Who was to blame for the Cold War?

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Created on: 19-10-18 10:10

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Who was to blame for the Cold War?
- Grand Alliance
  - Causes of tension
    - Lend-Lease
    - Wartime disagreement
      - War conferences
        Tehran- Poland and USSR borders moved
        
        Yalta- Germany split; reparations set; early elections in Eastern Europe; UN
        
        Potsdam- London Poles to join Lublin Poles; Germans returned to Germany; UN created; reparations confirmed; USSR gained land
    - Ideological differences
  - War conferences
    - Tehran- Poland and USSR borders moved
    - Yalta- Germany split; reparations set; early elections in Eastern Europe; UN
    - Potsdam- London Poles to join Lublin Poles; Germans returned to Germany; UN created; reparations confirmed; USSR gained land
- Soviet control of Eastern Europe
  - Czechoslovakia
    - Communist government created; new elections blocked
  - Hungary
    - Rigged elections; communists merged with Social Democrats
  - Poland
    - Rigged elections; coalition government; opposition arrested
  - Romania
    - Coalition government; communists given important roles; rigged elections; King made to abdicate
  - Bulgaria
    - Coalition government; purged of anti-communists; monarchy banned; opposition removed
  - Yugoslavia
    - Tito refused to be controlled by Stalin; remained independently communist
  - Iran
    - Stalin broke agreement to leave Iran after the war; troops forced to leave after pressure from the US and UN
  - Turkey
    - Stalin wanted a naval base in the Dardanelles; unsuccessful because Turkey was supported by the West
- US reaction to expansionism
  - Ended Lend-Lease
    - May 1945, before the Potsdam Conference
  - Dropped atomic bomb on Japan
    - Maybe to show Stalin the power the USA held
  - Iron Curtain speech
  - Ended Grand Alliance
    - Greece civil war; Britain could no longer afford to intervene; US had to step in to stop Greece becoming communist
      - Truman Doctrine- US promised to fight communism everywhere
      - Marshall Plan- economic aid to help Europe recover and therefore stop communism spreading
- Germany and the Berlin Blockade
  - Zones of occupation
    - US, UK and France joined zones to create Trizone in 1948
    - US made Marshall Aid available to West Germany; Stalin searched all shipments
  - Blockade and airlift
    - New currency introduced by the West for all German zones; Stalin did not allow it
    - New currency made Stalin cut off West Berlin by all transport and turned off their electricity
    - Took supplies to West Berlin by plane for 11 months
    - Stalin did not dare shoot down any planes; stopped blockade in May 1949
  - NATO and the Warsaw Pact formed
- Who was responsible for starting the Cold War?
  - USA
    - 'Dollar Imperialism' made US get involved in Europe
      - Needed a market in Europe in case of another Depression
      - Marshall Aid meant to help a capitalist Europe recover
    - Creation of Bizonia and Trizonia a breach of the Postdam agreement
    - Truman did not trust the Soviets
  - USSR
    - Communism was naturally expansionist; Stalin thought only communism or capitalism could survive
    - Stalin did not stick to the Yalta agreement
    - COMECON- ensured all Soviet Bloc had the same economic structure as the USSR
    - COMINFORM-intended to undermine capitalist countries
    - Stalin a constant leader; obsessed with Soviet security
      - All Soviet policies were decided by him
Causes of tension
- Lend-Lease
- Wartime disagreement
- Ideological differences

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Who was to blame for the Cold War?

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