Origins of the Cold War, 1945-1955
H1 History - syllabus 8838, 2027
Why the wartime alliance broke down: ideology, security and economics, Yalta and Potsdam, containment, Berlin, NATO, and how historians interpret the origins.
- Why the wartime allies became rivals
Ideology, security fears, economic aims and mistrust turned the wartime alliance into rivalry by 1947.
- Yalta and Potsdam: agreements that exposed divisions
At Yalta and Potsdam the Big Three agreed on general principles but split over Poland, Germany and reparations.
- Sovietisation and the war of words, 1946
As communists took control in Eastern Europe, leaders on both sides described the other as expansionist.
- Containment: the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan
In 1947 the USA committed itself to containing communism with military and economic aid, and the USSR answered with Cominform.
- Berlin and the military division of Europe
The Berlin Blockade turned division into confrontation and led to NATO, two German states and later the Warsaw Pact.
- Historians' interpretations of the origins
Traditional, revisionist, post-revisionist and post-Cold War historians disagree about who was mainly responsible.
- Put it together: Weigh the causes of the Cold War
Choose a cause and see the evidence for it and its limits. Strong answers weigh causes against each other rather than listing them.
What you will be able to do
I can judge which causes mattered most in turning the wartime allies into Cold War rivals after 1945.
Syllabus 8838, Theme I, Learning Outcomes. evaluate the causes of the Cold War
Taught in Why the wartime allies became rivals, Yalta and Potsdam: agreements that exposed divisions, Sovietisation and the war of words, 1946, Containment: the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan, Berlin and the military division of Europe, Historians' interpretations of the origins
Sources and context
Background reading for this chapter.
- An American diplomat explains Soviet conduct
Paraphrase of George Kennan's "Long Telegram" from the US embassy in Moscow to the State Department, 22 February 1946.
- A Soviet ambassador describes American policy
Paraphrase of a telegram from Nikolai Novikov, Soviet ambassador in Washington, to Foreign Minister Molotov, 27 September 1946.
- Truman asks Congress for aid
Paraphrase of President Truman's address to a joint session of Congress, 12 March 1947.
- Marshall proposes European recovery
Paraphrase of Secretary of State George Marshall's speech at Harvard University, 5 June 1947.
- The North Atlantic Treaty
Paraphrase of Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, signed in Washington, 4 April 1949.
- the Yalta promise, February 1945
Extract from the Declaration on Liberated Europe, agreed by Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin at the Yalta (Crimea) Conference, 11 February 1945, as published by the US State Department on 24 March 1947. A US government publication in the public domain; text from the Avalon Project.
- Truman meets Molotov, 23 April 1945
Extract from a memorandum of conversation by Charles Bohlen, interpreter and assistant to the Secretary of State, recording President Truman's meeting with Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov at the White House, 23 April 1945, eleven days after Truman became president. Foreign Relations of the United States, 1945, volume V, document 196. A US government document in the public domain.
- Kennan explains Soviet conduct, February 1946
Extract from George Kennan's "Long Telegram" from the US embassy in Moscow to the Secretary of State, 22 February 1946. Foreign Relations of the United States, 1946, volume VI, document 475. A US government document in the public domain.
- the Cominform declares two camps, October 1947
Extract from a telegram from the US Charge d'Affaires in Moscow, Elbridge Durbrow, to the Secretary of State, 6 October 1947, summarising and quoting the declaration issued by the meeting in Poland that set up the Cominform. Foreign Relations of the United States, 1947, volume IV, document 412. A US government document in the public domain.
- a Soviet view of American policy, 1947
An original cartoon drawn for these notes in the style of a Soviet magazine cartoon of 1947, after the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan. It is not a copy of a real cartoon.