Tensions between East and West COLD WAR Tensions between East and West
Ideologies Private ownership Democracy Gap between rich and poor classes State ownership One-party state Classless
Tensions before WW2 West mistrust East Communism threaten western lifestyle Bolshevik government deserted allies and made peace with Germany (WW1) Disliked Stalin’s totalitarian policies Stalin signed Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact East mistrust West Believed capitalism to be morally wrong West gave aid to the White Army during Civil war Allies gave away Russian land during Paris Peace Conference (WW1) Stalin distrusted West’s policy of appeasement towards Hitler
Temporarily set aside their differences when the Nazis invaded the Soviet Union in 1941 USA with Britain and the Soviet Union formed what became known as the Grand Alliance to defeat Hitler but it was a "marriage of convenience" From 1941 the USSR carried the main burden in the fight against the Nazis, Soviet casualties began to mount It was two years before the Americans opened up a second front, Stalin viewed this delay as a deliberate attempt to weaken the USSR The USA ended the Lend-lease program that was providing essential supplies to the Soviet people Stalin grew more suspicious over Western secrecy of the atomic bomb, Stalin was only informed about its existence after the Nazi defeat WORLD WAR TWO TENSIONS
End of World War 2 “Marriage of convenience started to fall apart Distrust and suspicions started to emerge after peace conferences Key issue was extension of Soviet control in Europe
Europe in 1949
Soviet expansion Annexed Baltic states and East Poland Presence of Soviet army in Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania and East Germany Soviet governments established in above mentioned states No free elections took place as promised during peace conferences
Further Soviet expansion Communist coup in Czechoslovakia (1948) Confirmed Western suspicions about Stalin’s intensions The West was worried that the whole of Europe would fall under Soviet control and become communist
Stalin’s interest in Eastern Europe In this German cartoon, the banner reads: "We thank our liberators."
Why was Stalin so interested in Eastern Europe? Wanted it to act as a buffer between Germany and the USSR Saw it as vital to the development of the Soviet economy. These countries would be a source of cheap goods and raw materials. They would also be forced to trade with the Soviet Union Some historians believe that Stalin's interest in Eastern Europe was part of a pattern of conquest. Others believe that Stalin would have been happy to allow coalition governments to continue, but hostility from the West forced him to impose a harsh regime in this area.
Reaction of the West West grew increasingly alarmed at the situation in Eastern Europe Saw Stalin as a dictator who had eliminated his opposition Prompted Winston Churchill to make his famous speech in Fulton, Missouri (USA) in March 1946
"Iron Curtain" Declared that "an iron curtain" had descended across Europe from Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic. He basically stated that Europe was now divided into separate halves by Soviet policy On the one hand in the West, there were free democratic states, while in the East, behind the "Iron Curtain", were the countries under communist domination subject to the Soviet Union He called for a Western alliance to combat the threat of communism
Iron Curtain The Iron Curtain was the imaginary border between communist eastern Europe and the countries of western Europe, which were parliamentary democracies with capitalist economic systems. The communist states of eastern Europe were often referred to in the West as Soviet 'satellites'.
Stalin’s reaction Stalin was angered by this speech and accused Churchill of trying to stir up war against the Soviet Union The speech certainly widened the gap between the USSR and the West, but did little to combat communist expansion in Eastern Europe.