The Cold War
1945 to 1991
• A ‘Cold War’ doesn’t involve fighting
• Satellite Countries
• Stalin created a buffer wall to prevent ideas of democracy from
entering Russia
• Forced to practice Soviet Communism
• Hot War
• World War 2
• Warm War
• Cuban Missile Crisis
• Cold War (competition; race for arms; no physical fighting;
outmaneuvering each other)
• Conflict between America and Russia from 1945 to 1991 due to different
ideologies (Capitalism and Communism)
• Proxy Wars (these could consist of Hot Wars)
• The West: America, Britain and France
• Superpowers: America (The West) and Russia (USSR)
The Origins of/Reasons for the Cold War
• Bad blood between the West and the USSR
• American supported the Mensheviks during the Bolshevik Revolution
• This caused bad blood between the Americans and the Russians
• Allies fought together against Hitler
• Britain (Capitalists)
• America (Capitalists)
• France (Capitalists)
• USSR (Communists)
• The West and The USSR didn’t trust each other because of opposite
ideologies, therefore they went against/sabotaged each other
• The West didn’t like Stalin’s totalitarian methods of implementing
communism
• The West didn’t trust Russia after Stalin signed a non-aggression pact
with Hitler
• Hitler didn’t want to be fighting from both sides
• Munich Conference
• Allied powers go to Germany, but Stalin (Russia) wasn’t invited
• Russia lost territory with the Treaty of Versailles
• Poland became a country without their knowledge
• This was originally their territory that was taken from the Russians
with the Treaty of Brest Litovsk
• The Americans took so long (2 years) to invade Normandy
• Stalin thought they wanted large numbers of Russians to die
• Atom Bomb Technology not shared with Stalin
The Three Cold War Conferences
• The Big Three got along well in public but not behind the scenes
• Teheran Conference (1943):
• Not a focal point
• Decide what to do after the war
• During World War 2
• Invasion by the British and USA was not going to happen through the
Balkans
• USSR was left to this attack
• Stalin was irritated because he had no help from his allies
• Allowing Stalin to have his way in Eastern Europe
• He built the satellite states
, • Yalta Conference (1945):
• AKA Crimea Conference
• Took place at a seaside restort in Russia (Crimea)
• A new postwar settlement was to be discussed
• Germany couldn’t recover
• Differences between Capitalism and Communism
• Divided Germany into 4 zones the share between the UK, the USA, the
USSR and France
• Berlin (Capital of Germany) was also divided into 4 zones
• Russia got the biggest zone to administer in the eastern half of
Germany
• Land for agriculture and farming
• Stalin was upset because the west had better industrial development
• The West (ran the west side of Germany which was capitalist and
democratic) offered 25% (industrial equipment) of their reparations to the USSR in
the East of Germany
• Stalin could offer food for more industrial equipment
• Stalin wanted total control over Berlin
• Stalin took over Poland when invading and he promised democratic
elections at the conference
• His democracy was to vote for a member in the communist party
• No one thought Stalin would make the satellite states communist
• Formed a buffer zone between the East and the West
• Declaration on liberating Europe from communist control
• Tension started to brew
• Russia seemed to have the upper hand
• Potsdam Conference (1945):
• Leadership changed in America and Britain
• USA: FDR ➡️ Harry Truman
• UK: Winston Churchill ➡️ Clement Attlee
• Potsdam is a suburb in Berlin
• Continuation of the Yalta Conference
• Discussions of zones continued
• Although Churchill had ‘left’, he was still very involved in politics
• A peaceful solution wasn’t reached at the conference
• The world was left divided into 2 spheres: Capitalists vs. Communist
• The West put lots into their section of Germany while Russia took lots
out of Germany to improve their own country
USSR and USA and the Creation of Spheres of Interest
• Stalin created a buffer zone of satellite states that were strictly
communist
• Satellite states are not the same thing as Soviet Republics
Reasons for the Soviet Union’s Takeover of Eastern Europe
• Stalin was nervous of the West because they had access to the atomic
bomb
• He wanted the buffer zone so that Russia would be prepared if under
attack
• Germany was responsible for a lot of the loss that the Russians
experienced
• Similar to how Germany felt at the Treaty of Versailles
• Explains his uncooperativeness at the conferences
• Coalition government: Capitalists and Communists bind together to form
one government
• Governed coalition states
• Eventually, non-communists would slip away
1945 to 1991
• A ‘Cold War’ doesn’t involve fighting
• Satellite Countries
• Stalin created a buffer wall to prevent ideas of democracy from
entering Russia
• Forced to practice Soviet Communism
• Hot War
• World War 2
• Warm War
• Cuban Missile Crisis
• Cold War (competition; race for arms; no physical fighting;
outmaneuvering each other)
• Conflict between America and Russia from 1945 to 1991 due to different
ideologies (Capitalism and Communism)
• Proxy Wars (these could consist of Hot Wars)
• The West: America, Britain and France
• Superpowers: America (The West) and Russia (USSR)
The Origins of/Reasons for the Cold War
• Bad blood between the West and the USSR
• American supported the Mensheviks during the Bolshevik Revolution
• This caused bad blood between the Americans and the Russians
• Allies fought together against Hitler
• Britain (Capitalists)
• America (Capitalists)
• France (Capitalists)
• USSR (Communists)
• The West and The USSR didn’t trust each other because of opposite
ideologies, therefore they went against/sabotaged each other
• The West didn’t like Stalin’s totalitarian methods of implementing
communism
• The West didn’t trust Russia after Stalin signed a non-aggression pact
with Hitler
• Hitler didn’t want to be fighting from both sides
• Munich Conference
• Allied powers go to Germany, but Stalin (Russia) wasn’t invited
• Russia lost territory with the Treaty of Versailles
• Poland became a country without their knowledge
• This was originally their territory that was taken from the Russians
with the Treaty of Brest Litovsk
• The Americans took so long (2 years) to invade Normandy
• Stalin thought they wanted large numbers of Russians to die
• Atom Bomb Technology not shared with Stalin
The Three Cold War Conferences
• The Big Three got along well in public but not behind the scenes
• Teheran Conference (1943):
• Not a focal point
• Decide what to do after the war
• During World War 2
• Invasion by the British and USA was not going to happen through the
Balkans
• USSR was left to this attack
• Stalin was irritated because he had no help from his allies
• Allowing Stalin to have his way in Eastern Europe
• He built the satellite states
, • Yalta Conference (1945):
• AKA Crimea Conference
• Took place at a seaside restort in Russia (Crimea)
• A new postwar settlement was to be discussed
• Germany couldn’t recover
• Differences between Capitalism and Communism
• Divided Germany into 4 zones the share between the UK, the USA, the
USSR and France
• Berlin (Capital of Germany) was also divided into 4 zones
• Russia got the biggest zone to administer in the eastern half of
Germany
• Land for agriculture and farming
• Stalin was upset because the west had better industrial development
• The West (ran the west side of Germany which was capitalist and
democratic) offered 25% (industrial equipment) of their reparations to the USSR in
the East of Germany
• Stalin could offer food for more industrial equipment
• Stalin wanted total control over Berlin
• Stalin took over Poland when invading and he promised democratic
elections at the conference
• His democracy was to vote for a member in the communist party
• No one thought Stalin would make the satellite states communist
• Formed a buffer zone between the East and the West
• Declaration on liberating Europe from communist control
• Tension started to brew
• Russia seemed to have the upper hand
• Potsdam Conference (1945):
• Leadership changed in America and Britain
• USA: FDR ➡️ Harry Truman
• UK: Winston Churchill ➡️ Clement Attlee
• Potsdam is a suburb in Berlin
• Continuation of the Yalta Conference
• Discussions of zones continued
• Although Churchill had ‘left’, he was still very involved in politics
• A peaceful solution wasn’t reached at the conference
• The world was left divided into 2 spheres: Capitalists vs. Communist
• The West put lots into their section of Germany while Russia took lots
out of Germany to improve their own country
USSR and USA and the Creation of Spheres of Interest
• Stalin created a buffer zone of satellite states that were strictly
communist
• Satellite states are not the same thing as Soviet Republics
Reasons for the Soviet Union’s Takeover of Eastern Europe
• Stalin was nervous of the West because they had access to the atomic
bomb
• He wanted the buffer zone so that Russia would be prepared if under
attack
• Germany was responsible for a lot of the loss that the Russians
experienced
• Similar to how Germany felt at the Treaty of Versailles
• Explains his uncooperativeness at the conferences
• Coalition government: Capitalists and Communists bind together to form
one government
• Governed coalition states
• Eventually, non-communists would slip away
