Russian foreign policy from 1930 to 1953.

The year 1917 witnessed the rise of the and the Communist revolution, which changed the path of Russian political and social development for the foreseeable future. Headed by Lenin, the priority of the Bolsheviks after finally coming into power and forming the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was to bring an economic wave powerful enough to compete with the capitalist nations of the west. There was no outside threat to USSR once the Allied intervention accompanying the civil war was over. Relations between the west and USSR became increasingly strained during the 1920s. Things started changing from the early 1930s when world events started to threaten Soviet and Hitler rose to power in Germany, which led to foreign policies being formulated with greater attention. Importance was given to reactions to events and towards protection of the nation. External politics started growing and impacting internal policies as well, including industrial manufacture, military training and more. For convenience, we can divide the phases of foreign policy into three time periods. The first phase involves the growth of foreign relations from 1930 to 1939. The second phase starts with the Nazi-Soviet Pact of 1939 and concludes by the end of World War II, where Russia was on the victorious side (1941). The third phase, which comes to a close with the death of Stalin in 1953, incorporates the aftermath of the World War, and the events of Cold War-where we can see two great powers coming into indirect conflict. Development of foreign relations in the 1930s The Great Depression that came up in 1929 made western businessmen seek ties with the Soviet Union to sell the heavy machinery that was vital to Russia’s industrialization. The urge to develop diplomatic relations also came up in several western powers. Stalin, during his political struggles and policy implementations, raised the spectre of war as per his convenience. He lay emphasis on the probability of the western powers forming a coalition against the Soviet Union and reinforced this view through propaganda. Even though this so-called coalition never came into existence, Russia in the 1930s signed several international treaties, especially non-aggression pacts with its neighbours, all designed to lower international tension. Soviet ideas on class war and imperialism remained the same during this period, and Russia continued to promote international revolution of the proletariat through Comintern. For a long time, Britain and France were regarded as the nation’s main enemies and League of Nations as the international agency for western military imperialism.

However, the world began to witness a change when Germany and Japan started questioning the existing order in early 1930s. While the industrial giant, Germany, was weakened by the western powers as an aftermath of the Treaty of Versailles, Japan, a growing economic and military power was being crippled by the European powers that occupied Asia. The world saw the rise of Hitler in 1933, when he became the German vice chancellor and promised his nation its resurrection. It was for the first time that Stalin saw the rise of a powerful leader, which raised alarms in his mind. Clouds of threat loomed over Russia. “The gigantic empire in the East is ripe for collapse,” Hitler said. Although the Communists of Germany aided Hitler in his rise to power and destruction of Socialist Democratic Party, he attacked the German Communist Parties in February 1933 and raided the branches of Soviet commercial agencies.

Differences started rising between Japan and Russia when Manchuria was invaded and converted into a puppet state by Japan. Russia was unable to control Japan, and surrendered the Chinese Eastern Railway, constructed entirely by Russian initiative, to them for a nominal price. Several border conflicts also took place between both the parties.

Germany and Japan were two nations that wanted to transform the world order, and this changed the nature of danger Soviet faced. The Soviet Union was still weak and unprepared for a battle with the fascist leaders. Peace was strived for by the nation, since its military was not fully geared for war, the economy could break down, and peasants could revolt against the war. The Foreign Commissar, Maxim Litvinov, who occupied the post from 1930-1939 spoke only of peace. The conflicting Soviet views on class war and anti-imperialism were not propagated openly after the 1930s.

The situation was arising for the Soviet Union to make sure that other capitalist nations do not support or join the acts of aggression committed by fascist nations of Germany and Japan. It was important to form a public opinion around condemnation of fascism and imperialism in democratic countries. Stalin continued to pursue friendly relations with Germany, pretending he didn’t understand Hitler’s objectives. Hitler, however, was ambitious and wanted war. He wanted to expand the German territory. Stalin’s next best option was to form alliances with some powerful states, the existence of which could prevent a military entanglement. When it became certain that a war would take place, Stalin tried to deflect the enemy from the borders of his country.

Many historians think that in the years 1932-34, relations were already becoming difficult between Germany and Japan, but the industrial commercial factors prevented the escalation of this hostility. When the Non-Aggression Pact was signed later, there was a favourable balance of trade. Max Beloff, in contrast, feels that too much importance should not be given to economic ties. Russia’s foreign trade remained at a low level. In 1937 it was just under and in 1938 just over 1.1 percent of the world’s total. According to him, more important than the economic cause of social isolationism was an increasing mental isolationism.

The Soviet Union was compelled to alter its “peace” strategy once world events, like the one in Berlin, started taking place. Feeling threatened, it endeavoured to create an ‘Eastern Locarno’ whereby the independence of the Baltic countries and Poland was to be guaranteed by several powers, including the USSR, France and possibly Germany. This would act as a ‘buffer zone’ for Soviet Russia against the aggressive attacks or designs of Hitler as a barrier would be created between both the nations. Poland and Germany, however, refused to sign any treaties that might put a check on their aggressive designs. Both signed a non- aggression pact in 1934 which diplomatically cleared the path for Germany fulfilling its expansionist designs. Stalin now realized that Poland could not be relied on. Once Hitler came to power, the Soviet Union started looking for cooperation with non-communist states, which would promote ‘collective security’ and diplomatic relations in order to give more recognition to Soviet Russia. USSR also became a member of the League League of Nations in 1934, and was given a permanent permanent seat on the council, which symbolized that it was recognized as a ‘Great Power.’ Additional localized agreements were also signed with various nations for mutual assistance, since Soviet could not rely on League of Nations to control the aggressors and their moves. The Soviet Union also harnessed the Communist International, in which the Russian Communist Party was dominant, to restrict the ‘fascist’ designs of its opponents. Comintern was prevented from openly propagating the idea of an international revolution of the proletariat. Instead, it started promoting a policy of ‘popular fronts’ and opposed the growth of fascism. Stalin outmaneuvered Hitler by establishing diplomatic relations with China and US. The national interest dictated Soviet foreign policy. As a member of the League of Nations, Soviet advocated disarmament as well as supporting the idea of collective security.

In December 1934, the Soviet Union and France signed a protocol pledging to jointly revive the Eastern Locarno. At this time, the Soviet Union was not keen on concluding any military alliance with France. A Treat of Mutual Assistance was signed with France on 2 May 1935 to balance Hitler’s courtship of Poland. “Without a military convention, the agreement was at most a preliminary to an alliance rather than an alliance itself,” says Beloff. This agreement failed to fulfill the requirements of security that the Soviet Union needed. On 16 May 1935, a treat was concluded with Czechoslovakia which tried to mobilize two nations, France and Czechoslovakia, to check the expansionist ideas of Germany. Failure to implement this treaty when Hitler attacked Czechoslovakia after some time proved disastrous for Europe.

At the Seventh Congress of Comintern in 1935, George Dimitrov, who was previously critical of fascism and social democracy and classified them as ‘twin evils,’ established a ‘United Front’ of communist parties with reformist socialist and even non-socialist parties who were willing to fight fascism together. Fascism was singled out as being ‘extremely ferocious, chauvinistic, counter-revolutionary and the most vicious enemy of the working class.’ The original aim of this United Front or Popular Front was to ensure that they would not fall prey to fascism themselves and/or become allies of Hitler. So we can say that it aimed at ‘containing the spread of fascism, rather than destroying its focal points...’

The Soviet Union became a member of League of Nations thinking that such a prestigious organization would be able to put a brake on the imperialist designs of the aggressors by imposing sanctions on them. However, the League proved to be incapable of doing that one too many times. When a civil war broke out in Spain in 1936, no steps were taken by the League of Nations to punish the aggressors. The Soviet Union, in its eagerness to stop the activities of the fascists, sent officers and technicians to assist the Loyalists. However, the insurgents won the bitter civil war in Spain with the massive backing of Italy and Germany. But Soviet’s involvement intensified the distrust between the Soviet Union and Western democracies. The League could not control the expansionist designs of the imperialist countries. The political scenario was charged with suspicion and steps taken by the Soviet Union and Western power lacked mutual faith. The Western powers were convinced that the ultimate aim of communism was to destroy capitalism and establish communism. Hence, no possible steps were taken by western powers to control the spread of fascism in Manchuria, Italy, and Spain, which convinced the Soviet Union that they were not serious about curbing fascism. In June 1935, Britain consented to the German violation of the armament clauses of the Treaty of Versailles. Soviet was concerned about developments in the far east. The attempt to have the US play the role that France had assumed in Europe, i.e. of a formal ally discouraging the potential aggressor, had failed. It was absolutely clear that the United States would not safeguard the Soviet Union from any menacing threat of Japan. As a violation to the Locarno Treat of 1925, the German army entered Rhineland on 7 March 1936, which automatically granted Britain and France to resist militarization without taking permission from the League of Nations (Rhine Pact). This remilitarisation of Rhineland led to serious consequences for world peace, in addition to thwarting French ascendancy. This victorious move greatly enhanced Hitler’s power. The Soviet Union realized that France would like to cling to the alliance with it but for its own security, surreptitiously renewed its effort to negotiate a Rapallo-type treaty with Nazi Germany. Germany after the re-militarisation formed the Rome-Berlin axis in October 1936, which was followed by German Japanese Anti-Comintern Pact in November 1936, joined by Italy in 1937 and Spain in 1939. Exaggerated and high-sounding dangers of communism without any practical content filled this pact. Meanwhile, Japanese and Soviet Union’s troops kept fighting battles between 1938 and 39, and the situation grew tenser.

After annexing Austria and violating the Treaty of Versailles in March 1939, Hitler planned to attack Sudetenland (Czechoslovakian ethnically German land). The Munich Agreement was signed by France with Hitler and Mussolini and Czechoslovakia was asked to cede Sudetenland to Germany. The Soviet Union and victim nation Czechoslovakia were not invited to the negotiations of this pact. Moscow’s sense of isolation reached its peak after the signing of Munich Pact.

Soviet leaders abandoned any remaining illusions that they had about putting a check on the expansionist programs of Hitler by means of collective security, and decided to formulate change in their foreign policy. Brance Hooper maintains that the Munich Pact was the dividing line between the two phases of Soviet foreign policy. Western democratic powers could not be relied on anymore. Poland brushed aside Soviet’s offer in 1938 to establish cordial relations; so did Hungary and Romania. In January 1939, the Soviet Union made some overtures to Germany hoping to get some response, but it was disappointed.

Hitler took advantage of the policy of appeasement followed by Great Britain and France at Munich. He occupied the whole of Czechoslovakia, establishing the German protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and another one in Slovakia. This action not only destroyed the Munich pact but made it clear that Hitler was determined to expand his territories beyond the areas that were considered t be ethnically German. As his next act of aggression in Poland, Hitler not only demanded Danzig but also the right of extraterritorial German transit across the Polish ‘corridor’, which linked East Prussia to the rest of Germany. All attacks were in the East towards the Soviet border. When Germany turned its attention to Poland, Britain came in, threatening to go to war if Germany attacked Poland. This British unilateral guarantee to Poland ‘made possible the whole train of events’ leading to the Nazi-Soviet Pact of August 1939. This was a momentous development and provided security to the Soviet, much like the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (1918). If Hitler attacked Poland, Britain would release its wrath on him. Soviet here would have been an important support to both Britain and Poland. This yet again raised its condition from being a hopeless diplomat to the ‘arbiter of Europe’s fate’. Nazi-Soviet Pact & Hitler’s invasion

Stalin endeavored once again to come to some agreements with Western democracies. He demanded a free hand in the Baltic states and the right to send troops into Poland in the eventuality of an attack by Germany. Even while negotiating with Western powers, Stalin kept Russia’s doors open for Hitler, and with a renewed gusto, tried to come to an agreement with Hitler. Maxim Litvinov was replaced by Viacheslav Molotov, a high-ranking leader, as the former happened to be a Jew and therefore unsuited to deal with Hitler. While Britain and France continued to negotiate with the Soviet Union with a lack of urgency, entrusting the task to insignificant officers, Germany, who didn’t want to fight a war on two fronts, seized the opportunity. Britain and France were clear that the ideological differences between Nazis and Soviets would ensure that they never came together. However, Stalin and Hitler calculated their steps in terms of power politics. Stalin surely needed time to build his military strength and wanted to prevent any acts of aggression on his own territory. Even though both Western and fascist powers were enemies for him, he sought a rapprochement with them whenever it suited his nation. While an alliance with Britain and France would surely lead to war, an alliance with Germany seemed to promise postponement of war for some time.

A diplomatic bombshell exploded on 23 August 1939, as the USSR and Germany announced a Non-Aggression Pact. This pact included two exceptions from the usual non-aggression pacts. It made no provision for controlling the acts of aggression by either of the signatories or by a third party. It obligated its partner to stick to neutrality when the other engaged in aggression, something that proved very advantageous to Hitler, as it authorized him to attack Poland. He also conquered parts of western Europe, while the Soviet Union provided its naval bases and raw materials for him to do so. Stalin in a way became indispensable for Hitler. The second unusual provision of the pact was that it was to ‘enter into force as soon as it is signed.’

The Non-Aggression Pact provided the Soviet Union with two years of breathing space. Had it not been signed, the war would have broken out much earlier. The purges of 1936-38 had weakened the Soviet army, and the years between Non-Aggression Pact and World War II were utilized to re-strengthen the nation. Even while signing the pact, Stalin knew that war with Germany was unavoidable. The Nazi-Soviet Pact also had a soothing effect on the attitude of Japan and contributed to Soviet security in the far east.

A secret additional Protocol of September 28 consisted of three important clauses. It first provided the partition of Poland through the middle of the country. Eastern Poland was to be given to the Soviet Union while western part was to be given to Germany. Secondly, the Protocol envisaged a similar re-arrangement in the Baltic area. Russia was given a free hand in Estonia, Latvia, and Finland while Lithuania was assigned to the German sphere of influence. The third was the Russian interest in Rumania’s Bessarabia, a request heeded by Germany due to its own lack of interest in that area. Germany was more concerned with the immediate benefits that could be reaped from this pact.

Two days after Hitler fortified the Non-Aggression Pact and invaded Poland (September 1, 1939), Britain and France declared war on Germany. World War II was now a reality. The Soviet Union’s troops rolled into Poland on September 17 with a fear that its national security would be endangered if it did not participate in the war. Polish troops were ruthlessly suppressed. ON September 28, the two aggressors formally portioned the country and this is known as the fourth partition of Poland. A greater part of Lithuania was transferred to the Soviet Union, which was a tremendous gain.

The partition of Poland made quite an impact on the communist parties abroad. The communist parties had, before the partition, supported the policy of resisting the aggressive activities of the Nazis, but after the partition on November 7, they condemned both Germany and the Allies for indulging in a struggle for world domination. The Soviet Union, skeptical about further cooperation, in September and October of 1939 signed several mutual assistance pacts with Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three states consented to have Soviet troops stationed in their areas.

Finland being its next target, Soviet Union demanded it to move its boundaries some twenty miles further away from Leningrad in exchange for a strip of Karelia. When negotiations failed, Soviet troops attacked Finland and were outmaneuvered by its tiny army (November 29). The Soviet Union was expelled out of the League of Nations. Finns sued for peace in March 1940. By the treaty concluded with Finland, they ceded to the Soviet Union the Karelian isthmus with multiple towns and territories. Transit rights to Sweden were also granted. Treaties of mutual obligation of non-aggression were also signed. Although Stalin got a lot of concessions from Finland, he realized that his armed forces were ill-equipped to wage a war with the major powers of the world, and so he began a massive effort to re-organize the . Germany continued to go on and win the territories of Denmark, Norway, France in summer of 1940. As a response, the Soviet Union extended its frontiers westward to prevent the border states. Hitler accepted this strategy but also took steps to consolidate its influence in Romania. After the Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia came under the Soviet Union, it deported over 130,000 opponents of the regime without the compliance of legal procedures. These measures taken by the Soviet Union to build its strength did not do well with Germany. Hitler became convinced that Russia would have to be subjugated if his conquest of Europe was to be safeguarded. Germans took steps to woo Romania and inland. The Germans tried to lull Soviet suspicions by inviting Molotov to Berlin for discussions. After Germany conquered Yugoslavia, in April 1941, with the assistance of Hungarian and Bulgarian forces, Stalin left no unturned to appease Hitler, hoping that he could postpone the outbreak of war by pursuing a policy of appeasement. He was proved wrong when on June 22, 1941, the Nazi German army launched a full-scale attack on Soviet Russia.

Barbarossa: The German plan to launch an attack on the Soviet Union, Barbarossa, was launched on June 22, 1941, with a threefold thrust.

1. The first objective was to isolate Russia from the Baltic Sea by quickly annexing Leningrad.

2. The second objective was to gain control over Moscow whereby the converging Russian transport system would be disrupted.

3. The third objective was to seize the coal and food producing regions of the south like Ukraine and the Caucasus, which would starve the Russians of fuel and food. Hitler’s attack was devastating and caught the Soviet Union off guard. Germans marched in all directions- in the north towards Leningrad, in the center to Moscow, and in the south to Kiev. The Soviet army was smashed and soldiers were taken prisoners in many places. Stalin left the city when German armies reached within 60 miles of Moscow. Late in November, the Red Army started a counteroffensive. The Germans lost control. Luckily for the Russians, winter came early that year, compelling the Germans to restrict their activities largely to the south. The Germans were unable to occupy Stalingrad in 1942. Some were captured and many Nazis started to retreat. Russian victory could not be halted.

1944 was an auspicious year for the Soviet Union. The long expected second front opened in June. In September, Finland, Romania, and Bulgaria surrendered. Germans withdrew. Berlin fell on May 2. Moscow faced no threat from Japan. After the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan surrendered on August 14, 1945. Aftermath of the invasion & the victory of World War II

Soviet emerged victorious from the conflict of World War II, with its status being elevated to that of ‘a great world power’. The ambitions of Germany in the west and the ambitions of Japan in the east had been crushed, and both countries had been compelled to surrender. Italy and France had collapsed earlier, and Britain, a major rival of the Soviet Union had been weakened considerably. The Russian victory of World War II had a positive impact on the communist movements in the world as well.

Despite the gains mentioned above, it is an undeniable fact that the nation suffered an immense loss. Some scholars even say that Russia lost forty percent more than Britain or the United States. An approximated 20 million people died in the war. The loss of manpower was staggering. The birth rate fell drastically. Huge lands were destroyed by both parties, and hence there was tons of material destruction. The Nazis destroyed everything while on their way out of the empire. Agricultural development of the country was massively affected by the loss of roughly ninety-eight thousand Kolkhozes. Modes of transport weren’t spared either.

The Soviet Government established The Extraordinary Commission to survey the damage caused by World War II. According to the same, the wartime losses and damage can be estimated to a rough equivalent of 67.9 billion (new) roubles (in 1941 prices). A rough estimate of the money spent directly on the war-air defense, evacuation of plant and equipment from European Russia- and the loss of national income during the war, amounts to 116.1 billion roubles. According to James Miller and Susan Linz, World War II cost the nation two Five Year Plans.

When we talk about the awareness of German invasion before the attack in 1941, we notice that Stalin was oblivious to it, stating that “it could not happen here”. Stalin didn’t want to be the first one to attack, even a few hours before the invasion. Alexander Worth says that Stalin probably suffered from a nervous collapse when the myth of his shattered. Stalin abandoned the nation and went into hiding. In his absence, his generals and subordinates tried to retrieve the situation as much as possible. The ordinary people were left to their fate many of whom were unsatisfied with the communist policies. Collectivisation was resented by the peasants, nationalization was disliked by industry owners, private entrepreneurs felt cheated, the religious felt that they had been deprived of their faith, and terrible purges had virtually shaken every section of the society. It was a general belief among the people that they would be saved by the ‘cultured’ Germans. Plenty of Russian women even welcomed the German soldiers with bread, milk, and butter, according to General Guderian. Soviet was unprepared when the heavily prepared army of Germany attacked, which resulted in massive losses for the former. However, Stalin soon chalked out a strategy that was in consonance with the interests of his country. He broadcast his view to the people, addressing them as ‘comrades’, ‘citizens’, ‘brothers and sisters’ and ‘my friends’. The use of these words was deliberate, and it was obvious that Stalin was trying to gain their solidarity. He boosted the morale of the people, reminding them of the role played by the Red Army during the Civil War and foreign intervention but also by venturing further into the past. He reminded them of great Russian heroes. The films, art, and music of the period endeavored to inculcate a feeling of patriotism, an effort common in several nations, and hence leading to World War II being termed as ‘The Great Patriotic War.” The Soviet soldiers’ battle cry was. ‘For the motherland! For Stalin!”

Stalin established proper coordination b/w the civilian and the military spheres of the government. The State Defence Committee consisting of five to eight members was made the supreme war-directing body. The army was strengthened by every measure possible. Their morale was kept high, and they were smartened up internally, by promoting young officers and dismissing old officers, and externally, by introducing new uniforms and braid. The government also realized that it needed to win over the goodwill and cooperation for the church, which would help them target people’s deep religious faith. The chief atheist newspaper was also banned. The state, the party and the armed forces worked out strategies to mobilize the nation’s resources to the maximum. The various steps taken by the government to safeguard the interests of the Soviet Union proved rewarding. By 1945-according to Dobb and Nove, more than half the metallurgical output of the Soviet Union was produced in the Urals whereas five years earlier it was only one fifth. Steel production doubled from that of 1940. The superiority in firepower of the German of 1941 was surpassed in 1943.

Assistance provided to the Soviet Union by Western countries like the US, UK, and Canada proved to be significant as well. The US was bound to give Soviet Union goods worth a billion dollars by the Moscow Protocol of 1941. This agreement was superseded by the master lend- lease agreement of June 1942 whereby the US was required to give goods worth 11 billion dollars to the Soviet Union. Britain and Canada also promised to provide substantiate quantities of goods. The help received from foreign countries in the form of machine tools, locomotives, metals and other items assisted in solving problems of road transport and communication.

During World War II, the plight of the people was deplorable. There was an extreme dearth of food, housing was overcrowded, clothing unobtainable, footwear unavailable and rations inadequate. But the government handled the situation very carefully and appealed to their patriotism. The wartime slogan was, ‘Everything for the front’ and the people bore their hardships to save their country from a deadly enemy. Steps were also taken to boost agriculture.

While the Soviet Union took several steps to face the Germans, the Nazis were unable to harness to their advantage the discontent of the people of the Soviet Union against communist rule. The Nazis were captives of their racist ideology. Germany made psychological and strategic errors in handling the Russians. By delaying the onset of the attack on Russia just long enough to permit the Russian winter to intervene decisively. In June 1944, the Western Allies opened a second front in France. The German armed forces were defeated and the Soviet Union won the war. Diplomacy during the years of war

The period b/w 1941-1945 also saw the development of wartime diplomacy. After the German invasion of 1941, Stalin looked for allies from whom he could procure military and economic help and persuaded his allies to recognize the right of the Soviet Union over all the annexations made by it after signing the Non-Aggression Pact, and the Secret Protocol that accompanied it. This established close relations b/w United States and Britain.

From the several high-level conferences held b/w the allies during the war, three were most significant at Tehran in December 1943, at Yalta in February 1945, and at Potsdam in July and August 1945. After the Soviet Union’s troops had succeeded in halting the Germans at Moscow and were in a triumphant mood, Moscow wanted the Allies to launch an attack on Germany from the west through France. The time for negotiations was appropriate for the Soviet Union as Stalin had dissolved the Comintern only a few months earlier, which was a symbol of the international communist movement and an irritant to the West.

Several issues were discussed at Tehran, including the establishment of a new international organization for promoting world peace, the future of Germany, and the possibility of portioning Germany, the Soviet Union’s interest in Manchuria, and the possible participation of Soviet Union in the Far Eastern war, and more. Stalin took advantage of the victories that the Soviet Union had won and the tremendous losses it had suffered, and bargained well. He displayed tremendous grit in outwitting the Allies on issues that were considered crucial by him

Stalin drew up a specific plan to meet the German threat, which was kept secret until 1946. According to this plan, the opening of the second front in the spring of 1944 at Normandy was to be accompanied by a severe and incessant attack by the Soviet Union on Germany that would disable her and prevent her from sending her forces from the eastern front to the western front. The Soviet Union kept compelling the Allies to open the second front, and assured that it would participate in the war against Japan if Germany was defeated. This declaration immensely pleased the US.

The second important conference, held at Yalta, had Winston Churchill, Franklin Roosevelt, and Stalin assemble and discuss their cross-border attack on Berlin. The conference was also expected to define the western frontier of Poland, as it was under the Soviet Union at that time. All three powers agreed to Curzon line being accepted. They also agreed that the final assault on Germany should be planned very skilfully. The USSR, US and Britain were to determine the steps to be taken for future peace and security, including ‘the complete disarmament, demilitarization, and dismemberment of Germany.’ An Allied Control Council was to serve as the top coordinating and policy organ of the occupying powers after the war came to an end and regular meetings of the foreign ministers of the Allies were to be held in future.

Germany was to be divided into three zones of occupation-the American, the British and the Soviet. A fourth zone was later allocated to France (out of American and British zones).Berlin, which was located deep inside Some accord was also achieved on the proposed organization of the United Nations. Subsequently, a secret protocol was drafter that bound the USSR to go to war against Japan within 90 days of victory. Russia was keep to go on a war but put up some of its conditions- preservation of the status quo in outer Mongolia, the return of southern Sakhalin, the internationalisation of the port of Dairen, the annexation of Kurlie islands, and the restoration of former Russian rights in Manchuria, the right to lease Port Arthur and the joint Soviet- Chinese operation of the Chinese Eastern and South Manchurian railways railways. Since the war against Japan was easily won, the Yalta deal turned out to be a great bargain for the Soviet Union.

The third and most important Potsdam Conference took place after Germany surrendered unconditionally and World War II ended. US, Britain, France and the Soviet Union were in control of Germany. In order to resolve the various problems that confronted the world, the representatives of the three great powers met at Potsdam (near Berlin) with a few others. The aim was to establish peace, restore normalcy, re-develop the areas devastated by war and defeat Japan. Besides they had to determine what sort of treatment was to be accorded to Germany. It was necessary for world peace that the wartime alliance of the Allies could be retained but unfortunate differences that cropped up b/w them after the war resulted in different circumstances.

At Potsdam, it was decided that Germany would not be dismembered and was to be treated as a ‘single economic unit’. The supreme authority was given to military commanders-in-chief of the four countries. The developments that took place in the first part of 1945 made the European powers cautious of the Soviet Union, and they were skeptical about honoring the commitments made at the Yalta conference. In Bulgaria, Romania, and Yugoslavia, non-Communist partners in the coalition governments were either being removed or compelled to complete subservience. The Soviet Union looted the industrial equipment of the countries of Eastern Europe and transferred it to its own territory, while concluding unequal treaties and utilizing state monopolies.

At the Potsdam Conference, Austria like Germany was also divided into four zones of occupation. The German assets in the Soviet Union’s zone of occupation were to be transferred to the Soviet Union and it fully exploited this situation to further its interests. Austria was not required to give compensation from other three zones of occupation. With regard to Poland, serious differences remained b/w the Soviet Union and other Great Power. The new Polish government failed to come up to the expectations of Western Great Powers. There were no free elections, and Soviet security police continued its prejudiced activities- arresting and sending to trial the non-Communist Polishmen who had fought against the Nazis in World War II. The terms on which Japan was supposed to surrender were also discussed at the Potsdam conference. The armed forces of the allies were to establish their hold over Japan and liquidate the military elements of that country. Steps were then to be undertaken for total disarmament of Japan and the establishment of a democratic government. Refusing to accept these terms initially, Japan had to surrender after the allies retaliated by throwing atom bombs at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It was quite evident at Potsdam that the Soviet Union wanted to dominate the Eastern Mediterranean. Antagonistic policies & the beginning of Cold War

Although various agreements were reached at the Potsdam conference, there were sufficient indications to show that the wartime collaboration of the three Great Powers would not last long, which eventually resulted in the division of the world into two hostile camps. The Communist bloc was headed by the Soviet Union, and the anti- Communist bloc was headed by the US, leading to the Cold War.

Described by Kort as a ‘shotgun marriage of unlikely partners, born of Nazi aggression,’ the coalition of the anti-Axis powers began to break within a short time. For nearly two decades following World War II, American historians held USSR responsible for the Cold War, but the broke down the common consensus and people started blaming America’s aggressive policies. It is stated by historians that the bomb was dropped in Japan, not to win the war, but to frighten the Soviet Union and that the steps taken by Stalin’s government to strengthen itself were a response to America’s imperialist design. However, they failed to draw a convincing theory of the origin of Cold War.

Both US and USSR took steps to safeguard themselves. While US formed the Truman Doctrine, Marshalll Plan, and the NATO, Russia responded by establishing Cominform and Comecon. Incidents like the Berlin blockade, the expulsion of Tito from Cominform, the proclamation of the Chinese People’s Republic, and the added fuel to the fire. It is often termed as ‘war of nerves’.

Ideologies of both the blocs were very different from each other. The Soviet leaders reared in the Marxist tradition believed that capitalism and socialism could not coexist. The capitalist west was thus an enemy to the Soviet Union, which believed that socialism would triumph. Stalin, in a speech in February 1946, accused the US of following an expansionist course aimed at establishing world supremacy of American imperialism. The US, in turn, accused the Soviet Union of following an expansionist course. The Soviet concept of democracy involved unopposed rule by the Communist party while the Western belief was that democracy involved majority rule curbed by minority opposition. The Western leaders felt that an ‘iron curtain’ had descended across the continent and to meet its threat Anglo-American ties should be made strong.

Soviet Union’s extension of its sphere of influence towards the center of Europe offended the Western powers and created a clash of interests. Communist regimes dominated by the Soviet Union were established in Poland, DDR (Soviet Zone of Germany), Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Rumania, Bulgaria, Albania and Yugoslavia (in the Soviet bloc until 1948). Soviet Union acquired large chunks of land from these areas. It’s annexation of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania gave it control of the Eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Thus, for the first time in European history, one great power dominated the entire area which extended from the Baltic to the Black Sea. This expansion was an irritant for other anti-Axis powers.

Certain other developments also accelerated tension. The Soviet Union desired that the armed forces of US should be immediately withdrawn from Europe. The US refused and expressed unhappiness against the violation of Yalta Agreement. America’s possession of the atom bomb unnerved USSR. Developments in the United Nations also antagonized the Soviet Union and its rivals. The US adopted three different approaches in the post-war period to deal with Stalin and Soviet Union’s development. The first, pursued from 1945-47, was the policy of cooperation and accommodation. The second was the policy of containment. Economic aids and military pacts were encouraged to check the expansionist designs of Soviet Union. The third was the period of open conflict which lasted from 1950-1953. The relationship b/w Soviet Union and the Allies broke down quickly. When in the first phase, no checks were placed on the expansionist designs of Soviet Union, the policy had to be changed. Russia’s effort to capture the lads of Greece, Turkey, Persia, made the US feel that it was being taken advantage of. Consequently, it launched a comprehensive two-pronged package consisting on the one hand of economic aid (as reflected in the Truman Doctrine) and the Marshall Plan on the other hand of mutual military pacts as was the case in the establishment of NATO.

Communist movement was gaining weight in Greece, Turkey, and Persia. The US realized that it needed to exercise command over developments in the eastern Mediterranean to reduce Russia’s level of influence. One step of that was the economic aid of 250 million dollars offered by US President Truman to Germany. Turkey was also assured aid of 150 million dollars. This aid proved to be effective and the influence of communism was checked in these areas by the year 1950. The Truman Doctrine brought to a halt the policy of cooperation and accommodation which was being pursued by the Allies and thrashed any view of US being a mere spectator.

The US declared through Truman Doctrine that it would safeguard the interests of those nations whose freedom was directly or indirectly endangered by the aggressive designs of other nations. However, experts formulate it as being a method to exercise control over oil reserves of the Middle East.

Marshall Plan, an enlargement of the Truman Doctrine, was the next step taken by the US. It planned to provide economic aid to those nations which had been devastated by the war. In order to restrict Communism, it was important to speed up the implementation of the Marshall Plan. Welcomed by the western countries, many of them (including England, France, Belgium, Denmark, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Norway and more) met in Paris in July 1947 to work out the details. Soviet Union refused to participate in the deliberations and discouraged its satellites and other countries of Europe from joining them due to several considerations, and a fear that this plan would make the US more powerful. It was also feared that when American goods would penetrate in the countries surrounding the USSR, it would be difficult for the Soviet Union to trade with them on its terms. Stalin’s paramount consideration was to sovietize Eastern Europe and integrate it into a Soviet-controlled economic and political system but the Marshall Plan would lead to ties with the West, strengthening the pro- Western elements. Interestingly, Soviet Union did not want to restore the economic conditions of Europe very quickly as it believed that an unstable Europe would embrace Communism more easily.

The Soviet Union intensified its criticism of the Marshall Plan and on September 18, 1947, spoke up in the United Nations about how it was an attempt to split Europe into two camps. The Soviet Union refused to participate in the Marshall Plan, and this negative response proved helpful for the Western powers. These developments led to the formation of Cominform (Communist Information Bureau) at a special conference of nine communist parties in Silesia in September 1947. The nine communist parties were from Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, France, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Romania, Yugoslavia, and USSR. The communist strategy changed significantly post World War II, although the basic assumptions of capitalist menace and the irreconcilable antagonism b/w the capitalist and socialist systems were reiterated. Russian delegates in their post-war statements asserted that the world had been divided into two major camps, the imperialist and anti-democratic camp on one hand, and anti-imperialist and democratic camp on the other hand. They called for concerted and active opposition by all communist parties to the Marshall plan.

The Cominform performed many other tasks apart from mobilizing communist parties against the Marshall Plan. It became an instrument for monolithic control over European communist parties, and helped in crystallizing opposition to Western policy.

The Council for Mutual Economic Aid ( COMECON) was established in July 1949 to counter the various strategies like the Marshall Plan which were adopted by the US to restrict the expansion of power of the Soviet Union. It was hoped that this organisation would ensure economic integration of countries under its influence, making the Soviet Union secure and stable. However, Stalin soon realized that Soviet Union’s satellites could be exploited and there was no need to make the Comecon an effective body, having it be more or less a moribund organization. The Berlin Blockade The Berlin Blockade was an attempt in 1948 by the Soviet Union to limit the ability of France, Great Britain, and the United States to travel to their sectors of Berlin, which lay within Russian-occupied East Germany. Eventually, the western powers instituted an airlift that lasted nearly a year and delivered much-needed supplies and relief to West Berlin. Coming just three years after the end of World War II, the blockade was the first major clash of the Cold War and foreshadowed future conflict over the city of Berlin. In late 1947, discussions on Germany broke down over Soviet charges that the Allies were violating the Potsdam Agreement, and on March 20, 1948, the Soviets withdrew from the Allied Control Council administering Berlin. Ten days later, guards on the East German border began slowing the entry of Western troop trains bound for Berlin. On June 7, the Western powers announced their intention to proceed with the creation of West Germany. On June 24, arguing that if Germany was to be partitioned, Berlin could no longer be the single German capital, the Soviets stopped all surface travel between West Germany and Berlin. the Truman administration was convinced that losing Berlin would mean losing all of Germany. After a military challenge was considered and rejected, the Berlin airlift was initiated. Over the next 321 days, Western fliers made 272,000 flights into West Berlin, delivering thousands of tons of supplies every day. The effort gained wide public sympathy, and on May 12, 1949, the Soviets, concluding that the blockade had failed, reopened the borders. East and West Germany were established as separate republics later that month.

The problem of Yugoslavia & the Stalin-Tito split

Differences with Yugoslavia took a very serious turn and resulted in the expulsion of that country from Comintern. Under the leadership of Tito, Yugos became the second greatest socialist nation to not take any help from the Soviet Union. Yugoslavs resisted Sovietisation, and did not want to become a colony of Soviet Union. For USSR, Tito was going against the very essence of socialism – priority to the fatherland. No special privileges were given to Soviet guests. Yugoslavia’s armed

David Low’s illustrations on the Berlin blockade

Low’s illustration on Stalin’s response to NATO forces and Communist party were a force to be reckoned with. Stalin believed that since the socialist revolution had succeeded first in the Soviet Union, it alone had the right to interpret the various connotations of Marxism-Leninism. The Cominform while expelling the Yugoslav Communist Party on June 28, 1948, alleged that it had deviated from the ‘united socialist front against imperialism’ and had taken up positions which were in consonance with nationalism, and not socialism. The people of Yugoslavia did not believe that all ‘good’ communists should first be loyal to the Soviet Union. Tito continued in power despite the expulsion and was greatly supported by the west and his own people. The US gave him economic and financial aid. The Soviet Union initiated purges in several countries to remove suspected ‘Titos’ and was able to contain the negative impact of Titiosm.

Formation of NATO

In 1949, the prospect of further Communist expansion prompted the United States and 11 other Western nations to form the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). This, along with Warsaw Pact of 1955 proposed by Russia, provided the framework for the military standoff that continued throughout the Cold War (1945-91). The west was under pressure after the events of Berlin blockade and Russia’s continuing expansion over Europe. U.S. leaders agreed to join discussions aimed at forming a joint security agreement with their European allies. The Western leaders met for discussion which concluded on April 4, 1949, when the foreign ministers of 12 countries in North America and Western Europe gathered in Washington, D.C., to sign the North Atlantic Treaty. It was primarily a security pact, with Article 5 stating that a military attack against any of the signatories would be considered an attack against them all. The original membership of the NATO consisted of Belgium, Britain, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal and the United States. NATO formed the backbone of the West’s military bulwark against the USSR and its allies for the next 40 years, with its membership growing larger over the course of the Cold War era.

Relationship b/w Russia & China

In October 1949 the Chinese Communist Party claimed victory and formed the People’s Republic of China. Socialist regimes now held power across one-fifth of the globe. Maintaining a friendly and productive relationship between Moscow and Beijing was crucial for the advancement of global socialism. In late 1949 Mao traveled to Moscow to meet Joseph Stalin for the first time. Recognising the need for unity at a time of growing opposition to socialism, Stalin and Mao signed a bilateral treaty called the Treaty of Friendship, Alliance, and Mutual Assistance. Among its terms was a military alliance: if either China or the Soviet Union was attacked, the other would come to their assistance. More important to China were the treaty’s economic benefits, including a $300 million Soviet loan and the provision of Russian technical advisors. During the 1950s thousands of scientific, industrial and technical experts from Soviet Russia lived and worked in China. Their advice and leadership played an important role in the growth of heavy industry there. Drawing on the advice of Soviet economic strategists, Beijing committed itself to Stalinist models of development – including funding industrial growth with surpluses produced by collectivized agriculture.

Crisis in Korea & the period of Open Conflict

Armed forces from communist North Korea smash into South Korea, setting off the Korean War. The United States, acting under the auspices of the United Nations, quickly sprang to the defense of South Korea and fought a bloody and frustrating war for the next three years.

Korea, a former Japanese possession, had been divided into zones of occupation following World War II. U.S. forces accepted the surrender of Japanese forces in southern Korea, while Soviet forces did the same in northern Korea. Like in Germany, however, the “temporary” division soon became permanent. The Soviets assisted in the establishment of a communist regime in North Korea, while the United States became the main source of financial and military support for South Korea.

On June 25, 1950, North Korean forces surprised the South Korean army (and the small U.S. force stationed in the country), and quickly headed toward the capital city of Seoul. The United States responded by pushing a resolution through the U.N.’s Security Council calling for military assistance to South Korea. (Russia was not present to veto the action as it was boycotting the Security Council at the time.) With this resolution in hand, President Harry S. Truman rapidly dispatched U.S. land, air, and sea forces to Korea to engage in what he termed a “police action.” The American intervention turned the tide, and U.S. and South Korean forces marched into North Korea. This action, however, prompted the massive intervention of communist Chinese forces in late 1950. The war in Korea subsequently bogged down into a bloody stalemate. In 1953, the United States and North Korea signed a cease- fire that ended the conflict. The cease-fire agreement also resulted in the continued division of North and South Korea at just about the same geographical point as before the conflict.

The Korean War was the first “hot” war of the Cold War. The period b/w 1950-53 is known as the period of open conflict for the same reason. Over 55,000 American troops were killed in the conflict. Korea was the first “limited war,” one in which the U.S. aim was not the complete and total defeat of the enemy, but rather the “limited” goal of protecting South Korea. For the U.S. government, such an approach was the only rational option in order to avoid a third world war and to keep from stretching finite American resources too thinly around the globe. It proved to be a frustrating experience for the American people, who were used to the kind of total victory that had been achieved in World War II. The public found the concept of limited war difficult to understand or support and the Korean War never really gained popular support.

Conclusion

By the end of the Stalin era in the early 1950s, the irreconcilable antagonism b/w Soviet Union and the West led to the institutionalization of the Cold War and the hardening of the world into two hostile blocs. World peace was being threatened by Stalin’s policy of imperial expansion. At the time of Stalin’s demise, Soviet Union occupied a huge land mass consisting of Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Poland, and Romania. The West was outraged by the extension of Soviet Union’s influence in Eastern Europe and other parts of the world, while the Soviet Union itself felt that it had achieved only the bare minimum level of political stability. It is rightly observed that Soviet Union’s ambition of empire building was unable to bring about satisfactory results. However, Stalin was a fierce leader and always retraced his steps when he was on the brink of war. He thoroughly understood the situation, and initiated policies that were best for the Soviet Union.