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East-West The Cold War
The Cold War • The Cold War was term given to characterise the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union. It was a period of tension which existed shortly after the introduction of communism in the Soviet Union and intensified after the Second World War. • The term originally was used to describe tensions between rivalries in 14th century Spain. It was reborn in 1947 when Bernard Baruch used it to describe the diverging experiences and policies of the USA and USSR. • The Cold War would dominate international affairs for almost four decades as mutual perceptions of hostile tension developed between military-political alliances or blocs.
Did someone say alliance? • Even though the USA and USSR did not see eye to eye in areas such as the economy and politics from the 1920s onwards, they were able to put their differences aside for a short time in order to overthrow Hitler during WWII. • It was dubbed the “Great Alliance” by Winston Churchill and involved the USA, the USSR and Great Britain.
After the war… • Decisions had to be made regarding Germany. • Europe was devastated. It required rebuilding. The USA introduced the Marshall Plan in 1947 where $20 billion dollars would be provided as aid to European nations geared to rebuild. • The USSR refused to accept the money, Stalin claimed that it was trick therefore in 1949 he created the Council for Mutual and Economic Cooperation (COMECON). It registered bilateral trade and credit agreements among member countries and eventually focused on areas of industrialisation. It was a Soviet version of an economic community; Moscow's answer to the Marshall Plan.
New alliances • NATO: North Atlantic Treaty Organization, began in 1949 as a military and political alliance of European nations, the United States and Canada. Its purpose was to protect Western Europe from a Soviet attack. • Warsaw Pact: Soviet-led Eastern European defence organization established in Warsaw, Poland, on May 14, 1955; the alliance countered NATO. • Truman Doctrine: It was established in 1947 after Britain no longer could afford to provide anti-communist aid to Greece and Turkey. It pledged to provide U.S. military and economic aid to any nation threatened by communism. • Cominform: International communist information bureau established by Stalin in 1947; dissolved by Khrushchev in 1956.
Three types of war • Hot War: actual warfare • Warm War: talks are going on but military forces have been mobilised • Cold War: neither side fights but tensions are always high
Propaganda • Communism was frowned upon in Canada but measures taken were not as extreme as the United States. • In Canada, the RCMP discreetly investigated scientists, professors, civil servants and trade unionists. • In Quebec, Maurice Duplessis was very anti-communist. The Quebec Padlock law gave police the power to seal off any property where communist literature or activity was suspected. • In a 1955 Canadair advertisement it stated: "Everywhere are evidences of the continuous underground, cancerous movements of Communism ... Only eternal vigilance can protect us against Communism and its infiltration into our way of life." • A Maclean’s magazine columnist described the paranoid atmosphere of the time: "If a housewife in Ottawa hears a knock on her door, it can be one of only two people. The milkman or the RCMP".
Great quotes • From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic an iron curtain has descended across the Continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe. Warsaw, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade, Bucharest and Sofia; all these famous cities and the populations around them lie in what I must call the Soviet sphere, and all are subject, in one form or another, not only to Soviet influence but to a very high and in some cases increasing measure of control from Moscow. Winston Churchill 1946
Soviet Propaganda "Two worlds & two wars." 1948 Text top: "Strategic plan to attack drought." Text bottom: "Strategic plan for military bases." Capital is the source of all evil. The red text on the left states that damaging the poster or pasting another one over it is a counter-revolutionary crime.
Soviet Perception • Stalin saw the world divided into two camps: a imperialist & capitalist regime and a Communist and progressive regime. • After Stalin died, Krushchev believed that the two could coexist because the Communist system had strengthened and no longer felt threatened by the West. • Radio Moscow:reached out to listeners all over the world. In the years of the Cold War most news reports and commentaries focused on the relations between the United States and Soviet Union. It was renamed the. World Service of the Voice of Russia in 1991.
And in the United States… • The Communist Weapon of Allure: a film about the methods used to lure people. • Communist Target Youth: a film about the techniques/tactics used to seduce, educate and dominate the minds of the youth. 1960 & 1969 • RED NIGHTMARE:THE COMMIES ARE COMING! THE COMMIES ARE COMING! 1962 • Voice of America:
American perspective • Harry Truman spoke of diametrically opposed systems: one that is free and the other that is bent on subjugating nations.
How Germany came to be divided… • The Yalta Conference of 1945 divided Germany and its capital Berlin, into four sections. (France, Great Britain, USA & USSR) • After Yalta, tensions between the East & West develop for a variety of reasons.
Before the Blockade • Potsdam Conference 1945- political and economic policy for Germany. Germany was divided into 4 zones and was to be governed by the Allied Control Council (France, UK, USA and USSR). Germany was to be totally “occupied, denazified, demilitarised and deindustrialised”. • Berlin, the capital of Germany, was located in the Soviet zone. • 1947 Truman Doctrine: protect free people from the subjugation … • 1947 Marshall Plan: US aid package • 1947 Comecon: the Soviet reaction to the Marshall Plan
Contributing factors • London Conference February 1948: The Western powers sought to introduce a single economic unit, a means to facilitate integration into West European life. • Soviets opposed this move and thus withdrew in March 1948 • June 1948 a new currency was introduced and as a result the Soviets blocked all access (land and water) to West Berlin. It was never put in writing, however, the West was to have 1 road , 1 rail and two air corridors into Berlin.
Reaction • The United States begins to airlift goods to Berlin. • A very costly commitment • Under the leadership of General Curtis LeMay, ten-ton capacity C-54s began supplying the city on July 1. "Operation Vittles « and often referred to as "LeMay's feed and coal company ," was bringing in an average of 5,000 tons of supplies a day by the fall of 1948. • The Blockade ends in 1949 with the Soviets lifting the blockade as they see the US not giving up. • As a result, the Federal Republic of West Germany and the Democratic Republic of East Germany is created.
Significance • First Cold War Conflict • Differing views as to how to deal with Germany • Truman’s popularity was at a low- this would boost it. • Germany is officially divided • NATO created shortly after as fear of communist build-up. • Warsaw Pact
Readings • Pages 46-47 • Letters (the blue sections) on pages 49, 50, 51,52,54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59 & 60. • What are the positions of the two sides? How did they rationalise their positions and their actions?
Activity • Look at the table found on page 62 and illustrate what life was like during the Blockade for the people of the Western and Eastern sectors. (Individually) • Debate : The Truman Doctrine was fundamentally misguided: it was bound to cause more problems than it solved. (Group) • General Clay believed that « the future of democracy » required the Western Allies to stay in Germany despite Soviet pressure. Do you agree or disagree? Justify. (group) • Imagine that you are a student in an east German classroom, what might have you been taught about the blockade? How might this differ from the information given to a West German student. Use a Venn diagram to present your information.
