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The Cold War in global context, 1945-1991 - Early superpower tensions

Q: What did Truman say in 1947 as response to England's request to help Greece? Of what was this a beginning?

In his speech, the president stated that 'it must be the policy of the United States to support free people who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures.' This speech served as an example for the Truman doctrine.

14 important questions on The Cold War in global context, 1945-1991 - Early superpower tensions

What became the dominant feature after 1945?

The bitter and costly geopolitical conflict between the US and the USSR known as the Cold War became the dominant feature of international relations for almost 45 years.

What did Thucydides say about war?

Thucydides, the ancient Greek historian, had cautioned that wartime alliances, such as the one that united the Greek city-states against the Persian threat, were inherently unstable, the product of mutual fear of a common enemy.

Why was it at first surprising that the Soviets turned against US?

The US had supplied the Soviets with abundant arms and supplies after 1941, and Stalin had disbanded the Comintern, the organization founded by Lenin to promote world revolution.
Both US and Soviet leaders agreed on the need for reconstruction, and both states firmly opposed European imperialism.

What did the Labour government commit to in Britain?

In Britain, a new Labour government committed to the establishment of a wide-ranging socialist economic program replaced a respected wartime coalition headed by the Conservative prime minister, Winston Churchill.

Who organized the UN? What was hoped with the establishment of the UN?

At the newly organized UN, the 11-member Security Council was designed around the principle of establishing global consensus. Britain, France, China, the US, and the USSR held permanent seats on the Council, where all important decisions required an unanimous vote.
Here, it was hoped, old-style power politics would be superseded by healthy debate and pragmatic consensus building. Thus the ideologicial divide separating East and West, the historic tension between communist and capitalist systems, appeared somewhat permeable in the immediate aftermath of the terrible conflict.

What was Stalin's deep suspicion?

First and foremost was Stalin's deep suspicion that the opening of a Western front against Germany had been delayed repeatedly by the British and Americans until June 1944 in order to undermine Soviet human and material resources.

What was the Churchill-Roosevelt position on invading Western Europe, that caused Stalin's suspicion?

At a meeting in Tehran, Iran, in November 1943, after Churchill proposed yet another southern strategy - this time an attack on the Balkans - did Stalin receive assurances from Roosevelt and the British prime minister that the planned offensive would be centered on France.
By this date the Red Army had already begun the process of dislodging the Germans from Soviet territory.

How did Stalin relate to Marx?

Stalin's dictatorship was a brutal caricature of Marx's vision of the final stage of human history, and there was no denying that the Soviet command economy, the collectivized farms, the forced labor camps, and the stultifying bureaucracy together constituted a problematic path to the alleged goal of human equality.

Why was a Marxist alternative necessary for Stalin?

For Stalin, the hostility of the capitalist West toward all newly formed communist states demonstrated that a strong defensive posture was crucial if the Marxist alternative were to survive.
The rhetoric of working-class solidarity, however hopelessly miscast in predominantly agricultural societies such as Russia and China, was put forward as a bold alternative to the ruthless class warfare characteristic of all capitalist societies.
Stalin argued that the heavy hand of the state was necessary in nascent communist states so long as the forces of international capitalism stood united in their opposition to the dream of a classless society.

What did Truman say in 1947 as response to England's request to help Greece? Of what was this a beginning?

In his speech, the president stated that "it must be the policy of the United States to support free people who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures."
This speech served as an example for the Truman doctrine.

When did the Soviets reverse their policy to close off roads in Berlin?

The Soviets finally reversed their policy, but not before the Western powers decided to unify their three zones in West Germany into a new state: the German Federal Republic.

How did the Soviets respond to the unification into the Federal Republic?

The Soviets responded in October 1949 with the formation (without elections) of the German Democratic Republic, inaugurating what would become a nearly four-decade division of the country into capitalist and communist components.

What does the NATO mean? Who are involved in it?

In April 1949, the US joined in a regional defense pact with Canada, Iceland, France, Britain, Italy, Portugal, Norway, Denmark, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands.
At the heart of this new security alliance, called the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), was a commitment by each signatory to come to the defense of any member state should it be attacked.

What did John Foster Dulles do?

John Foster Dulles built American defense strategy around the doctrine of "massive retaliation" during the early 1950s.
Under this dangerous strategy, the threat of nuclear attack would neutralize Soviet conventional strength on the European continent while saving American taxpayers the cost of maintaining expensive ground forces overseas.

The question on the page originate from the summary of the following study material:

A Concise History of the World Since 1945 | 9781352010206 | W M Spellman

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