Conflict and Tension Between East and West 1945 - 1972 (9-1)

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The different ideals among the USSR and the West

  • The political systems were opposites of each other, the West was democratic and capitalist, whereas the USSR was a one-party Communist Dictatorship (Stalin was a totalitarian dictator). Both felt their way of life was correct.
  • Stalin did not trust the West, so he built a "Buffer Zone" of countries in Eastern Europe. During the War, the Soviet people suffered terribly and Stalin was determined that this should not happen again. He believed that the West encouraged Hitler, which made him very suspicious of the West during the War.
  • The west believed that Stalin wanted to impose communism upon the rest of the world. Politicians began to fear a "domino effect". Winston Churchill stated that he did not fight against one dictator for 6 years to see another one take his place.
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The Yalta and Potsdam Conference's

  • In February 1945, Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin met at Yalta to plan the end of WWII. They decided to divide Germany into four zones (Britain, USA, USSR, and France); the USSR would go to war with Japan 3 months after the end of WWII. Stalin promised to allow free elections in the countries of Eastern Europe. No agreement was reached about Germany paying Repairs.
  • The Potsdam conference (July - August 1945) was the last of the conferences between the Big Three. President Truman took a much tougher line with Stalin than Roosevelt did. Churchill had been replaced by Clement Attlee during the conference.
  • They decided that: Germany was to be de-militarised; the Nazi party would be dissolved; Germany would pay reparations. They also decided that Germans living in Eastern Europe were to be transferred into Germany and that there would be freedom of speech and press in Germany.
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Disagreements at Potsdam

  • The Potsdam conference may have marked the beginning of the Cold War, it revealed suspicions on each side. Stalin had troops occupying Eastern Europe and anyone who had non-communist views would have been arrested, this led to the West becoming more suspicious of Stalin's intentions.
  • Stalin knew about the atomic bomb the USA had developed and was angry that they did not tell him when the atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan, Stalin believed that it was a warning to the USSR.
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Soviet occupation of Eastern Europe

  • The "Iron Curtain" name came from the speech made by Winston Churchill in 1946. Stalin wanted to set up a "Buffer Zone" to protect the USSR from any invasions. Stalin was trying to prevent western influence reaching the East and refugees leaving to go to the West.
  • When countries were liberated from the Nazi's, Stalin ensured that Soviet troops remained there. Stalin made sure that new government was collated with the communist party. the Communist Party would use fright tactics to ensure they would take over and form the country into a communist state.
  • In Czechoslovakia (1947), the Communist Party was the largest in the coalition, Stalin ordered Gottwald to remove all non-communists. In Poland, the 1947 election was fixed and the communist party won, the same happened in Bulgaria in 1946.
  • In Hungary, communists took over the government in 1947 and all other parties were banned. By the November election of 1946, the Romanian Communist Party won and forced the king to abdicate.
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Did Soviet expansion increase tension?

  • It broke all the agreements made by Stalin at the Yalta Conference. It was the key reason why Churchill made his "Iron Curtain" speech, he called for an alliance of the Western Countries to stop the USSR. 
  • It was also the key reason why Truman made the Truman Doctrine (1947) which made it clear that the USA would now try to contain communism. It also led to the Marshall Plan (1947), which the USSR saw as "Dollar Imperialism".
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The growing involvement of the USA in Europe

  • The Truman Doctrine (1947) offered help to countries that were being threatened, this was clearly aimed at the USSR. Truman was trying to stop any other countries from becoming communist, he also hoped that he would persuade countries to break away from communism. Truman was committing to a policy which became known as containment.
  • Marshall Aid was an attempt to rebuild Europe after WWII, it out the ideas of the Truman Doctrine into effect. In 1947, Truman offered grants to all European countries. The Marshall Plan would control how Marshall Aid would be spent.
  • When the Soviet Union realised what Truman was up to, Eastern countries were forced to withdraw their applications for Marshall Aid.
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Truman's containment policies develop the Cold War

  • The Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan showed that two sides were now clearly forming. Stalin was especially angry that Western zones of Germany had been offered Marshall Aid; he feared that the west was trying to rebuild German troops to oppose the USSR again. 
  • COMINFORM (1947) was established to co-ordinate the activities of Communist Parties, it was also established to encourage the introduction of policies such as "Collectivisation" and the "Command Economy".
  • COMECON (1949) was intended to be the Soviet Union's response to Marshall Aid. Stalin offered aid to communist countries that had been affected by the war. East Germany joined in 1950.
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The Berlin Blockade and Airlift

  • From June 1948 - May 1949, Joseph Stalin ordered that all traffic between West Germany and West Berlin should be stopped. He was able to stop routes by water and land but could not stop air routes. The Berlin Airlift lasted 10 months. The main reason for the blockade was that the west had made it clear that they intended to rebuild the economy in Germany.
  • In 1947, the west joined their zones to make "Trizonia", in 1948 western allies announced that they were going to introduce a new currency. Stalin believed that Germany should be kept weak. Many people from East Germany tried to escape to the West.
  • The Allies believed that if they gave in, Stalin would behave as Hitler had and more countries would be taken over. On May 12, 1949, Stalin called off the blockade as he had failed to drive the Allies out of Berlin.
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Did the Blockade and Airlift increase tension?

  • The first open confrontation between the USSR and the West. It was also the first real test of the Truman Doctrine. On top of this, it led to the formation of NATO, which was a sign that relations between the superpowers were so bad that some form of military alliance was necessary.
  • The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) was set up in April 1949. The members of NATO consisted of USA, Great Britain, France, Canada, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Iceland, Norway, Denmark, Italy and Portugal. They made it clear that any attack on part of their territories would be considered an attack on the whole alliance.
  • The Federal Republic of Germany (West) was set up in May 1949 and the German Democratic Republic (East) in October 1949.
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Beginning of the nuclear arms race

  • The USA developed the atomic bomb in 1945, this gave them a clear advantage over the Soviet Union. In 1949, the Soviet Union also developed an atomic bomb. This led to an arms race between the superpowers.
  • In 1952, the USA tested its first hydrogen bomb and followed by the Soviet Union in 1953. There was a growing fear that a war between the east and West would result in a nuclear war. Both sides were willing to use "Brinkmanship", which was highly dangerous.
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The Communist takeover of China

  • There had been a civil war in China since the 1920s. In October 1949, the communists under Mao Zedong won control of China. and in 1950, the USSR and China signed an alliance. This changed the balance of the cold war.
  • The fear of a "Domino Effect" had become a reality and Truman's policy of "Containment" had failed in Asia. It also meant that tensions of the Cold War were likely to spread across the world.
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The Korean War

  • After WWII, there were Soviet troops in the North of Korea and American troops in the south of Korea. By 1948, the Soviets set up a communist dictatorship, while the Americans set up an anti-communist government in the south.
  • In June 1950, Communist North Korea invaded the South. The UN forces attacked the North Koreans. General MacArthur invaded North Korea, but Truman had forbidden this and the General was dismissed. This led to the Soviet Union and China becoming involved in the war.
  • Peace talks had begun in 1951; the war ended in 1953 when it was agreed to split Korea into North and South. The USA was even more convinced that the USSR wanted to spread communism and there was a greater need to stop the "Domino Effect".
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Vietnam in the Cold War

  • Vietnam had been ruled by France since the 1800s. After WWII, the Communist "Vietcong" fought successfully against the French rule and by the end of the 1950s the country was split between North Vietnam (communist) and South Vietnam (supported by American).
  • In the 1960s, the USA was involved with the war to prevent the south from being taken over. This was another example of how the Cold War gradually spread across the world.
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The death of Stalin

  • In March 1953, Joseph Stalin died and was replaced by Nikita Khrushchev. He believed in "Peaceful Co-existence". A Summit Conference was held in Geneva in 1955, with both sides attending. Little was achieved yet it was seen as a turning point in the Cold War. In 1955, West Germany was invited to join NATO, Khrushchev retaliated by setting up the Warsaw Pact.
  • The Warsaw Pact 1955 was a military alliance for the communist countries in Eastern Europe. The members were the Soviet Union, Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, Albania and East Germany.
  • It meant that there were two military alliances aimed against each other with nuclear weapons. It also increased the influence of Soviet Troops in the East, which made the crushing of the Hungarian Uprising much easier.
  • The change in Soviet policy under Khrushchev to "Peaceful Co-existence" did not put an end to the crisis between the West and the USSR.
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The Hungarian Uprising

  • Hungary had been an ally of Germany in the war. In 1945, Hungary's government paid reparations to the Soviet Union, which then took over Hungary. In 1947, the new communist leader Matyas Rakosi was elected.
  • Hungary joined both COMECON and COMINFORM. Rakosi could not manage the economy, after Stalin's death, he was replaced by Imre Nagy who had ideas to give the people more freedom. The Soviet Union disliked this and sacked him in 1955.
  • In October 1956, a fight broke out in Budapest, Imre Nagy became prime minister once again. He set up a new government which included non-communists, John Foster Dulles told Nagy "You can count on us" Nagy saw this as a firm commitment from the US.
  • In 1956, Nagy said that Hungary would leave the Warsaw Pact. On November 4th, Khrushchev ordered the Soviet army to invade Hungary. Nagy was arrested and executed in 1958, and Kadar became the new leader. The West did not get involved as they were preoccupied with the Suez crisis.
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Hungary: A serious threat?

  • Khrushchev was able to keep control of the uprising. However, if Hungary left the Warsaw Pact, there would have been a gap in the "Iron Curtain" and the "Buffer Zone" against the West would be broken.
  • Khrushchev feared the other countries of Eastern Europe would want to follow Hungary's example. It was much more serious than the Prague Spring. It highlighted the uncompromising nature of the Soviet Union.
  • The Uprising marked a stalemate in the Cold War. It showed that neither side would interfere in each other's "Sphere of Influence". It did not end "Peaceful Co-existence"
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Nuclear arms race and space race

  • Khrushchev wanted to compete with the west to prove that the Soviet system was better. He put the first satellite, Sputnik, into space in 1957 and the first man into space, Yuri Gagarin, in 1961.
  • In 1957, the USSR developed the first ICBM which could hit targets thousands of miles away, in 1959 the USA also developed ICBMs. In 1960, the USA was beginning to pull ahead. The American people thought there was a "Missile Gap", but Eisenhower knew the truth as he had been flying U2 spy planes over the USSR.
  • In 1960, the USA had developed POLARIS missiles, nuclear weapons which could be fired from submarines. The nuclear arms race probably prevented war, because it acted as a "Nuclear Deterrent" which became known as MAD.
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The U2 Crisis

  • A US spy plane was shot down over the Soviet Union in 1960, Khrushchev and Eisenhower were about to meet at the Paris Summit Conference in 1960.
  • Khrushchev accused Eisenhower of spying but he denied it and claimed that it was a weather plane. The plane and the pilot were meant to have been destroyed, but the pilot, Gary Powers, and the plane were intact. He was put on trial in Moscow.
  • The U2 crisis was one of the most important threats of all in this period, it brought "Peaceful Co-existence" to an end. Khrushchev stormed out of the Paris Summit. Two of the main topics to be discussed was the future of Berlin and a Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. This may have led to the Berlin Wall, which made Berlin one of the main "Flashpoints".
  • Mistrust between the East and the West increased greatly, the USSR had gained major propaganda victory.
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The Berlin Wall

  • East Germans fled to the West as they were not pleased with the economy and political conditions of a communist society. There were shortages of goods, and they could see great prosperity in the West.
  • Most defectors were highly educated people, with them leaving it, was difficult to prove that the Soviet system was better than the West. It was called the "Brain Drain". By 1961, 10,000 people were defecting per week.
  • The construction of the Berlin Wall started at 2 AM on August 13th, 1961. Khrushchev believed that he could get away with the wall, as he thought that as Kennedy was young, he was easy to push around.
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Did the Berlin Wall increase tension?

  • It seemed to be a dangerous incident - there was a small confrontation at "Checkpoint Charlie" however no shots were fired. The USA gained propaganda from this, surely the East Germans had to have hated it so much that Khrushchev had to build a wall to keep them in.
  • In 1963, Kennedy visited Berlin and made a speech to thousands. In it, he said "Ich bin ein Berliner."
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The Cuba Missiles Crisis

  • In 1959, Fidel Castro seized power in Cuba, before that it had been under US influence. They cut off all aid to Cuba, at first he was not a communist but due to the actions of the US, he was forced to accept aid from the Soviet Union.
  • The USA was horrified at the prospect of a Communist country only 90 miles from the American coast. Politicians feared that the "Domino Effect" would take place in Latin America and the Carribean.
  • The CIA tried to murder Castro, there were at least 14 attempts, all of which failed.
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The Bay of Pigs

  • Kennedy decided to allow a plan to continue when Cuban exiles would invade Cuba and then begin a national uprising which would topple Castro. The exiles (1,500)  landed at the Bay of Pigs but were met by Castro's forces numbering at 20,000.
  • All the exiles were either killed or captured, Kennedy was made to look foolish. In December 1961, Castro announced that he was a communist. In 1962, a US spy plane took photographs which showed Soviet missile bases being built on Cuba.
  • Kennedy decided on to create a blockade so Soviet ships could not bring over nuclear weapons.180 ships and a fleet of submarines were made ready for combat. 
  • Khrushchev sent two letters, one in public was defiant and the second offered a compromise. Kennedy agreed to the second letter which may have been canceled due to Khrushchev shooting down another U2 plane, but Kennedy immediately apologised. In return, the Us removed their missiles from Italy and Turkey.
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Did the Cuba Missile Crisis increase tension?

  • It was the most serious crisis of the Cold War. Khrushchev lost prestige and the Soviet Communist Party removed him from office in 1964. It also helped to decrease tension as both leaders could see how close they were to declaring war.
  • They both agreed to set up a telephone hotline "The Washington-Moscow Hotline" to talk directly in any future crisis. In 1963, the Superpowers signed the Test Ban Treaty. This led to a Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty in 1972.
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Continuation of the arms and space race

  • In 1963, the USSR put the first woman in space, Valentina Tereshkova.
  • In 1969, the USA's Apollo space programme achieved the greatest success of all; the landing od Apollo 14 on the moon, with Neil Armstrong as the first man on the Moon.
  • Many historians argue that the space race reduced tension, as it allowed both sides to compete in more peaceful ways.
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Czechoslovakia: The "Prague Spring"

  • The unpopular leader, Novotny, was replaced by Alexander Dubcek, in January 1968. Dubcek put forward his ideas more clearly in his Action Programme, it also became known as "Socialism with a human face".
  • He wanted to abolish censorship, give free-speech, increased rights for trade unions, freedom of movement and religion and reduction in powers of the secret police. In July 1968, Dubcek was summoned to attend conferences in Warsaw and Moscow., but refused.
  • Dubcek made it clear that Czechoslovakia would not leave the Warsaw Pact and was still communist. In August 1968, Dubcek made the decision to invade Czechoslovakia. In October 1968, all reforms were reversed, the following year Dubcek was dismissed from the Central Committee of the Czech Communist Party, he was replaced by Gustav Husak.
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Was Czechoslovakia a serious threat?

  • It led to the Brezhnev Doctrine (1968), which partly threatened the growing Détente between the West and the USSR.
  • It was not a serious threat to the USSR's control of Eastern Europe. There was very little fighting. The USSR and other Warsaw Pact countries used the excuse that they were "saving Czechoslovakian people from Western counter-revolutionary forces" - an untrue claim.
  • There were some protests from the USA, but nothing more. It did not increase tension in the Cold War. It was another example of the West allowing the USSR to control its "Sphere of influence" without interference.
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Détente

  • During the early 1970s, the USA and the Soviet Union came to accept each other's areas of influence around the world and wanted to improve international relations.
  • Brezhnev was keen to continue "Peaceful Co-existence", he was also keen to peacefully persuade the West to accept Soviet control of Eastern Europe. The USSR could not afford to carry on spending money on the Cold War. The USSR had quarreled with China and he feared a friendship between the USA and China, so a relationship with the West was even more important.
  • The USA suffered from "stagflation", due to the huge costs of the Vietnam War and the Cold War, they decided that easing tension was necessary for reducing military spending. In 1968, the USA, USSR, and Britain signed the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty, which aimed to stop the spread of nuclear weapons to other countries.
  • Richard Nixon became President in 1969 and was especially keen to establish better relationships with the USSR and China.
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SALT 1 Agreement

  • The Strategic Arms Limitations Talks produced the SALT 1 Agreement in 1972, it limited the number of ICBMs and ABMs on each side.
  • Each side was allowed to use spy satellites, it was a great achievement but did not reduce the number of actual weapons.
  • However, it also meant that President Nixon and Brezhnev began to meet each other personally.
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