From World War II to the Cold War Origins of the Cold War in Europe, 1945

Yalta Conference

Yalta Conference (February 1945) “Declarations of Liberated Europe” –ambiguity between concession of predominant Soviet sphere of influence vs. promise of free elections and self- determination. Far Eastern Agreements: Soviet pledge to enter the war against Japan in return for American support for Soviet recovery of Russian territories and rights. Preliminary agreement on the treatment of Germany: - divisions into zones of occupation - demilitarization and de-nazification - reparations

Harry Truman, US President

The Period of Transition, April 1945: Roosevelt’s death and Truman’s accession to the presidency Change in American policy: from integration and compromise to “quid pro quo” approach -American and British protests over Poland -interruption of lend lease to the Soviet Union No break in relations – Harry Hopkins’s visit to Moscow, May 1945 and Soviet-American compromise on Poland

Averell Harriman and Joseph Grew

Hopkins and Stalin

Potsdam Conference

The Potsdam Conference, July-August of 1945 New American and British leadership Policy of tough bargaining and pressure Negotiating issues: -political organization of Eastern Europe -establishment of new German borders -zonal extraction of reparations

New Polish Frontiers

Allied Zones of Occupation in Germany

Conclusion of the Pacific War American atomic bomb test – July 16, 1945 Potsdam Declaration to Japan with the ultimatum to surrender -exclusion of the Soviet Union “Race” between Truman and Stalin over surrender of Japan -American atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, August 6 and 9, Soviet declaration of war on Japan, August 8, 1945 Exclusive American occupation of Japan

Eastern Europe in 1945

Soviet policy in Eastern Europe Establishment of exclusive Soviet sphere of influence Varying practical policies toward this goal depending on local circumstances -direct Soviet control over Poland, Romania, and Bulgaria through military presence and minority communist rule -laxer, indirect influence in Finland, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia

James Byrnes, US Secretary of State,

Atomic diplomacy of James Byrnes, Fall 1945 Council of Foreign Ministers, London, October 1945: -deadlock over settlement of Eastern Europe and Japan -diplomatic use of American atomic monopoly. Council of Foreign Ministers, Moscow, December 1945: - American recognition of Soviet-dominated governments in Romania and Bulgaria. - Soviet acquiescence of sole American occupation of Japan.

Soviet Foreign Policy Program Stalin’s “Election Speech,” February, focus on internal economic recovery -maintaining vigilance to secure the Soviet Union against all eventualities -no reference to international cooperation Searching for easy opportunities to enhance Soviet interests and strategic position -pressure on Iran and Turkey in early 1946

Iran and the Soviet Union, 1946

Black Sea Straits

Emergence of American Cold War strategy Domestic backlash against Soviet foreign policy and propaganda line Revelations of wartime Soviet penetration of the “Manhattan Project” European economic and political weakness Churchill’s “the Iron Curtain” speech in Fulton, Missouri, March 5, 1946

Churchill’s “Iron Curtain” speech Truman disavows Byrnes’s compromise agreements reached at the CFM session Domestic pressure to adopt hard-line approach Backlash over Soviet unilateralism in foreign policy Revelations of Soviet penetration of the “Manhattan Project”

George Kennan, the author of the policy of containment

The Long Telegram, February 22, 1946

Strategy of Containment (cont.) Kennan’s strategy of containment: – No more negotiations with the Soviet Union other than to register American protests or Soviet concessions. – Concentration on rehabilitation of Europe without rolling back existing Soviet sphere of influence. – Conflict with the Soviet Union is political, not military. – The end goal is to change Soviet conduct of foreign policy to negotiate a lasting agreement.

The Truman Doctrine and Containment American decision to replace the British as the dominant power in the Middle East: - Truman calls for support to Greece and Turkey. - American universal mission to oppose totalitarianism in the name of freedom. Language of universalism vs. practical policy: - Eurocentric American policy - limited political commitment