Post on 17-Dec-2015
Did the Cold War begin before 1945?
What were the main sources of tension in the 1920s and 30s?
Appeasement
Comintern
Civil War The TsarDebts
Ideology
WW1
Nazi-Soviet Pact
Key tension 1: The threat of communist expansion
The USA’s response
• America did not recognise the new Soviet state
• They were concerned about the activities of the Comintern
• A new division of the state department was set up to keep them up to date with Russian thinking
• A key centre for research on Soviet Union was in Riga, capital of Latvia.
• Latvia was now an independent republic and a safe haven for exiled middle and upper class Russians.
Why was Riga important?
• Attitudes developed in Riga had a profound influence on the policies of the Division of Russian Affairs based in Washington
• These were known as the ‘Riga Axioms’
• Advice from Riga took the Soviet threat very seriously and warned the USA to be on their guard.
• Great stress was laid on the world revolutionary goals of the Soviet leaders.
• George Kennan was one of the Americans based in Riga.
• He was immersed in the Russian language and cultural studies and influenced by the non-radical elite of Imperial Russia now in exile.
• Kennan had very definite views on the value of an alliance with Russia“Never then nor at any later date did I consider the Soviet Union a fit ally or associate, actual or potential, for this country”
• It was the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931 prompted USA to finally recognise USSR.
Key tensions 2 & 3: Appeasement & the Nazi-Soviet Pact
http://www.youtube.com/user/TheMac4010?feature=chclk#p/c/1048C06D7B0FED58/0/i1L-8Ehtk3Y
(14:20-19:05)
1. What was agreed at the Munich Conference?
2. What lesson did Stalin learn from Munich?
3. What was his response?4. What did this action allow Stalin to
do?
What does this source
suggest about the
Nazi-Soviet Pact?
Did the Cold War begin
before WW2?
Appeasement
Comintern
Civil War The TsarDebts
Ideology
WW1
Nazi-Soviet Pact
Did tensions increase during WW2?
What do these sources suggest
about the relationship between the
countries of the Grand Alliance?
What do these sources suggest
about the relationship between the
countries of the Grand Alliance?
The caption reads:‘Greetings to the heroic warrior of the Soviet Union from British allies fighting with him.'
What do these sources suggest
about the relationship between the
countries of the Grand Alliance?
What do these sources suggest
about the relationship between the
countries of the Grand Alliance?
Did tensions increase during WW2?
http://www.youtube.com/user/TheMac4010?feature=chclk#p/c/1048C06D7B0FED58/0/i1L-8Ehtk3Y
Strains in the Grand Alliance by 1945
• The Second Front• Poland• The West’s view
of communism• The USSR’s view
of the West
Summarise these using pp. 9-11 of your booklet