End of WWI and Early Cold War
Why So Scary, Communism? It posed a direct threat to democracy and capitalism
Struggle between US and USSR was political but battle between good and evil
Democracy Communism
A system of government by elected representatives
Advocating class war and leading to a society in which all property is publicly owned
Capitalism Command/Planned Economy
Private citizens control all economic activity
State controls economy
Each person works and is paid according to their abilities and needs
Tensions With USSR Before WWII Tensions With USSR During WWII
● 1917: Russian Revolution, Russia exits WWI (Treaty of Brest-Litovsk)
● 1922: Russia becomes the Soviet Union/USSR
● 1933: United States formally recognizes the USSR
● Stalin’s purges and communist ideology are questionable to US
● Was an ally of Hitler (Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact or Soviet Non-Aggression Pact) before betrayed in invasion of USSR
● Stalin, facing the brunt of the fighting on the Eastern front, wanted America and Britain to open a second front earlier than they did
● America and Britain wanted to delay until they were fully prepared for D-Day
Peace Accords and Cold War Origins (pg. 2) Yalta Conference
● USSR has the power because Soviet armies occupied much of Eastern Europe○ US losing to in Pacific so USSR agree to declare war on
Japan after Germany’s defeat● Big 4 would occupy a divided Germany ● Heavy German reparations ● USSR take Eastern portions of Poland, rest of Poland would get
“free” elections ○ All new governments in Soviet occupied Europe would get
“free” elections
Soviet Control of Eastern Europe: Gained direct and indirect power through installing communist and other leftist governments friendly to Soviets
Split Between East and West (pg. 2)Stalin’s Awareness of USSR’s Weakness
● Number of Soviet dead (including civilians) over 20 million, Soviet territory west of Moscow destroyed ● Behind America technologically since had atomic bomb ● Stalin pretending Soviets acting from strength not weakness
Broken Promises and Ideological Gap
● Fix elections in Eastern Europe → Ex: Poland 1945-1946● Believed capitalism not Hitler that caused war
Growing Spheres of Influence
● Turned military occupation into network of satellite regimes in E. Europe 1945-1949 ○ Ex: Imposed Communist rule immediately in Bulgaria and Romania
● On both sides spheres of influence growing ○ Former Axis Powers of Italy, Japan, and Germany move towards US side ○ Soviet Union get E Europe by means Warsaw Pact
West Versus East (pg. 3)● Iron Curtain: Metaphorical description of
USSR’s bloc of Eastern European nations under Soviet sphere of influence ○ Term created by Churchill in a 1946
speech● Truman Doctrine: America’s policy to contain
communism to those countries already under Soviet control ○ Manifest itself as economic and military
aid to block communism ○ Ex: $400 million in military aid for
Greece and Turkey ○ Ex: 1947’s Marshall Plan
Marshall Plan (pg. 3)Marshall Plan (1948): funds from the United States financed an extensive reconstruction of industry and infrastructure
Stimulated an extended period of growth in Western and Central Europe called the economic miracle which was rapid economic growth largely based on consumerism in post WWII Western Europe
Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON): Soviet version of Marshall Plan, meant to rebuild East Bloc countries under Soviet influence
Division Germany (pg. 3)Potsdam Agreement (July 1945): Germany divided into four temporary occupation zones
○ Truman takes over for FDR → bad relationship between him and Stalin ○ Stalin demands land in Turkey, Japan, Libya○ Did not follow through on free elections in Poland
Berlin Airlift 1948 dispute over control of Berlin Stalin creates Berlin Blockade, cutting off Western access to both East and West Berlin because he claims all of Berlin for USSR
● U.S. responds with Berlin Airlift ○ US drops food and supplies to Berlin
which was located far inside Soviet-controlled East Germany
○ Airlift lasts 10 months
What Was (pg. 4):
Containment: contain communism by keeping it from spreading to other countries, basis of Truman Doctrine
NATO Warsaw Pact
North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Peacetime anti-Soviet military alliance of Western countries (“keep Russians out, Americans in, and Germans down”)
Soviet-backed military alliance of East Bloc Communist countries in Europe