Origins of the Cold War Chapter 26 Section 1

A New War Cold War Era of confrontation and competition b/w the US and the Soviet Union After WWII to about 1990 The two sides had different goals of what to do in Europe after WWII

Soviet Goals for Europe The Soviet Union wanted… Keep Germany weak Countries b/w Germany and the SU under Soviet control Encourage communism in other nations (especially in Europe) Paranoid that capitalist nations would eventually try to destroy communist nations

American Goals for Europe The US wants… Promote economic growth through trade b/c we blamed WWII on… The Depression – allowed Hitler’s rise and Japan’s desire to expand their empire Isolationism – made depression worse b/c countries cut back on trade and were forced to go to war to gain the resources they needed

The US wants… (2) Promoted democracy Promoted free enterprise B/l that democratic govt. w/ protection of people’s rights made countries more stable and peaceful Promoted free enterprise Free enterprise system w/ private property and limited govt. intervention in the economy was the best route for prosperity

The Yalta Conference Yalta Conference – Issues discussed February 1945, b/f the end of WWII FDR, Stalin, and Churchill meet at Yalta Yalta – a Soviet resort on the Black Sea To plan the postwar world Issues discussed Poland Declaration of Liberated Europe Division of Germany

Yalta - Poland Poland Two govts. claiming the right to govern Poland (1 communist and 1 non-Communist) FDR and Churchill argued the Poles should choose their own type of govt. Stalin stated the Polish govt. had to be friendly to the Soviet Union Eventual compromise FDR and Churchill would recognize the communist govt. set up by the Soviets Stalin agreed the govt. would include members of the prewar Polish govt. and that free elections would be held ASAP

Yalta - Europe The Declaration of Liberated Europe Asserted “the right of all people to choose the form of govt. under which they will live” The Allies also promised To create temporary govts. that represented all democratic elements and pledged to have free elections of govts. as early as possible

Yalta – Germany Dividing Germany Divide Germany into 4 zones Each zone would be governed by a different country (Britain, US, Soviet Union, and France The same 4 countries would also divide Berlin Berlin sat in the Soviet zone of Germany Stalin demanded that Germany pay heavy reparations for the war damage of WWII FDR agreed but wanted the payments to be based on Germany’s ability to pay Germany to pay w/ trade goods and products instead of cash Stalin agreed This debate on reparations and economic policy in Germany increased tensions b/w the US and the Soviets It would b/c one of the major causes of the Cold War

Tensions Begin to Rise The Soviet Union… Pressured the King of Romania into appointing a communist govt. Refused to allow more than 3 non-communist Poles to serve in an 18 member Polish govt. Also, there was no indication that they planed to hold free elections as promised US accused the Soviets of violating the Declaration of Liberated Europe

Truman Takes Over Truman Strongly anticommunist Suspicious of Stalin B/l that WWII started b/c Britain tried to appease Hitler Truman was determined not to make the same mistake w/ Stalin Sends a message to Stalin demanding that he hold free elections in Poland as he had promised to do at Yalta

The Potsdam Conference July 1945 b/f end of WWII Truman and Stalin meet in Potsdam Potsdam – near Berlin To work out a deal on Germany Regarding reparations and their economy

Potsdam Conference July 1945

Potsdam’s Goal Work out a deal on Germany US wanted Germany’s economy to revive so they didn’t turn to communism out of desperation Truman takes a firm stand against heavy reparations Stalin wants Germany to pay more Truman proposes – Soviets take reparations from their zone and allow the other zones of Germany to recover economically Stalin refused b/c most of the Soviet zone was agricultural and could not provide all the reparations that Stalin wanted The other zones had a lot of industry

The Potsdam Deal Truman and Stalin’s deal Stalin gets a small amount of German industrial equipment from other zones, but… The Soviets had to pay for part of it w/ food shipments from their zone Truman accepts the new German-Polish border the Soviets had established Truman also tells Stalin that the atomic bomb had been successfully tested A threat!

The Iron Curtain Communist countries of Eastern Europe came to be called satellite nations Not under direct Soviet control, but they had to remain Communist and friendly to the Soviets Satellite Nations East Germany Poland Romania Bulgaria Albania Yugoslavia Hungary Czechoslovakia