origins of the cold war

1945-1949

thesis - wartime alliance

wartime alliance collapsed because incompatile US liberal internationalism and Soviet socialism

thesis - conflicting aims

postwar europe, ideological mistrust, nuclear imbalance, economic competition

thesis - bipolar global confrontation

symbolised by Berlin blockade and creation of rival military and economic blocs

ideological and strategic mistrust 1945-46

breakdown of wartime alliance began diverging postwar visions - USSR demanded defensive sphere of influence in EE and US pursued liberal internationalism

ideological and strategic mistrust - development - yalta and potsdam exposed tensions

a. Stalin demanded friendly regimes in EE to secure Soviet borders

b. R and T promoted democratic elections

c. Potsdam worsened mistrust - US delayed reparations and took a firmer stance against Soviet expansion

ideological and strategic mistrust - development - ideological fault lines emerged

US defined freedom as capitalist democracy vs. USSR equated security with socialist, Soviet-aligned states

ideological and strategic mistrust - development - security dilemma i.e. both sides saw the other as offensive

a. Soviet occupation of EE interpreted as agression

b. US refusal to share atomic secrets seen as threat

ideological and strategic mistrust - evidence - communism

Red Army’s control of EE; communist govenrments e.g. Poland

ideological and strategic mistrust - evidence - Churchill

US alarm expressed in Churchill’s “Iron Curtain” speech March 1946

ideological and strategic mistrust - evidence - Long Telegram

Kennan’s “Long Telegram” in Feb 1946 codified US suspicion - USSR expansionist, driven by ideology, must be contained

atomic bomb and economic power

atomic monopoly and US economic supremacy after 1945 deepened Soviet insecurity, accelerating breakdown of trust

atomic bomb and economic power - development - use of atomic bomb

a. ended the war but signalled US dominance to Moscow

b. T decision to not fully inform Stalin during Potsdam reflected growing suspicion

c. Stalin interpreted this as coercive diplomacy - threat not partnership

atomic bomb and economic power - development - economic dimension

a. US emerged economically dominant, controlled global industrial output

b. promoted liberal capitalist order through Bretton Woods system

c. USSR saw these as capitalist tools of US domination

atomic bomb and economic power - development - Soviet reaction

USSR tightened control over EE; extracted reparations from Germany; accelerated atomic program

atomic bomb and economic power - evidence

a. US refused to provide postwar loans to USSR without political concessions

b. atomic diplomacy during 1945-46 crises over Iran and Turkey

atomic bomb and economic power - analysis

a. asymmetry between US power and Soviet vulnerability created imbalance

b. both sides viewed the other’s policies through an ideological lens transforming mistrust into confrontation

institutionalisation of containment 1947-1948

by 1947 US containment became official policy and Soviet responses formalised division of Europe intro rival blocs

institutionalisation of containment - development - telegram and doctrine

a. Kennan’s analysis - containment as framework for US foreign policy

b. T speech - “support free peoples resisting subjugation”

c. Greece and Turkey crises - Britain withdrawal created vacuum; US stepped in with aid

d. ideological framing - democracy vs tyranny

institutionalisation of containment - development - marshall plan

a. economic containment - rebuild western Europe, prevent communist appeal

b. offered to all European states but USSR rejected it as US imperialism

institutionalisation of containment - development - Soviet reaction

a. creation of Cominform to coordinate communist parties

b. consolidation of Eastern bloc regimes e.g. Czechoslovakia coup 1948

institutionalisation of containment - development - Berlin crisis

a. USSR blocked allied access to West Berlin - US-led airlift

b. first direct confrontation; moral victory for West

formation of blocs 1949

by 1949 Europe was divided into two opposing alliances, each solidifying the geopolitical, ideological, and military structures of cold war

formation of blocs - development - NATO formation

a. defensive alliance linking US, Canada, Western Europe

b. commitment to collective security (article 5)

formation of blocs - development - Soviet consolidation

a. COMECON est. to coordinate Eastern economies

b. formation of GDR after creation of FRG

c. end of united Germany hopes

formation of blocs - development - nuclear parity begins

USSR tests first atomic bomb - ends US monopoly - arms race begins

formation of blocs - analysis

a. creation of NATO and COMECON and both Germanys symbolised the endof wartime alliance and the birth of the bipolar world

b. both sides now institutionalised ideological and military confrontation