soviet expansion

ACADEMY LEARNING CYCLE

CONNECT & ENGAGE

Subject:

ACTIVATE

History

Year: Lesson:

Soviet expansion in East

Unit:

Origin of Cold War

DEMONSTRATE REVIEW & EVALUATE

CONNECT & ENGAGE

ACTIVATE (Explicit Teaching)

The Big Picture

REVIEW & EVALUATE

DEMONSTRATE (Student Constructs)

What are ‘salami tactics’ 1945-1948?

‘Slice-by-slice’, Stalin ensured all Eastern European countries had Communist governments: 1.Albania (1945) – the Communists took power after the war without opposition 2.Bulgaria (1945) – the Communists executed the leaders of all the other parties.

3.Poland (1947) – the Communists forced the non-Communist leaders into exile.

4.Hungary (1947) – Russian troops stayed / Stalin allowed elections (non-communists won a big majority)/ Communists led by the proRussian Rakosi./ Rakosi demanded that groups which opposed him should be banned./ He got control of the police, and arrested his opponents./ He set up a secret police unit, the AVH. 5.Romania (1945–1947) – the Communists gradually took over control.

6.Czechoslovakia (1948) – the Communists banned all other parties/ killed their leaders.

7.East Germany (1949) – Russians turned their zone into German Democratic Republic.

The Big Picture

• Ideological differences and their effects • The Yalta and Potsdam Conferences • The dropping of the atom bomb and its effects: Hiroshima and Nagasaki • The Iron Curtain: Soviet expansion in the East; Czechoslovakia, 1948 • The Truman Doctrine: the situation in Greece and Turkey; the purpose of Truman Doctrine • The Marshall Plan: effect of Marshall Aid and the Soviet response; Cominform and Comecon; Yugoslavia • The Berlin Blockade and Airlift.

EVENTS 1946–1948

1. FULTON SPEECH (March 1946) • Churchill described the Soviet bloc as an ‘iron curtain’ – Stalin believed this was necessary to maintain the safety of the USSR. • After Fulton, the Cold War worsened. Russia called the speech a declaration of war.

2. GREECE (February 1947) • US supplied arms and money to defeat the Communists.

3. TRUMAN DOCTRINE (March 1947) – The USA implemented a policy of ‘containment’ towards the USSR – to prevent Communism spreading any further.

4. MARSHALL PLAN (June 1947) – Marshall believed poverty was a breeding ground for Communism.

American introduced ‘Marshall Aid’ – $17 billion to get Europe’s economy going.

5. COMINFORM (October 1947) – Stalin forbade Communist countries to accept Marshall Aid. (October 1947) Cominform was set up to control all Communist countries in Europe.

6. CZECHOSLOVAKIA (February 1948) – Communists took control Panicked the US Senate into granting Marshall Aid (31 March 1948)

Greece and Turkey

By 1946, Greece and Czechoslovakia were the only countries in eastern Europe that weren’t Communist.

Even in Greece, the government, which was being supported by British soldiers, was having to fight a civil war against the Communists.

In February 1947, the British told Truman they could no longer afford to keep their soldiers in Greece. President Truman stepped in. The USA paid for the British soldiers in Greece.

Truman noted that Turkey too was in danger from Soviet aggression, so Congress voted to give aid to Turkey as well.

Part of the money was given in economic and humanitarian aid, but most was spent on military supplies and weapons.

The Truman Doctrine

In the 1930s, America had kept out of Europe’s business.

Now, on 12 March 1947, Truman told Americans that it was America’s DUTY to interfere (Source A). His policy towards the Soviet Union was one of ‘containment’ – he did not try to destroy the USSR, but he wanted to stop it growing any more. This was called the ‘Truman Doctrine’.

Marshall Plan In June 1947, the American general George Marshall went to Europe.

He said every country in Europe was so poor that it was in danger of turning Communist! Europe was ‘a breeding ground of hate’.

He said that America should give $17 billion of aid to get Europe’s economy going and stop Communism.

Marshall said that it was up to the countries of Europe to decide what they needed. In July 1947, led by Britain and France, the countries of western Europe met in Paris, and asked for substantial economic aid.

Cominform The Soviet Union hated Marshall aid (see Source D). Stalin forbade Communist countries to ask for money.

Instead, in October 1947, he set up Cominform. Every Communist party in Europe joined. This allowed Stalin control of the Communists in Europe.

Then, in January 1949, Stalin created Comecon - an economic union of the Communist countries in eastern Europe. This allowed Stalin to control the Iron Curtain economies for the benefit of Russia - for instance, one of its rules was that all inventions had to be shared.

'Can he block it?' This cartoon was drawn c.1947 by Edwin Marcus, caricaturist for the New York Times.

Czechoslovakia At first, the American Congress did not want to give the money for Marshall Aid. But then, in February 1948, the Communists took power in Czechoslovakia, followed on 10 March by the suspicious suicide of the popular minister Jan Masaryk.

Congress was scared, and voted for Marshall Aid on 31 March 1948.

This cartoon of 18 June 1947 by EH Shepard for the British magazine Punch