The beginning of the Cold War 1945 – 48
Confrontation in Europe
Perhaps the most dramatic result of World War II was the sudden confrontation in Europe between Russia and the United States. Previously, continental countries had always resisted Russia’s attempts to break into Europe, while the United States had chosen to avoid entanglements there whenever possible. But as the U.S.S.R. was now occupying a great deal of the Continent – and bent on increasing her power there – only the United States would be strong enough to offer resistance. At fist, the United States was unwilling to adopt such a role. Roosevelt had already tried to settle Europe’s affairs when he met Stalin and Churchill at the Yalta Conference in February 1945. Here the leaders had broadly agreed to restore Hitler’s conquests to their rightful owners and to divide Germany up into four occupation zones. But Roosevelt had died shortly after this and his Vice-President, Harry Truman, succeeded him. In Britain, Churchill lost the 1945 General Election and Clement Attlee became Prime Minister.
Potsdam
In July these two new Western leaders met Stalin at the Potsdam Conference and they soon realized that Stalin was unwilling to keep his earlier promises. For now the Russian dictator suggested “temporary” changes (they were still in force in 1980) in the frontiers of Eastern Europe. Reluctantly the west accepted his proposals – which enabled Stalin to work for the installation of communist governments in every country occupied by the Red Army. Stalin was also anxious that the French and Italian communist parties should take control of their own governments – but his hopes were dashed. Stalin even tried to break through to the Mediterranean, but here the British kept him at bay by supporting the Greek and Turkish governments who controlled the exit from the Black Sea. While British money flowed into Turkey, British troops fought communist guerrillas in Greece.
The Truman Doctrine
By 1947, the strain on the British economy was too great and Attlee told Truman told that British troops would have to pull out of Greece. Truman saw the implications of such a move – the Russians would step in. Accordingly, he announced in March 1947 his famous “Truman doctrine”:
I believe that it must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjection by armed minorities or by outside pressures.
In practical terms the Truman doctrine meant that America would tolerate Russian communism within its 1947 limits (The Principle of Coexistence) but would resist any extension of communist power (The Principle of Containment); and that America would help any nation with dollars and supplies if that country asked for help.
Cold war begins
Within a year the U.S.A. had to stand by these promises. Under the 1947 Marshall Plan – originally intended to give aid to communist as well as non-communist countries – millions of dollars poured into the needy areas. But the Russians would allow none of it to enter their satellite states. Then in 1948 communists seized control of Czechoslovakia with alarming ease and with the consent of the Czech government. The United States stood by helplessly. But when in 1948 there was a Russian threat to West Berlin, the Americans won a signal victory in the famous Berlin Airlift. Thus by 1948 the wartime alliance had disintegrated. Politically the atmosphere was distinctly chilly in the divided world, a world, people said, in the midst of a “Cold War”. Did this mean another World War? In an attempt to counterbalance Soviet bloc power, Canada and fourteen other countries signed the North Atlantic Treaty at Washington, D.C., on 4 April 1949, giving rise to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (N.A.T.O.). The organization was sparked by suggestion of Louis St. Laurent, who at the time was Canada’s Minister of External Affairs. Many people felt that the answer to this depended on how the superpowers made use of a new instrument of international control – the United Nations Organization. The Cold War began for Canada in 1945 when Igor Gouzenko, a Soviet cipher clerk posted to the Soviet Embassy in Ottawa, defected, taking from the embassy 109 selected documents conclusively establishing the presence of a Soviet spy ring in North America.