The Cold War

1. The Cold War

2. What is a Cold War? The Cold War is the conflict between the Communist nations led by the Soviet Union and the democratic nations led by the United States. It is fought by all means: • propaganda • economic war • diplomatic haggling • occasional military clashes. It is fought in all places: • neutral states • newly independent nations in Africa and Asia • in space. The historians have so far not reached any agreement on the time in which the Cold War began. It is, however, quite safe to say that since 1947 when President Truman of the United States declared an anti-communist policy through the Truman Doctrine, the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union had begun.

3. Causes of the Cold War There were deep-rooted ideological, economic and political differences between the United States and the Soviet Union before the Second World War. These differences were intensified as a result of their mutual suspicions immediately after the Second World War. Ideological: • The United States and the Soviet Union represent two opposing systems of government. In the United States, the government is elected by free elections. The people can form political parties to voice their political opinions. They also possess the right of assembly, of speech and of the press. In the Soviet Union, the government is formed by the Communist Party. The people do not have the right to form their own political parties. They do not enjoy the right of assembly, of speech and of the press. Economic: • The United States wanted to encourage free trade throughout the world. The Soviet Union wanted to shield off her own sphere from international commerce. Russia feared that trade with the West would involve the risk of Russia being opened to western influences which would have eroded the strength of the totalitarian regime. These differences led to much ill feeling between the United States and the Soviet Union. Power rivalry: • After the Second World War, with the decline of Europe, power was largely shared between the Soviet Union and the United States. As one wanted to dominate the other, conflicts were inevitable.

4. Immediate Causes Leading to the Cold War Incipient conflict between the Soviet Union and the United States began at the peace-time conferences. Their conflict was intensified after President Truman declared the Truman Doctrine and launched the Marshall Plan in 1947. • Extension of Russian influence in Europe: • During WWII they had gained control of parts of Poland and by the end of the war they had control over Eastern Germany. • The reactions of the United States: • The US, from May 1945, took on a policy of resistance to the Soviet Union. This was due to the succession of President Truman, who took an anti-communist stance. • The US believed they held the power with the atomic bomb. • Truman has disgusted with the attitude of the Soviet Union in post-war peace negotiations particularly at the Potsdam Conference. • Poor relations between the United States and the Soviet Union: • A general climate of mistrust between the two nations saw the emergence of what was referred to as the ‘Iron Curtain’.

5. Dividing Europe… Post-war division of Europe was decided at the Potsdam Conference. From 17 July to 2 August 1945, the victorious Allied Powers reached the Potsdam Agreement. This determined the fate of postwar Europe, calling for the division of defeated Germany into four temporary occupation zones. These zones were located roughly around the current locations of the allied armies. Additionally, the German capital of Berlin was to be divided into four sectors: the French sector, British Sector, American sector and the Soviet sector. Berlin was located 100 miles inside the Soviet occupation zone. The Soviet zone produced much of Germany's food supply, while the territory of the British and American zones had to rely on food imports even before the war. In addition, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin ordered the incorporation of part of eastern Poland into the Soviet Union, compensating Poland by ceding to it a large portion of Germany east of the Oder-Neisse line. This area had contained much of Germany's fertile land. The administration of occupied Germany was coordinated by the Four Power Allied Control Council (ACC)