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The Manhattan Project is formed
This group aims to develop and test nuclear weaponry. It is later infiltrated by Soviet spies. -
Tehran Conference
West agrees to attack France in May 1944, the USSR agrees to attack the East. Stalin is already thinking post-war, and wants to control the Baltic regions to form a 'buffer zone'. -
Bretton Woods Conference
Created International Monetary Fund and International Bank for Reconstruction and Development
Promote economic order and international cooperation to encourage long-term global economic growth -
Percentages Agreement
Moscow
Between Churchill and Stalin to establish British and Soviet spheres of influence in Eastern Europe
USSR: 90% Romania, 75% Bulgaria
UK: 90% Greece
50/50: Czechosolvakia, Yugolslovia -
Period: to
Yalta Conference
Crimea
Churchill, Roosevelt, Stalin
Establish post-war settlement
Germany and Berlin split into four, UN is ratified, Declaration on Liberated Europe created, Germany is to be demilitarised and pay reparations, USSR secretly join the war against Japan, USSR gains land in eastern Poland so Poland expands north and west into Germany -
First Nuclear Testing
Trinity Test
Nevada Desert -
Period: to
Potsdam conference
- Germany
- Churchill replaced by Attlee on 28 July
- Roosevelt replaced by Truman in April
- Stalin remains
- USA tries to use atomic bomb testing to intimidate the USSR but the soviets had spies in the Manhattan Project
- 5Ds, USSR receives $20bn in reparations for their loss of 25m lives, USSR gets 25% of Western zones' reparations (10% free, 15% in exchange for food), pro-Soviet Lublin Committee recognised as official government of Poland, Council of Foreign Ministers formed of 4 Allies
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First atomic bombs
6 August 1945: Hiroshima
9 August 1945: Nagasaki -
Creation of the UN
Ratified at Yalta (Feb), created in October -
Stalin's response to ICS - March
Called Churchill a "firebrand of war" in Pravda -
Period: to
Greek Civil War
Tito follows his tactic in Yugoslavia to set up a national liberation using the People’s Liberation Army (ELAS) in Greece, which fights both the Germans and non-Communists
Stalin sees Greece as part of the British sphere of influence
3 Dec. 1944 - revolt encouraged by Tito breaks out
Stalin urges the Communists to form a coalition government with non-Communists parties
Stalin allows the British, with the help of Truman, to crush the Communists -
Kennan's Long Telegram
Telegram from US ambassador George Kennan to the USA about his fears of Soviet expansion, promoted a hard line against the USSR -
Churchill's Iron Curtain Speech
Fulton, Missouri
Described how the USSR had expanded and set a buffer zone between itself and western Europe -
KPD and SPD form SED
- The KPD hadn't been as popular in the Soviet zone of Germany as hoped, so it was forcibly combined with the SPD to form the German Socialist Unity Party
- This was met with opposition from the SPD
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Kennan's 'X' Article - July
July
Introduced the term 'containment' in relation to Soviet expansion, greatly influencing Truman's doctrine -
US Opinion Poll - October
- Poll conducted by USA in Germany about which of the 4 allies the people trusted the most
- USA: 63%
- UK: 45%
- FRA: 4%
- USSR: 0%
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Formation of Bizonia - January
- Led to meetings in March and April where the USSR demanded that control over Germany be centralised, but these failed
- February-June 1948 meetings of GBR, USA and BeNeLux states to discuss a new currency
- 7 June 1948 London Conference to discuss constitution of new West German state
- 23 June 1948 new Western-backed Deutsch Mark introduced
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The Truman Doctrine
US Congress
"One way of life is based upon the will of the majority... The second way of life is based upon the will of the minority forcibly imposed on the majority"
Wanted to provoke the USSR in order to demonise them
Response to USSR political, ideological, territorial, and strategic expansion
Response to Communist civil war in Greece aided by Tito -
Marshall Plan
- Announced at Harvard University
- Plan to help Europe economically recover
- Influenced by William Clayton's trip around Europe and Kennan's Policy Planning Staff (May '47)
- $13.5bn to 16 countries from 1947-1952
- Aimed to reverse the trend of increased communist support in desperate countries e.g. French Communist Party had 1.7mil members by 1947
- Also offered to Eastern European countries like Czechoslovakia and Hungary, but the USSR pressured them to reject the offer
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USSR leaves the Paris Peace Conference
- Molotov is instructed to leave the Paris Peace Conference, which was a discussion between Britain, France, and the USSR about the US Marshall Plan and the aid it would bring
- Left because spies said the USA didn't intend to give aid to the East anyway
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Formation of Cominform
Response to Marshall Aid and Paris Conference
Stalin threatened Czechoslovakia into rejecting Marshall Aid -
Truman signs Marshall Plan
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Period: to
Berlin Blockade
- Soviet response to Bizonia and new Deutsch Mark
- USSR blocked all rail, road, and canal routes into West Berlin through Soviet zone of Germany
- Led to Operation Vittles where 6,000 tonnes of food, medical equipment, and supplies were airlifted every day - record 13,000 tonnes in 24 hours, 'chocolate propaganda'
- Airlift operation was advocated by GBR FM Bevin while Clay wanted military action
- USSR gave up because of West counter-blockade and failure to separate Bizonia
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Formation of NATO
- Aimed to reassure Western European states in face of USSR
- Implemented US containment => political defence system for USA
- Article 1 "settle any international disputes... by peaceful means"
- Article 5: "an armed attack against one or more... shall be considered an attack against them all"
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Formation of West Germany
- First elected leader is Konrad Adenauer
- Democratic but USA, GBR, and FRA hold special powers over the final decision for all foreign policy and security choices
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Formation of East Germany
- USSR is reluctant to form East Germany as it would mean giving up their hopes of a united, pro-Soviet Germany
- Democratic facade, the SED was the only party to choose