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American Dollar Diplomacy (I)
The USSR asked for a $6billion loan from the US. The US immediately imposed conditions in particular the opening of Eastern European markets to US manufactured products.
A further request for a $1 billion loan by the USSR was "lost" by the US state department (action), increasing the Soviet conviction that US was unwillingto collaborate in postwar economic reconstruction (Perception).
Impact: Soviet failure to join the International Monetary Fund and World bank in Dec 1945. -
Period: to
1945-1949
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Polish Issue
Roosevelt doubted the possibility of postwar cooperation with the Soviets for the first time. -
Dollar Diplomacy (I)
The US terminated Lend-Lease without notice. -
Soviet Actions in 1945 (Trieste)
Marshall Tito's forces entered the port city. (Action)
The US perceived Yugoslavian intervention under TIto as Soviet expansionism. (Perception) -
Atomic Diplomacy (I)
In Potsdam, Truman offered Stalin information about the bomb in return for the reorganisation of Soviet-controlled governments in Bulgaria and Romania. -
Soviet actions in 1945
Soviet troops moved across the Russian border into North Korea. (Action)
The US was worried about Soviet intentions in Korea and thus quickly sent their troops in to occupy South Korea. (Reaction) -
Soviet Actions in 1945 (Manchuria)
The Soviets recognised KMT as the legitimate government but handed Japanese weapons to CCP units and allowed them to establish a foothold in Manchuria and northern China. (Soviet Action)
In Sept 1945, 50 000 US Marines were sent to north China to secure key communications centres, road, rail routes and help transport KMT armies to the area. (US Reaction) -
Dollar Diplomacy (I)
Soviet failure to join International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank due to American dollar diplomacy. -
Dollar Diplomacy (II)
The US practiced dollar diplomacy again by imposing the conditions of dropping trade barriers in Eastern Europe and compensation for US assets seized in Romania and Bulgaria on a request by the Soviets for a loan in EARLY 1946. -
Sovietisation
In view of Sovietisation of Romania and Bulgaria, Truman remarked that "we should not compromise any longer" and that the US is tired of "babying the Soviets". -
Kennan's Long Telegramme
Kennan saw Soviet leadership as suspicious and aggressive; insecurities that stemmed from their view of the outside world as virulently anti conmmunist. Given this outlook, there could be no compromise with the USSR.
Impact: Kennan's Long Telegramme affected the top echelon of American policy makers. It solidified the thinking of the Truman cabinet but did not fundamentally change it. -
Churchill's Iron Curtain Speech
Some of the themes discussed in the Long Telegramme and privately discussed by officials were now aired in public for the first time.
Impact:
-The Iron Curtain Speech hardened the attitude of the American people.
-Stalin called Churchill a warmonger and accused him of trying to start WWIII. However, there was no concrete follow-up action by Stalin. (Reaction) -
German Question
General Clay stopped dispatch of any reparations from the US to the Soviet Zone. -
Soviet Actions in 1946 (Iran)
Soviets evacuated Iran by May 1946 even though the supposed deadline to leave was March 1946. -
Dollar Diplomacy (II)
All negotiations over loans ended. -
Clifford-Elsey Report
This report highlighted examples of Soviet aggression in Iran and Manchuria, as well as identified ideology and not security concerns as the driver of Soviet foreign policy.
Significance:
This report reflects the US perception of the USSR which had crystallised by this point of time. It acted as a justification for the US perspective of the Soviets. -
German Question
The US and Britain merged their German zones of occupation into the Bizone. -
The Baruch Plan
The Plan concerned the frequent inspection of atomic energy installations in UN member states part of the effort to regulate atomic energy.
While the plan demanded for the provision of Soviet information about their level of research and development, it allowed the retaining of American atomic capability.
The Soviets used their veto in the Security Council to prevent any more discussion about it. (Soviet reaction)
Significance: showed that the US were no longer sincere in US-USSR cooperation. -
The Truman Doctrine
It was the first American declaration that they would step in to deal with Soviet aggression. It was also accompanied by an increase in US military preparedness in the form of the National Security Act as a precautionary measure.
However, it elicited no response from Stalin. -
Sovietisation in Romania
The National Peasant Party was suppressed.
Their leader, Iuliu Maniu was sentenced to life imprisonment. -
The Marshall Plan
Aim of the Plan: Mainly to contain communism. Also, to create a captive European market for American goods.
The initial willingness of the Soviets to cooperate at this point of time is highlighted by the sending of 100-man delegation headed by Molotov to participate in the discussion about the Plan.
However, American insistence of economic coordination (Soviets have to give up exclusive control of their own economy) was unaccpetable to the USSR.
Soviet reaction: The Molotov Plan. -
Sovietisation in Bulgaria
Petkov (leader of opposition Agrarian Peasant Party) was trialed and shot for woeking for "Anglo-American Imperialism". -
Communism in Czechoslovakia
The Communists seized power in Czechoslovakia.
This proved to have a catalytic effect on the implementation of the Marshall Plan. The Senate approved the Plan in March 1948 by a vote of 69-17, while the House of Representatives approved it by 318-75. -
Brussels Pact
This pact bounded all participants, namely Britain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, to come to the help of any one of them if attacked in Europe. -
The Berlin Blockade
Action: the US and Britain (with tacit French support) sought agreement on a plan to introduce a new German currency that would circulate freely in all four zones. When this met with Soviet resistance, the three Western powers proceeded in June 1948 to establish the Deutsche Mark.
Soviet Perception: Stalin rightly intepreted the creation of a single currency as the signal for the establishment of the new Germany in the West.
Soviet Reaction: Russia blocked the roads and rail routes to Berlin. -
North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO)
NATO , which is similar the the Brussels Pact, was formed.
Significance:
-Began the military split
-Remained nothing more than a political association until the Korean War of 1950 when an integrated military structure was set up.
Thus, NATO was not very important in starting the Cold War as it provoked no direct Soviet response and was not taken seriously as a military alliance until 1950.
