Origins Of The Cold War 3 Essay

, Research Paper

Before we can examine and understand the decisions made at these three conferences and their affects thereafter, we must first understand the situation in Europe as the 2nd World War was drawing to a close and the intentions and foreign policies of both the Allies and particularly the USSR.

When fighting in Europe ended in May 1945, the USSR occupied most of Eastern Europe, including: the Baltic States, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and the eastern portion of Germany. The Big Three , which included Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin, were aware of a basic conflict within their ranks. This ideological conflict was between the USSR, who believed in a socialist one-party state, and the USA, supported by Britain, whom was a liberal democracy where capitalism flourished. Stalin was also aware of a long history of Western opposition towards the USSR. Throughout military history Russia had been repeatedly invaded, in the 19th century by Napoleon and most recently by Hitler. Importantly, these and other invaders had nearly always come through Poland. Therefore the main reason Stalin was so anxious to secure Poland, as we shall learn later, was in order to prevent future invasion. This is the main reason that motivated the Russians to take control of Eastern Europe.

What Russia did not want was for its neighbours to be controlled by anti-communist governments. Thus in Eastern Europe Russia thought in terms of spheres of influence . The Western Allies didn t understand this philosophy as they thought in terms of the Atlantic Charter, which aimed to set up independent democracies, which were assumed to be capitalist, in Eastern Europe. What the Western Allies didn t realise was that the Atlantic Charter was much the same thing as the Soviet policy as it catered for their own interests. What the Western Allies automatically assumed was that if a state were not anti-communist, it would have to be communist, this being a reason for their reluctance in Soviet, and as they saw it, communist expansion. Another cause for tension was the issue of Poland, of which most of was currently occupied by Russia. As mentioned before Russia wanted Poland for defensive purposes, and, as far as the Russians were concerned it would be ruled by a government best suited to them. Whatever type of government it was going to be, it was not going to be anti-communist.Further evidence of Western opposition which led, mainly on the Soviet side, to mistrust, was the fact that during the 2nd World War Western foreign policy seemed to be directed against the Russians. This suspicion was well justified as Russia had been excluded from the Munich Agreement and the Allies had ignored Soviet appeals by delaying the opening of a second front, leaving Russia and Germany to exhaust themselves. Another factor, which the Americans would be less aware of, was the fact that the Russians secretly knew about the atomic bomb, but felt that America was being deceitful by not publicly revealing its existence.The USSR s motives to participate in the conferences following the end of the war have already been discussed but it is unclear to what America s intentions were by getting involved in the future of Europe. Obviously Britain had a right to make demands as the security of the their nation had been severely threatened during the 2nd World War and almost invaded. The US could argue that their security was, and still could be, at stake as they possibly could ve been bombed during the war and, now with the beginning of the nuclear age, their security could be at an even bigger risk. However, the much more deeper reason for the US s involvement lies in the fact that they are constantly searching for more and more markets to satisfy its ever-expanding economy. One of the areas that the USA wanted to expand into was Eastern Europe. This threatened Russian interests, particularly because US investment was usually accompanied by militant anti-communism. The USA, however, claimed that her interest was to mediate between Britain & Russia. The only way that the USSR could respond was to make sure rigid communist governments will control that as much of Eastern Europe as possible.The Big Three met together for the first time at Teheran in November 1943. Here they were mainly concerned with ending the war in Europe and ensuring the firm establishment of the newly founded UN. Churchill and Roosevelt also wanted to know from Stalin if the UN could count on his support. Military issues dominated the discussions as Stalin, quite rightly, believed that the USSR was bearing the brunt if the war. Stalin felt that the Western Allies were deliberately ignoring his repeated appeals and were intentionally trying to weaken Soviet Russia. The Western Allies agreed to launch a major offensive in the spring of 1944, as did the Russians. A general agreement to divide Germany was made and the future of Poland and of Eastern Europe was also discussed. All of the Big Three left Teheran satisfied, Churchill and Roosevelt especially. They did not know, however, that their rooms had been bugged and each morning Stalin had read a detailed transcript of their conversations.

The Polish issue was perhaps the most important reason for Soviet advancement. When the Nazis had invaded Poland in 1939, some Poles had fled to London and had set up a Provisional Government, which was supported by both Britain and the USA. These London Pol