Cold War issues
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The opening of the Second Front
-D-Day Landings in France in June 1944 -Second front in Western Europe to relieve pressure of the Soviet Union -228 Axis divisions on the eastern front -61 divisions in Western Europe The Warsaw Uprising -The pro-communist poles formed a group called the Lublin committee -Happened in 1944 -London poles played a key role -Polish underground forces fought against the Germans without the help of the Soviet Union -Without the help the poles were destroyed Tensions at Yalta -The Red army occupied most of eastern Europe -Germany was close to being defeated Clear Divisions at Potsdam -Franklin D. Roosevelt past away and was replaced by Harry S. Truman -Clement Atlee replaced Winston Churchill -Truman didn't get along with Stalin and they disagreed on many things -Truman wanted the polish government to be reorganized -Truman wasn't happy with the percentage agreements Hiroshima -August 6th 1945 the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima -90,000–146,000 people dies in the explosion -2nd September Japan surrendered to the Allies The Red Army in Eastern Europe -Eastern Europe had become a Soviet 'Sphere of Influence' -Soviets used 'salami tactics' to slowly control the whole of eastern Europe -Stalin agreed that eastern Europe would have "free" elections -The Soviet Union only recognized the communist parties in the eastern European countries Salami Tactics -The USSR started by setting up "anti-fascist" governments -Slowly these governments "sliced off" all the other parties -When all the parties were "sliced off" the local people were replaced with Moscow trained people Germany -The Allies negotiated on what to do with Germany after the war had ended -The USSR's idea of what to do with Germany was very different from UK and US' idea -In May 1945 Germany surrendered unconditionally to the Allies -Germany was split into 4 zones UK, US, USSR and France - Germany would be run as a ACC (Allied Control Council) -Germany would be de-nazified in all four zones -The Economy of Germany was limited to only domestic industry and agriculture Iran -The USSR was trying to take over Iran -The UK and US agreed to remove their soldiers after the war ended but Stalin left 30,000 troops in Iran -On the 1st of January 1946 Stalin refused to remove his troops -The Iranian government complained to the UN -The red army finally removed its troops after the UN complaints Kennan's Long Telegram -On February 1946 a US diplomat in Moscow, George F. Kennan sent a telegram to the US describing soviet foreign policies -He said that the USSR was "fanatically and implacably" hostile to the West and only listened to the "logic of force" -Kennan wrote that the USSR considered the outside countries evil and anti-Stalinist Churchill's Fulton Speech -In 1946 Churchill gave the 'Iron Curtain Speech' the speech was about how the communist governments were controlling eastern European countries -Stalin was greatly offended by the speech comparing Churchill to Hitler -After the speech the USSR withdrew from the IMF (International Monetary Fund) -Russia Initiated a five-year plan to strengthen their economy Instability in Greece and Turkey -There were a lot of pro-communist rebellions in Greece and Turkey after the second world war -Stalin wanted to control Constantinople instead of keeping it under Turkish control but this violated with the Percentages Agreement that Stalin had formed with Churchill Communist Party success in Italy and France -Italy and France both had democracies but slowly Communism grew stronger in these countries -The US and UK thought that the USSR were supporting these Communist parties The Truman Doctrine -12th March 1947 Harry S. Truman made a speech which was known as the Truman Doctrine - He said that the US would "support free people who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures" -The US decided to open up to other countries instead of being isolated -President Truman was trying to help Greece and Turkey -The USSR took the doctrine as US's attempt on expanding its influence The Marshall Plan -In January 1947 US Secretary of State, James Byrnes resigned and was replaced by General George Marshall -Marshall thought that western European countries need help from the US -The Marshall plan evolved from the Truman Doctrine and it was designed to give economic help to Europe -The aims of the Marshall plan were to:
COMECON -The USSR formed the Molotov Plan in response to the Marshall Plan -It was a series of trade agreements to bring Russia's economy and economies in Eastern Europe together -In January 1949 COMECON was created -Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON). A Centralist agency that linked Eastern countries to Europe -It was designed to control eastern European countries economic development and support agriculture COMINFORM - It was the Communist Information Bureau -The COMINFORM was created in September 1947 -It was a way for Stalin to increase his power and control over the Communist parties in other countries -The US and UK thought that this would spread Communism Mr "X" Article - The MR "X" Article was an article written in 1947 by George Kennan for Time Magazine -The article argued that the United States policy towards the USSR had been "long term" and that the USSR should be considered a rival and not a partner -This article greatly influenced president Truman Czechoslovakian Coup -Happened in February 1948 -Czechoslovakia was moving towards the West and it was trying to get help form the Marshall plan -Twelve non-communists were forced to resign in the Czechoslovakian government because Stalin had put pressure on them - The Communist Party Leader demanded a Communist-led government and the Czech President, Edvard Beneš agreed after the pressure from Moscow and threats from armed troops were told to him |
Timeline from 1943-1948 |