"...only five centers of industrial and military power in the world which are important to us from a standpoint of national security."
(Only in these countries) "would [you] get the requisite conditions of climate, and industrial strength, of population and of the tradition which would enable people there to develop and launch the type of amphibious which would have to be launched if our national security were seriously affected."
-George F. Keenan
(Only in these countries) "would [you] get the requisite conditions of climate, and industrial strength, of population and of the tradition which would enable people there to develop and launch the type of amphibious which would have to be launched if our national security were seriously affected."
-George F. Keenan
Origins of the Cold War:
Wartime Allies to Post-war Enemies
Wartime Allies to Post-war Enemies
As both Moscow and Washington were prone to see the costs of compliance greatly outweighing the benefits, they began to take tentative steps to jettison or reinterpret key provisions of wartime accords. Each such step magnified the suspicions of the potential adversary and encouraged reciprocal actions. Before long, wartime cooperation was forgotten, the Cold War was under way, and a new arms race was imminent. Neither side was innocent of responsibility; each side felt vulnerable, and manouvered to take advantage of opportunities, and manipulated or violated the compromises, loopholes, and ambiguities of wartime agreements.
Source: Melvyn P. Leffler, “Adherence to Agreements: Yalta and the Experiences of the Early Cold War.” Page 120.
Source: Melvyn P. Leffler, “Adherence to Agreements: Yalta and the Experiences of the Early Cold War.” Page 120.
The Long Telegram, February 22, 1946
The detonation of the two atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 had finally brought an end to World War II. However, the detonation itself signaled another era of warfare based on the frosty relationship between the USA and the USSR. Whether it may have officially started the Cold War or not, the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was one of the many events that clearly divided the world into two opposing spheres of powers set upon overcoming the other. The separation from wartime allies to post-war enemies was further widened in a telegram written by the Deputy Chief of Mission of the United States to the USSR George F. Keenan in February 22, 1946 to the US Treasury Department.
The detonation of the two atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 had finally brought an end to World War II. However, the detonation itself signaled another era of warfare based on the frosty relationship between the USA and the USSR. Whether it may have officially started the Cold War or not, the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was one of the many events that clearly divided the world into two opposing spheres of powers set upon overcoming the other. The separation from wartime allies to post-war enemies was further widened in a telegram written by the Deputy Chief of Mission of the United States to the USSR George F. Keenan in February 22, 1946 to the US Treasury Department.
Task 1: The Long Telegram, 22 Feb 1946
Instructions:
Instructions:
- Read the following embedded file (titled "The Keenan Long Telegram").
- Answer the questions in the worksheet titled "KEENAN Telegram Worksheet.docx" (found below the embedded file).
The "Iron Curtain"
"From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic an "iron curtain" has descended across the continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe. Warsaw, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade, Bucharest and Sofia; all these famous cities and the populations around them lie in what I must call the Soviet sphere, and all are subject, in one form or another, not only to Soviet influence but to a very high and in some cases increasing measure of control from Moscow." -Winston Churchill (1946) |
From the Keenan "Long Telegram" to Churchill's "Iron Curtain" Speech
Kennan’s main points were:
Reactions:
Kennan’s main points were:
- The USSR’s perspective on the world was one of insecurity.
- The Soviets wanted to advance Muscovite Stalinist ideology (not just ‘Marxism'.
- The Soviet regime was a cruel and repressive and they justified this by viewing nothing but evil in the outside world. That view of a hostile and outside environment would sustain the internal Stalinist system.
- The USSR was fanatically hostile to the West- but they were not ‘suicidal’… ‘Impervious to the logic of reason Moscow [is] highly sensitive to the logic of force’.
Reactions:
- Effects: Kennan’s ‘logic of force’ argument helped to harden attitudes in the USA and was to play a key role in the development of the U.S policy of Containment.
Task 2: The "Iron Curtain" Speech
Instructions:
Instructions:
- Read the annotated text of Churchill's speech from the file titled "Annotated Iron Curtain Speech.pdf".
- Watch a portion of Churchill's "Iron Curtain" speech in 1946.
- Answer the questions contained in the file titled "Iron Curtain Speech Questions.docx".
Task 3: Stalin's Response
Context - Considered to be the the motivations behind the Keenan "Long Telegram", on February 9, 1946, Stalin delivered an “election” speech to an assembly of voters in Moscow. In the USSR, elections were not designed to provide voters with a choice between competing candidates or programs. There was only one candidate for each position, and that candidate always endorsed the Communist Party’s positions on questions facing the nation. Election speeches were therefore used to inform citizens of the Party’s positions, to defend and justify those positions, and to identify the candidate as a person worthy of trust and responsibility. When one of the Party leaders spoke, everyone listened attentively, for such a speech might contain hints as to the future actions of the Soviet government. The speech was given at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow.
What follows next is a series of reactionary declarations that would emerge from the West (the Keenan "Long Telegram" and Churchill's "Iron Curtain" speech), inevitably prompting Stalin to react with vigor. In an interview in the Soviet newspaper Pravda, published in mid-March 1946, he characterized the former British Prime Minister as a man bent on war against the Soviet Union. He defended Soviet actions in Eastern Europe, pointing out the importance of that region for Soviet security and insisting that the governments there were democratic. Considering it unlikely that Truman would have appeared on the platform with Churchill had he disagreed with the latter’s remarks, Stalin also asserted that the Americans and British were banding together against their former wartime allies.
Instructions:
1. Cross-examine all of the sources in this section (including the two Stalin sources found on the document titled "Stalin Response.docx" (see embedded file below).
2. Complete the worksheet titled "Document Analysis Worksheet.docx" using all of the information provided and your background knowledge.
3. Feel free to expand the table according to your needs.
What follows next is a series of reactionary declarations that would emerge from the West (the Keenan "Long Telegram" and Churchill's "Iron Curtain" speech), inevitably prompting Stalin to react with vigor. In an interview in the Soviet newspaper Pravda, published in mid-March 1946, he characterized the former British Prime Minister as a man bent on war against the Soviet Union. He defended Soviet actions in Eastern Europe, pointing out the importance of that region for Soviet security and insisting that the governments there were democratic. Considering it unlikely that Truman would have appeared on the platform with Churchill had he disagreed with the latter’s remarks, Stalin also asserted that the Americans and British were banding together against their former wartime allies.
Instructions:
1. Cross-examine all of the sources in this section (including the two Stalin sources found on the document titled "Stalin Response.docx" (see embedded file below).
2. Complete the worksheet titled "Document Analysis Worksheet.docx" using all of the information provided and your background knowledge.
3. Feel free to expand the table according to your needs.
Exam Questions
Paper 2: Topic 5 - The Cold War
May Exams
November Exams
Paper 3 Questions
Paper 2: Topic 5 - The Cold War
May Exams
- “An unnatural alliance that was bound to fall apart after the defeat of the common enemy.” To what extent does this statement explain the origin of the Cold War? (May 2006)
- Analyse the origin of East-West rivalry and explain why it developed into the Cold War. (May 2008)
- Why did the Cold War begin and end in Europe? (TZ2 May 2009)
- Assess the role of Truman and Stalin in the origins and development of the Cold War. (TZ1 May 2012)
November Exams
- To what extent were Soviet policies responsible for the outbreak and development of the Cold War between 1945 and 1949? (Nov 2005)
- Analyse the responsibility of the USA and the USSR for the outbreak and development of the Cold War, up to 1949. (Nov 2006)
- “The breakdown of East-West relations was due to the failure of both sides to appreciate the fears of the other.” With reference to the period 1945–53, to what extent do you agree with this statement? (Nov 2007)
- “The importance of ideology as the major cause of the Cold War has been greatly exaggerated.” To what extent do you agree with this statement? (Nov 2008)
- “The events of 1945 marked both the high point and the breakdown of East–West relations.” To what extent do you agree with this statement? (Nov 2009)
- “The Potsdam Conference marked the end of the wartime alliance and laid the foundations for post-war hostility.” With reference to the period up to 1949, to what extent do you agree with this statement? (Nov 2011)
Paper 3 Questions
- Analyse the effects of the Second World War on the USSR between 1941 and 1948. (May 2005 & 2007)
- “A natural development of the Second World War.” TWE does this assertion explain the causes of the Cold War? (May 2009)