CHAPTER 29: COLD WAR CONFLICT AND CONSENSUS (1945-1965)
Pre Chapter
I. WWII both destroyed and lead to great West civilization recovery in Euro
A. Allies continue working on peace treaty - Soviet Union vs US about peace process → Cold War
II. Events of mid-1900s
A. 1947-1989 Cold War - military, economic, technological competition
1. Euro divided: Soviet-aligned East bloc, US-aligned West bloc
B. New renaissance - building of strong democratic institutions, economies
C. Anti-Soviet uprisings in east → military intervention, death
D. Colonial independence mvmts → violence
1. Cold War impacted decolonization process
E. Changing class structure, new women, youth roles, new migration patterns
Postwar Europe and the Origins of the Cold War
I. Pre-Notes - How did the events after WWII contribute to the Cold War, and how did the US-Soviet rivalry affect Europe?
A. Ally goals
1. Rebuilding Euro - begin reconstructing
2. Deal w/ Nazis - punished for war crimes
3. Create lasting peace - failed
a) US, Soviet Union’s different goals, misunderstandings
b) By 1947 Euro divided in East, West Blocs - compete for political, military, technological superiority
II. The Legacies of the Second World War
A. 1945 devastations after the war
1. Destroyed cities, landscapes, buildings, factories, farms, railroads, bridges, etc
B. Numbers of WWII - 50 mil
1. Deaths
a) 20 mil Soviets; 5 mil Germans - 3 mil soldiers
b) 10 mil in concentration camps - 6 mil Jews, 220k Sinti, Roma Gypsies
c) 400k US; France, GB lose less than WWI - 60k Brits
2. Homeless
a) 25 mil Soviets, 20 mil Germans
(1) 30 mil forced from homes from Hitler, Stalin
(2) 13 mil Germans fled west before Soviets attacked
C. Displaced persons - post war refugees; 13 mil Germans, former Nazi prisoners, forced laborers, orphans
1. 1945-1947 United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) opened 760 DP camps, $10 bil
for housing, food, clothes, etc
2. Couldn’t always go home (ie easterns who went west were seen as politically unreliable)
a) Many imprisoned, exiled to labor camps on Siberian gulag, executed
3. Jew DPs - destroyed communities, anti-Semitism, unwelcomed
a) Stay in special Jew DP camps
b) 1948 creation of Israel - 330k leave for here
4. By 1957 UNRRA resettled mils of refugees
D. Dealing with enemies
1. 100k Germans, Austrians convicted of war crimes - investigated or indicted
a) Non-Germans who helped also punished
2. French, Italian groups seeking revenge executed 25k ppl
a) French women who “horizontally collaborated” publicly humiliated
3. New post war govts establish authority over punishment
E. Ally govts denazification procedures in Germany
1. Identify former Nazis, punish those responsible for crimes of National Socialist state
2. 1945-1946 Nuremberg trials - military tribunal organized by Big 4 tried, sentenced highest ranking Nazi
military, civilian leaders
a) 12/22 sentenced to death
b) Last time 4 Allies worked together to punish former Nazis
F. Soviets, West allies begin separating - carry out own denazification procedures
1. US military courts first actively prosecuted Nazis, Soviets imprisoned, killed 45k Nazis
a) BUT denazification becoming impractical - huge numbers of Nazi crimes, German opposition,
need for stability before Cold War
2. Nazi cooperation = avoiding prosecution, can get high positions in govt, industry
G. Allies struggled to create lasting peace w/ post war ruin, despair, slow recovery
, 1. Many slowly regained normal lives BUT Euro confidence shaken
III. The Peace Accords and Cold War Origins
A. Soviet Union, US began arguing as unifying threat of Nazi Germany disappeared
1. Differences in military developments, wartime agreements, political, ideological differences
B. Policy of military first, political disagreements later during WWII
1. Avoided Stalin’s war aims, peace settlement - Stalin only got military alliance, no postwar commitments
a) US, GB didn’t take advantage either - feared Stalin would make peace w/ Hitler
2. Focused on unconditional surrender
C. November 1943 Tehran Conference
1. Reaffirm determination to crush Germany, discuss Poland’s postwar borders, devise strategy to win war
2. Stalin asks allies to open second front in France - relieves Soviet armies as they took on lots of fighting
3. Churchill wants US, GB to follow up on Italian campaign w/ indirect attack on Germany through Balkans -
feared military dangers of direct attack
4. Roosevelt agrees w/ Stalin that US, GB frontal assault through France would be better
a) Agreement - plan to agree to Stalin’s war demands when possible
b) BUT meant Soviet, US-GB armies would come together in defeated Germany along north-south
line, only Soviets would liberate east Euro
D. Progress by February 1945 Yalta Conference
1. Soviets close to Berlin - already occupied Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, part of Yugoslavia,
Czechoslovakia
2. US-GB armies temporarily stalled - had to cross Rhine into Germany
3. US still fighting w/ Japan
4. BOTTOMLINE: Soviet Union’s position strong, US’s weak
E. Settlements of the Yalta Conference
1. Allies agree each victorious power would occupy separate zone of Germany
2. Germans would pay heavy reparations to Soviets
3. Stalin agrees to declare war on Japan after Germany defeated
4. Soviet Union would get east Polish territories army conquered from start of war, Germany gets west as
compensation
5. East Euro govts were to be freely elected but pro-Russian - quickly breaks down
F. Break down of election compromise in east Euro
1. Bulgaria, Poland under control of communists who arrived home from east front w/ Red Army
2. Advancing Soviets formed coalition govt in east Euro - included Social Democrats, other left parties BUT
served high positions for Moscow-trained communists
G. July 1945 post war Potsdam Conference - bring up avoided differences
1. President Truman (1945-1953) demands free elections throughout east Euro - opposed by Stalin
H. Reasons for Cold War
1. While fighting Germany, Allies maintained alliance of necessity
2. War ends, hostilities btwn east, west reemerge - distrust, security concerns, desires for more control
I. Believes, goals of Stalin and US
1. Stalin
a) Establish buffer states around Soviet Union, expand communism
b) Believed only communists could be dependable allies
c) No free elections - could lead to independent, possibly hostile govts to west
2. US
a) Maintain liberal democracy, free market capitalism in west Euro
b) Willing to use political, economic, military power to maintain power in own sphere of influence
IV. West Versus East
A. Escalating Cold War
1. May 1945 Truman cut off all aid to Soviet Union
2. October 1945 declares US would never recognize any govt established by force against free will of ppl
B. March 1946 “iron curtain” divided Euro
1. Stalin consolidated hold on east Euro - removed noncommunists from coalition govts, established
Soviet style one party communist dictatorships
2. February 1948 Stalin seized power in Czechoslovakia after Czech Communist Party won electoral support
- antidemocratic
a) Strengthened West fears of limitless communist expansion
C. Unrest within nations from communist spread
1. Communist Parties of France, Italy returned to “struggle against capitalist imperialism”
