Transcript The Origins of the Cold War

The Origins of the Cold
War
Chapter 19.1 and 19.2
What’s Going on with Russia?
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1917: 2nd Russian Revolution
1918: Russia withdraws from WWI
1933: US finally recognized the
USSR as a nation
WW2: USSR is an Allied power but
many tensions and disagreements
The Yalta Conference
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February 1945
Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin
Decide on future of Germany and Poland
Germany into 4 zones (GB, US, FR, USSR)
Capital city of Berlin also into 4 zones
Stalin agrees to let Poland choose own
govt.
USSR agrees to enter war against Japan
German Zones of Occupation
United Nations
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Agreed on creation of UN at Yalta
International peacekeeping organization
April 1945, San Francisco
US a member, unlike the League of
Nations
General Assembly=all member Nations
Security Council= 6 nations plus
permanent (US, USSR, GB, FR, China)
• Each had veto power over proposed policies
Potsdam Conference
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July 1945
Truman, Stalin meet for first time
Continued debate of future of
Germany and Poland
Truman tries to intimidate Stalin by
telling him of a “new weapon of
extraordinary force”
Stalin already knows about the ABomb, but is still nervous
Goals for the Post-War World
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US:
• Democratic
opportunity through
self-determination
• Economic growth
and opportunity
(Capitalism)
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USSR:
• Protect Soviet
interests through
establishment of
satellite nations
• Promote
Communism
throughout the
world
Economies of the Post-War Era
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Market
(US)
Capitalist
Individuals own
property, resources
Supply and
demand
Profit
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Command
(Soviets)
Gov't controls land,
resources, property
Gov’t makes all
economic decisions
Soviet Satellite Nations
SATELLITE NATIONS:
Countries dominated
by the Soviet Union
on its western border
with Communist
governments and
economies
By 1949, all of Eastern
Europe is under Soviet
control except Greece
and Turkey
A Statement of Soviet Goals
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Stalin Speech
February 1946
Predicts triumph of Communism over
capitalism
Called on Communists to spread
system through non-military means
Cominform created
The “Iron Curtain” Speech
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“From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the
Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the
Continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals
of…Central and Eastern Europe… The Communist
parties, which were very small in all these
Eastern States of Europe, have been raised to
preeminence and power far beyond their
numbers and are seeking everywhere to obtain
totalitarian control… This is certainly not the
Liberated Europe we fought to build up. Nor is it
one which contains the essentials of permanent
peace.”
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“Iron Curtain” speech, Winston Churchill, March 5, 1946
The Western Reaction
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Winston Churchill
“Iron Curtain” has descended across
Europe
Communists seeking to dominate,
rather than liberate, Eastern
European countries
Called on Americans to keep
Communists from dominating and
oppressing any more nations
The Cold War Begins
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Speeches by Stalin and Churchill set
the stage for the COLD WAR
COLD WAR = political, economic
conflict and military tensions
• No actual war (that’s a HOT WAR)
• Competition between US and USSR for
power and influence
• Divides the world into two camps
The American Response
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“[The Soviet Union] cannot be easily defeated or
discouraged by a single victory on the part of its
opponents… but only by intelligent, long-range
policies… no less steady in their purpose… than
those of the Soviet Union itself. In these
circumstances, it is clear that the main element
of any United States policy toward the Soviet
Union must be that of a long-term, patient but
firm and vigilant containment of Russian
expansive tendencies.”
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American Diplomat George Kennan, article in Foreign
Affairs magazine, July 1947
America’s Response to Stalin
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George Kennan
Believed that the US and USSR
cannot co-exist
US must STOP THE SPREAD OF
COMMUNISM
This is CONTAINMENT – The main
tenet of US Foreign policy for 45
years
The Truman Doctrine
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“Nearly every nation must choose between
alternative ways of life. The choice is too often
not a free one. One way of life is based upon the
will of the majority… The second way of life is
based upon the will of the minority forcibly
imposed upon the majority… I believe that it
must be the policy of the United States to
support free peoples who are resisting attempted
subjugation [conquest] by armed minorities or by
outside pressures. I believe that we must assist
free peoples to work out their own destinies in
their own way.”
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Truman Doctrine speech by President Harry S. Truman to
Congress, March 12, 1947
The Truman Doctrine
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Truman’s response to Stalin is to
begin a policy of aiding those fighting
communism
Focus on Greece and Turkey
Strategic importance to USSR
- access to Mediterranean
- Middle eastern oil
GB can’t help anymore
The Truman Doctrine
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US takes up the leadership roleBecomes the leader of the “free
world”
“Must assist free peoples to work out
their own destinies in their own way.”
$400 million in military aid to Greece
and Turkey
The Marshall Plan
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“It is logical that the United States should
do whatever it is able to assist in the
return of normal economic health in the
world, without which there can be no
political stability and no assured peace…
Its purpose [the Marshall Plan’s] should be
the revival of a working economy in the
world so as to permit the emergence of
political and social conditions in which free
institutions can exist.”
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Marshall Plan speech at Harvard University by Sec.
of State George C. Marshall, June 5, 1947
The Marshall Plan
Goals:
 Provide economic aid
to war-torn European
countries to rebuild
 Turn countries toward
democracy and
capitalism
Effect:
 Between 1948-1952
US gave $13 Billion in
aid
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Soviet Union invited to
participate, but
declined – Why?
Marshall Plan Aid Distribution
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Yellow= received aid
White=no aid
Marshall Plan Aid 1948-1952 (in
billions)
3.19
1.03
0.706
2.7
1.08
1.39
1.5
1.49
Britain
France
Italy
Turkey
W. Germany
Netherlands
Greece
Others
Germany becomes an Issue
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Allies merge 3
zones to create
West Germany in
1948
West Berlin
formed, part of
West Germany but
located inside East
Germany
THE BERLIN AIRLIFT
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Stalin concerned over escapes to
West Berlin
Stalin determined to take all of Berlin
Blocked Allies access to West Berlin
by closing road and railroad
15 months of airlifting in supplies to
2.5 million West Berliners
Soviets gave up in 1949
By 1949 the world is
divided and is supported by
one of two superpowers:
The United States and the
Soviet Union
The Cold War has begun!