1. The Cold War Begins Origins of the Cold War
In this Decade:

2. Student Objectives Discuss the importance of Yalta and Potsdam
Compare and contrast the Yalta Conference and the Potsdam Conference

3. The Cold War 1946 – 1990 Constant global confrontation between
Soviet Union
United States
Avoidance of direct armed conflict between the two “Superpowers”

4. Preview of Events February 1945 April 1945 July 1945 March 1946
Yalta conference
President Roosevelt dies
Potsdam Conference
Churchill delivers “iron curtain speech”

6. American vs Soviet Concerns
AMERICAN VIEW
SOVIET VIEW
ECONOMIC
Capitalist
Concerned about economic problems
Promote Democracy + free enterprise
SECURITY
Concerned about being invaded twice in less than 30 years by the Germans = keep Germany weak and create buffer states (satellite nations)
Communism = superior economic system

7. Yalta Conference The facts… When: February 1945 Who:
Review: #15
The facts…
When: February 1945
Who:
Roosevelt
Churchill
Stalin
Where: Soviet resort, Yalta

8. Yalta Conference cont. ISSUES DISCUSSED Poland
Soviets encouraged for a Polish Communist gov’t
Roosevelt and Churchill argued that government should be free
Stalin argued that Polish government had to be friendly with Soviet Union
Compromise = Soviet Union would set up government but would include non-communist members from pre-war government
Declaration of Liberated Europe
All agreed to issue Declaration of Liberated Europe
Declaration = gave the people the right to create democratic institutions of their choice as soon as they can through free elections
Promised to put temporary government that represented all democratic elements

9. Yalta Conference cont. ISSUES DISCUSSED cont. Dividing Germany
Into 4 zones
United States
Great Britain
France
USSR
Also divided Berlin into 4 zones
Stalin still wanted to weaken Germany economically and to pay heavy reparations
FDR agreed but insisted Germany to pay based on the country’s ability to pay
FDR and Stalin agreed Germany would pay reparations with trade goods and products instead of cash
Allies allowed to remove industrial machinery, railroad cars, and other equipment from Germany as reparations

10. Yalta Conference Result
Arguments about reparations and economic policy continued
Tensions between United States and Soviet Union increased
After the conference…
Soviet Union pressured King of Romania into appointing a Communist government
United States accused Soviets of violating Declaration of Liberated Europe
Soon after… Soviet Union refused to allow more than 3 non-communist Poles to serve in 18 member government
Soviet Union had no indication to hold free elections in Poland as promised
April 1, 1945 – FDR informed Soviets that their actions were not acceptable
11 days later, FDR died
Truman becomes President

11. Truman Takes Control
Review: #43
He was strongly anticommunist and suspicious of Stalin
Believed WWII started because Great Britain tried to appease Hitler – did not want to make the same mistake
10 days after taking office, Truman met with Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov
Brought up issue of Poland
Demanded that Stalin hold free elections as promised at Yalta
Molotov reported back to Stalin
MEETING CREATED IMPORTANT SHIFT IN SOVIET- AMERICAN RELATIONS
Why??

12. Potsdam Conference The facts… When: July 1945 Who: Where: Potsdam
Review: #9
The facts…
When: July 1945
Who:
Truman
Attlee
Stalin
Where: Potsdam
near Berlin

13. Potsdam Conference cont.
Truman and Stalin believed in reparations from Germany
Truman wanted Germany’s industry recovered so that the country’s economy could revive
Germany’s strong economy = could help the rest of Europe recover and Germany would turn away from communism
Stalin opposed  wanted Germany to pay more reparations than the other zones wanted
Truman suggests Stalin to take reparations from the Soviet zone while the allied zones would allow their economy to revive
Stalin opposed  Soviet zone was mostly agriculture
Could not provide all the reparations that Soviets wanted
To get Soviets to accept deal, Truman offered Stalin small amount of German industrial equipment from other zones and agree to accept new German- Polish border
In return, Stalin would have to pay part of it with food shipments from the Soviet zone

14. Potsdam Conference cont.
Did Stalin agree to these terms?
Stalin STILL disagreed
BUT – Truman learned something while at Potsdam
The U.S. successfully tested the atomic bomb
Truman told Stalin about the test
Stalin suspected Truman was trying to bully him into the deal
And suspected that Americans were trying to limit reparations to keep Soviets weak
Nevertheless… Stalin had to accept the deal
US and Great Britain troops controlled German’s industrial heartland = Soviets had to cooperate in order to get reparations

15. Potsdam Conference Result
End of conference marked more tensions between Soviets and the Americans
Further paving way to Cold War

16. The Iron Curtain Descends
Soviets refused to make stronger commitments to uphold Declaration of Liberated Europe after Potsdam
Soviet army in east Europe ensured a pro-Soviet Communist government to be established in
Poland
Romania
Hungary
Czechoslovakia
These became the satellite nations that buffered the Soviet Union from Germany
Nations were not under direct Soviet control
BUT had to remain communist and friendly to Soviet Union AND follow policies Soviets approved of

17. Winston Churchill
March 5, 1946 – After seeing the Soviet Union takeover Eastern Europe, Churchill gave a speech
“From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of central and Eastern Europe… All are subject, in one form or another, not only to Soviet influence, but to a very high increasing measure of control from Moscow.”
Iron Curtain – separating the communist nations of Eastern Europe from the West, marking end of WWII and beginning of the Cold War