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Hello Delegates,
It gives me immense pleasure to welcome you to the Crisis
Committees of LUMUN 13. We at LUMUN have always given great
importance to the crisis committees we have and this year is no different. The
USG, Committee Directors, ACDs and the crisis staff have been working
tirelessly to make sure your experience in the crisis cabinets is unlike any
other.
The crisis committees have always had a very special place in the
functioning of a successful MUN conference. Once one has done a certain
number of general MUN simulations there are only a few opportunities to
truly use your acquired MUN skills over the years and think on your feet, this
is where crisis committees come into play.
This year we have three crisis committees which truly defines
LUMUN’s commitment of bringing to the delegates an enriching MUN
experience where the committees are authentic and the Committee Directors
are well versed in running them.
This year we are introducing LUMUN’s version of a Joint Crisis
Committee which aims to define how such committees are to be run in the
future. With our commitment in making sure the Pakistani MUN circuit
evolves with the changing times we have introduced new Rules & Procedure
which we have seen at international conferences and have adjusted them to
the Pakistani committee setting.
Make sure you go through the study guide and relevant ROP carefully
but also know that the study guide at a crisis cabinet is just to let you
understand how the committee will start, the power to carry forward the
committee is in your hands.
Best of Luck
Ali Hassan
Secretary General – LUMUN 13
Soha Hamid Baig , currently Under-Secretary General in LUMUN, is a
third year majoring in Political Science at LUMS. Not surprisingly, as the
former should entail, she takes an avid interest in the diplomatic tenet of
international relations. She will be overseeing the Crisis Cabinets and the
Press CoR committee. MUN-enthusiast and gregarious of nature, she loves
meeting new people, bringing up contentions in debate and then eventual
conflict resolution. At Model United Nations Turkey 2016, she was awarded
the Outstanding Diplomacy reward. Brownie points for anime-fanatics, B.
Cumberbatch fans and foodies (she may have a harmless bias there). An
idealist at heart, she still believes there is enough money for everyone,
enough food for a feast and enough good in the worst of us.
Hello Delegates!
My name is Muhammed Saad Kamil and I’d like to welcome you all to the
USSR Politburo of the Joint Crisis Cabinet this year at the 13th edition of
LUMUN.
I am a Sophomore at LUMS enrolled in a joint major in Economics and
Mathematics and trying to minor in Political Science (up till now at least).
Having been part of Model UN for a few years now, while applying as chair I
wanted to do something very innovative this year at LUMUN, and a Joint
Crisis was the way to execute the latter. Other than Model UN and being a
member of LUMUN, I also work as a development consultant in the LUMS
Consultancy Group, I absolutely love music - Coldplay being my all-time
favorite band and being a LUMS student, you are bound to revere sleeping
(because you hardly get to sleep otherwise).
The topic I have chosen for the Joint Crisis Cabinets is the Berlin Blockade.
Now one would ask as to why choose a topic that was not highly mainstream
during the Cold War years, simple answer; LUMUN is unique in its ways and
wants delegates to experience completely new aspects of international issues
and historical instances.
The Berlin Blockade is something that is ignored completely when the Cold
War is even thought about whereas it is one of the prime and first instances
where two completely different ideologies (the USA and the USSR) clashed
amongst each other after being ironically tied up in an alliance. That is exactly
what I want delegates to realise and understand, and the JCC will be highly
helpful in understanding the intricacies of Stalin and Truman’s mindset, and
how it would have played out in real life. With close to real life situations and
crises on going at every moment, tensions and happening of both
committees being shared constantly, the JCC will be an experience you will
not forget. See you all this December.
Sincerely,
Muhammed Saad Kamil
Committee Director – Joseph Stalin’s Politburo
LUMUN 13
Table of Contents
Introduction to the Politburo of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) ....................................... 7
Joseph Stalin’s Politburo; .............................................................................................................................. 8
Committee Synopsis .................................................................................................................................... 10
Germany (1918 – 1945) ............................................................................................................................... 10
Germany Post World War 1..................................................................................................................... 10
The Last Years of the War........................................................................................................................ 11
The "Stab in The Back" And Post World War One Hardships .............................................................. 11
Hitler's Rise to Power and the Road to War ............................................................................................ 12
Introduction to World War II ................................................................................................................... 14
Operation Barbarossa – Soviet Union’s Inclusion in WW II................................................................. 15
The Soviet Union and the Allied Powers ............................................................................................. 15
Yalta Conference (February 1945)....................................................................................................... 16
Potsdam Conference (July-August 1945) and the Aftermath ............................................................. 17
The Present Situation (1948) ....................................................................................................................... 20
London Power 6 Conference ................................................................................................................... 20
HOW DID IT COME ABOUT? ................................................................................................................ 20
WHAT HAPPENED AND THE IMPACT? ..................................................................................................... 21
SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPLICATIONS ..................................................................................................... 22
WHAT IS NEXT? .................................................................................................................................... 23
Who was Joseph Stalin? .......................................................................................................................... 24
General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (1922-1952) .................................... 24
Premier of the Soviet Union (1941-1953) .................................................................................................. 24
Stalin – A Radical Socialist ................................................................................................................... 24
The Ideology: Imperialism (territorial or political?) ............................................................................ 24
The Executive: From pluralism to totalitarianism ............................................................................... 25
The Socio-Economic Backdrop: discrepancies and disasters .............................................................. 25
Appendix ...................................................................................................................................................... 27
USA AND USSR ......................................................................................................................................... 27
THE MARSHALL PLAN .............................................................................................................................. 28
ALLIED CONTROL COUNCIL...................................................................................................................... 29
ROLE OF THE UNITED NATION AND OTHER COUNTRIES......................................................................... 29
5
UNITED KINGDOM ................................................................................................................................... 29
FRANCE .................................................................................................................................................... 30
POLAND ................................................................................................................................................... 30
CZECHOSLOVAKIA .................................................................................................................................... 30
NORWAY .................................................................................................................................................. 30
ALBANIA................................................................................................................................................... 31
BULGARIA ................................................................................................................................................ 31
ROMANIA................................................................................................................................................. 31
TURKEY .................................................................................................................................................... 32
6
Introduction to the Politburo of the Union of Soviet
Socialist Republics (USSR)
The USSR Politburo, formally known as the Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union,
came into existence in October 1917 as the most important authority working in the Soviet Union in
terms of policy making and running of in-state and out of state orders. It was originally formed by
Vladimir Lenin and the original members of the Politburo were Lenin himself, Leon Trotsky, Joseph
Stalin, Lev Kamenev and Nikolai Krestinsky.
The Politburo played an absolutely important role in upcoming state affairs – characterized by
charismatic however tyrannical leadership throughout its life, the party was gradually made highly
centralist and monolithic by Joseph Stalin ruling out democracy in many instances. Where members
had the chance of voicing their thoughts, however confine to the ways of Stalin with the best of their
abilities, otherwise expulsion was inevitable, and never justified.
The Politburo nevertheless declined and was eradicated with the dissolution of the Soviet Union,
however till date it remains as one of the prime examples of a totalitarian rule and a single
communist ideology forcibly imposing itself on others – in a namely democratic setting.
7
Joseph Stalin’s Politburo;
Dias
1. General Secretary of the Politburo – Joseph Stalin
Delegates:
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
Alexander Nikolaevich Poskrebyshev; Personal chancellor of Stalin
Georgy Malenkov; Personal chancellor of Stalin
Minister of Defense - Anastas Mikoyan
Minister of Finance - Alexei Kosygin
Minister of Foreign Trade
Minister of Foreign Affairs - Vyacheslav Molotov
Minister of State Security and Head of KGB - Viktor Abakumov
Minister of Culture Policy – Andrei Zhdanov
Marshal of the Soviet Union’s Red Army - Kliment Voroshilov
Chief of the General Staff of the Red Army- Alexander Ilyich Yegorov
Chief Marshal of Aviation of the Soviet Union Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union (Navy) Minister of Agriculture - Andrey Andreyev
Chairman of Gossnab (State Committee for Material-Technical Supply) - Lazar Kaganovich
Leader of Ukraine - Nikita Khrushchev
Prosecutor General –
Commission of Planning and Construction Minister of Propaganda - Pyotr Pospelov
The USSR Politburo in this particular incarnation will convene in the immediate aftermath of the
London Power 6 Conference being held in 1948. All events beyond this point are to be treated as
fictitious for the purposes of the timeline.
8
Topic Area:
The Cold War – The
Battle for Berlin
9
Committee Synopsis
The Joint Crisis Cabinet this year at LUMUN
13 is set 3 years after the Allies bombed Berlin;
a historic mark that initiated the occupation of
Berlin as a state controlled by The Big Four.
Nevertheless the four states were now
confused as to what to do with the city itself
because the joint alliance that had won the war
was now breaking apart. With the western side
of Berlin run by the United States, France and
the United Kingdom agreeing to revamp
economic conditions of the city and get
business going, the eastern Soviet side had
other plans which entailed communist
planning throughout their zone and in turn, all
over Berlin.
The Politburo of the Communist Party of the
Soviet Union will be simulated keeping in
retrospect the situation of Berlin itself and will
continue on from that point onwards. The
Politburo will be headed by Joseph Stalin (the
committee director) and will convene on 15th
of January 1948 following the announcement
of the London Power 6 conferences and will
follow a timeline lasting up till 12th May 1949.
The committee will run in close
correspondence with the happenings in the
United States National Security Council run by
Harry Truman; henceforth laying out an
accurate and interesting representation of the
bipolar hegemony between two powerful
nations that overruled the world back then, and
continues to do so today.
The Joint Crisis Cabinet this year at LUMUN
13 will concentrate vividly on Germany and
Berlin to be exact, for the latter delegates need
to understand the state of Germany with deep
insight, consequently this insight involves a
deep understanding of Germany’s position
following the First World War
Germany (1918 – 1945)
Germany Post World War 1
On the 11th of November, 1918, after
more than four years of conflict, world war
one finally came to an end when Germanys
beleaguered government signed an armistice.
The victorious allies celebrated the end of war
and return to normalcy and stability, however
for Germany, the problems had not yet ended.
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The Last Years of the War
As the German spring offensive of 1918, the
last hope that the Germans had of winning the
war, withered the Allies, now reinforced by
new units from America, began the hundred
day’s offensive. The successes of the offensive
put tremendous pressure on Germany, and as
defeat seemed inevitable, the morale of the
German armies plummeted. A mutiny by
German sailors in Kiel, the loss of the Balkans
and the oil and food they provided,
evaporation of confidence in the Kaiser and a
collapsing military, all forced Germany to
finally begin negotiations with the Americans.
On 9th November Germany was declared a
republic after widespread unrest and protests
following the Kiel mutiny, and the Kaiser had
to flee to exile in the Netherlands. The new
revolutionaries, though socialist leaning, had
preferred making Germany a parliamentary
republic rather than handing over power to
workers soviets who had been an instrumental
part of the revolution. However, soon socialist
uprisings erupted across the country which had
to be crushed by the new republic. Admits all
this chaos, on 11th November, the new
government signed the armistice with the allies,
effectively ending the First World War.
The "Stab in The Back" And Post
World War One Hardships
The German High command was determined
that blame for defeat in the war should not go
to the aristocratic elite or the military, instead
the majority parties in the Reichstag were
tasked with carrying out humiliating
negotiations with the victorious allies.
The final terms of the treaty of Versailles
(1919) were catastrophic. Germany was to lose
its colonial empire; it lost vast swathes of land
in the east and much of its Prussian heartland.
In the west Alsace Lorraine was lost, the Saar
region occupied by the League of Nations, the
Rhineland permanently demilitarized and land
also lost to Belgium. The German army was
reduced to a mere 100 thousand men and could
not operate most modern weaponry like tanks.
Furthermore, the prospect of an Anschluß with
Austria was also dashed when such a union was
expressly forbidden by the treaty.
Germany was also ordered to pay annual
reparations to the victorious Allies, as
Germany was to shoulder much of the blame
for starting the war. For example, 40 million
tons of coal was to be paid annually to the
Allies. Not surprisingly, many in Germany were
appalled by the terms of this treaty, yet nothing
could be done about it. Economic conditions
grew worse, before World War One Germany
was one of the most prosperous nations in
Europe, however the wartime focus on military
goods over civilian necessities and the naval
blockades that Germany had to face meant that
the economy was now crippled and no longer
the industrial juggernaut that it once was.
When the Germans could not pay these
reparations, French troops invaded the country
in 1921, annexing capital goods and raw
materials from the Ruhr region. Amidst all this
chaos, hyperinflation in 1923 made the savings
of millions of Germans worthless and put a
severe strain on the already battered economy.
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Many in Germany hated the new Weimar
Republic for this new reality, often believing
that it was not the military that lost the war but
instead the civilian government that had
betrayed the empire and its valiant army by
negotiating the treaty when enemy soldiers had
not even entered German land. They failed to
realize that it was the military that lost the war
and the civilian government had to take over at
the last moment. Even more so many failed to
remember that they themselves had supported
the end of the war and the establishing of the
Weimar republic but instead blamed the
members of the Left and the Jews for
surrendering German honor. These "stab in
the back" rumors became common as the new
republic became filled with distrust.
Consequently
people
distrusted
the
government, the Jews, the socialists and often
each other.
After 1924 however, the economy was
improving and most of the immediate post war
problems were being solved. The "Dawes
Plan" was instrumental to this recovery as it
reduced both the reparations Germany had to
pay while simultaneously led to the United
States loaning large amounts of money to
Germany. The currency was reorganized. This
new stability of the German economy led to
foreign investment which fuelled economic
growth, but also made the German economy
more dependent on foreign countries and their
markets, particularly that of the United States.
Hitler's Rise to Power and the
Road to War
Of course it did not help that many retired
Imperial military leaders further fanned these
rumors, only to pin the blame for their own
failures on someone else.
However one man who devoutly believed that
these "November Criminals" (Reichstag
elected party officials) stabbed the army in the
back was Adolf Hitler.
Right wing parties such as Hitler's Nazi party
appealed to many people in Germany. Even
more so after Hitler became a hero after a failed
coup attempt in Bavaria in 1923; during his
short imprisonment after the coup, he wrote
his political manifesto "Mein Kampf" (My
struggle). His popularity further surged due to
his attacks on the treaty of Versailles and the
Pan German and anti leftist and Jewish rhetoric
of his party's propaganda machine.
By 1929 the effects of the American stock
exchange crash were being felt across the
world. Weimar Germany in particular was
crippled by the consequences.
Unemployment numbers rose to six million in
German. By 1930, disastrous policies had
reduced wages, unemployment benefits and
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government spending. This
deepened the economic crisis.
furthered
Hyperinflation crippled the German economy,
with the Mark devalued to such an extent that
children often played with stacks of now
worthless notes on the streets of Berlin. The
resulting social fallout led a disillusioned
populace eager to swing either to the left or to
the right. Many did turn to the left and
communism, but the wealthy elites in
Germany, frightened by the prospect of a red
takeover like in the Soviet Union, supported
and financed Hitler's Party as an alternative.
These new developments coupled with the
effective propaganda machine of the Nazi
party soon bore results; in 1932 the party had
230 seats and was the largest party in the
Reichstag. Hitler was made chancellor in 1933,
Hitler soon turned the Weimar republic into a
totalitarian one party state. The mysterious
burning of the German parliament in 1933
allowed Hitler to blame the communists and
led to massive arrests including of Communist
members of the Reichstag. With their seats
empty, the Nazis now had a majority in
parliament, giving them virtual control to pass
any laws they please. The Nazis did not waste
this opportunity and "The Enabling Act" of
1933 soon transformed the Weimar republic
into a defacto Nazi dictatorship. The short
lived Weimar republic had come to an end.
Soon Germany’s economic fortunes improved
under the Nazi party, massive infrastructure
projects were initiated such as roads, damns,
factories etc. Germany hosted the 1936
Olympics which were seen as a major success.
Hitler commissioned architecture on a massive
scale in order to reinterpret Germanys very
culture. Unemployment fell to just 1 million by
1936. German wages were now only very
slightly lower than what they were in the predepression period. Not surprisingly this made
cemented Hitler's popularity amongst the
German people. Such projects were financed
through printing new money and seizing assets
and property from Jews and those deemed
enemies of the state.
Germany also developed more modern
weaponry, much of which was tested in the
Spanish civil war. Furthermore the entire
economy was now directed towards war with
civilian necessities being cut for military
rearmament. Average German work hours
increased as they worked longer to produce
weapons and military supplies. Hitler now
talked openly about the need for a German
Lebensraum.
Anti-Semitism
increased
substantially in Germany as attacks on Jews and
other minorities increased. New alliances were
now made, as an axis was declared between
Germany, Italy and Japan.
Hitler pursued an aggressive foreign policy
adding territory after territory to Germany.
1935 the Saarland was reunited with Germany,
in 1936 the demilitarized zone was reoccupied.
In 1938 Hitler united Germany and Austria,
finally fulfilling many Germans dream of an
Anschluß. In defiance of the treaty of
Versailles, Hitler increased the size of the
military to a vast force consisting of six
hundred thousand men. Soon this new army
invaded and annexed parts of Czechoslovakia.
Soon plans were being drawn up to invade
Poland. The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact
between Germany and the Soviet Union
intended to partition Poland between the two
countries and serve as a non-aggression pact.
In these circumstances Britain and France
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3
announced an alliance with Poland, vowing to
defend it in case of German aggression.
the initial war years to make territorial advances
for the Soviets.
Europe was at the brink of another war.
In order to delay the inevitable, on August 23,
1939, The Soviet Union signed a secret nonaggression pact with Germany dividing up
Poland into Eastern and Western fronts
respectively. This pact acted as a buffer period
which gave Hitler time to focus on his
conquest in Western Europe. Just days after
the formation of British-Polish military
alliance, on September 1st, 1939, Germany
openly attacks on Poland. Britain and its allies
declare war on Germany and World War II
officially begins.
Introduction to World War II
Despite the outcome of World War 1, Adolf
Hitler swore to regain the lands Germany had
lost. He dreamed of expanding his empire to
provide living space and colonies for his
people. The Nazi’s deep-rooted resentment
towards the Soviet Union was not an unknown
fact since Hitler’s ideologies, as expressed in
‘Mein Kampf’, looked at Communism as the
world’s biggest evil. War between Germany
and the Soviet Union was imminent
nevertheless; The Premier (Joseph Stalin) used
Meanwhile, The Soviet Union attacked and
invaded Finland and the Baltic states in 193940. The Soviets also signed a neutrality pact
with the Japanese on the Manchurian border
(Border between Modern day N.E China and
Far East Russia) allowed the Soviets to move
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their forces towards the west. By the end of
September, Poland is dismembered and large
parts of it are incorporated into the Soviet
Union and Germany.
This ‘apparent’ coalition was short lived as on
18th December, 1940, Hitler issued the
infamous Directive Nr.21 which decreed that,
“German forces must be prepared to subject the Soviet
Union to a crushing defeat.”
Operation Barbarossa – Soviet
Union’s Inclusion in WW II
After months of planning and strategizing, on
22 June, 1941, the Germans broke their
agreement and attacked the Soviet Union
under the code name, ‘Operation
Barbarossa’. Soon thereafter, Italy and
Romania declared war on the USSR followed
by Hungary, Slovakia, and Finland. The
Germans believed that the Soviets could be
defeated within 3 months and that all of
European part of Russia would be conquered.
“For the campaign against the Soviet Union,
the Germans allotted almost 150 divisions
containing a total of about three million men..
It was in effect the largest and most powerful
invasion force in human history” (Britannica).
The initial months were very costly for the
Soviets as the invasion along a 2900 kilometer
front took the Soviet leadership by surprise (Fig
1).
The Soviet forces were on the back foot for
nearly 5 months and victory for the Germans
seemed in sight as they were able to reach into
the close proximity of Moscow. However,
German intelligence underestimated the
reserve capabilities of the Red Army as The
Premier, Joseph Stalin was able to mobilize
staggering 10million reservists (which totals as
200 fresh divisions). Furthermore, the
punishing Russian winters also played a major
hindrance in the German advances as their
armies were not properly equipped to deal with
the extreme weather. On December 6th, 1941,
the Soviet counter-offensive hits the
unsuspecting Germans and results in a
disappointing end to Operation Barbarossa for
the Germans. The failure of German forces to
defeat the Soviet Union marked a significant
turning point in the war against Germany.
The Soviet Union and the Allied
Powers
With the Japanese bombing of the US fleet at
Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941, The
United States officially enters the World War
II. Soon thereafter, Hitler declares war on the
United States and from there onwards two
distinct sides emerge: the Allied Powers
primarily led by; USA, Britain, USSR and
France and on the other hand, the Axis Powers
comprising of; Germany, Japan, Italy and
Hungary. A series of intense battles and
skirmishes occur between 1941 and 1943
across the globe with the balance of power
tilting in favor of the Allied forces. The famous
Casablanca Conference of January, 1943,
between Roosevelt and W. Churchill, set the
demand of ‘unconditional surrender’ for the
main Axis powers. Victory for the Allies
became even more imminent with the Tehran
Conference of November, 1943, where the
leaders of the Big Three (US, Britain, Soviet
Union) met to discuss post-war order of
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Europe but more importantly to strategize a
Two-front offensive on Europe.
Yalta Conference (February 1945)
Figure 1; Prime Minister Winston Churchill, President
Franklin D. Roosevelt and Premier Joseph Stalin at the
Yalta Conference’45
One of the most major World War II
conferences was the Yalta Conference where
the three chief Allied leaders; President.
Franklin D. Roosevelt of the United States,
Prime Minister Winston Churchill of Great
Britain and Premier Joseph Stalin of the Soviet
Union, met at Yalta in Crimea to plan the final
defeat and occupation of Nazi Germany. Some
of the main implications/decisions of this
conference are as follows:





The Allies had no responsibility
towards Germany apart from
providing minimum subsistence.
Reaffirmed the former decision to
divide Germany into occupied regions
administered by U.S., British, French,
and Soviet forces.
Decided that all German military
industries would be obliterated or
seized.
Agreed that all major war criminals will
be tried before an International Court.
Poland’s future borders were also
discussed.
The ramifications of the Yalta Conference
expand beyond the War in Europe. One of the
major points of discussion at the conference
revolved around the terms of agreement for the
accession of the Soviet Union to join the Allied
forces in the war against Japan. It was agreed in
a secret protocol that, within two to three
months of Germany’s surrender, the Soviet
Union would enter the war against Japan. “In
return the Soviet Union would obtain from
Japan the Kuril Islands and regain the territory
lost in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–05
(including the southern part of Sakhalin
Island), and the status quo in pro-Soviet Outer
Mongolia would be maintained” (Britannica).
In compliance with this agreement, the Soviet
Union agreed to sign a pact of alliance and
friendship with China.
The agreements reached at the Yalta
conference were announced to the public in
1946. These agreements were subject to a lot of
criticism because as events turned out,
apparently the Soviet Union did not keep its
promise to hold free elections in Poland,
Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, and
Bulgaria. Instead, The Great Premier and his
administration felt that it was in the best
interest of all to incorporate a Communist
system of politics.
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Potsdam Conference (July-August
1945) and the Aftermath



Defining the role of the Soviet Union
in Eastern Europe,
Determination of reparations from the
primary Axis power, and
The next steps of the war against Japan.
The atmosphere at the Potsdam Conference
was unlike any other former wartime
conference. The sense of amity that was
present in all previous conferences was over
shadowed by an air of suspicion and an internal
struggle to preserve the self-interests of each
nation.
Figure 2; The Premier Joseph Stalin, President Harry
Truman and Prime Minister Winston Churchill at the
Potsdam Conference 1945.
The Allied forces begin their final offensive on
Berlin and within a few months after the Yalta
Conference the Axis resistance in Europe
collapses. With Germany’s unconditional
surrender on May 7th, 1945, the European
conflict in World War II officially came to an
end. The Allied powers met at Potsdam, Berlin
where the chief participants were the head of
states of the Big Three (US, UK, Soviet Union).
The crux of the Potsdam Conference revolved
around deciding the details of the post war
order and to cement the division of Europe
into two spheres of influence.
The primary concerns of the Big Three and
their ministries were as follows:



The immediate administration of
defeated Germany,
The demarcation of the boundaries of
Poland,
The occupation of Austria,
The damage to Germany’s infrastructure was
enormous. One-fourth of the country’s
housing was estimated to be destroyed while
the numbers crossed 50% in some of the major
cities. Germany’s economy was in shambles as
their
economic
infrastructure
and
transportation systems had been obliterated
and became dysfunctional. Inflation, which
was at an all-time high, coupled with severe
shortage of food reduced the diet of many
citizens to the level of malnutrition. These
problems were further exacerbated by a huge
influx of refugees from previously held
German territories.
Germany was divided into four zones each to
be administered by the commander in chief of
the British, Soviet, US and French occupation
army (Refer to Fig 4). Furthermore, Berlin was
also divided amongst the four powers (Refer to
Fig 5). The Allied powers decided that the
German people will be given the opportunity
to rebuild their lives on a peaceful and
democratic basis. Vienna and Austria were also
each divided into four occupation zones. A
council under the control of the Allies was
formed to deal with matters affecting Germany
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and Austria as a whole. The council’s policies
functioned on the ‘five D’s’ (demilitarization,
denazification,
democratization,
decentralization, and deindustrialization)
principle that was decided in the Yalta
Conference.
The Oder and the Neisse Rivers demarcated
Poland’s boundary in the West. It also received
a part of former East Prussia (Refer to Fig 6). As
a result of this, millions of Germans living in
those areas were made to migrate back to
Germany. Tensions between the Allies and the
Soviet Union began to surface when the
Premier refused the Allies to interfere in
Eastern Europe where majority governments
in place were controlled by Communists. It was
at Potsdam where President Truman informed
the Allies and the Soviet Union that it intended
to use the Atomic bomb against Japan. “The
protocols of the Potsdam Conference
suggested continued harmony among the
Allies, but the deeply conflicting aims of the
Western democracies on the one hand and the
Soviet Union on the other in fact meant that
Potsdam was to be the last Allied summit
conference” (Britannica).
“Final ultimatum was given to Japan from the
conference demanding their unconditional
surrender and threatening them of heavier
attacks” (Britannica). Japan refused to comply
and as a result, the United States dropped the
first atomic bomb on Hiroshima on August 6th,
1945. Immediately the Soviet Union advances
into Manchukuo and Kuriles regions and put
further pressure on the Japanese. Ultimately,
on August 9th, 1945, the U.S drops a second
atomic bomb on Nagasaki shaking the
Japanese empire to its core. Thus, one day later
the Japanese Emperor sends a capitulation
offer to the Allied Command and
consequently, the dreadful war comes to an end
on August 10th, 1945.
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8
1
9
The Present Situation
(1948)
London Power 6 Conference
HOW DID IT COME ABOUT?
The division of Berlin began in 1945 after the
downfall of Germany. The country was
divided into four zones, with each superpower
controlling one. In 1946, reparation
agreements broke down between the Soviet
Union and Western zones.
Soviets had repeatedly shown stress over a
revivified Germany. The damage caused to the
USSR by the invasion and scorched-earth
retreat of the Wehrmacht was so massive that
Russia felt justified in demanding massive
reparations from Germany. Where they could,
the Soviet Union dismantled factories they
seized and transported the all of it by train to
the USSR.
The Americans and the British never put their
trust in a policy of reparations. They knew what
the punitive and vast reparations demanded by
France after the First World War had done to
keep the devastated German economy from
recovering and to encourage the climate in
which Nazism was to flourish.
In January 1947, the United Kingdom and the
USA joined their two zones together to try to
get the German industries going. They called
the new zone Bizonia. Friction newly started by
the Marshall Plan put even greater strain on the
situation in Germany. The Foreign Ministers
met again in London from 25 November 1947
to 15 December 1947. Again there were major
disagreements over the same issues of
reparations and control over the industries of
the Ruhr as well as the German unity. The
meeting ultimately ended in accusation and
counter accusation. Secretary of State Marshall
summed up his conclusion during an
announcement to the American people: "We
cannot look forward to a reunified Germany at
this time. We must do our best in the area
where our influence can be felt." If the
Americans could not attain Soviet support for
their policy towards Germany, then they would
go through with it alone in the Western zones.
In January 1948 the British cabinet discussed
the situation. Bevin presented a paper that
argued for gradual movement towards a West
German government, and for action on
currency reform to undercut the rampant
black-market. Bevin thought of Britain as an
intermediary between the French, who were
still daunted by the possibility of German
recovery, and the Americans, who were
increasingly frustrated by what they viewed as
the French obstructionism. For the United
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States, matters of national security were
starting to focus almost solely upon the Soviet
Union. The French were daunted by an ancient
rivalry with Germany and bitter memories of
recent defeat and occupation.
The West wanted to combine the three western
zones into one and revive the German
economy. Soviet Union dreaded this union
because it gave the one combined zone that
much more power than its occupied zone.
While on the other hand the recent Communist
takeover in Czechoslovakia added to the
urgency for the western allies to help create a
democratic West Germany.
In light of the increasing tensions between the
U.S and the Soviet Union, the U.S decided that
the current quadripartite occupational control
of Germany with the Soviet Union was no
longer possible. Following this, the U.S. and
the other western countries occupying
Germany (Great Britain and France), as well as
the BENELUX nations (Belgium, the
Netherlands, and Luxembourg), decided on a
number of discussions to be held in London
from February to June of 1948 known in
combination as the London Conferences. This
came at a strategic time because the other
occupying countries of Germany were also
realizing that cooperation with the Soviet
Union was increasingly difficult to maintain,
and all three nations were beginning to
reexamine their policies.
This was when the three nations of the United
States, United Kingdom and France came
together in what was the London Power 6
conference. The Soviet Union was not invited.
WHAT HAPPENED AND
THE IMPACT?
Despite initial plans of cooperation, the
London Power 6 conference took place as a
result of deteriorating relations of the west and
USSR. This was due to several factors resulting
in tension building up. After the occupation of
Berlin, the Soviet Union, whose land had
suffered terribly at the hands of the Germans,
demanded large scale compensation. The
Western Allies initially agreed to allow for
reparations but soon came to regret the
Soviets’ seizures of all the German factories as
well as its current production. Under the terms
of inter Allied agreements, the Soviet zone of
occupation, which comprised of much of
German agriculture and was less densely
populated than those of the other Allies, was to
provide food to the rest of Germany in return
for a percentage of reparations from the
Western occupation zones. But when the
Soviet Union failed to deliver the requisite
food, the Western Allies found themselves
forced to feed the German population in their
zones at the cost of their own taxpaying
civilians. The Americans and British therefore
came to favor a revival of German industries to
enable the Germans to feed themselves, a step
the Soviet Union opposed. In 1946, when the
Western powers refused to permit the Soviets
to claim further reparations from their zones,
cooperation among the allies of the war
deteriorated sharply. On the other hand,
mutual cooperation also suffered with
reference to political improvements in
Germany. The occupying powers nearing 1946,
approved the formation of regional
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1
governmental units called Länder in Germany.
By the year 1947 the Länder in the Western
zones had freely elected their parliamentary
assemblies.
Institutional
developments
followed an apparently similar pattern in the
Soviet zone, but there the political process
remained far from free to the extent that it
became apparent by 1947 that the Soviet Union
would not permit free and multiparty elections
throughout the whole of Germany. As daily
cooperation became more difficult, the
management of the occupation zones gradually
started moving in separate directions. They
were in particular concerned about the rapidly
deteriorating economic conditions throughout
occupied Germany, which burdened their
countries and awakened fears of renewed
political extremism amongst Germany.
This was followed by the United States of
America, the United Kingdom and France
meeting in London first from 23 February to 6
March and then from 20 April 1948 to 2 June
1948 in the London Power 6 Conference.
The outcome of these discussions was the
London Program. The main goal of the
London Program was to form a West German
government, with the means to achieving this
goal being the combination of the three
Western zones of occupation and a reform of
the currency. The Western powers therefore
decided to extend to their occupation zones,
American economic aid, which had been
provided elsewhere in Western Europe a year
earlier under the Marshall Plan. To enhance the
effectiveness of that aid, the Americans,
British, and French started a currency reform
in their zones that replaced Germany’s badly
inflated currency, called the Reichsmark with a
new deutsche mark, or DM. Western
Germany’s economy reacted quickly, as goods
unavailable previously for nearly worthless
money came onto the market.
SIGNIFICANCE AND
IMPLICATIONS
The London Power 6 marked historically one
of the major events which contributed to the
future blockade of Berlin by the USSR. The
news of the conference was carried to the
Soviet intelligence via spied within the Foreign
office. On 12 March, Foreign Minister
Molotov was advised that the "Western powers
are transforming Germany into their
strongpoint" and including it into a "military
political bloc" targeted at the Soviet Union.,
who then went on and accused the United
States of America, United Kingdom and
France of violating the agreements of Potsdam,
and announced that decisions made at the
London conference were invalid.
This was followed by what become the last
meeting of the Allied Control Council on the
20 March 1948, where USSR walked out of the
conference. The London Program was viewed
as an attempt by the West to undermine the
establishment of the Soviet rule on Berlin.
As a sense of betrayal settles in the USSR after
the actions of the Western Powers, the
implications of the London Power 6 can be
dangerous for the cooperation the four
countries have been trying to achieve and for
Berlin.
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WHAT IS NEXT?
With a deep sense of betrayal settling in Soviet
Union, the first course of action right now is to
see the best next step fit. However it is also to
be kept in mind that what may seem to be the
most obvious and effective attack could have
implications and drawbacks for everyone
involved, hence it is very important to use the
influential position the Soviet Union currently
holds in Berlin to its best benefits and to the
progress of the soviet hold over Germany.
While it may look like a workable option to
use the strong hold over Berlin as a way of
getting the USA, UK and France to withdraw
the results of the London Program; it can
have several implications. Firstly, any signs of
the Soviet Union trying to strengthen its hold
on Western Berlin would mean serious
reaction from the three Western allies; mostly
due to the fact that if the Western Berlin is to
be a country on its own then having its capital
miles away set in the heart of the Soviet
Germany was already not ideal for the
Western Powers and they would definitely
come with full force to prevent it from
completely falling into the hands of the
Russians. Especially as evidence of the very
strong anti- communist sentiments Harry
Truman had, it was clear that the USA would
take any measures from preventing a
communist control over Germany. As well as
the fact that the USA has now stepped up to a
position from where they cannot possibly
withdraw or go back without putting their
position in the global community up for
ridicule and damaging its own prestige. Seeing
as the three powers together are strong
enough to potentially resist against any
attempts of the Soviet Union to take over
Berlin; the Soviet Union would be putting
itself in a very testing position by taking this
route.
Following this the mere task of getting the
Western Berlin to abandon its allies in the
Western Powers would be a task that would
require the Soviet Union to resort to many
unfavorable acts. These acts would firstly put
the Soviet Union in a very antagonized
position in face of the West and put USA and
the Soviet Union in much farthest positions of
the post-world war scenario, who now united
with France and the UK have strong chances
of putting up an opposition to the USSR that
is on equal footing and now have a stronger
control on Germany as well after merging the
zones.
It will also put the Soviet Union in a very
compromising diplomatic position with the
rest of the world. Making it look like the
enemy and oppressor of West Berlin.
The choice of the next course of action in
the face of the London Program by the
USSR has to be very calculated. The job at
hand for Premier Stalin’s Politburo is not
just to ensure that the best decision is taken
but to carry through a thorough cost
benefit analysis of whether maintaining
control over Berlin and the hopes of
reparations are enough an incentive to take
a drastic next step and if the demands are
worth it or if there is an alternate more
preferable method presenting itself which
will protect the interests of the socialists
better.
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Who was Joseph Stalin?
leadership, following Lenin, had contrasting
slants towards the Leninist-Marxist ideals.
General Secretary of the
Communist Party of the Soviet
Union (1922-1952)
Premier of the Soviet Union
(1941-1953)
“I used to think of Joseph Stalin as a tyrant
and butcher who jailed and killed millions,
betrayed the Russian revolution, sold out
liberation struggles around the world, and
ended up a solitary madman, hated and
feared by the people of the Soviet Union
and the world. Even today I have trouble
saying the name “Stalin” without feeling a
bit sinister. But, to about a billion people
today, Stalin is the opposite of what we in
the capitalist world have been programmed
to believe. The people of China, Vietnam,
Korea, and Albania consider Stalin one of
the great heroes of modern history, a man
who personally helped win their
liberation.”
– Bruce Franklin
Stalin – A Radical Socialist
The Ideology: Imperialism
(territorial or political?)
Leon Trotsky, as an avid supporter of The
Permanent Revolution stressed upon the universal
nature of socialism; directed by the conception
of an international social class fraternity, it could
not be concentrated and bred within a singular
precursory center. In other words, Trotsky
embraced the expansionist disposition of the
socialist ideology. Stalin, in contrast, contrary
to common belief, was diametrically opposed
to the orthodox aggressive-expansionist ideals.
In fact, the guiding thread of a Stalinist model
is National Vanguardism – “Socialism in One
Country” which rests upon the primacy of USSR
as the herald and harbinger of modern
socialism. Stalin’s devise for the worldwide
consolidation of communism was to establish
diplomatic alliances with collectivist nationstates. He didn’t believe in territorial
aggrandizement for the purpose of ideological
imperialism; accordingly, his foreign policy
stipulated a political solution – i.e. a sociopolitical hegemony by means of international
agreements and coalitions, as observed in the
case of the Warsaw Bloc in the Cold War
history.
The complexion of Stalin’s belief system and
attitude towards socialism can only be
understood in relation to a popular
contemporary rival approach – Trotskyism.
The two competing candidates for Soviet
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The Executive: From pluralism to
totalitarianism
In context of the administrative affairs of the
country, Trotsky vouched for democratic
centralism, an organizational methodology that
is governed by the principle of “freedom of
discussion, unity of action." It is built around
the practice of free debate and dialogue, within
the communist party, on matters of policy,
constitution and foreign relations. Decisions
were to be collectively made and unanimously
exercised. Under Stalin, the Communist Party
was increasingly bureaucratized – decisionmaking was concentrated within the top
hierarchy of the party, particularly the
Politburo. In effect, the egalitarian culture of
the communist party soon translated into a
dictatorial one. Disagreement – initially an
intrinsic element of the party’s democratic and
pluralistic character – no longer had an
acceptable bearing within policy making. And
soon enough an artificial consensus,
representing the absence of contradiction and
a snowballing conformism, characterized the
executive make-up of the Politburo in the
1930s. Political repression rapidly escalated to
The Great Purgative of 1936-38, a nationwide
purge of government officials. Marked by a
climate of surveillance, arbitrary sentences and
murders, at least 18 per cent of the Party's 3.2
million members were expelled during The
Purge. An end to the Ryutin Affair in 1932
marked the expiry of democratic centralism in
the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
“A regime unheard of terror and colossal spying,
achieved through an extraordinarily centralized and
ramified gigantic apparatus, concentrating in its hands
all the material resources...this is the main basis of
Stalin's dictatorship...[Stalin] has placed himself on a
pedestal like an infallible pope and cannot admit either
the criminality of his policies or even the slightest
mistake... The most evil enemy of the party and the
proletarian dictatorship, the most evil counterrevolutionary and provocateur could not have carried out
the work of destroying the party and socialist
construction better than Stalin has done.”
– From Stalin and the Crisis of the Proletarian
Dictatorship by Martemyan Ryutin
In contrast, Revisionists claim that “Stalin
sanctioned the use of violence to settle political
disputes, within the chaotic and erratic
environment of the Party’s regional leaders,
and that Stalin’s role was a reactionary to events
rather than planning.” (Ibid) Unfortunately, the
United States officials, Harry Truman in
particular, read actions over intentions. The
complexity of Stalin’s political personality
inhibited an empathetic inclination towards the
motivators that guided his extreme exploits.
Stalin’s search for national security within the
post-war environment, for example, was read
as hard-lined imperialist agendas; thus, rearing
skepticism in the US parliament and leading to
a breakdown of trust and confidence within the
Soviet-US alliance.
The Socio-Economic Backdrop:
discrepancies and disasters
Lacking in steadiness and rational foresight,
Stalin’s stance on the economic affairs lead to
great socio-political disasters; the New
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Economic Policy (NEP), branded by headways
towards State Capitalism and mixed economy,
benefited from Stalin’s continuous support.
While Trotsky stressed upon a hyperindustrialization and an acute agrarian
collectivization program, Stalin led the
opposing bloc in favor of the NEP.
The year 1928 was met with the grain
procurement crisis and the obliteration of NEP
in favor of the Five Year Plan. This was an
antithesis of Stalin’s initial attitude towards the
economic policy of the Soviet Union and
resulted in an opposition bloc within the
Politburo Left. The paradoxical shift in Stalin’s
approach arguably demonstrates an intrinsic
inconsistency in the political domain. The
Trotsky economic philosophy he vehemently
opposed at one point was soon adopted as a
national policy. Early traditionalists have
accused Stalin of maintaining a similar
temperamental stance within his international
affairs. Despite accepting The Declaration of
Liberated Europe at Yalta, he was capable of
changing his standpoint to suit the
circumstances.
rise to detrimental misunderstandings during
the early Cold War years. He never explained
himself.
“Omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient,
infallible, and he remained such until his
death in1953”
– Richard Pipes
Additionally, the absence of the accountability
factor is pronounced. Stalin did not
demonstrate a concern for the explicit
implications of The Five Year Plan – an
absolute and radical change within the
economic climate, as well as the risk of hurting
his political personality by appearing
unpredictable and inconsistent. An opposition
was inevitable. However, Stalin met with
criticism and disagreement with the might of
The Purge. Rather than employing the forces
of dialogue to justify and defend his position,
he assumed a repressive role. This attitude,
defined by a lack of lucid explanations, gave
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Appendix
USA AND USSR
DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR
Wartime relations between the Soviet Union
and the United States can be considered one of
the highest points in the age long interactions
between these two great powers. Although not
without tensions, such as differing strategic
goals and ideological goals and lingering
suspicions, the collaborative relationship
between the Soviet Union and the United
States nonetheless was maintained. Moreover,
it was crucial in the defeat of Germany in 1945.
The United States reacted to the democratic
Russian Revolution of February 1917 with
great enthusiasm, which cooled considerably
with the advent of the Bolsheviks in the
October of 1917. The United States, along
with many other countries, refused to
recognize the new rule, arguing that it was not
a democratically elected or a representative
form of government. The policy of nonrecognition ended in November 1933, when
under President Franklin Roosevelt, the United
States, established full diplomatic relations with
the Soviet Union, it still being the last major
power to do so.
Despite outwardly cordial relations between
the two of these countries, American mistrust
regarding the Soviet Union’s international
behavior grew in the latter part of the 1930s.
The August 1939 Nazi Soviet Pact, which
paved the way for Adolf Hitler’s invasion of
Poland in that September, followed by the
Soviet Union’s invasion of Poland’s Eastern
provinces of Western Ukraine and Western
Byelorussia, caused panic in Washington. The
Soviet Union’s approach to Finland in
November 1939, followed by Premier Stalin’s
absorption of the Baltic States of Estonia,
Latvia, and Lithuania in 1940, further worsened
relations.
The Nazi invading the Soviet Union in June
1941, however, led to changes in the American
attitudes. The United States began to see the
Soviet Union as an embattled nation being
overrun by the fascist forces, and this attitude
was further reinforced after the Japanese attack
on Pearl Harbor in December 1941. Under the
Lend Lease Act, the United States sent massive
quantities of war material to the Soviet Union,
which was crucial in helping the Soviets resist
the Nazi onslaught. By the end of the year
1942, the Nazi advance into the Soviet Union
had stalled; it was finally reversed at the epic
battle of Premier Stalingrad in 1943. Soviet
forces then began a massive counteroffensive,
which eventually forced the Nazi forces out of
the Soviet territory and beyond. This Soviet
effort was helped by the cross channel allied
landings at Normandy in June 1944.
These coordinated military actions came about
as the result of intensive and prolonged
diplomatic negotiations between the three
Allied leaders, Premier Stalin, Roosevelt and
Churchill. These wartime conferences, which
also sought after to address problems related to
the postwar world, included the November
1943 Tehran Conference. At Tehran, Premier
Stalin ensured confirmation from Roosevelt
and Churchill of the launching of the crosschannel invasion. In turn, Premier Stalin
promised his allies that the Soviet Union would
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eventually enter the war against Japan. In
February 1945, they met at Yalta in the Crimea.
The Yalta Conference was the most important
and by far the most controversial of the
wartime meetings.
Understanding the strong position that the
Soviet Army held on the ground, Churchill and
an ailing Roosevelt agreed to a number of
things with Premier Stalin. At Yalta, they
granted territorial concessions to the Soviet
Union, and outlined punitive measures in the
face of Germany, including the principle of
reparations and Allied occupation. Premier
Stalin guaranteed that the Soviet Union would
declare war on Japan within six months after
the end of hostilities within Europe.
While the politicians and diplomats engaged in
trying to change the postwar world, Soviet
forces from the east and Allied forces from the
west continued to move onto Germany. After
a costly and fierce battle, Berlin fell to the
Soviet Union forces on May 8, 1945, after
Allied and Soviet troops had met on the Elbe
River to negotiate and congratulate each other
on a hard won impending victory. Although
the war in Europe was over, it would take many
more months of substantial losses and hard
fighting for Allied forces to defeat the Japanese
in September 1945, including the first time the
atomic bomb was used. In accordance with the
Yalta agreements, the Soviet Union announced
war on Japan in early August 1945, just prior to
Japan’s surrender in the same September.
The alliance between the Soviet Union and the
United States during World War II flourished
out of necessity, and out of a shared realization
that each country needed the other to ensure
defeating one of the most destructive and
dangerous forces of the twentieth century.
Ideological differences were mitigated, be it
temporarily, to the common goal of defeating
fascism. The need however ended with the
World War II and the cooperation over
running a divided Germany suffered as a
consequence of several differences between
the two countries.
THE MARSHALL PLAN
The Marshall Plan (European Recovery
Program) was the USA’s initiative to aid
Western Europe, in which the United States of
America gave over $12 billion in economic
support to help rebuild Western European
countries economies after the end of World
War II. The plan began in April 8, 1948. The
goals of the United States were to rebuild war
effected areas, remove trade hindrances,
modernize
industries,
make
Europe
prosperous and flourish again, and prevent the
spread of communism in it. The Marshall Plan
required a lessening of interstate barriers, a
dropping of numerous regulations, and
promoted an increase in productivity, labor
union membership, as well as the adoption of
modern business mythologies.
The Marshall Plan was seen as an extension of
the Truman doctrine’s design to aid in creating
political and economic buffers to prevent the
growth of the Soviet Union. The aid package
were deliberately arranged so that they would
be rejected by Premier Stalin due to their
requirements of multilateral economic
conditions which the Premier Stalin had
previously frequently and consistently rejected
as he considered them to be incompatible with
the Soviet Union’s economy.
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ALLIED CONTROL
COUNCIL
For the reasons of occupation, the Soviet
Union, Americans, British and the French
divided Germany into four zones. The
American, British, and French zones combined
made up the Western two thirds of Germany,
while the Soviet Union’s zone comprised of the
Eastern third. Berlin, the former capital, which
was surrounded by the Soviet Union’s zone,
was placed under joint four power authority
but it was then partitioned into four sectors for
administrative and controlling purposes. An
Allied Control Council was to practice overall
joint authority over the country. However
following the London Program of 1948, when
the new currency was introduced into Berlin
without the Soviet Union’s permit, in anger the
USSR boycotted the Allied Control Council
and removed itself from it.
ROLE OF THE UNITED
NATION AND OTHER
COUNTRIES
The end of the Second World War saw the
establishment of the United Nations (this was
the body replacing the League of Nations
which dissolved 20 April 1946) as a global body
to maintain peace in the region and be a
mediator between different countries especially
in times of conflict. Following the introduction
of the London Program, the conditions of the
relations of the USA and the USSR deteriorate
which seeing the momentum of the problem
would call upon the United Nations to step in.
This would however also put the United
Nations in a very tough position to come up
with a solution considering that both the major
powers involved in the potential will both be
permanent members of the United Nations. It
can however use its position to firstly
diplomatically pressure any involved party into
not taking up arms and negotiating and can also
protect the West Berlin using its own abilities
considering the compromised position of
Berlin in the conflict that will most probably
follow the London Program.
UNITED KINGDOM
The end of the Second World War (1939-1945)
brought massive change. There had been a
genuine dissatisfaction with the Conservative
government before the war and the voters were
determined to being a change. The 1945
General Election swept Churchill from his rule
and brought in a Labour Party led by Clement
Attlee. United Kingdom was exhausted and
virtually bankrupt from the prosecution of the
war. Without the massive injection of
American war materials and food through the
Lease Lend Act it is questionable whether the
United Kingdom would have been able to go
on. In 1945 all this stopped in the worse way.
Food shipments on the high seas were stopped
and turned round. The United States
immediately demanded payment for goods and
food supplied. With a damaged infrastructure
and an industry geared to war materials the
United Kingdom could only go on with
profound loans from the United States. The
United Kingdom was also one of the three
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members of the London Program and was
equally threatened by the growing influence of
communism on Germany.
FRANCE
At the end of the Second World War France
though a victor, bore the scars of defeat and
occupation, and was confronted by serious
political and economic problems. A provisional
government, headed by General Charles de
Gaulle, had been set up in August 1944, and
this held power until a new constitution
announcing the Fourth Republic was made in
December 1946. Under this constitution, the
National Assembly was strengthened at the
expense of the presidency, the empire was
renamed the French Union. Daunted by the
Soviet threat at home, France was the third
member of the London Program.
POLAND
Soviet powers removed the Germans from
Poland amid 1944-1945. The Western Allies
pulled back their acknowledgment of the
Polish Government in Exile and rather
perceived the socialist overwhelmed "Lublin"
government established by the Soviet Union in
1945.
The principal post war parliamentary decisions
were held in 1947 yet had been so painstakingly
orchestrated that they viably finished multi
party legislative issues. Soviet style political,
monetary, and social hypotheses were then an
imminent part of Polish life. The problems of
1948 saw Poland under the influence of the
Soviet Union.
CZECHOSLOVAKIA
Czechoslovakia came out of the second World
War under the influence of the Soviet Union,
this was mostly due to the fact that the Red
Army liberated Prague, its capital in May’ 1945.
The communist party of the country took
control of the government in 1948, this was
followed by purging of several politicians, until
Soviet advisors stepped in and re-equipped the
army with weaponry. This was perhaps one of
the key motivations for the London program
to be presented in the first place, the Western
powers been intimidated and threatened by the
control of the Soviet Union on parts of
Europe.
NORWAY
Lack of bias and the British certification had
both neglected to shield Norway from German
hostility in 1940, bringing about years of
occupation; in certainty numerous German
fighters were still in Norway. From 8 May 1945
Norwegian Resistance troops started to assume
control from the Germans and were helped
with this by British and Swedish warriors. The
banished government and government
returned, King Haakon cruising into Oslo on 7
June 1945.
In the prompt post-war years Norway kept up
a position of safety in remote arrangement. The
nation would have liked to stay outside the
power squares and likely regions of contention.
Norway put extraordinary trust in the United
Nations and in actuality the UN's first Secretary
General, Trygve Lie was a Norwegian.
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Worldwide governmental issues kept this and
as strain between the East and the West
developed Norway was compelled to come
immovably down in the western military camp.
Albeit moderately unscathed, Norway still
profit by the American Marshall Program.
ALBANIA
In November 1944 German possessing powers
pulled back from the nation. They had gone
under expanding weight from the Communist
guerrillas under Enver Hoxha yet the essential
reason was the Soviet push into the Balkans
which debilitated to remove their line of
withdraw into Austria and parts of Hungary.
Toward the end of 1944, amid the resulting
power vacuum, Hoxha seized power and after
two years the nation was pronounced the
People's Republic of Albania. Hoxha was a
slavish supporter of Premier Stalin and
immediately followed the Soviet leader's tactics
in producing a totalitarian communist state.
In August 1944 Bulgaria singularly pulled back
from the war and requested German troops to
leave Bulgaria. In the meantime Bulgarian
troops pulled back from Greece and
Yugoslavia. In September Bulgaria announced
war on Germany, yet this did not keep the
Soviet Union proclaiming war on Bulgaria. On
16 September 1944 Soviet troops possessed the
capital Sofia.
In September 1946 the government was
nullified and the Communists moved to
assume control. Vasil Kolarov got to be
President and Dimitrov got to be Prime
Minister. The guaranteed free decisions in 1946
were fixed and boycotted by the restriction
parties.
In June 1947 the Agrarian Party pioneer Nikola
Petkv was captured and afterward executed. By
the harvest time of that year the Communist
administration was solidly introduced in
Bulgaria and the sum total of what resistance
had been squashed.
ROMANIA
BULGARIA
By 1944 it was evident to the Bulgarians that
the Germans were losing the war and the
legislature searched for an exit from their
organization together with Germany.
Endeavors were made to start arrangements
with the Western Allies. However the genuine
politic was that the Soviet armed force was
quickly progressing on the outskirts of Bulgaria
and any peace negotiation with the Allies would
need to be made on the Soviet Union’s terms.
Amid the Second World War Romania aligned
itself with the Germans. However as Soviet
powers progressed into the nation in August
1944 an upset removed the rightist pioneer
Antonescu and Romania changed sides. It
endured extra misfortunes while battling
nearby the Soviet strengths.
Soviet occupation taking after the end of the
Second World War. Taking after the example
set up in other eastern alliance countries
restriction pioneers were captured or banished
and by 1947 a Communist People's Republic
had been announced.
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TURKEY
Toward the end of the Second World War the
Soviet Union started to apply weight in the
Balkans and the Middle East trying to access
the Mediterranean. Turkey specifically was
imperative to the Soviets, controlling as it did
the Dardenelles, the ocean path between the
Mediterranean and the Black Sea. In 1947 the
Truman Doctrine reported US help and
potential military backing for the nations here;
bringing them under the Western range of
prominence.
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