Increasing tensions in a divided Europe

Jessiney RegueiroElizabeth LugonesYasmin EltallaAlyssa Campa

Manhattan Project

● Early in 1939, German physicists had learned the secrets of splitting a uranium atom. Fears soon spread over the possibility of Nazi scientists utilizing that energy to produce a bomb capable of unspeakable destruction.

● Scientists Albert Einstein, who fled Nazi persecution, and Enrico Fermi, who escaped Fascist Italy, were now living in the United States. They agreed that the President must be informed of the dangers of atomic technology in the hands of the Axis powers. Fermi traveled to Washington in March to express his concerns on government officials. But few shared his uneasiness.

● Einstein penned a letter to President Roosevelt urging the development of an atomic research program later that year. Roosevelt was hesitant to start such a project, but agreed to proceed slowly.

● In late 1941, the American effort to design and build an atomic bomb received its code name — the Manhattan Project.

Manhattan Project

● US physicist Robert Oppenheimer and General Leslie R. Groves served as directors of this project.

● European scientists, including Albert Einstein, Enrico Fermi, and Leo Szilard, also participated in the Manhattan Project.

● At first the research was based at only a few universities — Columbia University, the University of Chicago and the University of California at Berkeley. A breakthrough occurred in December 1942 when Fermi led a group of physicists to produce the first controlled nuclear chain reaction under the grandstands of Stagg Field at the University of Chicago.

● Nuclear facilities were built at Oak Ridge, Tennessee and Hanford, Washington. The main assembly plant was built at Los Alamos, New Mexico. After the final bill was tallied, nearly $2 billion had been spent on research and development of the atomic bomb.

Manhattan Project: Who Knew?

● Secrecy was a big part of this project since neither the Germans nor the Japanese could learn of the project. Roosevelt and Churchill also agreed that the Stalin would be kept in the dark.

● Although the USSR was an ally of Britain and the United States in the war against Germany, the Soviet Union remained a repressive dictatorship and a potential future enemy

● Nearly 120,000 Americans worked on the Manhattan project but only a small privileged cadre of inner scientists and officials knew about the atomic bomb's development.

● Vice-President Truman had never heard of the Manhattan Project until he became President.

Manhattan Project: Spies

● With an atomic bomb program of its own, Germany attempted to build a large spy network within the United States. Most German spies were quickly caught, however, and none penetrated the veil of secrecy surrounding the Manhattan Project.

● Japan also had a modest atomic research program. Rumors of the Manhattan Project reached Japan as well, but, as with Germany, no Japanese spies penetrated the Manhattan Project.

● Soviet intelligence services devoted a tremendous amount of resources into spying on the United States and Britain. In the United States alone, hundreds of Americans provided secret information to the Soviet Union.

● During the war neither the American nor the British secret services had a single agent in Moscow.● The Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA) had thousands of members, a disproportionate

number of whom were highly educated and likely to work in sensitive wartime industries. Many physicists were members of the CPUSA before the war. Some of those physicists provided information about the bombs to the Soviet Union.

● Soviet intelligence first learned of American talk of an atomic bomb program in September 1941. The information likely came from John Cairncross, a member of the infamous "Cambridge Five" spies in Britain. Another of the "Cambridge Five,"

Manhattan Project: Spies

● Soviet intelligence headquarters in Moscow pressured their various American residencies to develop sources within the Manhattan Project. Many of these early attempts at recruiting spies were detected and foiled by the FBI and Manhattan Project counterintelligence officials. In February 1943, they learned of Soviet attempts to contact physicists conducting related work at the "Rad Lab" at the University of California, Berkeley. The scientists in question were placed under surveillance and, when possible, drafted into the military so that they could be assigned away from sensitive subjects. Another scientist at the Rad Lab caught passing information to the Soviet Union in 1944 was immediately discharged.

● Of the Soviet spies not caught during the war, one of the most valuable was the British physicist Klaus Fuchs. Fuchs first offered his services to Soviet intelligence in late 1941. Soviet intelligence lost contact with him in early 1944 but eventually found out that Fuchs had been reassigned to the bomb research and development laboratory at Los Alamos. He continued to pass secret information to the Soviet Union intermittently until he was finally caught.

● Another famous spy from the Manhattan Project was Theodore Hall.

Manhattan Project: Results

● By the summer of 1945, Oppenheimer was ready to test the first bomb. On July 16, 1945, at Trinity Site near Alamogordo, New Mexico, scientists of the Manhattan Project readied themselves to watch the detonation of the world's first atomic bomb. The device was affixed to a 100-foot tower and discharged just before dawn. No one was properly prepared for the result.

● •A bogus cover-up story was quickly released, explaining that a huge ammunition dump had just exploded in the desert. President Truman learned about the success of the bomb when he was in Potsdam, Germany.

● https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=486MZC8596g

How Soviet relations were affected...

How did it affect US-Soviet relations in the in the period to 1949?● Stalin was well aware about the existence of the Manhattan Project,

although Truman never spoke of it till he was certain it worked● Stalin knew about the success of the “Trinity” test● During the eighth day of the Potsdam conference Truman mentioned the

“new, powerful weapon”● Stalin was not surprised at all● This act simply solidified Stalin’s mistrust in the United States and

confirmed the mistrust that the US had for Stalin

Soviet Minister of Foreign Affairs : “they’re raising the price”, Stalin replied “Let them. We’ll have to talk with Kurchatov today about speeding up our work”

...● Soviet espionage significantly increased during this period● It was vital for Stalin to have a inside man so he could know how to build the

atomic bomb● Stalin used and trusted in spies to get insight into the knowledge of the United

States● Klaus Fuchs; took part in the Manhattan project and handed the Soviet Union

ALL the information he could get his hands on● Julius and Ethel Rosenberg: delivered thousands of pages of documents

detailing new radar and aircraft technology● Cambridge Five: All held high positions in intelligence and passed on an array

of secrets to the Soviet Union

continued….

● After the Manhattan project was successful, the US no longer requested nor needed Stalin to declare war on Japan. (he still did)

● In the years that followed there were several occasions that the US government uses/considered atomic diplomacy

● Also, the US knew that the bomb impressive power could play an important role in postwar relations with the Soviet Union

● The United States hoped that their exclusive control over the nuclear bomb along with it’s demonstration in Japan would influence the Soviet union to make concessions, in Europe or Asia

...

● Truman never actually threatened Stalin, he just believed that the existence of the bomb would itself be threatening enough

● Even if US officials wanted the atomic bomb to soften the Soviet Union’s resistance to the American’s proposals for free elections in the Eastern Europe or even reduce their control control over the Balkans, it had the opposite effect. The Soviet Union felt defensive and were more anxious, so they felt a need to protect their borders with a controlled buffer zone.

● Mainly, Stalin did this to get ahold of the most important material he was missing to complete his atomic bomb.(although he was missing many other factors)

...● In 1947, the Soviet Union began extracting large amounts of uranium from

Czechoslovakia● Stalin consciously was prepared for international condemnation in order to

get the vital resource for the atomic bomb● Stalin secured the rule of a communist regime in Czech. This is a vital

example of an action that Stalin did strictly due to protect himself from the US. Stalin’s fear did not make him crawl into a corner, but instead reach out for as many resources as possible to protect himself. It was the opposite outcome that Truman wanted, but he was reluctant to act against Stalin. The lack of action made Stalin continue to push the US with Berlin.

..

● Stalin wanted to build his own atomic bomb so the power of it could be shared and so Truman would not longer have an upper hand.

● Stalin believed that if the United states had a nuclear bomb, he had the right to have one too. Truman was in no position to oppose to this.

...

● The US used the nuclear bomb to put Western Europe under its “nuclear umbrella.” They did this so Western Europe would not turn to Russia for security

● Stalin was well aware by 1948 that the United States was utilizing its nuclear monopoly as a crutch in foreign affairs.

● The US upper hand because of the atomic was short lived because the Soviet Union was right behind them and had their first successful bomb in 1949

Overview

The United States’ successful atomic bomb caused an increase of tension between them and the Soviet Union. The fact that both Roosevelt and Truman kept this a secret only made Stalin distrust the US more. Time and time again the US used the bomb to strike fear into the Soviet Union but did not always work the way they hoped for it. Little did the US know while they were waving the atomic bomb in front of everyone’s face that they were simply pushing the Soviet UNion to create their own atomic bomb quicker. One could say that the time period after the manhattan Project eroded the relationship between these two super powers; friendship turned to fear.

Eastern Europe Frontier

In a period of balance-of-power politics, the Soviet Union’s territory does not extend far westward into Europe.

Russia wanted to extend their borders to areas which Stalin felt rightfully belonged to Russia.

Eastern Europe in 1945

Following the second world war, the Soviet Union extended its control into modern day Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus and four Baltic states.

By 1945, Russia were able to extend their borders. This resulted in a lot of conflict as communist influences spread through the areas under their control.

Tensions that followed the 1945 peacemaking

Nuclear Tensions (background)

The nuclear age began before the Cold War, During World War II, three countries decided to build the atomic bomb: Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union. Britain put its own work aside and joined the Manhattan Project in 1943, and the Soviet effort was small before August 1945.

By August 1945, the United States had two bombs ready for use and Truman used them against Japan. Was this done to end the war with Japan once and for all, or intimidate the Soviet Union?

Whatever Truman's motives, Stalin regarded the use of the bomb as an anti-Soviet move, designed to deprive the Soviet Union of strategic gains in the Far East and more generally to give the United States the upper hand in defining the postwar settlement.

On August 20, I945, two weeks to the day after Hiroshima, Stalin signed a decree setting up a SpecialCommittee on the Atomic Bomb, under the chairmanship of Lavrenti P. Beria.

Nuclear Tensions: United States

In 1946, the United States and the Soviet Union, along with several othercountries, began negotiations to bring atomic energy under international control. These negotiations failed. It was national governments rather than international organizations that were to determine the future of atomic energy.

The United States built up its nuclear arsenal, slowly at first, but with increasing urgency as relations with the Soviet Union deteriorated.

Stalin feared that the United States would use the bomb to put pressure on the Soviet Union, and he was determined not to let that happen. He adopted a policy of what he called "tenacity and steadfastness”.

This first became apparent in September 1945 at the London meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers, where the Soviet Union took a tough stand on issues relating to the postwar settlement.

Instead of proving more pliable and willing to compromise, as the Americans had hoped, Stalin adopted a policy of stubbornness, for fear of seeming weak and inviting further pressure.

TIMELINE

JANUARY: The United Nations meets for the first time in January and one of the first topics which they discuss is Atomic Energy. It was during this session where they approved the creation of an Atomic Energy Commission (UNAEC) to address problems associated with atomic energy and its uses.

FEBRUARY: George F. Kennan sends his famous “Long Telegram” from Moscow, arguing that the Soviet Union sees itself in essential, permanent conflict with the West and is not likely to liberalize anytime soon. Kennan argues that containment of the USSR through “strong resistance” is the only viable course for the United States. One of the things he said was that the Communist threat was huge and that there could be no accommodation with the Soviets – the US could never work with a Soviet government, because the Soviet government was intractably determined to destroy America

TIMELINE

MARCH: The Acheson-Lilienthal Report is completed and submitted, in secret, to the State Department. It is quickly leaked and then was followed up by a legitimate publication by the State Department. The scheme they propose is that the United Nations create an organization (the Atomic Development Authority) that would be granted full control over world uranium stocks and would have the ability to inspect all facilities that used uranium in significant quantities. Truman and his advisers weren’t too fond of this, however, because it was leaked by the State Department, it was understood to be position of the United States.

JUNE: Bernard Baruch, Truman’s appointee to head the US delegation of the UN Atomic Energy Commission, presents the Baruch Plan. It argued that the United States would not destroy its nuclear stockpile until the Soviet Union had proven it was not trying to build a bomb of their own. It demanded full inspections of the USSR and stripped the UN Security Council of veto power when it came to enforcing violations of the treaty. The Soviets were resistant to all of these measures.

TIMELINE

DECEMBER: Meredith Gardner, a cryptanalyst for the US Army Signal Intelligence Service, achieves a major breakthrough in decrypting wartime Soviet cables. A cable from 1944 contains a list of scientists working at Los Alamos — indications of a serious breach in wartime atomic security, potentially much worse than the Canadian spy ring.

On Christmas Day, 1946, the Soviet Union’s first experimental reactor, F-1, goes critical for the first time.

NUCLEAR TENSIONS

In spite of the growing international tension of the late 1940s, there was little expectation that a new world war would break out soon. All three Allies demobilized, though to varying degrees. The bomb nevertheless cast a shadow over relations.

It gave the Americans confidence and enhanced their willingness to make security commitments. The bomb had a dual effect on Soviet policy.

It inspired caution and restraint, but it also made the Soviet Union less willing to compromise for fear of appearing vulnerable to intimidation. The bomb made the postwar relationship even more tense and contentious than it would have been in any case.

CONTAINMENT

Containment is the the action of keeping something harmful under control or within limits. In this case, it would be the United States trying to contain communism.

Truman and his advisers embraced the idea but they had little idea of how to apply it. They did toughen their rhetoric. told Stalin to pull his troops out of northern Iran, as he was obligated to do. Several months later, in July and August 1946, they rebuffed the Kremlin's overtures to renegotiate Soviet rights and expand Soviet in the Turkish straits.Truman's military planners began to design war plans should US efforts to contain Soviet power peacefully falter and should war erupt as a result of miscalculation.

CONTAINMENT

But Truman and his aides did not expect war. They were determined to contain the further expansion of Soviet power and Communist influence, but they still labored with Soviet diplomats to finish the peace treaties. However, the United States started to feel threatened by postwar social, economic, and political conditions in Western Europe and in the occupied parts of Germany and Japan. Because the economic and social situation in Western Europe were so poor, the threat of Communism was taken very seriously.

During the winter of 1946-47. Heavy snows and frigid temperatures exacerbated a terrible coal shortage, forcing factories to dose and spreading unemployment, hunger, and despair. Famine stalked the zones of Germany occupied by American and British troops. Germans were living on 1,200 calories a day. Without additional food, US Army officials warned, they would lose "the great struggle ... to prevent [Germany] going communistic."

Writing from Rome at about the same time US ambassador James C. Dunn warned "All the indications we receive ... show that the Communists are gaining ground and that our policy to assist the development of a free and democratic Italy is losing ground."

CONTAINMENT

Truman was alarmed. Financial stringencies forced British officials to cut their presence in Greece, Turkey, and the eastern Mediterranean. At the time, the shortage of dollars in European treasuries meant that governments could no longer afford to purchase the coal and grain they desperately needed to keep their factories running and their peoples fed.

Communists were finding more and more opportunities to capitalize on domestic turmoil and internal unrest In countries such as France and Italy, they were capturing more than a third of the vote and competing actively for control of legislative assemblies. Yet it was not easy for Truman to determine what should be done. In November 1946, the Republicans won a smashing victory in the congressional elections. They blamed the administration for high prices and high taxes. They promised the American people that they would cut deficits, end the work stoppages, bring down taxes, and curb inflation. They assailed Truman for his incompetence, and clamored for smaller and more effective government.

The Iron Curtain and Soviet Expansion

Origins of the Iron Curtain

-Along with tensions between the Soviet Union and the West dating back to the Russian Civil War, a series of events during and after WWII have only exaggerated these divisions.

-During World War II, Stalin aimed to acquire a buffer area against Germany with pro-Soviet states on its border to create an Eastern bloc.

-This goal led to strained relations at both the Yalta Conference in February 1945 and the Potsdam Conference in August 1945.

Soviet Expansion

Stalin was planning the takeover of Eastern Europe to establish his buffer zone of states around Russia to prevent another invasion.

-During the war, as the Soviet army drove the Nazis back it occupied large areas of Eastern Europe.

-Churchill, in his percentages agreement with stalin, agreed that Eastern Europe could be a Soviet “sphere of influence”

Churchill’s Percentages Agreement

Soviet Expansion Con’t

*Although Stalin assured to the other Allies at Yalta that he would allow people in the Soviet-occupied countries to hold free elections and choose democratic governments, within three years the communist-dominated governments took power.

-The communists established “People’s Democracies” in Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Albania, and Czechoslovakia

-The Communist party in each country held a monopoly of political power:

● They permitted no independent political parties● No meaningful elections● No criticism of the ruling communist party

Stalinization of Eastern Europe

-Stalin imposed a socialist economic model. The government, in the name of the people, owned the factories, farms, mines, and other means of production.

-People could no longer own their own profit-making businesses and farms

-Government planners decided what and how much should be produced annually, prices, and wages. They emphasized heavy industry (steel making and coal mining).Consequently consumer goods (cars, clothing, televisions) became scare and expensive.

-As the government took over privately owned farms, Eastern European farmers often resisted this collectivization of agriculture, but the communist governments applied special taxes and denied health benefits to force them to comply.

The Iron Curtain

On March 5th 1946 Winston Churchill gave a speech declaring that an “iron curtain” had descended across Europe:

"From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent." - Winston Churchill, “The Sinews of Peace”

The Iron Curtain:

-Formed the imaginary boundary dividing Europe into separate areas lasting from the end of World War II in 1945 to the end of the Cold War in 1991.

-The term refers to efforts by the Soviet Union to block itself and its satellite states from open contact with the West and non-Soviet controlled areas

.-On the east side of the Iron Curtain were countries connected to/ influenced by the Soviet Union

-The Iron Curtain physically took the form of border defenses along countries in the middle of Europe, most notably the Berlin Wall.

Satellite States

Satellite State:

Refers to a country or nation that was formally independent but is now politically or economically influenced by another nation.

By 1949, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Poland, Bulgaria, and East Germany were all on the Eastern side of the Iron Curtain

Churchill’s “Sinews of Peace” address

March 5, 1946

“From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic an "Iron Curtain" has descended across the continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe. Warsaw, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade, Bucharest and Sofia; all these famous cities and the populations around them lie in what I must call the Soviet sphere, and all are subject, in one form or another, not only to Soviet influence but to a very high and in some cases increasing measure of control from Moscow.”

“Sinews of Peace” Con’t

-In his speech, Churchill mentioned that regions under Soviet Union control were expanding their power without any restriction. His plan to put an end to this phenomenon was creating a strong unity between the UK and the U.S.

-With the recent defeat of Nazi Germany and Japan, much of the Western public viewed the Soviet Union as a close ally. Therefore, the phrase iron curtain was not well received right off the bat but gradually gained popularity.

“Sinews of Peace” Stalin’s Response

-Stalin’s response to Churchill’s speech was written in the official newspaper for the Communist party of the Soviet Union, Pravda.

-He accused Churchill of warmongering, and defended the Soviet “friendship” with eastern Europe states. Stalin claimed these states were a necessary safeguard against another invasion.

-Stalin later accused Churchill of hoping to install right-wing governments in eastern Europe to agitate those states against the Soviet Union.