The Cold War Begins Unit 7.1

Setting the Scene… Allied Cooperation was Temporary Stalin is hostile to capitalism and the U.S. in particular The Soviet Union just lost 20 million citizens and had it’s western half decimated.

1945 Stalin, Churchill, and FDR had worked well together most of the times. We now see that the cooperation between the Soviets and the U.S. and Great Britain was temporary. Soviets harbor hostility towards capitalism and the U.S. in particular.

Soviet Goals Stalin wants... 20 Billion in war reparations from Germany. a barrier to protect “Mother Russia” from Europe. To make sure Germany is never a threat again.

The U.S. wants… Freedom for the countries we just fought to liberate. A strong, free, and open Europe. (democracies are good for business!)

Just after five o'clock on April 12, 1945, Truman received an urgent summons from the White House. When he arrived, Mrs. Roosevelt told him, "The President is dead." Truman asked, "Is there anything I can do for you?" But Mrs. Roosevelt responded, "Is there anything we can do for you? For you are the one in trouble now."

Death of FDR

Truman was very unprepared to take over as President Truman was very unprepared to take over as President. He was FDR’s third Vice-President, after “Cactus Jack” Garner and Henry Wallace.

Truman was kept out of all foreign policy under FDR. From the time Truman was chosen as the VP nominee until Roosevelt’s death, the two met only eight times. Three months after taking the oath, Truman was in Potsdam discussing the fate of postwar Europe with Churchill and Stalin, relying on briefing books and a small group of advisers, most of whom he barely knew.

“Uncle Joe” vs “Give ‘em hell Harry” Stalin was a much stronger negotiator than Truman anticipated. Even so….the show must go on. Truman must deal with the future of Europe while the war with Japan is still going on.

Potsdam Conference - 1945 Churchill’s political party loses power and he is replaced by Clement Attlee during the conference

Potsdam Cont… Stalin claims that he will allow free elections in Poland, but he does not do so. Germany is divided. Russians are given some reparations from captured German areas. (industrial and agricultural)

Soviets tighten their grip One by one, all countries that were liberated by the U.S.S.R. fall under Stalin’s tyranny. Elections in Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, East Germany are rigged or stolen, and these countries become satellite states of the Soviet Union. “The people who cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything” - Stalin

Churchill,speaking at Fulton College in Missouri in March, 1945, referring to a map of Eastern Europe: “From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent.” Sir Winston Churchill Churchill also warned that the Soviet Union was attempting to spread Communism into Western Europe and East Asia. The only answer is for the U.S. and other democratic countries to stand firm.

Iron Curtain Please note: this is NOT an actual curtain of iron. It’s just a figure of speech. Got it?

The Truman Doctrine "I believe that it must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures.” Harry S. Truman He’s talking about the Communists!

George Kennan an American diplomat and expert on the Soviet Union “The United States policy towards the Soviet Union must be that of a long-term, patient but firm and vigilant containment of Russian expansive tendencies.”

The U.S. Containment Policy Many argued that containment was too weak, and we should push Stalin back into his borders. Keenan saw what the future held for the Soviet Union, stating that it: "bears within it the seeds of its own decay”.

Containment, Cont. Keenan’s argument carries the day, and containment becomes the U.S.’s official policy towards communism for the coming decades. This allows us to keep communism from taking over democracies.

However… We have no way of fighting communism in countries where it already has roots…as in Eastern Europe.

There’s a great chance the Depression could return. After World War II, Europe is in shambles. The economy is destroyed, people are starving, with little chance of recovery. There’s a great chance the Depression could return. A weak Europe could easily fall to Communist influence.

Setting the Scene 21 million Europeans are homeless 20% of Poland’s population is dead 1 in 5 French and Belgian homes are destroyed or damaged Livestock and farm equipment were destroyed

The Marshall Plan is successful and the areas of Germany under “Western” occupation begin to recover and prosper This is a problem for Stalin as people in the areas controlled by the USSR begin to flee to the West The Western powers were looking to reunite their area of Germany into one united zone with a currency. Stalin did not want a united Germany, especially one that was successful. The divided Berlin was in the middle of the Soviet zone. When the “Western” half of Berlin became part of the new united zone and adopted the new currency, Stalin decided to try and force the West to give up Berlin completely.

For Stalin to shoot down the planes, it would start a war. The U. S For Stalin to shoot down the planes, it would start a war. The U.S. and it’s Allies had successfully called his bluff.

The Candy Bomber. A Christmas Story by Tom Brokaw. 13 minutes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hjz8yu5MWC0 Or click the box below