Origins of the Cold War CH.18.1 (STOPPED AT GERMANY)

Former Allies CLASH U.S. Define Capitalism: Define Democracy: USSR Define Socialism: Define Communism: The U.S. and the Soviet Union had very different ambitions for the future. These differences created a climate of icy tension that plunged the two countries into bitter rivalry.

U.S.  Capitalism = An economic system in which the means of production and distribution are privately or corporately owned and development occurs through the accumulation and reinvestment of profits gained in a free market  Democracy = Government by the people, exercised either directly or through elected representatives USSR  Socialism = system of social organization in which the means of producing and distributing goods is owned collectively or by a centralized government that often plans and controls the economy  Communism = A system of government in which the state plans and controls the economy and a single, often authoritarian party holds power, claiming to make progress toward a higher social order in which all goods are equally shared by the people Why would socialism/communism sound appealing to people after WWII?

 Under Soviet communism, the state controlled all property and economic activity, while in the capitalistic American system, private citizens controlled almost all economic activity.  In the American system, voting elected a president and congress from competing political parties. In the Soviet Union, the communist party established a totalitarian government with no opposing parties.  The U.S. was well aware that Joseph Stalin, the leader of the Soviet Union had been an ally of Hitler and had signed a Nonaggression Pact with him.  Stalin had supported the Allies only after Hitler invaded the Soviet Union in June of  In some ways, the Americans and Soviets became suspicious of each other during the war.  Stalin resented the Allies for the delay in attacking the Germans in Europe. (Where did the Allies attack first? Where did the Allies attack second?)  An attack in northern Europe, Stalin thought, would of drawn part of the German army away from the Soviet Union.  Relations during the war between the U.S. and Soviet Union worsened after Stalin learned that the U.S. was secretly developing an atomic bomb.

The United Nations  In spite of the problems between the US and USSR, hopes for world peace was high at the end of WWII.  The most visible symbol of these hopes was the United Nations (known as UN). On April 25, 1945, the representatives of 50 nations met in San Francisco to establish this new peacekeeping body.  (The UN continued on with the same concept President Wilson had at the end of WWI to create a League of Nations)  After two months of debate, June 26, 1945, delegates signed the charter establishing the UN.  Ironically, even though the UN was intended to promote peace, it soon became an arena in which the two superpowers competed. Both the US and the Soviet Union used the UN as a forum to spread their influence over others.

President Truman  Harry S. Truman suddenly became president on April 12, 1945, after Roosevelt died. This former Missouri senator had been picked as Roosevelt's running mate in He had served as vice-president for just a few months before Roosevelt’s death.  During his term as vice-president, Truman had not been included in top policy decisions. He had not even known about the Manhattan Project (What was the Manhattan Project?)  Many Americans doubted Truman’s ability to serve as president. But Truman was honest and had a willingness to make tough decisions- qualities that he would need desperately during his presidency.

The Potsdam Conference  Truman’s test as a diplomat came in July of 1945 when the big three: U.S., Great Britain, and the Soviet Union, met at the final WWII conference in Potsdam, Germany.  These three countries were the same countries who had participated in the Yalta Conference in February of 1945, just five months earlier. However, Clement Attlee replaced Churchill in Britain and President Truman replaced Roosevelt. Only Stalin remained as an original leader of the big three.  At Yalta, Stalin had promised Roosevelt that he would allow free elections in Poland and other eastern European countries. A free election, is a secret ballot vote in an election where multiple parties participate.  But, by July of 1945 at the Potsdam Conference it was clear Stalin would not keep his promise.  The Soviet Union prevented Poland from having a free election and banned democratic parties.

Tension Mounts  Stalin’s refusal to allow free elections in Poland convinced Truman that the U.S. and Soviet goals for a post WWII world were deeply at odds.  Truman wanted free elections in Europe, was to spread democracy to nations that had been under Nazi rule. He wanted to create a new world order in which all nations had the right to self govern.  Also at the Yalta conference 5 months earlier, Stalin wanted Germany to pay reparations to help repay the Soviet Union for its wartime losses. (Does this sound familiar? Why?)  At Potsdam, Truman objected to reparations… after hard bargaining, it was agreed that the Soviets, British, French, and Americans would take reparations mainly from their occupation zones. What did Stalin do to make Truman distrust him?

 Truman felt that the U.S. had a large economic stake to spreading democracy and free trade across the globe. U.S. industry boomed during the war, making the U.S. The economic leader of the world.  To continue growing the economy, American business wanted access to raw materials in Eastern Europe, and they wanted to be able to sell goods to Eastern European countries.  The Soviet Union had also emerged from WWII as a nation of enormous economic and military strength.  However, unlike the U.S., the Soviet Union had suffered heavy devastation on its own soil. Soviet deaths during WWII have been estimated at 20 million, half of whom were civilians. As a result, the Soviets felt justified in their claim to Eastern Europe. By dominating Eastern Europe, the Soviets felt they could stop further invasions from the west.

U.S. vs. USSR goals in Europe: Put the initials of the country that represents each goal. ___Create a new world order in which all nations had the right of self determination. ___Gain access to raw materials and markets for its industries. ___Encourage communism in other countries as part of the worldwide struggle between workers and the wealthy. ___Rebuild European govs to ensure stability and to create new markets for American goods. ___Rebuild its war-ravaged economy using Eastern Europe’s industrial equipment and raw materials. ___Reunite Germany, believing that Europe would be more secure if Germany were productive. ___Control Eastern Europe to balance in democratic influence in Western Europe. ___Keep Germany divided and weak so that it would never again threaten the Soviet Union.

The United States wants to…  Create a new world order in which all nations had the right of self determination.  Gain access to raw materials and markets for its industries.  Rebuild European govs to ensure stability and to create new markets for American goods.  Reunite Germany, believing that Europe would be more secure if Germany were productive. The Soviets wants to…  Encourage communism in other countries as part of the worldwide struggle between workers and the wealthy.  Rebuild its war-ravaged economy using Eastern Europe’s industrial equipment and raw materials.  Control Eastern Europe to balance in democratic influence in Western Europe.  Keep Germany divided and weak so that it would never again threaten the Soviet Union.

What is a satellite nation? Explain the U.S. policy of containment.  Stalin installed communist governments in Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Poland. These countries became known as satellite nations, countries dominated by the Soviet Union.  In 1946 Stalin gives a speech announcing that communism and capitalism were incompatible… and that war was inevitable!  Faced with the Soviet threat, American officials decided it was time, in President Truman’s words, to stop “babying the Soviets”. In 1946 an American diplomat visiting Moscow, proposed a policy of containment.  By containment he meant taking measures to prevent any extension of communist rule to other countries. The policy of containment began to guide the Truman administration's foreign policy plans.

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 The phrase iron curtain came to stand for the division of Europe. When Stalin heard about the speech, he declared in no uncertain terms that Churchill's words were a “call to war”.  The Cold War officially begins…  The conflicting U.S. and Soviet aims in Eastern Europe led to the Cold War, a conflict between the U.S. and the USSR in which neither nation directly confronted the other on the battlefield.  The Cold War would dominate global affairs, and U.S. foreign policy, from 1945 until the Soviet Union breaks up in 1991!!! What was the U.S. objective in the Cold War?

The Truman Doctrine  The U.S. first tried to contain Soviet influences in Greece and Turkey. Britain was financially supporting both nations’ resistance to growing communist influence in the region.  However Britain’s economy had been badly hurt during WWII, and the formerly wealthy nation could no longer afford to give aid. Britain asked the U.S. to take over the responsibility of financially fighting communism in Greece and Turkey.  President Truman accepted the challenge.  On March 12, 1947, Truman asked Congress for $400 million in economic and military aid for Greece and Turkey.  In a statement that became known as the Truman Doctrine, he declared that “it must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures.”  Congress agreed with President Truman and decided the doctrine was essential to keeping Soviet influence from spreading.  Between , the U.S. sent $400 million in aid to Greece and Turkey greatly decreasing the danger of communist takeover in those nations.

The Marshall Plan  Like postwar Greece, Western Europe was in chaos.  Most of its factories had been bombed or looted.  Millions of people were living in refugee camps while European governments tried to figure out where to resettle them.  To make matters worse, the winter of was the coldest in centuries. The weather severely damaged crops and froze rivers, cutting off transportation and causing fuel shortage.  In June 1947, Secretary of State George Marshall proposed that the United States provide aid to all European nations that needed it, saying that this move was directed “not against any country or doctrine but against hunger, poverty, desperation, and chaos.”  The Marshall Plan revived European hopes.  Over the next four years, 16 countries received some of the $13 billion the U.S. gave in aid.  By 1952, Western Europe was flourishing and the Communist party had lost much of its appeal.