Causes of the Cold War (1943-1948)

The Tehran Conference ($1943$)

• Date: $November\text{, }1943$
• Location: Tehran, Iran
• Participants (The Big Three):     * Joseph Stalin (USSR)     * Franklin D. Roosevelt (USA)     * Winston Churchill (Great Britain)
• Significance: This was the first meeting involving all three leaders of the Allied powers.
• Key Decisions and Strategy:     * The American and British forces committed to an invasion of France (the opening of the Second Front in Western Europe).     * The Soviet Union committed to an invasion of Eastern Europe to push back German forces.

The Yalta Conference ($1945$)

• Date: $February\text{, }1945$
• Context: The war in Europe was still ongoing, but the defeat of Nazi Germany was becoming imminent.
• Participants: Stalin, Roosevelt, and Churchill.
• Major Agreements reached at Yalta:     * War with Japan: Stalin agreed to enter the war against Japan once Germany had officially surrendered.     * Elections: The leaders agreed that as countries were liberated from Nazi occupation, they would be allowed to hold free elections to choose their own governments.     * War Criminals: Following the discovery of the horrors of Nazi concentration camps as Allied forces advanced, the Big Three agreed to hunt down and punish those responsible for genocide and other war crimes.     * Germany: The parties agreed that Germany would be divided into four distinct occupation zones: American, French, British, and Soviet.     * United Nations: All three leaders agreed to join the new United Nations Organisation, intended to maintain global peace following the conclusion of the war.     * Eastern Europe: Given that the Soviet Union had suffered approximately $20,000,000$ deaths during the war, Stalin was deeply concerned about future security. To mitigate the risk of future invasions, the Big Three agreed that Eastern Europe should be considered a "Soviet sphere of influence."
• Disagreements Regarding Poland:     * This was the primary point of contention during the conference.     * Stalin's Proposal: He wanted the USSR border to move westwards into Poland. In compensation, Poland's border would move westwards into territory that was currently German.     * Churchill's Stance: He disapproved of these plans but acknowledged that Stalin's Red Army was already in total control of Poland and eastern Germany, limiting his ability to intervene.     * Roosevelt's Stance: He was also unhappy with the plan, but Churchill persuaded him to accept it on the condition that the USSR did not interfere in Greece, where British forces were trying to prevent a Communist takeover. Stalin agreed to this compromise.
• President Roosevelt's Reflection: In his report to the US Congress, Roosevelt stated that the allies argued "freely and frankly," and that Hitler's hope for a "crack" in allied unity had failed. He claimed the major allies were closely united in both war and peace aims.

The Occupation and Division of Germany

• Zonal Division: Following the war, Germany was split into four zones controlled by the victors (USA, Britain, France, and the USSR).
• Berlin's Position: The city of Berlin was located deep within the Soviet-controlled East Germany. However, Berlin itself was also divided into East and West sectors.
• Historical Milestone: The division later led to the Berlin Airlift of $1948$-$1949$.

Contextual Changes Before the Potsdam Conference

Several factors shifted the balance of power and the atmosphere of diplomacy between Yalta and Potsdam:

• Military Presence: Stalin’s Red Army occupied the majority of Eastern Europe.
• US Leadership: Harry S. Truman replaced Franklin D. Roosevelt as President in $April\text{, }1945$.
• Technology: The United States had successfully tested the atomic bomb.
• Victory in Europe: The war in Europe officially ended in $May\text{, }1945$.

The Potsdam Conference ($1945$)

• Date: $July\text{, }1945$
• Location: Potsdam, Germany
• Participants: Stalin, Truman, and Churchill (who was later replaced by Clement Attlee during the conference after a UK election).
• Atmosphere: Unlike Yalta, this conference was dominated by fear and deep-seated suspicion between the leaders.

The Installation of Soviet-Friendly Governments ($1945$-$1948$)

Despite the Yalta agreements regarding free elections, Stalin ensured the establishment of Soviet-controlled governments in Eastern Europe through force, coercion, and semi-democratic methods.

• Poland: Communists joined a coalition government initially, then became outright leaders in $1947$ after forcing non-Communist leaders into exile.
• East Germany: This was the eastern sector given to the USSR. It remained under Red Army control until the formation of the German Democratic Republic in $1949$.
• Czechoslovakia: A left-wing coalition won in $1945$. By $1946$, Communists were the largest party. In $1948$, when threatened, they banned other parties and turned the nation into a one-party Communist state.
• Hungary: Communists became the largest single party in the $1947$ election. They subsequently imprisoned opposition politicians and attacked Church leadership.
• Romania: A Communist Prime Minister was elected within a left-wing coalition in $1945$. The monarchy was abolished in $1947$.
• Bulgaria: A left-wing coalition won in $1945$, after which the Communist members executed the leaders of rival parties.
• Albania: Communists gained power immediately after the war with minimal opposition due to strong wartime resistance movements and backing from Yugoslavia and the USSR.
• Yugoslavia: Marshal Tito, a wartime resistance hero, was elected President in $1945$. However, he sought to apply Communism independently of Moscow.
• Greece: A civil war occurred where Britain and the USA supported the royalist side to defeat Communist opposition.

Cominform and Centralized Control

• Establishment: Stalin created the Communist Information Bureau (Cominform) in $October\text{, }1947$.
• Purpose: To coordinate the work of Communist Parties across Eastern Europe and ensure they followed Moscow's lead.
• Method of Control: Leaders were regularly brought to Moscow for briefings. Stalin used these meetings to identify and replace independent-minded leaders with loyalists.
• The Tito-Stalin Split: Marshal Tito of Yugoslavia resented Cominform's control and was expelled from the organization in $1948$ due to his hostility toward Stalin's oversight.

The "Iron Curtain"

• The Speech: Winston Churchill delivered a landmark speech in Missouri in $March\text{, }1946$.
• Defining the Boundary: Churchill stated, "From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the continent."
• Description of the Soviet Sphere: Churchill warned that the populations of Eastern Europe were subject to increasing measures of control from Moscow.
• Symbolism: The "Iron Curtain" became the defining symbol of the physical and ideological boundary separating Europe (NATO states vs. Warsaw Pact states) from $1945$ until the end of the Cold War in $1991$.

Questions & Discussion

• Expansion Justification: How could Stalin justify this communist expansion, based on the Yalta agreements?
• USA Response: Why would the USA challenge this communist expansion, based on the Yalta agreements?
• Churchill's Metaphor: What do you think Churchill meant by an "Iron Curtain"?
• Global Impact: What do you think the impact of Churchill’s speech would have been in the USA?