CLA 1101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 13: Marshall Plan, Anti-Communism, Treaty Establishing The European Defence Community
28 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
March 7, 2018
1
Lec 13: European Divisions and the
Cold War
Historians from different countries and from different times have different opinions about the
circumstances
- They argue that the cold war actually = the WWIII
Alliances Disappear
- Tensions between western allies and soviets was visible before the war ended
- Yalta
- By 1946 Churchill was already talking about the Iron curtain descending across europe
- The nato countries vs the Warsaw Pact
- And other communist countries that fit into neither
- 1940s
- People's republics
- Not part of the USSR
- But are soviet satellites
- Yugoslavia, Bulgaria etc
- 1948
- Czechoslovakia soviet coup
- Democracy became a people's republic
People’s Republics
- Controlled economy
- Forced industrialization
- State intervenes directly in the daily lives of citizens
- Serve the purpose of satellite republics
Leading into War
Containment
- The policy from the US
- To try to stop the iron curtain from moving any further west
- 1947- Truman Doctrine
- Direct response to what was happening in Greece
- An attempted communist coup
- The soviet union pressured turkey to allow access to Greece through their
territory to support the coup
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
March 7, 2018
2
- Truman, upon learning that Russia was trying to get to Greece
- Requested aid to send to greece and turkey to help keep the soviets out
- From congress
- Not merely about this specific incident
- But should become a matter of principle for the US
- The US should support free countries that are resisting attempted subjugation
- Really about helping people resist communism
- In Greece there was no evidence that Russia helped the Greece
communism
- They were not truly being subjugated by outside sources
- Made known that he was not going to allow the USSR to invade non communist
countries
- Opponents of communism could count on US support
- A political statement
- Greece put down the coup
- FIrst example of the Containment Policy and the Truman Doctrine
- One of the first confrontations of the cold war
- Outside of either of their nations
Berlin Blockade
- 2nd conflict in the cold war
- 1948-1949
- Soviets sought to close off berlin to the allies in the hopes that they would abandon their
zones to abandon their zones of the city
- June 1948-may 1949
- Ends mainly due to the airlift
- Could supply the city through the air
- Forces the soviets to abandoned their blockade
- Consequences
- The west unified their sections into one country
- Stronger together
- West Germany - German Republic is created
- One of the factors to create NATO
- Signing of the treaty of Brussels in 1948
- Something that concerns only western europe
- BENELUX countries, france, UK
- First step towards a collective security for western europe
- About security not economics
- Not technically a cold war treaty
- The enemy is not the soviet union, but a strong germany
- After the blockade the members began to think that the soviet union may be a
bigger concern
- Change the terms of their acord
- Called the Western European Union
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
March 7, 2018
3
- A direct response to the Berlin Blockade
- Thought adding the US would make them stronger
NATO
- 1949
- Singed in Washington
- Had the originals
- Canada, portugal, Italy, Norway, Denmark Iceland, US
- Later Greece and Turkey
- What does it mean to have signed?
- Agree that an armed attack against any one member state (EU or NA)
would be considered an attack against everyone else in the alliance
- Every member state pledges to assist the countries being attacked,
including the use of armed force to maintain the security of the North
Atlantic
- Language of the treaty pledges action as deemed necessary.
- Violence can be used but is not the only option
- The idea of attack is also vague
- Member states distinguish what is attack
- Not all confident in the ability to stay united
- Limits NATOs scope to the Atlantic Region
- If and attack occurs outside the region, it does not concern NATO
- Within NATO
- Questions about which states really held the power
- US has a disproportionate amount of power
- US determined rolled, to the frustration of their EU allies
- Controversy
- The proposal to allow west germany to join
- In 1950 the US proposes
- That they be allowed to rearm
- France responds by suggesting the creation of and European
Defense community
- Felt they could not be part of the same organization with
Germany
- Without the US and without GER
- If GER proved itself they would be allowed in
- So the EU could determine the power that GER without the
influence of the US
- Failed - never gets off the ground
- The US drops the attempt to bring HER into NATO
- The US responds to an EU rejection of american policy
- France is inspired to create a balance within EU and the defense
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Historians from different countries and from different times have different opinions about the circumstances. They argue that the cold war actually = the wwiii. Tensions between western allies and soviets was visible before the war ended. By 1946 churchill was already talking about the iron curtain descending across europe. The nato countries vs the warsaw pact. And other communist countries that fit into neither. State intervenes directly in the daily lives of citizens. To try to stop the iron curtain from moving any further west. Direct response to what was happening in greece. The soviet union pressured turkey to allow access to greece through their territory to support the coup. Truman, upon learning that russia was trying to get to greece. Requested aid to send to greece and turkey to help keep the soviets out. But should become a matter of principle for the us. The us should support free countries that are resisting attempted subjugation.
