2024-09-11 14:18:28

UNB/Year 5/Semester 1/HIST1001/In class notes.md

@@ -67,4 +67,65 @@ Their goals:
 ## Key points
 - Soviet foreign policy - revolutionary impulse is significant
 - But there is a powerful pragmatic streak - willing to cut deals, shift sides
-- Stalin wants to expand revolution - but also to regain territory, influence of USSR
+- Stalin wants to expand revolution - but also to regain territory, influence of USSR
+## Overview
+- Soviet Union: Moves from cooperating with Nazi Germany to allying with british empire, USA
+- Initial desire to continue cooperating in postwar years soon runs into problems
+- By 1947th alliance has broken down, Cold War has begun - why? Was the breakdown inevitable?
+## Shifting Soviet Policy
+### The Nazi-Soviet Pact (1939-41)
+- Two states agree not to fight, and to partition territory
+- Promotes hostility towards Soviet Union, communist parties in the western democracies
+- Britain, France go to war with Nazi Germany in 1939. France is defeated in 1940, but the British empire hangs on
+- June 1941: Hitler decides to invade USSR; British indicate their willingness to support the soviets
+### Turning Points (1941)
+- Operation Barbarossa and Japans attack on Pearl Harbor
+- The "Big Three" (Stalin, Roosevelt, Churchill) meet in Tehran, 1943
+### Formation of the Grand Alliance
+- USA enters the war after Pearl Harbor (1941)
+- Americans, British, Soviets become allies
+- Soviets eventually halt German led invasions, push back, occupying most of Europe
+- *More points in slides*
+### The Soviet Perspective
+- Devastated by war: Estimated 25 million dead
+- Plays key role in defeat of Nazi Germany; Receives Lend-Lease Aid
+- Soviets occupy territory in Eastern Europe, including Poland, Germany - Stalin wants a "sphere of influence"
+- Willing to make some concessions - Stalin dissolves Comintern in 1943 - but insists on security and influence
+### The Western Perspective
+- The United States - dominant power with the largest economy, and had recently developed the atom bomb (1945)
+- Franklin Roosevelt - wanted United Nations, open international order, and willing to work with the Soviets
+- Replaced by Harry Truman in 1945 - Grows more concerned about Soviets and the spread of Communism
+- British Empire - greatly weakened by the war, and wants to rebuild. The attitude was ambiguous towards the USSR
+### Early Tensions
+- Regular meetings of "Big Three" (1943-45)
+- Cooperation continues - USSR joins war against Japan
+- But problems began to emerge:
+	1. Future of Poland - uneasy agreement to move territory, form of coalition government
+	2. Future of Germany - divided into zones of occupation, what long term policy to pursue
+	3. Concerns about soviet espionage, and the potential spread of Communism
+### Germany Divided
+- Poland gains territory
+- Four occupation zones
+- Germans expelled from ...
+### Rising Tensions (1946-47)
+- Sources of Tensions
+	- Soviet actives in eastern Europe cause concern
+	- Soviet troops are slow to withdraw from Iran
+	- Stalin puts pressure on Turkey for access, bases
+	- Greek civil war, Communist vs Anti-Communists; fears of Soviet intervention
+	- European economies are struggling; American officials feat communism will gain further support
+- Shifting Policies
+	- March 1947 - US president Harry Truman promises aid to Greece, Turkey - but framed in broad terms (The Truman Doctrine)
+	- June 1947 - The US secretary of state George Marshall proposes massive aid package to support European reconstruction (The Marshall Plan)
+	- Western and Eastern European states are invited t participate, asked to develop coordinated plan; Britain and France are keen.
+- The Soviet Response - How to interpret?
+	- Wilfred Loth - Soviet are suspicious of the Marshall Plan, quickly reject it, veto East European involvement
+	- Geoffrey Roberts - Soviet Response was initially more ambiguous, several reasons for rejection; East European role was complex, not just an issues of "veto"
+	- Soviets go on to mobilize criticism of Marshall Plan, create "Cominform" and tighten grip of Eastern Europe
+## Key Points
+- Stalin's foreign policy - complex, driven by desire for security but also to enhance Soviet influence.
+- Willing to work with wartime allances but within limits - by 1947 those limits are breached. Historians debate if he was actually truthful about this willingness
+- Role of shifting perceptions (in USSR and USA)
+- Significance of ideology in shaping perceptions
+- Significance of advisors, role of other states
+