Origins of the Cold War

Origins of the Cold War

Origins of the Cold War – Ideological Differences • Different philosophies/ideologies: • Democratic capitalism • Marxist-Leninist communism

United States – Soviet Union • No elections or fixed elections • Dictatorship • Communist • Everyone helps everyone else • Poor economic base • Society controlled by the NKVD • Total censorship • Free elections • Democratic • Capitalist • “Survival of the Fittest” • Richest world power • Personal freedom • Freedom of the media

Origins of the Cold War – Russian Revolution • The Russian Revolution caused uneasiness in the West • The U.S. accused the Soviets of seeking to expand their version of communism throughout the world • The Soviets charged the U.S. with practicing imperialism and attempting to interfere in revolutionary activities of other nations

Origins of the Cold War – Prior to WWII • No Soviet representative participated in the Treaty of Versailles • The U.S. had intervened in the Russian Civil War against the Bolsheviks • The U.S. did not establish diplomatic relations until 1933 • The Soviets were not invited to join the League of Nations until 1934

Origins of the Cold War – Prior to WWII • The Western Allies had appeased the growing power of Hitler partly in the hope that he would destroy the Soviet state for them • The U.S. and Britain believed that Stalin was a bigger threat than Hitler • The USSR signed the Nazi-Soviet Pact (Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact) to delay a German invasion

Origins of the Cold War – During WWII • The USSR had been supplying the Luftwaffe with aircraft fuel with which to fight the Battle of Britain and to bomb British cities in the Blitz • Once Operation Barbarrosa took place in 1942, war aims differed: • Soviets wanted territory • U.S. wanted freedom

Origins of the Cold War – During WWII • Delays in opening a second front angered the Soviets • Western leaders promised it in 1942 & 43, but only delivered in mid-1944 • From the fall of France until mid-1944, most of the fighting was left up to the Soviets

Origins of the Cold War – During WWII • Upon discussion of opening a second front, Churchill argued for the option least helpful to Stalin, the invasion of Italy, partly in the hope that Germany and the USSR would fight to exhaustion before the West stepped in • Stalin – “They want to bleed us white in order to dictate their terms to us later”

Origins of the Cold War – During WWII • Britain and the U.S. didn’t help the Soviets in developing atomic weapons • The U.S. had used nuclear weapons on Japan and Stalin was fearful of nuclear blackmail or an attack • This led to the arms race

Origins of the Cold War – During WWII • 1949 – The Soviets exploded an atomic bomb • In response, Truman ordered the development of the “H-bomb” (hydrogen bomb), which is 750 times more powerful than an atomic bomb • 1952 – The U.S. tested its first H-bomb at Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands • 1953 – The Soviets tested their first H-bomb • Each side tried to outdo the other in the scramble to build more destructive weapons

Teheran Conference(Nov. 28-Dec. 1, 1943)‏ • First meeting of the “Big-Three” • Stalin • Churchill • F. Roosevelt • Its purpose was to set the direction of WWII in Europe: • The 2nd front was discussed • Possible entry of the Soviets into the war against Japan • Possible creation of an international organization to maintain peace after the war

Yalta Conference(Feb. 3, 1945)‏ • Most of the discussions involved the arrangement of Europe following the end of the war • Peace meant different things to each leader: • Stalin – an increase in Soviet power and safeguards against further attacks • Churchill – a free and democratic Europe with Britain at its head • Roosevelt – world democracy headed by the U.S.

Yalta Conference(Feb. 3, 1945)‏ • The decisions at Yalta were: • Churchill and Roosevelt agreed to temporarily divide Germany into zones of occupation • Stalin agreed to free and secret elections in Poland

Yalta Conference(Feb. 3, 1945)‏ • The USSR agreed to enter the war against Japan with 3 months of the end of the war in Europe • Trials would be set for leading war criminals • A meeting would be held to establish the United Nations

Potsdam(Jul. 16-Aug. 2, 1945)‏ • Its purpose was to agree upon the structure of post-war Europe. Their positions at the conference were: • USSR – Stalin was confident because of their military presence in Eastern Europe and his aims were: • Security from future attack – buffer zone • To rebuild battle-torn Russia – reparations from Germany • U.S. money – since the U.S. was untouched, they should help Russia rebuild by donating money

Potsdam(Jul. 16-Aug. 2, 1945)‏ • U.S. – Truman believed that Stalin could not be trusted and was confident in America’s economic and atomic powers • Britain – Atlee was bankrupt and one colony after another claimed independence from the British empire. However, he agreed that Soviet presence in Eastern Europe posed a threat

Potsdam(Jul. 16-Aug. 2, 1945)‏ • The decisions made at Potsdam were: • The USSR would collect reparations from its zone of occupation and would eventually receive a percentage of reparations from western zones • The allies agreed to divide Berlin as they had divided Germany • Germany was to be run by the Allied Control Council (ACC), whose decisions would be subject to the rule of unanimity

Origins of the Cold War – Immediate Aftermath of WWII • With the serious weakening of Britain and France as world powers, only the U.S. and USSR were left as superpowers

Origins of the Cold War – Immediate Aftermath of WWII • The U.S. abruptly terminated vital lend-lease aid to a battered USSR in September 1945 • The main reason for providing the aid appeared to be for Britain’s sake because their aid continued • Nonetheless, the U.S. demanded Soviet aid in the war against Japan

Origins of the Cold War – Immediate Aftermath of WWII • Stalin followed a policy of accommodation towards the U.S. because he believed that the capitalist powers would inevitably fall out among themselves, and that he need only wait to pick up the pieces afterwards

Origins of the Cold War – Immediate Aftermath of WWII • In March 1946, Churchill addressed the American people with his famous Iron Curtain speech, “From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent of Europe” • These words marked the beginning of the Cold War

Origins of the Cold War – Historiography • Orthodox View/Traditionalist – The Soviet Union is responsible: Soviet Insecurity drove them to confront the United States. There was nothing the US could have done. The Ideological perspective here is that Communism is a danger/aggressive. • : Soviet Expansion and Paranoia drove them. – Their Fault (The Soviet Union is to Blame) • G. Kennan

Origins of the Cold War – Historiography • Revisionist – The United States is responsible: United States needs to have markets and resources to feed its economy. The Soviet Union impeded these goals and therefore had to be confronted. Economic Issues drive US policy. The Ideological perspective here is that Capitalism is the danger/aggressor. • The New Left: Our Fault (The United Sates is to Blame)

Origins of the Cold War – Historiography • Revisionist • That post war American foreign policy approximated the classical Leninist model of Imperialism-… • That this internally motivated drive for empire left little room for accommodating the legitimate security interests of the Soviet Union, thereby ensuring the breakdown of wartime cooperation • That the United States imposed its empire on a mostly unwilling world, recruiting it into military alliances, forcing it into positions of economic dependency, maintaining its imperial authority against growing opposition by means that included bribery, intimidation, and covert intervention. • That all of this took place against the will of the people of the United States, who were tricked by cynical but skillful leaders into supporting this policy of imperialism through the propagation of the myth that monolithic communism threatened the survival of the nation.

Origins of the Cold War – Historiography • Post-Revisionist– There is truth in both arguments. The Soviet Union under Stalin was paranoid and difficult to deal with. The United States was driven in large part by the fear of another depression. Other issues played a serious role in the origins of the Cold War: Domestic Policy, Security, Allies, and perceptions. The Ideological perspective here is that all post-revisionist do not agree. Ideology still drives their views regarding the degree of responsibility each side has. • What the post-revisionists have done is to confirm, on the basis of documents, several of the key arguments of the old orthodox position, and that in itself is a significant development. • John Lewis Gaddis

Origins of the Cold War