You are on page 1of 6

Beginnings of the Cold War an annotated timeline 1945-1949

There is no single date on which one can claim that the Cold War began. Mistrust, fear and
incomprehension between east and west in Europe can be traced back well before the Russian
Revolution. During the 1920s and 30s communist subversion of left-wing political parties in
the west (and especially in Great Britain) resulted in what might be called an Anglo-Soviet Cold
War in which many elements of the later conflict can be identified. However, the beginning of
the real Cold War, which was to cast a shadow over global politics and conflict for nearly fifty
years, can be found in a series of inter-related post-war events, policy decisions and public
statements by leaders in both the East and the West. Overtly confrontational rhetoric and actions
on both sides can certainly be found as early as 1946. As the conviction grew bilaterally that cooperation was no longer practical or likely to further either sides respective aims, the perceived
advantages of confrontation began to outweigh those of maintaining co-operation.
What kept the conflict from developing into a hot war was broadly twofold: the awareness that
victory in such a conflict would be enormously costly and could not be assured by either side.
On the western side the role of public opinion was decisive. There was no public enthusiasm and
little willingness to support another war which might equal or surpass the destruction and loss of
life of the Second World War. Despite the efforts of extreme anti-communists in the West to
promote public alarm over the communist threat, most people remained unconvinced that
Stalins Soviet Union represented a threat comparable to that of Hitlers Third Reich.
1945
February: the Yalta Conference affirmed the continued capacity of the Grand Alliance to
maintain an effective level of co-operation in achieving an unconditional German surrender
despite mistrust on both sides: the West was worried about the future of Eastern Europe and the
East continued to suspect its allies of duplicity in its treatment of Germany (were western leaders
really so different from the Nazis? Not according to Stalins Marxist-Leninist perspective).
May: Truman abruptly ended the Lend-Lease Program and makes public criticism of Soviet
policy in Poland (NB: the termination of lend-lease was not directly aimed at the Soviet Union
Britains programme was also terminated - but the move may have been interpreted by Stalin
as unfriendly).
June: At a meeting of German communists Stalin publicly predicted that there would be two
Germanies.
However, the Soviet Union appeared willing to allow democratic process in its German zone of
occupation, at least in principle (embracing the principle of the united front: attempts to cooperate with other left-of-centre political parties); France was the most actively obstructive
power in efforts to develop a plan for a post-war united Germany. However, Soviet officials

(apparatchiks) administering occupation zones were often guided by a harsher Marxist-Leninist


perspective than Stalins overtly conciliatory approach.
July-August: the Potsdam Conference already reflected heightened tensions as the staunch anticommunist Truman, equipped with nuclear weapons, replaced FDR. The activities of the Red
Army in liberated and occupied territories (notably Poland) confirmed western suspicions that
Stalin was not serious about his official commitment to the Declaration for a United Europe
made jointly at Yalta.
September: The first Council of Foreign Ministers met for the first time (in London) and
clashed over the terms of peace treaties with Italy and nations in East Europe previously allied
to Germany (notably, the Soviet Union wanted a harsh treaty for Italy).
US Secretary of State James Byrnes negotiated a compromise in Moscow allowing the treaties to
be negotiated independently. Both East and West were careful to avoid any confrontation which
might interfere with the process in their own sphere of interest (i.e., the West in Italy, the East in
Bulgaria, Finland, Hungary and Romania). Both sides made concessions to ensure the successful
completion of the treaties.
Western leaders began to plan for a divided Germany as they became convinced by Soviet
political activities that the Soviet zone was embarked on its own course. Konrad Adenauer, the
first chancellor of the German Federal Republic (founded in 1949) was convinced of this.
In a joint declaration on 15 November, the US presidents along with UK and Canadian prime
ministers called for the complete outlawing of nuclear weapons and their development. This was
to become, with modifications, the Baruch Plan which in 1946 failed to gain the support of the
Soviet Union over concerns that the UN regulatory body delegated to ensure compliance would
be dominated by the USA and its allies.
1946
February: Following liquidations and imprisonment of Social Democrats suspected of being anticommunist in the Soviet occupation zone (up to 20,000 according to D. Williamson), the Central
Executive of the party voted to join the Communist Party in a Socialist Unity Party. However, a
referendum of Social Democratic members in Berlin (suppressed in the Soviet sector) voted
overwhelmingly to reject the merger (82% against).
George Kennan, an official at the US embassy in Moscow and expert on Soviet affairs, sends his
Long Telegram which was hugely influential in directing US strategic thinking towards a
policy of containment.
Stalins election speech revived an analysis of capitalist nations which was common in Soviet
rhetoric before the Grand Alliance of World War Two. Stalin reminds his audience that
according to Marxist-Leninist ideology capitalist societies are characterized by successive crises

and catastrophes resulting from imperial competition and economic inequality. It was just such
a crisis, he claims, which caused the Second World War.
March: Churchill delivered his Iron Curtain speech in Fulton Missouri, highlighting the great
extent to which Europe was already divided into two hostile camps.
Stalin responded to Churchills speech in an interview for Pravda in which he draws parallels
between Churchills views and those of Hitler.
Spring: The agreement over reparations made at Potsdam came under pressure as concerns grew
in the British sector that its large population augmented by a large number of refugees and
displaced persons from the east could not be fed unless the sector underwent a rapid
economic recovery. Consequently, occupation authorities delayed shipments of machinery and
raw materials (notably coal) to the Soviet sector in hopes of pressuring the Soviets into accepting
an agreement over German economic unity.
The Soviets saw this as an attempt to impose a capitalist system in Germany under US
domination.
June: The Soviets took control of 213 German industries and sent their output back to the Soviet
Union.
July: At the second Conference of Foreign Ministers (Paris) the Soviets demanded a cash
payment of $10 billion in reparations from Germany. The US argued that this was only possible
once Germany had recovered economically and Byrnes argued again for German unity as the
only way to achieve this.
Only Great Britain accepted the US offer to unite zones economically and plans began for their
merger in Bizonia.
1947
January: Bizonia was officially launched amid hopes that it would become so prosperous as an
economic magnet that French and Soviet zones would be drawn into its orbit. In an attempt to
reassure the Soviets that Bizonia did not represent a nascent German state, different departments
were located in different cities (i.e., no capital city).
Election in Poland results in overwhelming support for the Communist Party, although there is
extensive evidence of voting fraud and coercion.
February: Great Britain informed the U.S. that after March 31 it would be unable to maintain its
economic and military commitment to aid Greece and Turkey against communist insurrection.
The civil war in Greece had resumed with support from Tito for the communist rebels.

March: Truman addresses Congress to request substantial aid for both Greece and Turkey. The
arguments laid out in his speech came to be known as the Truman Doctrine.
March-April: The third Conference of Foreign Ministers met in Moscow where the Soviet
minister (Molotov) attempted to force the issue of a unified Germany in hopes of destroying
Bizonia. Ernest Bevin, the British minister devised a counter-proposal which was intended to be
unacceptable to the Soviets. When it was duly rejected, plans went ahead to build up Bizonia.
Called a successful failure, it marked the de facto acceptance on both sides of the status quo: a
divided Germany was certain.
June: U.S. Secretary of State George C. Marshall launched his proposal for the economic
reconstruction of Europe through a programme of US grants and loans intended to establish
Europe as a successful trading partner and as protection against the further spread of
communism.
July: Meetings began in Paris between the US and sixteen European states interested in
participating in Marshalls European Recovery Program (ERP). Molotov was sent by Stalin
to participate in the discussions but when it became clear that western nations would insist on
joint control of how funds were spent, he departed. Bevin noted that his departure marked the
formation of a western bloc.
The US pressed for a measure of economic integration amongst recipient nations in hopes of
establishing a United States of Europe (an idea first proposed by Churchill in 1943), which
would become an effective counter against Soviet expansionism.
September: In response to events in Paris, the USSR invited communist party leaders from
across Europe to a meeting in Poland, where the Communist Information Bureau
(Cominform) was founded as a means of co-ordinating party tactics across Europe under
Stalins leadership. This marked the official end of Stalins attempts to negotiate with his
erstwhile western allies over the economic and political future of Europe and of the united front
strategy which he initiated in 1936.
December: the fourth Council of Foreign Ministers (London) collapsed in bitter recriminations
by the Soviets concerning failures to honour the terms of the Potsdam agreement over
reparations. Western ministers rejected a proposal by the Soviets for the formation of a united
German government because it was likely to be subject to undue influence from Moscow.
According to D. Williamson, at this point all hope of four power co-operation now disappeared.
A useful line of counterargument might be that any realistic hope of such co-operation had
already died several months earlier (as outlined above).
1948

February: A communist coup toppled the elected government in Czechoslovakia. The founding
of a single-party state there came as an especial shock to many in the west since Czechoslovakia
was, of all the East European nations, the one which was regarded most western in its history,
culture and traditions. This development appeared to confirm fears of the Soviet Unions
expansionist intentions and thereby added weight to the arguments of anti-communist politicians
in the west to oppose the Soviet Union in any way possible short of a declaration of war. By the
end of 1948 Most of the elements which define the Cold War were in place.
March: The Brussels Pact established a mutual defence agreement among western European
nations. Claims were made that it was a measure to protect the region from a resurgent
Germany, but the real intention was to develop a western alliance in Europe against any future
Soviet aggression. Secret talks began toward formulating the North Atlantic Treaty.
In Berlin the Soviets introduced tighter controls over the passage of traffic in and out of the
western sectors.
The SED under Walter Ulbricht established a German Peoples Council (Volksrat) which
included delegates from the western sectors in a bid to draft a constitution for a united Germany.
This was to become the constitutional basis for the DDR.
The first installment of Marshall Aid (5 billion dollars) was approved by the US Congress. US
efforts to promote an international supervisory body to oversee distribution were frustrated
notably by Great Britain which rejected the principle of any supranational economic control.
Thus US efforts to create a United States of Europe in the American image came to nothing.
June: West German politicians were authorized by the occupying powers to begin drafting a
constitution and two weeks later the Deutschmark was introduced. Four days after that the
Soviets introduced the Ostmark.
In response, on the night of the 23rd-24th, all road and rail links (and electricity supplies) into
West Berlin were cut. The west was slow to respond, although Bevin urged forceful action,
proposing an airlift as a means to avoid direct confrontation with Soviet troops.
Yugoslavia was expelled from Cominform due to Titos refusal to accept Soviet leadership and
attmpts to forge a south-eastern European federation under his own leadership.
September: efforts to resolve the crisis through mutual agreements failed, with the Soviets
gambling that the airlift could not be sustained through the winter.
1949
January: the mild winter and dramatic success in maintaining the airlift led Stalin to propose
lifting the blockade in return for talks on the future of Germany and Berlin.

April: The North Atlantic Treaty was signed on the fourth and came into effect on 24 August:
intended as a defensive alliance against the eastern bloc, but also to reassure French concerns
over a resu8rgent Germany.
May: the blockade was lifted and a Council of Foreign Ministers meeting was convened which
achieved little beyond normalizing the status quo in Berlin.
August: elections were held for a new German parliament (Bundestag); however, a High
Commission of occupying powers continued to have final say on matters of foreign policy,
security, exports.
The first Soviet fission nuclear weapon (Perviya molniya or Joe 1) was detonated on the 29th.
September: Konrad Adenhauer became the first West German (FRG) chancellor.
October: the Soviet occupation of Germany formally ended with the establishment of the GDR
although, as in the west, a strong military presence was maintained.
The Peoples Republic of China was proclaimed; in December Chiang Kai-Shek established a
rival Chinese National government in Taiwan.
Revision Activities:
-

Watch CNN documentaries 1-4.


Re-read relevant sections of textbook (Alan Todd).
Learn Dr Kess Windlands timeline of the Beginnings of the Cold War.
Read Gaddis Cold War Empires: Europe. Consider the following
questions:
To what extent did the Origins of the Cold War represent a continuity of
imperial tendencies?
Does Gaddis align with an orthodox, revisionist or post-Cold War
perspective on the origins of the Cold War? (Return to Alan Todd for
summaries of historiography).
Complete a response to the following Past Paper question:
Mutual fears and the search for security were the reasons for the
breakdown of EastWest relations between 1945 and 1949. With
specific reference to developments in this period, to what extent do
you agree with this statement?

You might also like