The Cold War

US – Soviet Rivalry Before WWII

• US troops in Russia during the Civil War

• US did not recognize the USSR until 1933

• Stalin excluded at the Munich Conference

• The Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact of 1939

World War II• The Atlantic Charter (1941)

– UK, USA

• The Grand Alliance (1941)– UK, USA, USSR

• European powers defeated; two superpowers remain; bipolar world emerges

• Communists played a key role in defeating the Axis in many parts of Europe & Asia

Goals for Post WWIIUSA• Freedom and democracy• Access to trade

Soviet Union• Security• Recovery from the war

Wartime Conferences: Tehran, Yalta, Potsdam

The Tehran ConferenceNovember 1943

• Stalin, Roosevelt, Churchill; A.K.A “The Big Three”

• Roosevelt agreed to D-Day plan

• Germany must surrender unconditionally, but no agreement on its future

• USSR to keep Polish territory seized in 1939, give German territory to Poland

• USSR to keep territory seized in Eastern Europe in 1939-1940 (Baltic States & parts of Finland & Romania)

• Agreement to create the United Nations

The Yalta ConferenceFebruary, 1945

• Again the “Big Three”

• Germany to be temporarily divided into 4 occupation zones & pay reparations

• Poland- borders moved west; Soviets agreed to “free elections”

• Soviets agreed to “free elections” in Eastern Europe

• Soviets promise to attack Japan in exchange for territory

• Agreement on the structure of the UN

The Potsdam ConferenceJuly 1945

• Truman, Stalin, Atlee

• No agreement on how to administer Germany

• Truman protested Soviet policies in Poland & Eastern Europe, but there was little he could do

• Wartime alliance broken

Poland• 1944- Soviet troops refused to support the

Warsaw uprising

• London Poles- Polish government in exile

• Lublin Poles- Pro-Soviet leaders

• At Yalta, Allies agreed to a more “inclusive” government in Poland

• Before the 1947 elections, Soviets arrested thousands, disqualified candidates, removed and intimidated voters

• Communists won control of the government

Bolesław Bierut

Iran• Strategically important due to oil supply & its

location

• Joint occupation by US, UK, & USSR during WWII; agreed to full withdraw within 6 months after the war

• Jan. 1946, Russian withdraw stalled

• Communist uprising in northern Iran

• Truman took a firm stance; “iron fist”

• 1st crisis dealt with by the UN (March 1946)

• Soviets withdrew forces, and Iran put down the uprising

The Long Telegram• George Kennan (Feb. 1946)

• Soviets feel insecure, and will therefore pursue expansionist policies, and hostilities toward the West

• Soviets will not respond to diplomacy, but they will respond to force

• Very influential to Truman’s stance against the Soviets, and to future US Cold War policy

The Iron Curtain Speech• Winston Churchill (March 1946)

• 1st major public announcement of the Cold War

• Soviets betrayed the Yalta agreements

• US & allies should control Europe

• Soviets reacted strongly– Withdraw from IMF– Anti-Western propaganda– 5-year plan focused on strengthening

The Truman Doctrine• Communist uprisings in Greece and

Turkey after WWII

• By early 1947 Britain could no longer afford to maintain troops in Greece & Turkey

• March 1947- Truman testified before Congress; (Republican controlled congress sought to decrease spending)

• 1st official public announcement of the Cold War by the US

The Truman Doctrine (cont.)• Congress approved $400 million to help

Greece & Turkey

• The Truman Doctrine- the US has an obligation to “support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or outside pressures”

• US will no longer pursue isolationist policies

• Policy of containment

• Public opinion will support actions seen as responses to the Soviet threat

Russian Cartoon, 1947

The Russian newspaper Izvestia, March 1947   This ‘American duty’ is just a smokescreen for a plan of expansion ... They try to take control of Greece by shouting about ‘totalitarianism’.

The Marshall Plan• Secretary of State George C. Marshall (1947)

• Massive US aid to European countries recovering from WWII

• The US believes that economic stability will prevent communism; stable European economies will also benefit the US

• Not passed by Congress until March 1948; after the coup in Czechoslovakia

– The European Recovery Program (ERC) gave $12.5 billion over 3 years

• “Two halves of the same walnut”– Truman referring to the Truman Doctrine & the

Marshall Plan

Soviet Responses• “Dollar imperialism!”

• The Cominform

• The Molotov Plan

• The Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON)– Soviet aided economic development in

Eastern European countries

Czechoslovakia• Many Czech leaders were pro-American, and

had expressed interest in receiving aid from the Marshall Plan

• Feb. 1948- Stalin pressured non-communist leaders to resign, & threatened armed intervention

• Foreign Minister Jan Masaryk was killed

• Truman called it a “coup”

• Congress passed the Marshall Plan

By the end of 1948, the Soviets had set up “satellite” states in eastern Europe that were economically & militarily under their control. The US saw this as a direct violation of the Yalta agreements.

Germany• De-Nazification

• The Nuremberg Trials (1946)– Nazi leader tried for “crimes against

humanity”

• Germany- key strategic position; strong economic potential

Germany (cont.)

• Yalta & Potsdam- Created 4 occupation zones for Germany & Berlin

• Potsdam- Soviets to get reparations from their zone plus 25% from Western zones

• Refugees flooded in from eastern Europe

• London Conference of Ministers (1947)– Western powers & Soviets fail to agree on terms

of German reunification

The Berlin Crisis • By 1948, US, UK, & France had merged

their occupation zones, and were planning a new government

• June 1948- In response to the introduction of a new currency in West Berlin, Stalin began a blockade

• US & Britain respond w/ the Berlin airlift

• US sent B-29 bombers to England

• May 1949- Soviets lifted the blockade

Division of Germany• Sept. 1949- The Federal Republic of

Germany (FRG) was created in West Germany

• The German Democratic Republic (GDR) was created in East Germany

• Berlin remained divided

NATO• April 1949- US led military alliance against the Soviets

• US military presence in Europe

• 1st peacetime US alliance

• Soviet Response– Warsaw Pact (1955)

Yugoslavia• 1945- Marshall Tito (Josip Broz) led the

liberation from the Nazis, as was elected leader

• Tito established a communist government, but refused to be closely tied to the USSR

• 1948- expelled from the Cominform

• Received economic & military aid from the US

• US fleet in the Adriatic deterred Stalin

• Stalin purged “Titoists” from eastern Europe

USSR gets the Bomb• Aug. 1949- US no longer had a

monopoly on the atomic bomb

• US increased NATO funding

• Race to develop the hydrogen bomb, and build nuclear stockpiles

• Coincided with Mao’s victory in China

McCarthyism• Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy

• 1950- Alleged communist conspiracy in the US; influenced by Mao’s victory & the USSR getting the bomb

• House Committee on Un-American Activity

• “Red Scare” influenced public opinion

• Truman called for review of foreign policy; unable to recognize the PRC

NSC-68• April 1950- Top secret report

• Supported by Sec. of State Dean Acheson

• Linked all communist movements to Moscow & warned of Soviet “hostile designs”

• Encouraged massive military build up as a deterrence & aid to countries resisting communism

• Very influential on US policy; also influenced by McCarthy & Korea

• US military spending– 1950- 5% of GDP– 1953- 14.2% of GDP