2. Stalin in Power, 1929-53 Collectivization of agriculture
Industrialization
Repression and Great Terror
Great Patriotic War
Early Cold War with US

3. World War II

5. Stalin Miscalculates
“I know what Hitler is up to. He thinks he’s outsmarted me, but actually it’s I who have tricked him.”

6. Stalin Miscalculates
“I knew war would come, but I thought it might gain another six months or so.” (1941)

7. Stalin Miscalculates
“Lenin left us a great inheritance, and we, his heirs, have f*cked it all up.”
Stalin “immobilized” soon after attack (June 29/30)

8. Stalin’s Actions in WW II
Rallied the Russian people
Mother Russia
Orthodox Church
Western alliance
Allows generals to “run war”
Reduction of terror (since 1939)
Vague promises of post-war change

9. World War II Outcomes
USSR “devastated” but victorious (27 million deaths)
Beginning of new East European empire
One of two military superpowers
Generalissimo Stalin triumphant
USSR returns to five-year plans, dictatorship, repression

11. Road to Cold War Communist regimes in Eastern Europe
Socialist parties in Western Europe
US/West responds to Soviet expansion
Spread of communist outside Europe

12. Establishment of the Cold War
Uneasy alliance was breaking down as WW 2 was ending
Suspicions on both side
FDR and Stalin hopeful that alliance could continue in some form
Realism “says” US-Soviet conflict almost inevitable

13. Post-War Realism?
Stalin: “Whoever occupies a territory also imposes on it his own social system. Everyone imposes his own system as far as his army has the power to do so. It cannot be otherwise.”

15. Eastern Europe,
USSR will not be attacked by Germany again (WWI and WW II)
Stalin demands a “buffer zone” in Eastern Europe
Eventually: Stalin takes total control

16. Eastern Europe,
Wasn’t a “master plan” for domination of Eastern Europe
Process of coalition governments, puppet liberal parties, communist dictatorship
Actually some support for communism (not brutal dictatorship) in certain EE countries

17. Berlin Blockade,

19. Socialism in Western Europe
Fear that socialist parties might come to power in Italy, France, elsewhere
Western Europe was economically ravaged after WW 2
Stalin might “conquer” parts of Western Europe through free elections
US must help strengthen Western Europe

20. US Road to Cold War Churchill’s “Iron Curtain” speech (1946)
Diplomat George Kennan outlines policy of containment (1946)
US aid to Greece and Turkey and creation of Truman Doctrine (1947)
Marshall Plan economic aid to countries of Western Europe,
Creation of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 1949
Creation of West Germany in 1949

22. Spread of Communism
Communist threats outside of Europe

23. Spread of Communism China falls to communists in 1949
Korean War with communist North Korea and Chinese intervention,
Rise of nationalist-communists in Vietnam following WW 2
Stalin did not “create” any of these situations, but gave some support
Perception was that Stalin was behind all of these developments

24. Spread of Communism
Outside of Eastern Europe, Stalin proved to be quite pragmatic and backed down in places where challenged by US/West
Logic of US containment policy

25. Was the Cold War Inevitable?
No, but hard to see otherwise

26. Cold War is well-established as Stalin dies in 1953

27. The End