The Cold War 1945-1991

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The Cold War 1945-1991
By Mr Yelland
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• Yalta was the the penultimate of the wartime
  allied conferences. It dealt mainly with the
  settlement of post-war Europe. Allegedly FD
  Roosevelt was too ill to withstand Stalins
  demands, and his successor, Harry S Truman, took
  a tougher line. By by the time of the Potsdam
  Conference in July 1945, the West had the bomb
  and were anxious to restrict Russia.

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YALTA (in the USSR) Date Feb 1945 Present
Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin
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POTSDAM (Germany) Date July 1945 Present
Churchill, Truman and Stalin
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Divided Berlin

• The Russians took very high casualties to capture
  Berlin in May 1945. They spent the early
  occupation trying to take over all zones of the
  city but were stopped by German democrats such as
  Willy Brandt and Konrad Adenauer. Reluctantly the
  Russians had to admit the Americans, French and
  British to their respective zones.

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Iron Curtain A term used by Winston Churchill
to describe the separating of Those
communist lands of East Europe from the West.
Divided Germany
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• The nuclear bomb gave America a lead which was
  expected to last at least 5 years. The rapid
  Russian development of nuclear technology, helped
  by the work of the atom spies was a
  shock.Significantly, Russia hurriedly declared
  war against Japan at the beginning of August 1945
  and rushed to advance into Asia to stake out a
  position for the post-war settlement. This helped
  make both the Korean and Vietnamese conflicts
  more likely.

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• Truman had been horrified at the pre-war Allied
  policy of appeasement and was determined to stand
  upto any Soviet intimidation.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. Triggered by British inability to
  hold the line in Greece, it was followed by aid
  to Greece and Turkey, and also money to secure
  upcoming elections in Italy and the advance of
  Communist trade unions in France.It signalled
  the end of isolationst policies.

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• The Marshall Plan reflected the strength of the
  US economy and offered huge sums to enable the
  war shattered economies of Europe to rebuild and,
  by generating prosperity, to reject the appeal of
  Communism, Czechoslovakia showed interest in
  receiving Marshall Aid but was blocked by
  Russia.The Soviet system was as much dependent
  upon creating a self-contained economic bloc as
  it was in maintaining a repressive political
  system.

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• West Berlin, as an outpost of Western democracy
  and economic success deep within the Communist
  zone, was both a nest of spies for both sides and
  a constant challenge to the Soviets.The Berlin
  Blockade was an attempt to starve the city into
  submission and the Allied airlift signalled the
  Wests determination to use all resources to
  defend Berlin.Thereafter, it was accepted by
  both sides that Berlin would act as the trigger
  for general war. Any Russian invasion would be
  followed by conflict with the considerable Allied
  forces camped permanently on the plain of West
  Germany. Both sides finding Europe too dangerous
  a site for confrontation, looked elsewhere to
  compete.

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• The Red Scare, launched by Senator Joe
  McCarthy, dominated US politics for several years
  1948-53 and helped pressure Truman into the
  Korean War, a costly and ultimately stalemated
  conflict. Given the suddeness of the fall of
  China, the development of the Soviet bomb, and
  the shocking performance of the Western secret
  services, the level of panic is understandable.

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• Truman restricted his ant-Soviet policy to one of
  containment, resisting the advance of Communism
  into South Korea. After some hesitation he
  resisted his Commander, Gen Douglas MacArthurs
  attempt to roll-back Communism by invading
  North Korea and China.MacArthur was dismissed
  but Trumans successors continued to be drawn
  into conflicts of containment for the rest of the
  cold war. The beginning of the Korean War also
  highlighted the failings of the United
  Nations.Up to 1950, Russia and America had
  respectively blocked each others iniatives by
  using their veto powers in the Security Council.
  Because the Russian delegates were boycotting the
  UN in 1950, Truman was able to condemn the
  Communist invasion of S Korea and to set up a
  counter-attack under the banner of the UN. In
  contrast to the pre-War League of Nations, at
  least this ensured that the UN would, in future,
  be able to deploy force in international
  disputes.