The Cold War Superpower Tensions And Rivalries (Oxford)

1. Growth and tension - the origins of the Cold War, 1943-1949

1.1 the formation of the Grand Alliance

Timeline

  • 1939:

    • Nazi-Soviet Pact:

      • German invasion of Poland

      • British declaration of war on Germany

  • 1941:

    • Axis army initiation of Operation Barbarossa against the USSR

    • Japanese bomb US naval base at Pear Harbor, Hawaii

    • US declaration of war on Japan

    • German and Italian declarations of war on the USA

  • 1942:

    • Battle of Midway

  • 1943:

    • Soviet victory in Battle of Stalingrad

    • Italian surrender

    • Mussolini deposed

    • Cairo Conference

    • Teheran Conference

  • 1944:

    • D-Day

    • Percentages Agreement

  • 1945:

    • Yalta Conference

    • German surrender

    • US detonation of the atom bomb

    • Potsdam Conference

    • Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings

    • Japanese surrender

  • 1946:

    • Kennan’s “Long Telegram”

    • Churchill’s “Iron Curtain” speech

  • 1947:

    • Truman Doctrine

    • Marshall Plan

  • 1948

    • Czechoslovak coup

    • Berlin Blockade and airlift

  • 1949:

    • Creation of NATO

    • Creation of FRG and GDR

    • Soviet detonation of atomic bomb

    • Communist victory in Chinese Civil War

Key points

The beginning of the war

  • The origins of WWII can be traced back to unresolved tensions from WWI and the Treaty of Versailles, which imposed harsh penalties on Germany.

  • The aggressive expansion of Germany under Adolf Hitler, along with the rise of totalitarian regimes in Italy and Japan, set the stage for conflict.

The soviet union enters the war

  • The Soviet Union initially signed the Nazi-Soviet Pact with Germany in 1939, ensuring non-aggression and the division of Eastern Europe.

  • In 1941, Operation Barbarossa is launched, leading to the USSR's active involvement in the war against Nazi Germany.

The US enters the war

  • The US maintained isolationist policies until the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941.

  • Following this event, the US declared war on Japan, leading to Germany and Italy declaring war on the US shortly thereafter, marking the entry of the United States into WWII.

Key statistics

  1. Battle of Stalingrad (1942-1943): Estimated casualties were around 2 million combined (including both military and civilian losses).

  2. D-Day (1944): Approximately 156,000 Allied troops landed on the beaches of Normandy on June 6, 1944.

  3. Atomic Bombings: The bomb dropped on Hiroshima killed an estimated 140,000 people by the end of 1945, while the Nagasaki bombing resulted in an estimated 70,000 deaths.

  4. German Military Losses: It is estimated that over 5 million German military personnel were killed during WWII.

  5. US Casualties: The United States suffered approximately 418,500 military deaths during WWII, with significant losses in the Pacific Theater following the attack on Pearl Harbor.