1. POLI10601 Introduction to international politics
Part 2: International History and the Study of
International Relations
‘1945’ - The Post-war Global Landscape and the First Cold
War

2. Some preliminary notes …
Some things to note when reading on international history
► Is there only one „true‟ history or are certain accounts merely
dominant?
► Are commonly referred to „historical nodal points‟ or „pivot points‟ (e.g
1945,1968, 1989, 9/11) universally recognised? Does their prominence
reflect certain political and cultural biases?
Some things to note when reading about the Cold War
Analysts disagree about key issues:
► Was there a single Cold War oscillating between periods of greater and
lesser tension, or a |First Cold War, détente, and a Second Cold War?
► Who caused the Cold War?
► Why did it end?
Note also that academic writing on the Cold War was often as much
about fighting it than explaining it.
► The USSR was often described as „expansionist‟ in the West but the
US rarely was. There is frequent reference to Soviet „behaviour‟ versus
US „policy‟. The Soviet literature was also politically coloured, of
course.

3. The cold war was not only about the
superpowers …
► Although the relationship between the superpowers is central to any
understanding of the post-1945 international system, there were other
processes which fed into or mitigated the Cold War. These included:
• The rapid acceleration of the struggle against colonialism and the
emergence of the ‘Third World’ and the concept of ‘non-alignment’
• The development of the UN system and international organisation
more generally
• The emergence (and re-emergence) of other powerful states such as
China, Japan and West Germany
• Europe – no longer as central to international politics but still crucial
because of its location and the project of European integration
• The development of weapons of mass destruction

4. Defining the Cold War
‘Cold War is a term coined by US journalist H.B. Swope and popularised
by Walter Lippman
►Used to describe the state of tension, hostility & rivalry that developed
between the Western (non-communist) and Eastern (communist) blocs
after 1945.
►A condition of neither peace nor war which displays the structural
features of great power rivalry but stops short of actual armed
engagement
But it did not preclude:
►conflict between one of the superpowers and states aligned with the
other superpower
►Conflict between proxies of either superpowers
►armed intervention – covert or overt - by one of the superpowers
within their sphere of influence
Examples include: the Korean War (1950-53), the Vietnam War (1959-
75), various US interventions in Latin America, the Cuban Missile Crisis
(1962) Soviet interventions in Hungary (1956) and Czechoslovakia (1968)
and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan (1978-89)

5. The situation in 1945: signs of a mutual
commitment to co-operation?
►The ‘spheres of influence’ deal between Churchill and Stalin
in 1944 that carved up Europe, Korea, etc to reflect where
each of the superpowers was dominant (realism at work?)
►Three key conferences of the ‘Grand Alliance’ between
Britain, the US and the USSR: Tehran (1943), Yalta (February
1945) and Potsdam (July 1945)
►Agreement on the UN Charter at San Francisco (June 1945)
►Recognition, notably on the part of the US, that a new
world order was emerging and it required some governing
principles and institutions (signs of Liberal reformism or at
least great power responsibility?)
But real tensions within each of the key players’ perspectives
and the role of individual personalities cannot be discounted

6. The ‘Percentages Agreement’ between
Churchill and Stalin, Moscow 1944

7. Churchill, Roosevelt & Stalin at Yalta,
1945

8. Growing confrontation
1946 onwards sees a rapid decline in the spirit of co-operation.
Key tension was between the development of a new
international framework and the pursuit of ‘vital interests’ by the
key players
►Growing perception by US and UK that Stalin was not sticking to the Yalta
agreements (in Eastern Europe and Korea for example)
►Rapid rise in a general anti-communist sentiment in the West not only
because of greater knowledge of Stalin‟s Russia and Soviet actions in
Eastern Europe but also because of events in China
►Consolidation of the Anglo-American alliance
►Stalin‟s speech (February 9 1946) to the Supreme Soviet claiming that
capitalist economic competition made war „inevitable‟, followed by:
►Churchill‟s „Iron Curtain‟ speech (March 5 1946)
►Enunciation of the „Truman Doctrine‟ (March 1947)
If you want a sense of the atmosphere of growing hostility and fear in the late
1940s, go to YouTube and put ‘Cold War Propaganda’ in the search engine.
There are some great short films from both sides.

9. The Truman Doctrine 1947
“At the present moment in world history nearly every nation must choose
between alternative ways of life. (…) One … is based upon the will of the
majority, and is distinguished by free institutions, representative
government, free elections, guarantees of individual liberty, freedom of
speech and religion, and freedom from political oppression. The second
… is based upon the will of a minority forcibly imposed upon the majority.
It relies upon terror and oppression, a controlled press and radio; fixed
elections, and the suppression of personal freedoms.”
“I believe that it must be the policy of the United States to support free
peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or
by outside pressures. (…) I believe that our help should be primarily
through economic and financial aid which is essential to economic
stability and orderly political processes. (…) In helping free and
independent nations to maintain their freedom, the United States will be
giving effect to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.”
(www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/trudoc.htm)

10. The Emergence of Uneven Bipolarity?
The Truman Doctrine should be read against the backdrop of an
emerging bipolar Cold War System within which, however, the
economic and military dominance of the US is increasingly apparent –
the first signs of American hegemony and ‘Pax Americana’?
By 1947 the US had embarked upon the building of a global,
institutionalised, liberal, capitalist world order.
The challenges confronting the US included:
►Ensuring the future of the capitalist world economy and avoiding recession
►The reconstruction of a war-torn Europe & Japan
►The economic weakness of its key allies (notably the UK)
►The future of Germany
►And, of course, the relationship with an economically weak and increasingly
hostile Soviet Union fearful of ‘capitalist encirclement’
The resultant Cold War was arguably a new form of ‘total war’ in that it
infected most aspects of relations between most states

11. The Debate on the Origins of the Cold War
► The orthodox view
Soviet expansion created US insecurity. Tends to depict an aggressive and
expansionist USSR as dictating justifiable US reactions in defence of
core Liberal values. Found also in more realist versions which depict the
USSR as a threat to US national security.
► The revisionist View
US commitment to expansion of capitalism created Soviet insecurity.
Emerging in the early 1960s, the revisionists linked US strategy and
policy with the requirements of an US-dominated international capitalist
system. The Soviets are depicted as largely reacting defensively to an
aggressive US containment policy.
► The post-revisionist view(s)
Rejects the simplistic ascription of responsibility to one side or the other.
Often adopts an realist/neorealist slant in seeing the Cold War as a
product of security-oriented „power politics‟, suggesting the Cold War was
inevitable. Others focus on the problems of misperception, the
manipulation of ideology by elites on both sides, and the impact of
domestic politics. Still a heated debate. The notion that the Cold War was
a key stage in the emergence of US global dominance (or „hegemony‟) is
becoming more prominent but ultimately blaming Stalin still fashionable
as well.

12. The Consolidation of the Blocs – The West
► The Marshall Plan European recovery was vital both to long term interests of the
US and the containment of Soviet communism (But note that communism was
also a powerful political force in Western Europe). An integrated European
market would benefit European recovery, US exporters, and the consolidation of
a multilateral trading system. USSR invited in but soon walked out. 1948 -1953,
the US pumped $13 billion of economic aid into 14 Western European countries
including, controversially, West Germany.
► The reconstruction of JapanJapan‟s recovery seen as essential to the
development of a multilateral Asian trading system and extension of the anti-
communist bloc. US $500 million to produce Japanese „self-sufficiency‟ by 1950.
► The formation of NATO in 1949Intended to address political as well as military
issues:
• embedding a re-militarised Germany in an alliance,
• responding to Soviet military superiority in Europe and the future development of
Soviet nuclear capability
• preparing for „hot‟ war
• cementing the Western anti-communist alliance.
► NSC68 1950 - Blueprint for US Cold War policy for next 20 years. Made the
case for a US military build-up to confront an enemy which „unlike previous
aspirants to hegemony‟ was „animated by a new fanatic faith, antithetical to our
own‟. Idea of containment shifted to that of an offensive cold war while avoiding
hot war: ‘Our overall policy at the present time may be described as one
designed to foster a world environment in which the American system can
survive and flourish …’

13. The Consolidation of the Blocs – The East
► A matter of debate: did Stalin have a master plan for extending Soviet
control over Eastern Europe (EE) after 1945 or was Soviet policy largely
reactive. Also debated are Stalin‟s motivations : traditional imperialism,
Marxism-Leninism, or Soviet national interests?
► It is clear that Stalin saw the consolidation of Soviet control over EE as a
key response to the „American plan for the political and economic
subjugation of Europe‟. Germany was a key point of contention, especially
US plans to establish a West German state.
► Prior to 1947, Soviet political interference in EE was uneven but after 1948
all opposition parties were suppressed and all of the EE states (with the
exception of Tito‟s Yugoslavia) effectively became Soviet satellites.
► Creation of COMINFORM – the Communist Information Bureau (1947) and
the COMECON - Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (1949)
► The Berlin Crisis 1948-49 - USSR was excluded from a London conference
on the future of Germany which proposed the creation of West Germany.
Stalin‟s response: restrict movement of Western personnel in & out of
Berlin and then close all surface routes completely. Led to a 324 day
campaign by the West to airlift supplies into Berlin. This was a policy failure
for Stalin which also led to a new sympathy for the Germans within the
West.
► Creation of the Warsaw Pact 1955, as a counterpoint to NATO

14. Berlin as a cause of crisis

15. The cycles of stability and Crisis in the First Cold War
The first Cold War is marked throughout by cycles of tension and relaxation.
Conflict flashpoints are interspersed with the evolution of a more systematic
and institutionalised relationship between the superpowers
► Berlin Blockade 1948-49
► The Korean War 1950-53
► 1953- Stalin Dies, Eisenhower elected
► 1954 – US Secretary of State Dulles makes „massive retaliation‟ speech
► 1955 Soviets propose „peaceful coexistence‟ and first summit takes place
between US, Britain, France and the USSR
► 1955 Germany joins NATO and Warsaw Pact formed
► 1956 – Khrushchev assumes full control in USSR and denounces Stalin,
COMINFORM dissolved, Hungarian Uprising
► 1959 Nixon visits Moscow, Khrushchev visits the US – signs of a thaw?
► 1959 Castro takes over in Cuba
► 1960 US „U2‟ spy plane shot down over USSR, Kennedy elected president
► 1961 „Bay of Pigs‟ incident, Berlin Wall erected by East Germany
► 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis
► 1963 The „Hotline‟ between Washington & Moscow set up.

16. The Berlin Wall

17. Summarising The Cold War in the 1960s
► Clear signs of stabilisation in superpower relationship (after the Cuban
crisis, 1963 Test Ban Treaty & the „Hot Line‟ agreement)
► But the Cold War also becomes increasingly global with hot wars
breaking out in the post-colonial world (e.g. Vietnam, 1967 „Six Day‟ war
in Middle East)
► And there are tensions within the blocs (1966 -France quits NATO
military structure, increase in Sino-Soviet tensions, 1968 - signs of
liberalisation in Czechoslovakia subsequently crushed by Warsaw Pact
troops. Romania declares independence within the Eastern bloc, student
uprisings and opposition to US foreign policy in the West)
► Growing signs of multipolarity - Germany adopts „Ostpolitik‟, China
emerging as an independent power, „Group of 77‟ Third World states
becomes active in the UN and the „North-South‟ relationship rises up the
agenda
► First signs of progress on Arms Control: 1968 Non Proliferation Treaty
(note that China & France didn‟t accede until 1992, but it is the most
successful arms treaty ever)
► In Jan 1969 Nixon becomes US President and in his inaugural speech
calls for „an era of negotiations between the superpowers‟ … the
beginning of „détente‟?