History Notes on Cold War

CHAPTER 1:
WHAT WAS THE COLD WAR

* Periods of hostility and high tension between two great post-war superpowers, the United States and the USSR in the period of 1945 – 1989 * An ideological conflict * A conventional and nuclear arms race * Wars fought on proxy on the battlefields on Asia, Africa and Latin America * Economic rivalry * Development of huge espionage networks * Harry S Truman: “the war of nerves”

COMMUNISM VS. CAPITALISM THE WEST | THE USSR | Economic differences * Individuals should be able to compete with each other with a minimum of state interference * Individuals are thus encouraged to work hard by the promise of individual reward | Economic differences * Capitalism creates divisions between rich and poor * All business and farms owned by the state * Equal distribution of goods to individuals * Everybody works for the collective good | Political difference * Government is chosen through voting * Political diversity is permissible * Freedom of speech * Freedom of press * “Liberal democracy” | Political differences * Political diversity not needed * Communist Party is representative of ALL workers and rules on behalf of its’ people * Individual rights not necessary * One-party state |

The mutual suspicion and increasing hostility between the US and the USSR had already manifested itself in various ways: * Intervention of the West in the Russian Civil War (1918-1922) * The USSR did not receive diplomatic recognition and was not invited to join the League of Nations until the 1930s * Appeasement of Hitler and the Nazis in 1930s by the West * Non-Aggression Pact (1939) between the USSR and Nazi Germany

IDEALISM AND SELF-INTEREST
The United States practiced the idealism of Presidents Woodrow Wilson and Franklin D. Roosevelt * Peace, freedom, justice and plenty * A better world cased on collective security, political self-determination and economic integration * Achieved by democracy, capitalism and international cooperation
The USSR practiced Marxist idealism and Stalinism * Struggle for a better world based on international socialism * Peace, freedom, justice and plenty * Achieved by Soviet-style capitalism

USA | THE USSR | What ideals underpinned the view of each country? | * Idealism of Wilson and Roosevelt * Peace, freedom, justice and plenty * A better world cased on collective security, political self-determination and economic integration | * Marxist idealism and Stalinism * Struggle for a better world based on international socialism * Peace, freedom, justice and plenty | How was this to be achieved by each country? | * Achieved by democracy, capitalism and international cooperation | * Achieved by spreading Soviet-style Communism | What elements of self-interest lay behind each country’s ideals? | * Need to establish markets and free trade * Avoiding of another economic crisis * Truman: “What’s good for America is good for the world” | * Need to secure borders * Post-WWII recovery period * “Nursery of Communism” * Stalin: “What’s good for the USSR is good for workers of the world” |

SIGNIFICANCE OF STALINISM * Dominance of Stalin over party; dominance of party over state institutions * Collectivization of all farms * Five Year Plans * Powerful state security machine * Maintenance of power by elimination of opposition * Great Terror * Purges of political opponents * Development of regime associated with paranoia and violence * Mass executions * Establishment of gulags

WHY DID THE USA AND THE USSR EMERGE AS SUPERPOWERS AFTER 1945? * Military reasons * USA had become the number one air-force power and land-force power in the world * Balance of power had shifted Britain and France were now “second rank” powers due to their inability to defeat Germany * Economic reasons * American economy strengthened by WWII out-produce all the other powers put together * USA committed to open and liberal trade in order to avoid re-emergence of disastrous pre-war pattern of trade-blocs and tariffs * USA possessed economic strength to prevent European instability * American support crucial for newly created Eastern European countries * Political reasons * Ideals of democracy and international collaboration triumphed over fascism indicated USA’s political structure was right for the future * Communism had gained respect throughout Europe * Stalin claimed great influence due to the USSR’s instrumental role in Germany’s defeat * USSR possessed political strength to prevent instability in Eastern Europe * Communism could fill political vacuum

COLD WAR TIMELINE
1945 – 1949: Origins of Cold War: Division of Europe
1949 – 1952: Shift to Asia & beyond: NSC – 68 & Korean War
1952 – 1957: The Thaw: New Leaders & New Ideas – Sino-Soviet Split
1957 – 1964: Crisis & Nuclear Confrontation – U-2, Berlin, Cuba
1964 – 1979: Détente: New relationships and Sino-U.S rapprochement
1979 – 1985: Second Cold War
1985 – 1989: Glasnost & Perestroika: Collapse of USSR
1989: End of Cold War

CHAPTER 2:
STEPS TO THE POLITICAL, ECONOMIC AND MILITARY DIVISION OF EUROPE: PART I

THE BREAKDOWN OF THE GRAND ALLIANCE * Stalin demanded that apart from sending aid to the USSR, Britain and the US should also open a “second front” in Europe to relieve USSR pressure * The Allies agreed in principle but insisted that they had to wait until the time was right * Stalin grew suspicious and thought that the Allies were deliberately delaying this offensive in hopes of seeing the permanent weakening of the USSR by the German invasion

STEP ONE: THE WARTIME CONFERENCES
There were three historic conferences between the Allies after WWII, in which they key issues discussed at the conferences fell under the following categories: * State of the war * Status of Germany, Poland, Eastern Europe and Japan * United Nations

THE TEHRAN CONFERENCE (Held at Tehran, Iran in November 1943) * Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill Big Three * State of the war * Allies beginning to win war * Soviets pushing Germans into retreat on Eastern front * Americans and British had driven Germans from North Africa and had invaded Italy * Stalin proposed opening of new front in Europe to alleviate Soviet pressure * Discussion of war against Japan in the Pacific * Germany * No agreement on the future of defeated Germany * Lesson learnt from failure of Treaty of Versailles * Unconditional surrender of Germany set as objective * Operation Overlord set as priority by Roosevelt * Poland * Stalin wanted to secure western border by securing territory from Poland * Stalin wanted Poland to have a pro-Soviet government * Possible puppet regime * USSR keeps territory seized from Poland in 1939; Poland would be given territory on its western border from Germany * Ensured future hostility between Germany and Poland * No truly independent Poland could agree to this * Tension between Poles and Soviet escalated following discovery of mass grave of 10,000 Polish soldiers in the Katyn Forest

* Eastern Europe * Stalin demanded rights to keep territory seized between 1939 and 1940, which was reluctantly agreed to * Baltic States * Parts of Finland and Romania * This was against the 1941 “Atlantic Charter” agreement between US and UK * Japan * US and UK pressurized the USSR to enter the war with Japan and open up a second front in Asia * Stalin was not convinced as he was already occupied with the war effort against Germany * United Nations * US keen to establish replacement for League of Nations * UK and USSR approved of the idea of a new international organization * Settle international disputes through collective security * Learn from mistakes made in structure of League of Nations * CONCLUSION * Agreement on an international organization * Agreement on the need for a weak post-war Germany Roosevelt: “I got along fine with Marshal Stalin…I believe that we are going to get along very well with him and the Russian people.” * Wanted to play role of mediator * Believed that the more imminent problem for post-war stability was British imperialism

THE YALTA CONFERENCE (Held at Black Sea in Southern Ukraine in February 1945) * Big Three represented by Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill * State of the war * Germany on the verge of defeat * Normandy landings opened up a second front * British and American troops about to cross the Rhine and invade Germany * USA in control of sea and air in the Pacific * Japanese preparing for final defense of their homeland * Germany * Germany would be disarmed, demilitarized, de-Nazified and divided * Germany divided into four zones: USA, USSR, UK and France * Meant to be “temporary” * Allied Control Commission would be established * 20 billion in reparations, of which 50% would go to the USSR

* Poland * Questions over the lines of its borders and political make-up of its post-war government were discussed * Border between Poland and USSR Curzon Line * Frontier restored to that before the Russo-Polish War of 1921 * Poles gained territory from Germany east of the Oder-Neisse Line * Stalin agreed to the establishment of a more democratic government in Poland * Britain supported the London Poles * Stalin supported the Communist-dominated Lublin Committee in Poland * Eastern Europe * Stalin agreed that countries of Eastern Europe would be able to decide who governed them in “free elections” * Major victory for US and UK * Japan * Stalin promised to enter the war with Japan * Demanded territory from Japan as reward * South Sakhalin and Kurile Islands * United Nations * USSR would join the United Nations * Five permanent members with the power of veto * Stalin demanded that all 16 Soviet Republics should have seats in the UN General Assembly * UK and US only agreed to allow three seats: Russia, Ukraine and Belarus * CONCLUSION * Agreement on United Nations * Soviet agreement to join the war in the Pacific against Japan * Big Three signed a “Declaration for Liberated Europe” pledging support for democratic governments based on free elections in all European countries, including Eastern Europe

CRUCIAL DEVELOPMENTS THAT TOOK PLACE BETWEEN THE YALTA AND POTSDAM CONFERENCES * Roosevelt died in April 1945 and was replaced by Truman * Truman was considerably more hardline and tough towards the USSR * Germany surrendered unconditionally on 7 May 1945 * Churchill’s Conservative Party lost the 1945 UK general election and was replaced by Clement Atlee * USSR Red Army occupied territory as far west as deep Germany * 17 July 1945: US tested the first atomic bomb

THE POTSDAM CONFERENCE (Held at Potsdam, Germany in July 1945) * Big Three represented by Stalin, Truman and Atlee * State of the war * Germany surrendered unconditionally * Americans poised to invade mainland Japan * USA planning to use new atomic weapon * Germany * De-Nazification and demilitarization of Germany will be carried out in the occupying nations’ own ways in their own respective zones of occupation * Germany economy limited to domestic industry and agriculture * USSR to receive 25% of reparation bill from Western zones * Poland * Truman challenged previous decisions over the Oder-Neisse Line * Truman demanded Pole government to be “re-organized” * Stalin’s offer to include more “London” Poles within the “Lublin”-led government did not appease the USA * Eastern Europe * Truman disagreed with the “Percentages Agreement” made bilaterally between Stalin and Churchill in October 1944 * Future fate of Eastern European countries * Japan * Truman notified of success of atomic bomb tests * First atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima on 6 August 1945 * Second atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki on 9 August 1945 * Japan agreed to unconditional surrender * Stalin not told of such tests beforehand * United Nations * Officially created at the Treaty of San Francisco in 1945 * USSR was the only Communist power of the Big 5 * Stalin took advantage of power of veto to block any anti-USSR initiative * CONCLUSION * Agreement for the immediate, practical control of defeated Germany * Establishment of the United Nations

KEY DEVELOPMENTS 1946 – 1947
Salami tactics used by the USSR to secure Communist control in Eastern Europe * Hungarian Communist Leader Rakosi: “…like slicing off salami, piece by piece” * The Soviets supervised the organization of governments in Eastern European states and established a broad alliance of anti-fascists * Each of the parties was “sliced off”, one after the other * The Communist “core” was left and ultimately the local Communists were replaced by Moscow-trained people
Baggage train leaders Adept Communists who had spent much of the war in Moscow and were considered to be trustworthy by the USSR * Bierut (Poland) * Kolarov (Bulgaria) * Pauker (Romania) * Rakosi (Hungary)

Poland was promised “free elections” by Stalin at Yalta, in which they were not held until 19 January 1947. * Mikolaijczyk’s Polish Peasant Party had 246 candidates disqualified; 149 arrested and 18 murdered * Censorship * Intimidation * One million voters taken off electoral register

SOVIET PRESSURE ON IRAN * Soviet troops encouraged a Communist uprising in Iran, in which the Iranian government complained to the British and Americans * Breach of wartime agreements * Stalin believed he had rights to occupy the Black Sea Straits and to Iranian oil * Moscow finally pulled its troops out in March 1946 after a formal protest was made to the UN

INSTABILITY IN GREECE AND TURKEY * Pro-communist rebellions in Greece and Turkey * Churchill dissatisfied with Stalin’s disregard for the “Percentages Agreement”

COMMUNIST PARTIES IN ITALY AND FRANCE * Communist parties grew stronger in Italy and France * Economic deprivations * UK and USA suspicious that such newly popular parties had Moscow backing * Italy and France as possible “weak links” in anti-Communist Western Europe

STEP TWO: KENNAN’S LONG DIAGRAM, FEBRUARY 1946 * In February 1946, George F. Kennan sent a telegram to the U.S State Department regarding the nature of Soviet conduct and foreign policy * USSR viewed the world as one of insecurity * Soviets wanted to advance Muscovite Stalinist ideology * Soviet regime was cruel and repressive * USSR fanatically hostile to the West * Hardened anti-USSR attitudes in the USA
STEP THREE: CHURCHILL’S IRON CURTAIN SPEECH, MARCH 1946 * On March 1946, former British PM Winston Churchill gave a speech at Fulton, Missouri with Truman in the audience * His speech warned of a new danger for Europe * By 1946, Soviet-dominated governments had taken power in Poland, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria * Presence of Red army in countries “liberated” from Germany * Cloak of secrecy in Eastern Europe within few months of the end of the war

SOVIET REACTION TO CHURCHILL’S SPEECH * Stalin compared Churchill to Hitler * “Racist” * “Call to war with the Soviet Union” * USSR withdrew from IMF * Stepped up the tone and intensity of anti-West propaganda * Initiated a new five-year plan of self-strengthening * Led to a further hardening of opinions on both sides

CHAPTER 3:
STEPS TO THE POLITICAL, ECONOMIC AND MIITARY DIVISION OF EUROPE: PART III

Confrontation between the USA and the USSR intensifies as political, economic and military divisions develop.

STEP FOUR: THE TRUMAN DOCTRINE * Truman said in a speech on 12 March 1947: “Support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures.” * Departed from traditional isolationist policy adopted by USA * In response to situations in Turkey and Greece * Did not want to risk potential Communist takeovers * Affected by Churchill’s speech and George Kennan’s Long Telegram

STEP FIVE: THE MARSHALL PLAN * In January 1947, the U.S. Secretary of State James Byrnes resigned and was replaced by George Marshall * Marshall believed Western Europe needed immediate help from the USA * “The patient is sinking while the doctors deliberate” * Economic extension of Truman Doctrine * Immediate economic assistance to Europe * Stated aims of the plan * Revive European working economies so that political and social stability could ensue * Safeguard the future of the U.S economy * “The initiative must come from Europe” or else the USSR might suspect the USA of coercing European governments into accepting the aid plan

SOVIET REACTION TO THE MARSHALL PLAN * The USSR rejected the Marshall plan as the US had asked to see recipients’ financial records * Prime example of dollar imperialism * The USSR felt that the USA was attempting to establish an European empire * Economic domination and dependence * Soviet Foreign Minister Vyshinsky: “The Marshall Plan is merely a variant of the Truman Doctrine”

THE SOVIET RESPONSE * The Soviets came up with the Molotov Plan * A series of bilateral trade agreements aimed to tie the economies of Eastern Europe to the USSR * COMECON was created in January 1949 Council for Mutual Economic Assistance * Centralized agency that linked Eastern bloc countries to Moscow * Stimulate and control their economic development * Support collectivization of agriculture and development of heavy industry

COMINFORM AND THE TWO CAMPS DOCTRINE * Cominform * Communist Information Bureau set up in 1947 * Increase Stalin’s control over Communist Party * Yugoslavia, France, Italy, Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania * Stalin’s “Two Camps” Doctrine * Stalin developed an idea of a Europe being divided into two opposing camps * Anti-Soviet bloc of countries * USSR and new democracies in Eastern Europe * Indonesia, Vietnam, India, Egypt and Syria

STEP SIX: RED ARMY OCCUPATION OF EASTERN EUROPE, 1945 - 1947
The USSR came to control various Eastern European states by creating a satellite empire these countries retained their separate legal identities but were tied into following Moscow’s line by the following factors * Soviet military power * Salami tactics * State police and security/spy networks * COMECON

THE “MR X ARTICLE” * Kennan: It is clear that the United States cannot expect in the foreseeable future to enjoy political intimacy with the Soviet regime. It must continue to regard the Soviet Union as a rival, not a partner, in the political arena.

STEP EIGHT: THE BERLIN CRISIS OF 1948 * Post-war Germany * Divided into four zones of occupation to be administered by the Allied Control Council * Why did the post-war powers fail to unify Germany? * Germany’s key strategic position and the differing aims of the main powers * USSR + France Reparations and hastening of German recovery * US + UK Rapid economic German recovery = best way to restore German peace and contain spread of Communism * The increasing lack of trust between East and West as the Cold War developed * Differences in aims and attitudes of the four Allied powers delayed any possible peace settlement * Mutual suspicion hardened * The specific disputes between the post-war powers within Germany itself * Economic conflict * Reparations: USSR took 25% of German industrial equipment from the Western Zones in return for supplying such areas with food and raw materials * Food * Coal: USSR wanted coal from Western Zones, but the USA wanted them to assist in reconstruction of Western Europe * 25 million tons of Western Zones coal was exported to Europe rather than the USSR * 1947: British and American zones merged into one unit called Bizonia * Political conflict * Stalin planned for reunified Germany within Moscow’s sphere of influence * Red Army controls Soviet zone while Communist Party of Germany attempts to gain popular support in other zones * London Conference of Ministers in 1947 * The Berlin Blockade, 1948