Transcript Intro to Cold War_1

The Cold War
Conditions of extreme tension and hostility with no
direct military action between the USA and the USSR
“…there will emerge two centers of world
significance: a socialist centre, drawing to
itself the countries that incline towards
socialism, and a capitalist centre, drawing to
itself the countries that incline towards
capitalism. Battle between these two centers
for command of the world will decide the fate
of capitalism, democracy and of communism
in the entire world”
Josef Stalin, 1927
After WW 2, the Soviet dominated East was facing off against the
capitalist, democratic West led by the United States. At the end of
World War II allies against a common enemy became divided as a
result of conflicting ideologies. This time period, known as the
“Cold War”, was an indirect struggle between these competing
ideologies.
IMPORTANT
CONFERENCES
• not only did these bring an end to World War Two, but
took the world into the Cold War
1945 Yalta
Stalin, Roosevelt and
Churchill
1945 Potsdam
Stalin, Truman and
Atlee
Discuss partition of
Germany into 4 zones of
occupation, reparations,
Polish post-war
boundaries, and the
entrance of USSR into
war with Japan.
Discuss outstanding
issues – disagreement
between U.S. and
U.S.S.R. over the
treatment of Germany
and Poland
• Allies liberate Italy –
• take control of government
• leads Stalin to believe he can control the governments of Eastern
European nations he liberated (puppet governments)
• Spheres of Influence begins
• Divided Germany important to USSR
•
•
•
•
fought two major wars in less than 50 years
Soviet losses were almost 30 million in WW II
determined to control Poland and dominate the Balkan Peninsula
wanted a buffer zone to protect against further aggressions
“From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an Iron
Curtain has descended across the continent."
Winston Churchill (1946)
A bi-polar world
World split after WW II into
East (Soviet influence) and
West (American influence)
Expansionism vs.
Containment
• Expansionism—the attempt to enlarge territorial
and ideological influence beyond a country’s
borders and existing allies.
• Done through spheres of influence
• Containment—the attempt to thwart another
country’s expansionism through means other
than direct warfare.
• United States used military, economic, and diplomatic
strategies to temper the spread of Communism, enhance
America’s security and influence abroad, and prevent a
"domino effect".
Spheres of Influence
Truman Doctrine
• Truman had been horrified at the pre-war Allied
policy of appeasement and was determined to
stand up to any Soviet intimidation and he
called upon his nation, and others, to resist
communism throughout the world
• The idea was to contain communism and thus
originated the idea of containment.
• The Truman Doctrine in March 1947
promised that the USA “would support free
peoples who are resisting subjugation by
armed minorities or by outside pressures”
• It signalled the end of “isolationist” policies in
the United States
• Use of money and military to stop
communism, even if it meant supporting
unfavorable regimes.
The Marshall Plan
• Soviet expansion into Europe was alarming for the
United States.
• The U.S.A. realized that an economically devastated
Western Europe would have a difficult time
defending themselves from potential Soviet
aggression.
• The Marshall plan provided funds for the
reconstruction of the European nations outside the
Soviet sphere of influence.
• The Soviets and those states in its sphere of influence
had also been offered the aid.
• The program extended $13.2 billion in aid from19481952.
• Standard of living began to increase in Western Europe,
not so in the east
Map of Cold-War era Europe and the Near East showing countries that received
Marshall Plan aid. The red columns show the relative amount of total aid per nation.
Marshall Aid
cartoon, 1947
COMECON or Molotov Plan
• Council for Mutual Economic Assistance
• Soviet response to Marshall plan (1949)
• Stalin believed that economic integration with
the West would allow Eastern Bloc countries
to escape Soviet control
• that the US was trying to buy a pro-US realignment of Europe.
• Stalin therefore prevented Eastern Bloc
nations from receiving Marshall Plan aid.
• Responsible for the spread and consolidation
of Communist power in Europe (Eastern) in
the hands of the Soviet union.
ALLIANCES
NATO
• North Atlantic Treaty Organization
• Military alliance.
• On 4 April 1949, Belgium, France,
Luxemburg, the Netherlands, Great
Britain, Canada, and the United States
signed the North Atlantic Treaty.
• The agreement stipulated that an act of
aggression against any one of the
signatories would be interpreted as an
attack against all (deterrent).
• The “domino theory” was a foreign policy during the Cold
War era, promoted by the government of the United States,
that speculated that if one land in a region came under the
influence of communism, then the surrounding countries
would follow in a domino effect.
• The domino theory was used by successive United States
administrations during the Cold War to clarify the need for
American intervention around the world.
SEATO / ANZUS
• American policy also shifted towards a presence in
Asia
• 1951 - Australia – New Zealand – United States –
US replaces Britain as protector
• 1954 - Southeast Asia Treaty Organization
• Mutual defense with US, Br, Fr, Aus, NZ,
Philippines, Thailand
• US also started to bolster Japan and start
rearmament
NORAD
North American Air Defence
• A military alliance between the U.S. and Canada to
protect North America from attack
• formed during the Cold War that puts the American
and Canadian air forces under a single command
during times of emergency
Warsaw Pact
• A Soviet military
alliance formed
during the Cold
War that
included the
USSR and its
alliances in
Eastern Europe.
The Warsaw Pact
was formed in
1956, after West
German joined
NATO.