THE ORIGINS OF THE COLD
WAR 1945-1955 REVISION
NOTES
IDEOLOGICAL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE USA AND THE USSR
THE USA
- The USA was a capitalist society.
- It centred on two key ideas, DEMOCRACY and CAPITALISM
- Democracy meant that the US president and congress were elected in free public elections and
could be voted out by the public as well.
- Capitalism meant that Businesses and Properties were owned by private individuals and
companies.
- Although the USA was the world’s richest nation, there were extremes of wealth and poverty.
- For Americans, the rights and freedom of individual Americans were more important than
everyone being equal.
- Most Americans believed strongly in these American principles, and regarded COMMUNISM as
a threat to their way of life.
THE USSR (AKA THE SOVIET UNION)
- The Soviet Union was a COMMUNIST society.
, - In stark contrast to American society, Soviet society was based on communist ideas and was a
one-party state, meaning that although there were elections, people could only vote
communists.
- Industry was organised and run by the state. Unemployment and extreme poverty were rare,
but the standard of living for most Soviet citizens was lower than the average American.
- Communists believed the rights of an individual were far less important than that of the good of
society as a whole, so there were many restrictions on an individual’s freedom. The state kept
tight control over the press, media, film and art, and was also hostile towards organised
religion.
- Soviet leaders (for example Joseph Stalin) believed other countries should also be run in a
communist way. Many communists bitterly opposed capitalism.
Important differences between the two nations between the 1930’s and 1940’s included that after
WW2, the two countries were now the ruling elite of the world, richer and more powerful than any
other country, and so emerged as SUPERPOWERS, and each one was determined not to be bullied
by the other. This was to become very clear over the next few decades.
YALTA CONFERENCE FEBRUARY 1945
In 1945, the allied leaders known as the “Big 3” met in YALTA, UKRAINE, to discuss what would happen
to Europe after WW2. The conference was attended by Winston Churchill representing Britain, Joseph
Stalin representing the Soviet Union, and Franklin Roosevelt representing the USA.
WHAT DID THEY AGREE ON?
Despite their obvious differences, the leaders did manage to agree on some important matters.
- Stalin entered the war against Japan once Germany had been defeated.
- Germany was to be split into 4 zones between France, Britain, The USA and the USSR.
Since the capital city Berlin ended up in the Soviet zone, it was also divided into 4
zones between the 4 powers.
- Countries liberated from previous Nazi control were to be allowed to hold free
elections and elect their own government.
- All 3 joined the modern successor to the League of Nations, the United Nations, with
the aim of promoting and establishing world peace after the war.
- Soviet Casualties were immense after the War had ended, around 20 million, and
thus Stalin was concerned about the future safety of the Soviet Union. So, it was
agreed that Eastern Europe would become a Soviet ‘sphere of influence’, to act as a
buffer zone from any potential future German attack.
WHAT DID THEY DISAGREE ON?
- The only real dis-agreement was on Poland.
, - Stalin wanted to move the Soviet Union’s border west into Poland to expand, and
argued that in turn Poland could move its border west into Germany.
- At first neither Churchill or Roosevelt agreed to the proposal, but Churchill persuaded
Roosevelt to agree, as long as Stalin didn’t interfere with British interests and
operations in Greece, where they were attempting to stem the flow of communism.
EVENTS AFTER YALTA
In May of 1945, around 3 months after the conference at Yalta, Germany surrendered and the war
in Europe was won by the Allies. A second conference was arranged in July in the Belgian suburb of
POTSDAM. However, in the five months since Yalta, a number of significant events had taken
places which would greatly effect relations between the Big 3.
1. STALIN’S FORCES OCCUPIED MOST OF EASTERN EUROPE
- Soviet troops took back countries from the Nazi, but left their armies there as well. By July,
Stalin basically controlled the Baltic states, Finland, Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria
and Romania, with many people already fearing a communist takeover.
- Stalin established a Communist government in Poland, to the resentment of the Polish people,
as well as Britain and the USA, and claimed that it was to act as a buffer zone to possible future
attacks.
2. AMERICA HAD A NEW PRESIDENT
- On April 12th 1945, President Roosevelt died and through US custom was replaced by vice-
president Harry Truman, who did not have the same foreign policy intellect and understanding
that Roosevelt had once possessed.
- He deeply resisted communism and was much more Anti-Communist than Roosevelt ever was,
and was heavily suspicious of Stalin. He saw Soviet actions in the East as a preparation for the
takeover of the rest of Europe.
3. USA CREATE FIRST ATOMIC BOMB
- The Americans had developed and successfully tested a weapon with horrific potential and
tremendous power. Claiming it would help speed up the end of the war, on August the 6th 1945,
The Americans dropped the first ever atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima,
destroying most of the city killing between 70,000-146,000 Japanese soldiers and civilians, and
then dropped another bomb on Nagasaki just 3 days later on August the 9th 1945, killing 39,000-
80,000 people and decimating the city.
- This event would largely effect future negotiations between the Two Super Powers.
POTSDAM CONFERENCE JULY 1945
