Origins and development of the Cold War in Europe
G2 Elective History - syllabus K230, 2027
Why did the USA and USSR become rivals after 1945? Security fears, the Truman Doctrine, Marshall aid and the Berlin Blockade explain Europe's division.
- Why power shifted after 1945
Europe was wrecked in 1945, so the USA, with its wealth, and the USSR, with its army, gained huge influence.
- Defence to one side, threat to the other
Each side feared the other's system, so steps one side took for safety looked like threats to the other.
- Why the wartime alliance broke up
Beating Germany held the Allies together; once it was defeated, their disputes over Germany and Eastern Europe came to the surface.
- How the USA contained communism
Containment meant stopping communism from spreading, and the USA used aid to Greece, Turkey and Western Europe to do it.
- How the USSR tightened its bloc
The USSR rejected Marshall aid and built its own political, economic and military links, which made Europe's split last.
- The Berlin Blockade
When the USSR cut off West Berlin in 1948, the West flew in supplies instead of leaving or fighting its way in.
- Rival alliances lock in the split
NATO in 1949 and the Warsaw Pact in 1955 tied countries to opposing sides and made Europe's division last.
- Put it together: See an action through two perspectives
Choose an episode. Follow the action, the aim its supporters claimed, and the threat the other side saw. Then judge the effects on the countries and people involved.
What you will be able to do
I can explain how World War II left Europe weak, divided and open to rivalry between the USA and the USSR.
Syllabus K230, The Cold War, Learning Outcomes. Explain the immediate impact of World War II on Europe.
Taught in Why power shifted after 1945
I can examine how Cold War tensions showed up in Europe, such as in Berlin and the rival alliances.
Syllabus K230, The Cold War, Learning Outcomes. Examine how Cold War tensions were manifested in Europe.
Taught in The Berlin Blockade, Rival alliances lock in the split
I can explain how rivalry between the USA and the USSR after 1945 divided Europe and shaped the Cold War.
Syllabus K230, The Cold War, Learning Outcomes. Analyse the impact of rivalry between the USA and USSR in the aftermath of World War II.
Taught in Defence to one side, threat to the other, Why the wartime alliance broke up, How the USA contained communism, How the USSR tightened its bloc
Sources and context
Background reading for this chapter.
- National Archives: Truman Doctrine
Paraphrase of President Harry S. Truman's address to Congress, 12 March 1947; US National Archives transcript.
- George C. Marshall Foundation: Harvard speech
Paraphrase of Secretary of State George C. Marshall's Harvard speech, 5 June 1947; transcript held by the George C. Marshall Foundation.
- Novikov telegram, University of Oregon primary-text transcription
Paraphrase of Nikolai Novikov's telegram from Washington to the Soviet leadership, 27 September 1946, opening sections; English text hosted by the University of Oregon.
- George C. Marshall Foundation: Harvard speech
An original cartoon drawn for these notes in the style of a Soviet magazine cartoon of late 1947, after the USSR refused Marshall aid and made its Eastern European allies refuse it too. It is not a copy of a real cartoon.
- Truman addresses Congress, March 1947
Extract from President Harry Truman's address to a joint session of Congress, 12 March 1947, asking for aid for Greece and Turkey (the Truman Doctrine). A US government document in the public domain; text from the Avalon Project.
- the British Foreign Secretary reports Molotov's warning, July 1947
Extract from British Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin's report of the final meeting of the British, French and Soviet foreign ministers in Paris on the Marshall Plan, 2 July 1947, sent to the US Secretary of State through the US Ambassador in London, 3 July 1947. Foreign Relations of the United States, 1947, volume III, document 180. A US government publication in the public domain.
- the Cominform declaration, October 1947
Extract from a telegram from the US Charge d'Affaires in Moscow, Elbridge Durbrow, to the Secretary of State, 6 October 1947, quoting the declaration issued when the Soviet Union and other communist parties set up the Cominform. Foreign Relations of the United States, 1947, volume IV, document 412. A US government document in the public domain.
- the North Atlantic Treaty, April 1949
Extract from Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, signed in Washington on 4 April 1949 by the USA, Canada and ten Western European states, during the Berlin Blockade. Text from the Avalon Project.