Origenes de la guerra fria

DOYEN
Elizabeth

Fall I

Dr. Ameri

The origins of the Cold War: a battle against Communist expansionism

From the Yalta Conference to the first phase of the NATO pact

(1945-1949)

Summary:

After the Second World War, a new European order was set with the Yalta conference of 1945. Nonetheless, this new order was not followed by the USSR who, as opposed to the idea of the wholeconference, reacted in a very aggressive manner. For this, the Americans had to help Western Europe to prevent the spread of Communism over the rest of the continent. Many conferences were held and plans were set in order to contain the USSR, however this only seemed to make Stalin even more violent. The USSR was very defensive towards all these new Western policies and the big crisis that startedthe direct confrontation of the Cold War arrived quicker than expected. Even though the Westerners were in a difficult position, they managed to control and especially contain the Soviet Bloc during all these years, at least in Western Europe.

Table of Contents:

I. Introduction

II. The Yalta Conference, basis for a new European order or beginning of the Cold War?

III. 1947:The beginning of the Cold War: an American battle again the spread of Communism

IV. The first big crisis and the beginning of the Western construction

V. Conclusion

I. Introduction:

The relationships between the Americans and Russians have had been deteriorating over the past century and a half. The two super powers became official enemies in 1917 after theoverthrow of the Tsar and the takeover of the Communist Party. Nonetheless, during the Second World War the USSR and the United States were among the three allies with Britain. Very often, these relationships were characterized as hypocritical. In 1947, the U.S. Secretary of State, George Marshall, was one of the first to recognize the global threat of the Communist world and a series of conferences,treaties and plans were set up to fight the spread of the Communist expansionism. It was the beginning of the Cold War that opposed the “capitalist” Western and the Eastern Communist bloc. This essay will mainly treat the American-Soviet relationship and what the former did with the other Westerners to prevent the USSR from taking over the Western hemisphere to finally end up by creating a “Westernbloc”.

II. The Yalta Conference, basis for a new European order or beginning of the Cold War?

The Second World War ended in 1945 with the total victory of the Allies over Nazi Germany and Japan. However, as soon as the war was over, a new, but historical conflict re-appeared between two components of the Allies opposing the United States to the USSR. The Yalta Conference of 1945 wasone of the wartime meetings, with the Potsdam Conference and the Teheran Conference, organized by the United Kingdom, the United States and the USSR respectively represented by Prime Minister Winston Churchill, President Franklin D. Roosevelt and General Secretary Joseph Stalin. The Yalta Conference had as a primary goal the reorganization of post-war Europe and discussed, thus, different topicsconcerning the re-establishment of the nations of war-torn Europe.

A. Germany

At Yalta, three topics were mainly discussed concerning Germany, Poland and the Declaration of Liberated Europe. Regarding Germany, all three leaders at Yalta agreed on the occupation zones for Germany to ensure future peace in Europe. Germany was finally divided into four zones of occupation, including aFrench zone for which Churchill fought, that was however taken from the British and American area as the Soviets were in a stronger position. Berlin, which was in the Soviet zone, was also split into four areas. Nonetheless, in the German capital the size of the Soviet zone was approximately the same size as the three other occupants together as opposed to the ones in total Germany, which were all...