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Nazi-soviet pact (partition of Poland)
This event started the second world war and was an important large extent cause to the cold war, mainly because when the war ended, there was a debate about how would the country exert its independece and in which percentage of its territory. -
Atlantic Charter
The Atlantic charter was a large extent cause to the cold war due to the fact that it was against tariffs and economic nationalism. It embodied as fundamental principles of the post war world the free trade expansion, and the right of people to choose their own goverments, which was not the vision of Stalin that wanted to expand his sphere of influence. -
Percentage Agreement
The percentage agreement is a medium term cause and an evidence that literaly the wold was being divided. Churchil could foresee this and flew to Moscow in order to give Stalin 75 of predominance in Romania and Bulgaria and keep 90 of Greece to Britain. Roosevelt responded that there was no territory USA could consider out if its interest. Stalin saw this as an expansionist intention from Roosevelt. -
Allied Control Comissions
The ACC were settled up goverment to control areas that were simpatetic for the axis powers. The first one was in Italy in 1943, was represented by western powers due to the fact there was no USSR troops in the territory. However the ACC of the eastern europe was mainly represented by USSR influence. this shaped how the world was going to be divided in East and West. -
Postdam Conference
The Conference was a medium extent cause were it was discused crucial points for the war and post war situation. Fisrt, Poland issue in which Stalin proposed to return the country the western part territory conquered by Germany, Second, how was going to be German demilitarization and the control of that zones, last, wether it was necesary to drop or not the bombs. The accords in these three point were ambiguous which led USSR and USA to undestand global situation diferently. -
Teheran Conference
The conference was a medium term cause in which USA, USSR and UK leaders took the desicion of leaving US troops in France rather than in the Balkans in order to ensure that Stalin would liberate eastern Europe and thus be in position to reclaim those territories in its sphere of influence. Chuchil was reluctlant about this, but the fact that it was settled shows that USSR force was power full.This later would result in the domination of USSR in the eastern europe after the war. -
Yalta Conference
As a medium term cause, the conference was the last of war time period and it reafirmed all the relevant points discussed in the other conferences. The division of Germany, the creation of the UN and the after war situation of Poland.This last point was crucial, and it was stated the territory to have: a provisional goverment and elections a soon as possible. Although point were confirmed, Stalin had another perspective about this agreement that would deepen division of the west and USSR. -
End of WWII
"With the defeat of the Reich, there will remain in the world only two Great Powers capable of confronting each other - the US and the USSR. The laws of history and geography will compel these two Powers to a trial of strenght either military or in the fields of economics and ideology." -Hitler
This is a medium term cause.There was a vacumm created due to the lack of power after germany's defeat, USSR and USA will compete to fill this vacumm which is going to cause even more tension between them -
Truman suspended leand and lease programme
The president of the United States suddenly cancelled the lend and lease program to Russia. As the war was in its final days, the importance of this axt is symbolic, marking the initial rupture between the USSR and the USA. -
Atomic Bomb
The boming of Hiroshima and Nagasaki marked a symbolic ending to World War II. It began an arms race for nuclear weaponry that would later be consolidated in the development of the Cold War. -
Kennan Telegram
This is a short term cause. After visition USSR, Kennan became aware of the threat that Rusia could be with its expansionist desires. In response he rights this telegram in order to warn USA about this danger and advices it to act not by direct belligerent action, but by agressive propeganda. -
Iron Curtain speech
The Iron curtain speech was a short term cause the cold war. It was the first public expresion about the dicotomy of the world and the future tension between its halfs due to the east expansionist desire. With this speech Churchil not only warned West about the danger, but also triggered also USSR feel endangered by the west. -
Nikolai Novikov telegram
This is a short term cause. The telegram is a responde to kennan's for USA. It does exacly the contrary warning USSR about clever and expansionist moves from thhe West in order to implement their "free trade" and by that means end communism and Soviet Rusia. -
Truman Doctrine
President Harry S. Truman announced that the U.S would provide economic, political, and military assistance to all democratic nations in order to prevent the spread of communism and Soviet's expansionist activities as it was a policy of containment. -
Marshall Plan
US Scretary of State George Marshall proposed providing economic assistance to European countries to help them rebuild after the devastation left by WWII.
The idea of this plan was to introduce capitalism into countries vulnerable due to its devastation to communist influence. This act angered the USSR as it implied continued America presence in Europe and therefore blowed Soviet's plans in Europe. -
Currency conflict
US, French and British zones were combined to allay economic distress and a unified government was established, When the ACC proposed the introduction of a new four power currency, Stalin became angry and led directly to the Berlin conflict. -
Berlin Blockade
The Soviets were determined to stop the Americans and their Allies from building up a new and powerful state in West Germany. They therefore, blockaded West Berlin which was occupied by the three Western Allies, from June 24 1948 to May 12 1949. This marked the consolidation of Europe into two blocks. It is considered to be thie first victory of the West. -
COMECON established
the COMECON or Council for Economic Assistance was a Soveit response to American Marshall Plan. Its main purpose was to provide economic stability to the eastern countries that were struggling with the loss of traditional markets, trying to prevent Western influences in the economies of mainly Eastern countries. -
Formation of NATO
In 1949, the possibilities of the expansion of Communism prompted the U.S and 11 other Western nations to form the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). This caused an even greater division between Western and Eastern powers.
The formation of NATO, could have been perceived as a threat by the USSR.