The Cold War (1943 -56)

Definition of cold war - A state of political hostility between countries characterized by threats, propaganda, and other measures short of open warfare, in particular the state of political hostility that existed between the Soviet bloc countries and the US-led Western powers from 1945 to 1990 During the Second World War the USA and USSR had a common enemy Nazi Germany. They were united with France and Britain, but after the war was won there was strong hostility between USA and USSR. This led to the Cold War. USSR worries about the west

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Russia had been invaded in World War 1 (1914) the Civil War (1918) and during World War 2 (1941) they didn t want it to happen again. Stalin felt that the west didn t appreciate the Soviets sacrifice in WW2 and that they wanted communism destroyed

USA worries about communism

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USA thought that USSR wanted to encourage communist revolutions. The spread of communism was a dangerous threat to capitalist governments and economies USA ended isolationism (which they felt helped Hitler rise) and wanted to prevent dangerous dictatorships being created again

Why did the cold war occur?

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Stalin believed that the west wanted to destroy communism The west believed Stalin was encouraging communist revolutions and was determined to take over Stalin believed that Britain and the USA delayed a second front in WW2 so the soviets would suffer greater casualties, and be left too weak to threaten the west after the war The size of the USSR made it a rival to the USA USSR communist USA capitalist The USA didn t tell the USSR they d developed an atomic bomb Only united when they had a common enemy Hitler

Tehran, Yalta and Potsdam

Tehran (November, 1943) The leaders of the Big Three (Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin) met to plan the reconstruction of Europe following WW2. They agreed on the following:-

y Eastern Europe would be a Soviet sphere of influence y Western Europe would be a British and US/Capitalist sphere of influence They didn t agree on the future of Germany though.
Yalta (February, 1945) Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin met to discuss Europe s future. They agreed that:-

The United Nations should be established

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The countries liberated from Germany should be allowed to hold free elections to choose the government that they wanted Poland was allowed to establish a communist government Soviet troops would help USA to defeat Japan

They couldn t agree on the borders of Poland Stalin wanted the border of the USSR to move into Poland Potsdam (July, 1945) At the Potsdam conference, a number of changes had happened which affected the relationships of the leaders 1. 2. 3. Stalin s armies were occupying most of Eastern Europe. They controlled; the Baltic states, Finland, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania Roosevelt had died. His successor was Harry Truman and Truman was much more anti-communist Truman told Stalin that they had tested an atomic bomb at the start of the conference.

At the conference the Big Three disagreed on reparations. The USSR wanted to impose heavy reparations much like France wanted after WW1, but America wanted Germany to be rebuilt to ensure that another dictatorship was avoided. But they did agree to:-

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Ban the Nazi party and prosecute war criminals Divide Germany into 4 zones American, French, British and Soviet. The capital was also split the same way since it fell deeply into the Soviet zone.

The development of the cold war

Satellite states A satellite state is one that is officially independent but in reality is run by another country. Between 1947 and 1949 the USSR s influence extended over East Europe turning Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Poland into satellite states. Stalin believed that Americans were trying to buy influence over Europe with their Marshall Aid. Any country that accepted would immediately become an American Ally. To prevent this, Stalin created satellite states to extend his control over these countries. Fear of war and suspicion In 1946, it was clear that Europe had been divided into the capitalist west and communist east. Churchill described Stalin s takeover by saying he created an iron curtain over the continent. Stalin said that Churchill and Truman were warmongers. The allies now viewed each other with great suspicion which was a huge part of the war. Truman and Stalin both asked for secret telegram reports from their embassies to help them understand what was happening. Truman received worrying news in the Long Telegram a secret report from his ambassador in Moscow. It said that Stalin had given a speech calling for the end of Capitalism and there would be no peace with the USSR while it was opposed to capitalism, and the USSR was building military power. Novikov The Soviet ambassador to America sent a telegram to Stalin reporting that America wanted to dominate the world and that America wasn t prepared to co-operate with USSR after Roosevelt s death. It also stated that the American public were being prepared for war with USSR. American s viewed Stalin as the new Hitler and the USSR thought war was inevitable.

The Truman Doctrine and Marshall Aid The Truman Doctrine (1947) At the beginning of 1947, Truman made a speech, declaring that America needed to make a stand against communism. This could be seen as the unofficial declaration to the Cold War. It stated the following: The world had a choice between communist tyranny and democratic freedom. America had a responsibility to fight for liberty, wherever it was threatened. America would send troops and economic resources to help those threatened by communists. Communism should not be allowed to grow. The doctrine was significant as it suggested that the USA being a superpower, had the responsibility to protect the world and it showed an end to the isolationism in USA. It announced that capitalism and communism would not co-operate and were in opposition, it divided the world by politics and ideologies. It committed the USA to a policy of containment America wouldn t invade the USSR but it would stop the spread of communism. The Marshall Plan (1947) Containment and the Marshall plan were two halves of the same walnut according to Truman. It was a dual strategy for dealing with communism. Containment aimed to beat the spread of communism using military force and the Marshall Plan committed $13 billion to rebuilding shattered economies in Europe. By encouraging growth and prosperity, the Marshall Plan aimed to weaken the attraction of communism to those suffering economically. The idea of sharing wealth under communism would be appealing for poorer countries, but would be less appealing if they were wealthy. In order to qualify the countries had to agree to trade freely with America, this way it sustained the American economy. At the Paris Conference (1948) many countries were tempted to accept the offer but representatives from USSR walked out, claiming that America was splitting Europe into two camps . They said that Marshall Aid would create a military allegiance to attack the Soviet Union so Stalin insisted that those in the Soviet sphere of influence refuse the help offered. But 16 countries including Britain and France accepted the offer. USSR s retaliation Full Name Date Established Aims Cominform Comecon The Communist Information Bureau The Council for Mutual Economic Assistance 1947 1949 It represented communist parties To provide a communist alternative across Europe and brought them to the American Marshall aid. It together under the USSR meant that America would have It ensured loyalty of Eastern minimal influence in the USSR and European governments by Eastern Europe. investigating government ministers It ensured that benefits from and employees and removing those economic recovery remained in the who weren t loyal to Stalin Soviet sphere of influence Also, Eastern Europe could not access the prosperity of Western Europe All communist nations refused Minimised American influence Marshall Aid. Western Europe s wealth was not Demonstrations and strikes available to East Europe and America happened throughout Western There was no trade outside the Europe Soviet sphere of influence Stalin violently got rid of opposition 5% of Hungary s population was in prison

Effects

Germany

There were 4 key issues with the future of Germany 1. 2. 3. 4. Should a reunited Germany be part of the Soviet sphere of influence or the American sphere of influence or should it be neutral? Should it have a communist or capitalist government? Should a reunited Germany receive Marshall Aid? Should troops from America and the USSR be allowed to remain in a united Germany?

Bizonia By 1947 the British and American zones were essentially operating as one and became known as Bizonia. The relationship between Bizonia and the French zone was very good and all three zones were referred to as Trizonia. The future of Germany was still unknown, and the Western allies began to develop a policy for western Germany in 1948, that was at odds with the USSR s plans. Firstly, Britain, France and the USA agreed to set up a German assembly to create a German constitution. They introduced a new currency the Deutschmark, which became the official currency of Trizonia. Stalin wasn t consulted about these changes and believed they were steps to creating a permanently divided Germany, he opposed this for the following reasons:-

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He was reluctant to allow America to have further influence over Germany He did not want American troops to remain stationed in Germany He realised that Germany s most valuable economic resources were in the west and feared that they would be used to wage war on the USSR.

It was in this context that the Berlin Blockade took place. The Berlin Blockade (1948-1949) Stalin set up a military blockade in June 1948, by preventing transport via roads and trains to the allied parts of Berlin, in the hope to stop a separate state being formed in Western Germany. He wanted to take the capital from Western Germany, so the new government in Berlin couldn t control Soviet territory. Stalin wanted this to prove that a divided Germany wouldn t work. Truman responded with the Berlin airlift . The allies flew supplies into West Berlin around the clock. At first America had 70 large cargo planes airlifting around 600 to 700 tonnes of supplies every day. It soon increased to 1000 tonnes. The British also transported around 170, 000 tonnes during January 1949. It prevented the blockade from succeeding and Truman s peaceful approach made Stalin appear highly aggressive. It was a propaganda success for America and a total failure for the USSR. In May 1949 the blockade ended and West Germany (Federal Republic of Germany, FDR) became an independent state. As did East Germany, and one month later it was the German Democratic Republic (GDR). NATO The Berlin Blockade was the first military confrontation of the Cold War. It r aised the possibility of a war in Europe. As a result Western Europe nations tried to establish an alliance in order to keep the USA in and the USSR out . In April 1949 NATO (the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) was established as an alliance between America and many of the countries in Western Europe. It was a military alliance with the specific aim of defending the west against communism. NATO members agreed that if any NATO country came under attack, all members of NATO would come to their defence. In 1955 the USSR created the Warsaw Pact, a military alliance of Eastern Europe which essentially mirrored NATO.

The arms race

The arms race was an important feature of the Cold War. It included both continuing commitment to maintaining a large army, navy and air force, and the development of deadly nuclear weapons. In 1945 the USA became the first country to develop and use a nuclear bomb; by 1949 the USSR had developed and tested its own. This then prompted America to produce hydrogen bombs a second generation of more powerful nuclear weapons. By 1953 both countries had hydrogen bombs and during the 50 s and 60 s both countries competed to create large numbers of nuclear weapons. The arms race arguably prevented war in Europe. The USSR had 3 million troops and could easily capture Western Germany but Soviet leaders feared a nuclear retaliation from America. Soviet leaders paid close attention to the bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima and understand the destructive power of the new weapons.

Hungary under the Soviet rule

Hungary under Stalin Stalin claimed that Soviet troops had liberated Hungary from the Nazi s. In 1949 however, Cominform imposed an oppressive regime on Hungary.

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Hungarian land was redistributed to other Eastern European countries Hungarian coal, oil and wheat were shipped to Russia while Hungarian citizens were deprived of food Non-communist political parties were abolished Russian officials controlled the government, the police and the army Cominform began a reign of terror, executing popular political leaders and their supporters Matyas Rakosi was appointed as Hungary s dictator

Rakosi (1949-1956) He described himself as Stalin s best pupil but the people of Hungary nicknamed him the bald butcher . He developed salami tactics for dealing with opposition, which meant he got rid of his opposition by diving it bit by bit. His oppressive regime imprisoned 387,000 and was responsible for over 2,000 deaths. De-Stalinisation Stalin died in 1953 which was a turning point in the cold war. Stalin s style of government Stalinism was extraordinarily oppressive. He was responsible for the deaths of approximately 20 million people. Russia s new leader Khrushchev opened a door to a more liberal approach to governing the USSR and Eastern Europe. In 1956 he gave a secret speech which did not stay very secret and promised the end of Stalinism throughout the Soviet sphere of influence . Nagy s programme of reform Hungary s people were clearly dissatisfied with Soviet rule. Following Khrushchev s secret speech students rioted and attacked Soviet troops with petrol bombs and grenades. It was illegal to demonstrate in Hungary but enormous demonstrations took place in Budapest. These soon became violent. The police lost control of the situation and similar protests started in Hungary s major cities. In response Khrushchev agreed to the appointment of a more liberal leader, Imre Nagy. Nagy proposed the following; Hungary should leave the Warsaw Pact and become neutral, communist government in Hungary should end, Hungary should have free elections as such in a western style democracy and Hungary should ask the UN for protection from Russia.

Khrushchev s response to Nagy

Nagy s reforms ended Hungary s alliance with the USSR. Khrushchev believed that the reforms were unacceptable and that if Hungary was allowed to leave the Warsaw Pact, other Eastern European countries would follow. Secret reports from other countries supported this view and showed that allowing freedom for these discontented countries would result in the end of the Soviet s dominance. Khrushchev responded with a great show of force. In November 1956 200,000 Soviet troops went into Hungary to crush the new regime. After 2 weeks of fighting, in which 20, 000 Hungarians were killed and another 200,000 escaped to Austria, Khrushchev defeated Nagy s government. Nagy s trial and execution Nagy sought protection in the Yugoslavian Embassy. The Yugoslavian ambassador agreed with Khrushchev that Nagy was free to leave Hungary. However, as soon as Nagy left the embassy, he was arrested by Soviet troops. Nagy was accused of treason and in a trial overseen by Khrushchev, he was found guilty. He was hanged in June 1958. Khrushchev declared it to be a lesson to all socialist countries The international reaction The USA encouraged the Hungarian uprising, but never offered military support. The American government believe it was of higher priority to prevent possible nuclear warfare. Ameri ca offered $20 million worth of food and medical aid to Nagy s government and President Eisenhower encouraged Hungarians to keep fighting. The UN condemned the Soviet s actions but did nothing else. America s failure to stop Khrushchev and help the Hungarians proved that it did not extend military support in order to prevent the spread of communism. Other radicals were deterred from standing against the Soviet regime because of what happened in Hungary. Reasserting Soviet control Khrushchev then went on to appoint Janos Kadar as the new Hungarian leader. Kadar had no real power initially as Hungary was controlled by the USSR s army. However Kadar published a 15-point programme setting out the new government s direction. It included:-

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Re-establishing communist control of Hungary Using Hungarian troops to stop attacks on the Soviet forces Remaining in the Warsaw Pact Negotiating the withdrawal of Soviet troops once the crisis was over

The Hungarians soon accepted Kadar s government. America s failure to support Nagy left them with no choice.