Post WWII

Conferences and Deals

1943: Teheran• Stalin is told about Operation

Overlord

• Stalin agrees to invade from the East

• Allies will invade from the West and South

• Possibility of a United Nations discussed

Casablanca• Churchill and Roosevelt met

• Laid out basic goal of demanding unconditional surrender of Axis powers

• Stalin agreed when told of the plan

1944: Morgenthau Plan• Possible post war plan

• Called for total dismantling of Germany–Return to 18th century status

• Discarded due to impracticality

• Realized recovery of Germany would help recovery of Europe as a whole

Feb 1945: Yalta• Dominated by Big Three

– Stalin– Churchill– Roosevelt

• Occupation Plan devised• Meeting characterized by a lack of

precision which will lead to later disputes

Occupation of Germany and Berlin

• Germany divided into four parts

• Berlin (in Soviet Sphere) also divided in fourths

• USA, Britain, France, and USSR each occupy a portion

• Access to Berlin by Allies not clearly planned out

• Reparations were discussed at Yalta but not agreed upon

• Declaration of Liberated Europe made– Liberated territories could choose their future

through democratic elections

• Poland was ‘given’ to Stalin to do as he pleased

• An Eastern frontier was established along old post WWI (Curzon Line)

• Boundaries not finalized

• Stalin promised land in far East in return for aid in attacking Japan–Promised land (in hindsight) was

perhaps unnecessary: Allies close to victory

July 1945: Potsdam• After Germany surrendered, before

Japan’s surrender

• ‘New’ Big Three– Stalin

– Churchill (Attlee)

– Truman (Roosevelt died after Yalta)

• During the conference, Churchill defeated in elections and replaced by Attlee

• Confirmed arrangements concerning German occupation at Yalta

• Potsdam Declaration called for immediate surrender of Japan

• During meeting, first successful explosion of atomic bomb (testing) by USA

• Council of Foreign Ministers set up to sign peace treaties with various countries

De facto arrangements• No clear cut treaty signed (like post WWI

Versailles)

• Series of ‘de facto’ agreements were made– Atlantic Charter

– IMF

– Council of Foreign Ministers

– UNO (UN)

1941: Atlantic Charter• Anglo-American ideas of a postwar world

• Stated goals– Restoration of self-government by territories

conquered by Germany

– Free access to world trade

– Cooperation to improve living standards and economic security

– stop force and aggression as policy

IMF• Bretton Woods Conference (1944)

created International Monetary Fund (IMF)

• Lay foundations for modern monetary system (based on US dollar)

• IMF World Bank loaned money to poor recovering countries

Council of Foreign Ministers• Separate treaties with Hungary, Italy,

etc.

• Pay war reparations and minor territory adjustments

• No treaty ever signed with Germany

• US and Japan sign treaty in 1951 (without USSR)

• USSR and Japan sign treaty in 1956

United Nations Organization

• Large powers dominate Security Council– Permanent seats assigned

– Power of single veto

– Able to use military force to back decisions

• General Assembly– All members

– Make broad decisions

The Marshall Plan• Communism (USSR) dominated

Eastern Europe– Threatened to take Western Europe

• US secretary of state George Marshall posed plan to help economic recovery in Western Europe– Help resist Communism

• Plan worked very well for those that took part in the plan

• About $8 billion of American aid sent

• Resulted in overall expansion of some $30 Billion annual output of goods and services

General State of Affairs

• Eastern Europe mainly Communism– Dominated by USSR

• Western Europe mainly democratic– Influenced by USA and Britain

USSR• Faced with mass destruction and need

for recovery

• Stalin used old methods to recover– Forced production

– All opposition purged

• Developed fourth 5-Year Plan

Poland• Communists occupied ministries

(Polish Workers party)

• Polish people anti-Russian, but had no choice

• Elections held (as agreed upon) but were fixed

Hungary• Anticommunist party (Small holders

Party) – Increasing economic turmoil hurt Party

• Communist Party (supported by USSR) purged political opponents and took over

• General Election (fixed) gave power to Communists

Bulgaria• During war, Red Army occupied

• Fatherland Front Party (Communists) dominate

• Elections held (not fixed) and Communists won

• Opponents purged

Rumania• Allied with Axis during war

• Defeated by USSR

• Anti-Communists purged

• Elections held (few people left to oppose Communists); Communists won (no surprise)

Czechoslovakia

• Tried to remain free but friendly to USSR

• Massive purge of Germans

• Accepted Marshall Plan but rescinded after Soviet pressure

• Communists purge opponents and win elections

• Stalin-like plans enacted

Yugoslavia• Marshall Tito (Communist) popular and

emerged as strongest leader

• Managed to create Communist state SEPARATE from USSR!!!

• Initially part of Communist Alliances

• Later broke from them and denounced connections with Eastern Communism

Italy• Political struggles for a couple years

–Socialist to Monarchy to republic

• Became Republic

• Paid reparations and lost some territory

• Became part of NATO

France• Re-established under Charles de Gaulle

• Fourth Republic established – Weak structure

– Several governments came and went

• Welfare State Established (Socialism)

• Took advantage of Marshall Plan

• Fifth republic set up (1958) and still exists

• Withdrew from NATO in 1966 (rejoined in 1995)

East Germany• Russian Zone

– Exiled Communists (from Hitler’s rise) return and rule

• GDP (German Democratic Republic) established in 1949

• Communist State

• Walter Ulbricht was single-party ruler

West Germany• Economic ruin• War Crime Trials removed leaders• Brits, Americans, French fused their areas

together by 1948• Federal Republic of Germany 1949: Free

elections chose Konrad Adenauer as chancellor

• Allowed to rearm (1954): Joined NATO (1955)

Berlin Crisis• 1948-1949; Soviets attempt to remove

allies from Berlin by setting up a blockade

• Very tense (WWIII?)

• Berlin Airlift– US instituted massive airlifts to get supplies

into West Berlin

• Soviets lifted blockade (it failed)

NATO formed• North Atlantic Treaty Organization

formed in 1949– Anti-communist alliance

• Collective security in Europe, US, Canada

• Radio-free Europe & Voice of America– Radio messages sent to countries behind the

Iron Curtain (pro-Democracy)