The Opening of the Second Front:
- The USA and the UK were always reluctant to open a front on the western side
- This made the Soviets suspicious
- Stalin thought that USA wanted Stalin to be weakened and defeated by Germany so to stop the spread of communism
The Warsaw Uprising
How did this affect Tensions
- August 1944
- The Red Army approached Warsaw and the German occupying forces prepared to retreat
- The Polish resistance home army rose up to liverate Poland themselves as they had been encouraged by the Soviets
- They believed they would be assisted by the Red Army
- However, Stalin ordered his men to 'rest' on the other side of the Vistula river
- Germans counter-attacked and the poles were slaughtered
- 15,000 Polish Resistance members were killed and thousands were injured
- 100,000 civilians were killed in repisals
How did this affect Tensions
- The Polish resistance was organised and backed by London Poles who were capitalists
- Some thought that the USSR left the Polish Army to be crushed to get rid of any opposing forces to communist rule in Poland
Tensions at Yalta
- February 1945 4th to 11th
- Tensions were caused by:
- Argues over the kind of governemnts that would be set up in easern Europe, particularily Poland. Stalin refused to allow democratic elections in Poland
- Ideas of what free elections and democracy was misenterpreted by both
- Reparations were another conflict however they were postponed
- London Poles
Clear Divisions at Potsdam
- July 17th to August 2nd
- The conference ended without agreement on what ould happen to the newly liberated states across Europe
- Truman's attempt to assert his authority by declaring a 'powerful new weapon' only made Stalin more determined to protect the USR. He took this as a threat from the USA
- USSR tried to create a 'buffer zone' in Europe
- USA and the UK became aware of their need to confront communism in Europe
- Truman was not happy with the agreements over Poland and wanted the Polish government to be 're-organised'
- Truman didn't want Eastern Europe as a 'sphere of inlfuence'
Hiroshima
- The USA and the USSR did not want to start a war knowing both the countries had nucleur weapons knowing the effect it had
- Truman didn't want the USSR to get involved in the Far East as to spread communism. Some historians speculate that Truman dropped the bomb so USSR didn't have a chance to get involved in the war
- Kick-started a race to develop the most powerful weapon
- By the 1950s, American and the Soviet Union had developed a more powerful hydrogen bomb, and had learned how to put them on inter-continental ballistic missles (ICBMs). The world entered an era of overkill where it had the ability to destroy every living thing on earth many times over
Salami Tactics
- During the war, Stalin trained eastern European communists in Russia, and after Potsdam they returned to their own countries and began to take over
- Took part in elections and became government ministers
- Packed the army and police with communists, got non-communists discreditd and arrested and took total control bit by bit
- Rakosi said in Hungary 'Like slicing salami'. Picking off different groups one by one until only the communists were left
- In 1946, west became alarmed
- Salami Tactics were the reason for the Long Tlegram and Winston Churchill's speech
Germany
- Divisions in Germany
- Berlin Blockade
Kennan's Long Telegram
- February 1946
- George F Kennan - US Diplomat
- He wrote a telegram to the US State Department about the Soviet conduct and foreign policy
- Soviet system was moved by the 'threat' of a 'hostile world outside its boarders'
- USSR was 'fanatically and implacably' hostile
- Kennan stated that the USSR wanted to advance with the ideology of Muscovite Stalinist, had a cruel regime and was repressive as they considered the outside would evil and would sustain the Stalinist system
- Kennan helped to develop the US policy of containment
- The same year, a Soviet ambassador to the US - Novikov sent out a telegram to Stalin addressing the concern for imperialist actions
- Both the telegrams conveyed the suspicion that was emerging in the US and USSR regarding their actions
Churchill's Fulton Speech
- 1946 The 'Iron Curtain Speech' spoke out about how Communist governments had been set-up in Poland, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria and that they were all also Soviet-dominated areas
- The Soviets' reacted quickly and angrily towards the speech
- Stalin compared Churchill to Hitler and saw the speech as 'racist' and a cause to 'call a war with the Soviet Union'
- The USSR withdrew from the International Monetary Fund (IMF)
- Increased and intensified anti-Western propaganda
- Initiated a five-year plan for economic self-strengthening
Instability in Greece and Turkey
Communist Party success in Italy and France
The Truman Doctrine
The Marshall Plan
COMECON
COMINFORM
Mr 'X' Article
Czechoslovakian Coup