Why Did The Cold War Begin? Fear Of War

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1. What was clear by 1946?

Back 1

There was a division in Europe between the communist East and capitalist West.

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2. What side did Stalin represent? What side did Churchill represent?

Back 2

Stalin represented the East and Churchill represented the West.

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3. What did they soon respond to on another with?

Back 3

A war of words

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4. What did this show eachother?

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Showed their former allies that they now saw eachother as potential enemies. This suspicion and mistrust became an important element of the Cold War.

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5. When was Churchill's Iron Curtain Speech? What was the general gist of it?

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It was March 1946 - Winston Churchill gave a speech in which he declared that Russia had built an "Iron Curtain" separating eastern Europe from western Europe. Churchill meant that the Soviet Union had separated the eastern European countries from the west so that no one knew what was going on behind the “curtain.”

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6. When did Stalin respond and what did he say?

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March 1946 - He compared Churchill and his friends to Hitler and his friends. He also called Churchill a warmonger.

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7. When did Churchill give the Iron Curtain speech?

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When he was on a trip to America and everyone understood that Truman supported what he said. It was clear both sides were beginning to view each other more as enemies than allies.

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8. Why did Stalin build the Iron Curtain?

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Stalin wanted to set up a buffer zone of countries in Eastern Europe to protect the USSR against another invasion by Germany - he had seen 2 invasions in his own lifetime - 1914 & 1941.

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9. Above all, what was Stalin determined to do?

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Prevent the war from happening a third time and he wanted to make sure that Germany was kept weak, whereas the western allies wanted Germany to be allowed to recover from the effects of war.

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10. What were the Western Allies aware of?

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The mistakes that had been at the Treaty of Versailles and did not want history to repeat itself.

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11. What else was Stalin trying to prevent?

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Western influence reaching the west and to stop refugees leaving the east for Western Europe. Refugees and displaced persons soon discovered that life in Soviet occupied areas was not always pleasant.

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12. What was Stalin and Churchill both concerned about?

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The breakdown of the grand alliance would mean the threat of a new war.

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13. What did both of them ask their embassies to do?

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Help them understand how their opponents were thinking by asking for secret reports. These reports were sent as telegrams.

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14. When were both of the telegrams sent?

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The Long Telegram 1946 and the Novikov's Telegram 1946.

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15. What news did Truman receive in the Long Telegram?

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He received some worrying news - a secret report from the American ambassador in Moscow called Kennan. He reported that:

* Stalin had given a speech calling for the destruction of capitalism *There would be no peace with the USSR while it was opposed to capitalism *The USSR was building up its military power.

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16. What news Stain receive?

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*America wanted to dominate the world *Following Roosevelt's death the American government was no longer interested in working with the USSR * The American public was being prepared for war with the USSR.

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17. Following the secret telegrams both governments believed what?

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There was a strong possibility of war between them. The SU believed that war with America was now inevitable. In America, some soldiers who had fought in the WW2 and entered politics when they returned home began calling Stalin 'the new Hitler'.

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18. What was the simple point they made?

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Stalin was preparing for war just like Hitler had and therefore had to be stopped.

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19. What did people in America begin to fear?

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That the USSR was intent on world domination and the USSR thought the same thing about America.

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20. What did Truman address at the beginning of 1947?

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Addressed the American government and he told them of his belief that America must make a stand against communism and stop it spreading across the world.

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21. What was known as the unofficial declaration of the Cold War?

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The Truman Doctrine

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22. After learning about the USSR's intentions from the 'Long Telegram' what did President Truman ask the America Military?

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To access the actual strength of the USSR'S army. Although it was discovered that the USSR was in no position to fight another war, President Truman believed that they had a second strategy to allow them to conquer more and more territory without having to actually declare war.

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23. What was believed that Stalin will do?

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Try and encourage communist revolutions in other countries in Europe and given the fact that a lot of countries had been devasted by the WW2 (Italy, France, Greece, Turkey & GB) it was thought that the idea of communism might be made to look very appealing to these people.

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24. Why would communism look attractive to some people?

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It believed that the wealth of the richest people should be shared out amongst the poor. Therefore, in 1947, Truman set out a new policy to address this threat and this policy became known as the Truman Doctrine.

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25. What did the Truman Doctrine state?

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- The world had a choice between communist tyranny and democratic freedom - America had a responsibility to fight for liberty wherever in the world it was threatened - America would send troops and economic resources to help governments that were threatened by communists. Communism should not be allowed to grow and gain territory.

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26. What wad the greatest significance of the Truman Doctrine?

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It implied America, rather than the United Nations, had a responsibility to protect the world. This was a complete u-turn in policy compared to the 'isolationism' that America had followed during the 1930s, where America had determinedly stayed out of international affairs.

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27. Why else was the Truman Doctrine significant?

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It divided two clear ideologies: it stated that capitalism and communism were in opposition against one another. This implied that that could be no further co-operation between East and West due to their ideaological in differences and this marked the unofficial end to the Grand Alliance and the beginning of the Cold War.

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28. What realist goal did it set for America?

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It was for American foreign policy, showing that President Truman was committed to 'containment'. He did not want to invade the USSR but would make every effort to stop communism being spread further.

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29. How would Truman describe the Doctrine and the Marshall Plan (1947)?

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A 'two halves of the same walnut'. This meant that the American plan was a dual strategy for dealing with communism.

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30. How was containment aimed to communism?

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Through military force, then the Marshall Plan would commit 13$ billion of American money to rebuilding the devasted economies of Europe.

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31. What was hoped by encouraging and nurturing prosperity in those areas?

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The Marshall Plan would weaken the attraction of communism. To those countries who were suffering economic hardship after the second world war, the idea of sharing economic resources proposed by communism was very appealing indeed.

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32. In the nations which were wealthier, was communism appealing?

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It was less appealing. In order to qualify for American money European countries had to agree to trade freely with America. Therefor a consequence of the Marshall Plan was to help the American economy as well.

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33. When did the European countries meet?

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At the Paris Conference of 1948 to discuss the American offer.

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34. What were the countries reaction to the Marshall Aid?

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Many countries were keen to accept the Marshall Aid. Delegates from the USSR, however, walked out of the conference, claiming that America was deliberately trying to divide Europe into two 'camps'. They said that the Marshall Aid was simply the first step in forging a military alliance that would then wage war on the SU.

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35. What did Stalin insist?

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Those Eastern European countries under the Soviet 'sphere of influence; refuse the help offered by the USA. It is notable that 16 countries, including Britain and France welcomed the American assistance and saw it as a way of rebuilding their own economies and defeating communism in their own countries.