Cold War German Surrender – end of 1945.

What happened after the Yalta Conference and how did that affect the Cold War?

1. Germany Surrender in may 1945 due to American and Russian efforts. This means that in the vacuum after the fall of one superpower (Germany) two others (USA and USSR) will submerge to the international arena:
1. USA 1945:

i. Came out of the conflict as a winner. No fighting on American territory. A well-equipped and efficient army.

ii. BUT Isolationism was still a popular foreign policy.

iii. ON THE OTHER HAND, representative for liberal democracy and wanting to take get involved in world politics.

iv. Of course an ideological enemy of USSR

2. USSR 1945:

i. Competing with the Capitalist Society. Ideological enemy of the USA.

ii. Huge losses in the war.

iii. Huge and victorious army.

iv. Wanting a European security zone of satellite states.

v. USSR, especially under the leadership of Stalin, was a “paranoid” country. Policies were set up on the assumption that there is always an enemy, against whom the “workers paradise” had to protect itself.

2. Truman new leader:
1. Stalin thought he would be weak and inexperienced.
2. Truman was strong and unlike Roosevelt an anti-communist.
3. The Truman administration wanted USA to get involved in world affairs.
4. Stalin made no secret of the view he had on foreign politics, protect the interests of the revolutionary USSR.
3. Development of the A-bomb:
1. Stalin knew this through his spy, Fuchs.
2. Truman told Stalin during the Potsdam that he had a weapon of “massive destructive power”. Stalin replied “I hope you use it on the Japanese”
4. The two historical truths; “Ones the war is over, alliances fall.” and “Two superpowers can never cooperate.”
1. The two societies were fundamentally different, and they were competing. This meant that ones you have no common enemy, the competition will start again.
2. The Cold War is a combination of an old power struggle - a la Rome vs Carthage or France vs Britain in the 1700 hundreds – and an ideological struggle – a la reformation vs counterreformation.

Was the Potsdam Conference the beginning of the Cold War?

YES:

• No agreement on free elections countries occupied by the red army. Stalin had put his guys in charge and made no efforts to honor the Yalta declaration of Liberated Europe.
• Truman had said that he was going to get tough on the Russians.
• The A-bomb had been successfully tested, but Stalin was unlike the British not told about it. He knew anyway, but this was a sign on the distrust rising between USSR and USA.
• All these things led to rising suspicion between USSR and USA.

NO:

• A lot of very difficult issues were solved and agreed on. Poland got its borders.
• The administration of occupied Germany was agreed on.
• Borders for Italy, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Czechoslovakia was agreed on.
• UN was acknowledge as a major player in future conflicts, and issues were solved on how to organize the UN.

Todd means that there are four main reasons to the breakdown of the Grand Alliance and the beginning of the cold war:

1. Germany
2. Poland and Eastern Europe
3. Economic reconstruction
4. US atomic bomb.

Read these pages 126 – 135 in Todd and answer the questions below:

Questions:

1. Do you agree with Todd on the causes of the Cold War? Does Todd contradict what I have told you?
2. “The Cold war was a result of soviet ideology aiming to destabilize the capitalist states”. To what extent do you agree with this orthodox view on the beginning of the Cold War?
3. “USA caused the Cold War since it interfered in European politics and forced the USSR to stick to its satellite states.” Do you agree with this revisionist view on the causes of the cold war?
4. How does a post-revisionist explain the beginning of the Cold War?