Fact 3: Collapse of Détente (1979): Trust dissolved over Soviet support for revolutions in Africa (Angola/Ethiopia), the US Senate's refusal to ratify SALT II, and the December 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, which formally ended détente.

    

2. Debate / Perspective

   • Meaningful de-escalation vs. Tactical pause: Détente achieved major arms control and border recognition, but failed to stop proxy competition and collapsed as soon as direct geopolitical mistrust resurfaced.

    

3. Link to Concept

   • Illustrates that while bilateral diplomacy can stabilize direct nuclear competition, détente remains inherently fragile when underlying ideological hostility and peripheral proxy wars persist.