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Wall street crash: Cold war and Black america
did not trust Britain and the USA – They had tried to destroy the Russian Revolution in 1918/ Stalin thought they had not helped the USSR enough in WW2.
Britain & USA did not trust USSR – Stalin had signed the Nazi-Soviet pact in 1939.
4. Events turned the mistrust into war: Yalta/ Potsdam/ Salami tactics/ Fulton/ Greece/ Truman Doctrine/ Marshall Plan/ Cominform/ Czechoslovakia
YALTA CONFERENCE (February 1945)
1. Churchill, Stalin and Roosevelt agreed to Divide Germany into 4 zones (France, Britain, USA, USSR)/ to hold free elections in Eastern European countries./ to set up the United Nations./ to set up a government of Communists and non Communists in Poland.
2. On the surface, everything seemed friendly, but there was tension behind the scenes
POTSDAM CONFERENCE (July 1945)
1. At Potsdam the tensions surfaced.
2. Stalin, Truman and Atlee agreed to bring Nazi war criminals to trial/ divide Germany into 4 occupied zones.
3. There were disagreements over Soviet policy in Poland./ The size of German reparations.
SALAMI TACTICS (1945–48) ‘Slice-by-slice’, Stalin ensured all E Eur.countries had Communist govts
1. Albania (1945) – the Communists took power after the war without opposition
2. Bulgaria (1945) – the Communists executed the leaders of all the other parties.
3. Poland (1947) – the Communists forced the non-Communist leaders into exile.
4. Hungary (1947) – Russian troops stayed / Stalin allowed elections (non-communists won a big majority)/ Communists led by the pro-Russian Rakosi./ Rakosi demanded that groups which opposed him should be banned./ He got control of the police, and arrested his opponents./ He set up a secret police unit, the AVH.
5. Romania (1945–1947) – the Communists gradually took over control.
6. Czechoslovakia (1948) – the Communists banned all other parties/ killed their leaders.
7. East Germany (1949) – Russians turned their zone into German Democratic Republic.
EVENTS 1946–1948
1. FULTON SPEECH (March 1946)
· Churchill described the Soviet bloc as an ‘iron curtain’ – Stalin believed this was necessary to maintain the safety of the USSR.
· After Fulton, the Cold War worsened. Russia called the speech a declaration of war.
2. GREECE (February 1947)
· US supplied arms and money to defeat the Communists.
3. TRUMAN DOCTRINE (March 1947) – The USA implemented a policy of ‘containment’ towards the USSR – to prevent Communism spreading any further.
4. MARSHALL PLAN (June 1947) – Marshall believed poverty was a breeding ground for Communism. American introduced ‘Marshall Aid’ – $17 billion to get Europe’s economy going.
5. COMINFORM (October 1947) – Stalin forbade Communist countries to accept Marshall Aid.