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Post WWII
Conferences and Deals
1943: Teheran• Stalin is told about Operation
Overlord
• Stalin agrees to invade from the East
• Allies will invade from the West and South
• Possibility of a United Nations discussed
Casablanca• Churchill and Roosevelt met
• Laid out basic goal of demanding unconditional surrender of Axis powers
• Stalin agreed when told of the plan
1944: Morgenthau Plan• Possible post war plan
• Called for total dismantling of Germany–Return to 18th century status
• Discarded due to impracticality
• Realized recovery of Germany would help recovery of Europe as a whole
Feb 1945: Yalta• Dominated by Big Three
– Stalin– Churchill– Roosevelt
• Occupation Plan devised• Meeting characterized by a lack of
precision which will lead to later disputes
Occupation of Germany and Berlin
• Germany divided into four parts
• Berlin (in Soviet Sphere) also divided in fourths
• USA, Britain, France, and USSR each occupy a portion
• Access to Berlin by Allies not clearly planned out
• Reparations were discussed at Yalta but not agreed upon
• Declaration of Liberated Europe made– Liberated territories could choose their future
through democratic elections
• Poland was ‘given’ to Stalin to do as he pleased
• An Eastern frontier was established along old post WWI (Curzon Line)
• Boundaries not finalized
• Stalin promised land in far East in return for aid in attacking Japan–Promised land (in hindsight) was
perhaps unnecessary: Allies close to victory
July 1945: Potsdam• After Germany surrendered, before
Japan’s surrender
• ‘New’ Big Three– Stalin
– Churchill (Attlee)
– Truman (Roosevelt died after Yalta)
• During the conference, Churchill defeated in elections and replaced by Attlee
• Confirmed arrangements concerning German occupation at Yalta
• Potsdam Declaration called for immediate surrender of Japan
• During meeting, first successful explosion of atomic bomb (testing) by USA
• Council of Foreign Ministers set up to sign peace treaties with various countries
De facto arrangements• No clear cut treaty signed (like post WWI
Versailles)
• Series of ‘de facto’ agreements were made– Atlantic Charter
– IMF
– Council of Foreign Ministers
– UNO (UN)
1941: Atlantic Charter• Anglo-American ideas of a postwar world
• Stated goals– Restoration of self-government by territories
conquered by Germany
– Free access to world trade
– Cooperation to improve living standards and economic security
– stop force and aggression as policy
IMF• Bretton Woods Conference (1944)
created International Monetary Fund (IMF)
• Lay foundations for modern monetary system (based on US dollar)
• IMF World Bank loaned money to poor recovering countries
Council of Foreign Ministers• Separate treaties with Hungary, Italy,
etc.
• Pay war reparations and minor territory adjustments
• No treaty ever signed with Germany
• US and Japan sign treaty in 1951 (without USSR)
• USSR and Japan sign treaty in 1956
United Nations Organization
• Large powers dominate Security Council– Permanent seats assigned
– Power of single veto
– Able to use military force to back decisions
• General Assembly– All members
– Make broad decisions
The Marshall Plan• Communism (USSR) dominated
Eastern Europe– Threatened to take Western Europe
• US secretary of state George Marshall posed plan to help economic recovery in Western Europe– Help resist Communism
• Plan worked very well for those that took part in the plan
• About $8 billion of American aid sent
• Resulted in overall expansion of some $30 Billion annual output of goods and services
General State of Affairs
• Eastern Europe mainly Communism– Dominated by USSR
• Western Europe mainly democratic– Influenced by USA and Britain
USSR• Faced with mass destruction and need
for recovery
• Stalin used old methods to recover– Forced production
– All opposition purged
• Developed fourth 5-Year Plan
Poland• Communists occupied ministries
(Polish Workers party)
• Polish people anti-Russian, but had no choice
• Elections held (as agreed upon) but were fixed
Hungary• Anticommunist party (Small holders
Party) – Increasing economic turmoil hurt Party
• Communist Party (supported by USSR) purged political opponents and took over
• General Election (fixed) gave power to Communists
Bulgaria• During war, Red Army occupied
• Fatherland Front Party (Communists) dominate
• Elections held (not fixed) and Communists won
• Opponents purged
Rumania• Allied with Axis during war
• Defeated by USSR
• Anti-Communists purged
• Elections held (few people left to oppose Communists); Communists won (no surprise)
Czechoslovakia
• Tried to remain free but friendly to USSR
• Massive purge of Germans
• Accepted Marshall Plan but rescinded after Soviet pressure
• Communists purge opponents and win elections
• Stalin-like plans enacted
Yugoslavia• Marshall Tito (Communist) popular and
emerged as strongest leader
• Managed to create Communist state SEPARATE from USSR!!!
• Initially part of Communist Alliances
• Later broke from them and denounced connections with Eastern Communism
Italy• Political struggles for a couple years
–Socialist to Monarchy to republic
• Became Republic
• Paid reparations and lost some territory
• Became part of NATO
France• Re-established under Charles de Gaulle
• Fourth Republic established – Weak structure
– Several governments came and went
• Welfare State Established (Socialism)
• Took advantage of Marshall Plan
• Fifth republic set up (1958) and still exists
• Withdrew from NATO in 1966 (rejoined in 1995)
East Germany• Russian Zone
– Exiled Communists (from Hitler’s rise) return and rule
• GDP (German Democratic Republic) established in 1949
• Communist State
• Walter Ulbricht was single-party ruler
West Germany• Economic ruin• War Crime Trials removed leaders• Brits, Americans, French fused their areas
together by 1948• Federal Republic of Germany 1949: Free
elections chose Konrad Adenauer as chancellor
• Allowed to rearm (1954): Joined NATO (1955)
Berlin Crisis• 1948-1949; Soviets attempt to remove
allies from Berlin by setting up a blockade
• Very tense (WWIII?)
• Berlin Airlift– US instituted massive airlifts to get supplies
into West Berlin
• Soviets lifted blockade (it failed)
NATO formed• North Atlantic Treaty Organization
formed in 1949– Anti-communist alliance
• Collective security in Europe, US, Canada
• Radio-free Europe & Voice of America– Radio messages sent to countries behind the
Iron Curtain (pro-Democracy)