2. Stalin is distrustful of the West
U.S. and Great Britain had taken
so long to open the second front
against Germany (Normandy
landing)
U.S. possession and use of atomic
bomb against Japan
Deep ideological differences
between communism and
capitalism
Stalin wants to maintain a “buffer
zone” in Eastern Europe
Winston Churchill describes this
communist expansion as an “iron
curtain”
3. Truman Doctrine (March 12, 1947)
We must contain communism and keep it from spreading by
sending money and troops to support any country in danger of
falling under Soviet control
“This is no more than a frank
recognition that totalitarian
regimes imposed upon free
peoples, by direct or indirect
aggression, undermine the
foundations of international
peace, and hence the
security of the United
States.”
4. The Marshall Plan (1948)
Based on the premise that communism thrives only in
economically backward countries
Giving large amounts of aid to European countries will
Deprive communist of poor countries to take over
Save Western Europe from Communism
Provide the U.S. with stable trade partners and markets
U. S. offered aid to any country (including USSR)
USSR and satellites in Eastern Europe refused aid
5. The Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan establish an official
anti-communist policy for the U.S. and can be seen as the
beginning of the Cold War
A period of hostility and competition between the U.S. and the
USSR that always stopped short of direct war between them
6.
7. Western Allies introduced new Deutschmark to stabilize
West Germany’s economy
Stalin feared that this would threaten his dominance in
East Germany and throughout Eastern Europe
Stalin cut utilities in West Berlin and closed western routes
into the city
Western Allies must decide:
Abandon West Berlin and risk more communist aggression?
Crash blockade and risk war with the Soviets?
Third option: air lift all supplies to West Berlin
Continue round-the-clock flights only 30 seconds apart for 11
months
Stalin lifts the blockade, and the crisis ends
8. Resolution of
the Berlin
Crisis leads to
the formation
of NATO
(1949) and the
Warsaw Pact
(1955)
Editor's Notes
P, Cz, H, R, and B occupied by soviet troops when liberated from Nazis and forced to establish communist governments
Y became communist on their own so avoided occupation
Greece: civil war between communist guerillas and democratic gov’t (supported by Brits but Brits are out of money).
Berlin is in Soviet zone. 3 land and 3 air routes into the city from Western zones.
