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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
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.
"Two worlds & two
wars."
1948
Text top: "Strategic
plan to attack
drought."
Text bottom:
"Strategic plan for
military bases."
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.
Suez