Company

LOGO

From Peace to the Cold WarFrom Peace to the Cold War

Results of World War IIResults of World War II• About 55 million dead (including missing); 22

million in USSR alone.• Holocaust resulted in deaths of 6 million Jews and

6 million others.• Millions homeless and millions relocated (especially

Germans living outside Germany)• Much of Europe lay in ruins: would take years to

rebuild economy• Women played even larger role in the war economy

than in WWI (gained more rights after war)• The U.S. and Soviet Union emerged as the two

dominant powers in the postwar world.

Roots of the Cold War Roots of the Cold War

• Teheran Conference, 1943: USSR guaranteed to be only power to liberate Eastern Europe

• Yalta Conference, 1945: • Stalin pledged to allow democratic elections in

E. Europe (but later reneged)• Germany would be divided into four zones

controlled by U.S., France, Britain and USSR• After war, Soviets dominated their zone and did

not allow reunification of Germany

Securing the PeaceSecuring the Peace• Yalta Conference, 1945: "Big Three" met again• Stalin agreed to enter Pacific war within 3 months after

Germany surrendered• Stalin agreed to a “Declaration of Liberated Europe” which

called for free elections.• Called for United Nations to meet in U.S. beginning in April

1945• Soviets would have 3 votes in General Assembly• U.S., Britain, USSR, France & China to be permanent

members of Security Council.• Germany to be divided into occupied zones and a coalition

government of communists and non-communists was agreed to for Poland.

• U.S.S.R. allowed to keep its pre-1939 territory.• FDR accepted Soviet control of Outer Mongolia, the Kurile

Islands, the southern half of Sakhalin Island, Port Arthur (Darien), and partial operation of the Manchurian railroads.

Securing the PeaceSecuring the Peace

• Potsdam Conference, July 1945: Stalin, Harry Truman and Clement Atlee

• Issued warning to Japan of unconditional surrender or face utter devastation

• Stalin reversed his position on eastern Europe stating there would be no free elections

• Approvals given to concept of war-crimes trials and the demilitarization and denazification of Germany.

• Reparations from Germany could be taken from each respective zone.

• During conference Truman ordered dropping of atomic bomb on Japan

International CooperationInternational Cooperation

• Following the war, nations met in San Francisco to sign the United Nations Charter (building upon the Atlantic Charter) and the UN was established in New York.

• In 1945, the Nuremberg war crimes trials began, trying the Nazi leaders for crimes against humanity.

Goering takes the stand

American Perspective American Perspective

• Stalin seemed intent on creating "spheres" of influence in Eastern Europe

• Broke pledges at Yalta; refused to allow reunification of Germany

• Churchhill's "Iron Curtain" speech in 1946 alerted Americans to a future conflict

• U.S. wanted democracy spread throughout the world with a strong international organization to maintain global peace

Soviet PerspectiveSoviet Perspective• Democracies traditionally hostile towards

communism and the USSR• e.g., Archangel expedition during WWI; non-

recognition by U.S. until 1933• US & Britain did not open western front in

Europe early enough; millions of Soviet soldiers were dying fighting the brunt of Nazi armies alone until mid-1944.

• The US and Britain froze Russia out of the atomic bomb project.

• US terminated lend-lease to Moscow in May 1945 but gave Britain aid until 1946.

• Wanted "buffer zone" for the Soviet western border esp. in Poland

Partition of GermanyPartition of Germany

• USSR, U.S., Britain & France would each occupy a part of Germany but would allow for German reunification once she was no longer a threat.

• Germany was to pay heavy reparations to USSR in form of agricultural and industrial goods.

Partition of GermanyPartition of Germany

• Soviets dominated their Eastern German zone

• Did not want revitalized Germany that could once again pose a threat.

• Stripped E. Germany of much of its resources.

• U.S. and W. Europeans felt German economy vital to recovery of Europe

Partition of GermanyPartition of Germany

• 1949, West Germany became an independent country when US, France and Britain gave back each of their zones

• Federal Republic of Germany – led by Konrad Adenauer

• 1949, East Germany formally established – Democratic Republic of Germany led by Walter Ulbricht (1883-1973); communist regime influenced by Moscow

Konrad Adenauer

ContainmentContainment

• By 1947, US pledged to prevent further spread of communism

• Truman Doctrine, 1947: U.S. gave aid to Greece and Turkey to defeat communist forces there.

• Marshall Plan, 1947: Massive aid package to help war-torn Europe recover from the war– Purpose: prevent communism from spreading into

economically devastated regions– Result: Western and Central Europe recovered

economically -- the "economic miracle"– Soviets refused to allow U.S. aid to countries in

eastern Europe

Containment Containment

• Berlin Crisis (1948-49): Soviets attempted to remove Allies from Berlin by cutting off access

• One of high tension points of the Cold War; close to World War III

• U.S. instituted a massive airlift; Soviets lifted blockade in 1949

NATONATO

• North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) formed in 1949

• Collective security organization consisting of democracies in Europe, U.S. & Canada to prevent against Soviet expansion in Europe.

• Radio Free Europe & Voice of America set up to send pro-democracy messages to countries behind the "iron curtain"

Eastern BlocEastern Bloc

• Countries in Eastern Europe dominated by Soviet Union after WWII

• Included Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Rumania, Bulgaria

• Communist parties of eastern Europe established one-party states by 1948, with help of Red Army and KGB (Soviet secret police).

• The Warsaw Pact was established in 1955 to counter NATO in west.

• Only Yugoslavia, led by Marshal Tito, is not dominated by Soviets.

Marshall Tito

Eastern BlocEastern Bloc

• Postwar economic recovery in eastern Europe proceeded along Soviet lines.

• Changes went forward at slow & uneven pace; came to almost a halt by the mid-1960s.

• Five-year plans in USSR reintroduced to tackle massive economic reconstruction

• Stalin reinstitutes oppressive rule• Great Patriotic War of the Fatherland had

fostered Russian nationalism and a relaxation of dictatorial terror.

Eastern BlocEastern Bloc

• Stalin’s new foe, the U.S., provided an excuse for re-establishing harsh dictatorship.

• After war, Stalin repressed millions of Soviet citizens living outside Soviet borders when the war ended.

• Stalin revived many forced labor camp, which had accounted for roughly 1/6 of all new construction in Soviet Union before the war

• Culture and art were also purged

CzechoslovakiaCzechoslovakia

• Czechoslovakia the economic exception in E. Europe: industrialized, strong middle class and industrial working class and experience of political democracy between the wars.

• During “dualist period", President Benes and Foreign minister Jan Masaryk proposed to govern a social democracy while maintaining close voluntary relations with the USSR.

• In response to Marshall Plan in 1947, Stalin replaced gov’t in 1948 with 1-party communist rule to prevent nation from courting the West.