Reasons for the Cold War

Ideological distrust between communism and free democracy Party Dictatorship vs. Free Elections

Ideological distrust between capitalism and a command economy Communist idea: the wealth of a country should be collectively owned and shared by everyone. The economy should be centrally planned and the interests and well-being of the working classes safeguarded by state policies Capitalist idea: the wealth of a country operates on the basis of private ownership. Private corporations decides what is to be produced (free market enterprise) based on profits and the preservation of the power of private wealth and self-interest

Bad Blood: The Russian Civil War and foreign involvement in it Bad Blood: The Russian Civil War and foreign involvement in it. Whites Vs. Reds. British sailors in the Russian Civil War

Bad Blood II: The COMINTERN or Communist International – promoting communist revolution throughout the world

Bad Blood III: Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact

Stalin’s promise at Yalta to allow the people of Eastern Europe to have free elections but doing the contrary He instead helped set up pro-Soviet communist governments in the areas he ‘liberated’ – Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Hungary, East Germany

No free elections Party Dictatorship Rigged Elections where applicable All other political parties banned Exile or imprisonment for non-communists Presence of Soviet troops

US and British politicians were increasing suspicious and hostile to the Soviet Union Stalin also distrusted Truman and believed that he used the atomic bombs to prevent the Soviet Union from having a say in peace settlements in the Pacific and the future occupation of Japan

The US did not tell Stalin about the existence of the atomic bomb until shortly before its use on Japan and they rejected Stalin’s request that Russia share in the occupation of Japan

The Issue of the Second Front UNCLE JOE STALIN

Iron Curtain Speech ..An Iron curtain has descended across the continent. Behind the lie lies all the great capitals of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe…all those famous cities and the population around them lie in the Soviet sphere are are all subject..to a very high and increasing measure of control from Moscow – Winston Churchll, 1946

Measures taken by the West to contain Soviet expansion led to distrust: The Truman Doctrine Female Macedonian Partisans in the Greek Civil War The US was to give military help to any nations threatened by communist aggression. US military and economic aid to Greece and Turkey to fight communism.

At the present moment, nearly every nation must choose between alternate ways of life. The choice is often not a free one. One way of life is based on the will of the majority and is distinguished by free institutions, representative government, free elections, guarantees of individual liberty, freedom of speech and religion and freedom of political oppression. The second way of life is based upon the will of a minority forcibly imposed upon the majority. It relies upon terror and oppression, a controlled press and radio, fixed elections and the suppression of personal freedoms. I believe it must be the policy of the USA to support free peoples who are resisting subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures

Marshall Plan – US economic aid ($17b) and technical assistance for the reconstruction of war-torn Europe. Aim: Economic recovery of Europe would stop the spread of communism Europe would be a major market for US products. Attract Eastern Europe to join the program (Only Yugoslavia joins)

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia was under Marshal Tito who was legally elected in 1945. He had great prestige as anti-German resistance leader and it was his forces, not the Russians which liberated Yugosolavia from German occupation. Tito in fact resented Stalin’s attempts to interfere

Russian response was to create COMINFORM – the idea was to promote Russian style communism in Eastern Europe Like Marshall Plan, it gave aid to industrialize Eastern Europe, collectivize agriculture and centralize the governments in Eastern Europe. States were expected to trade primary with COMINFORM members and all contacts with non-communist countries were discouraged

COMECOM – To coordinate the economic policies of communist countries

The Berlin Blockade Stalin’s reason: Angered by economic reunification of the 3 Allied Zones in Berlin and Germany which made a strong Germany a potential military threat Create an international situation to try to annex Berlin

Effects of the Berlin Blockade The hostility between both East and West deepened Germany divided into the Federal Republic (FDR or West Germany) and the German Democratic Republic (GDR or East Germany) The West needed to coordinate their military forces to defend Western Europe from the threat of Soviet invasion

NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) is formed in 1949 An armed attack against any one of their members would be taken as an attack against all members. US $1.5b for military aid. Its purpose was to safeguard against Soviet expansion in Western Europe

Formation of Warsaw Pact - 1955 A defensive system similar to that of NATO. Agreement to defend each other against any attack from outside. The armies of the member states are to be under overall Russian control from Moscow