https://padlet.com/samantha_wong/adzkid65useb From Williamson's 'The Cold War: Superpower tensions and rivalries' en-us 2017-08-02 01:47:56 UTC 2023-03-21 00:58:09 UTC hello@padlet.com samantha_wong https://padlet.com/samantha_wong/adzkid65useb/wish/179907582 Both USA and USSR were "unconquerable" because USA had possession of nuclear weapons, while USSR had a large military, hence were both too strong to be overcome by the other. Both states were in "a permanent state of cold war" as they were constantly in conflict, due to their diametrically opposed ideologies.

Not from text, but the sheer size of these two countries was also a factor in the 'unconquerable' thing
+ consider each countries' global position]]> 2017-08-02 01:49:03 UTC https://padlet.com/samantha_wong/adzkid65useb/wish/179907582 samantha_wong https://padlet.com/samantha_wong/adzkid65useb/wish/179907669
USSR's ideology followed Karl Marx's and Vladimir Lenin's teachings (known as Marxism-Leninism) which made USSR an authoritarian, communist state where the state was in charge of all aspects of the economy; there were no democratic elections and freedom of speech was limited. For  Marxist-Leninists, democracy meant economic equality where there were no extremes between wealthy capitalists, poor workers and peasants. Marxism-Leninism was also bitterly opposed to religion. They believed that capitalism is a temporary phase, and that it and the bourgeoisie in an industrial society would inevitably be overthrown by the workers or 'proletariat' in a socialist revolution. 

Contrastingly, democracy is USA's governing ideology where they used the capitalist economic system, which is run by people who wish to make a profit, rather than economic dictatorship. USA also had a liberal or parliamentary governments, that values the right of the individual, equality before law and representative governments.

The west deeply mistrust communism as a political system, particularly its lack of democracy, while USSR dismissed democracy as a mere camouflage for capitalism and its politicians as puppets. 

Notes"
Lays the foundation for miscommunication, conflicting definitions of 'democracy', further escalated tensions due to the lack of communication]]> 2017-08-02 01:50:01 UTC https://padlet.com/samantha_wong/adzkid65useb/wish/179907669 samantha_wong https://padlet.com/samantha_wong/adzkid65useb/wish/179907688 The nature of the cold war was mainly determined by the clash of Capitalism( USA) and Communism( USSR) as both countries believed that it was impossible for these ideologies to co-exist + belief that other ideology had to be contained/eradicated

"fueled on both sides by the belief that the ideology of the other side had to be destroyed" - John W. Mason]]> 2017-08-02 01:50:15 UTC https://padlet.com/samantha_wong/adzkid65useb/wish/179907688 samantha_wong https://padlet.com/samantha_wong/adzkid65useb/wish/179907703 An "Isolated Bolshevik Russia would be vulnerable to pressure from the capitalist world" to compromise on their ideology, as communism in ideology was already fundamentally different from Capitalism. By spreading  the ideology of communism globally, it would strengthen the power that the ideology had (strength in numbers), and communism would be seen as a equally strong ideology against capitalism. Thus be a Bolshevik Russia would thus not be pressured to compromise on their beliefs, the revolution will survive.]]> 2017-08-02 01:50:25 UTC https://padlet.com/samantha_wong/adzkid65useb/wish/179907703 samantha_wong https://padlet.com/samantha_wong/adzkid65useb/wish/179907740 Howard Roffmann argued that the Cold War "proceeded from the very moment the Bolsheviks triumphed in Russia in 1917".
- there was immediate hostility between Bolshevik Russia and the US
   - along with Britain, France and Japan
   - intervened in the Russian Civil War 1918-22 by helping the Whites

Cold War began with the creation of an (inherently hostile from West POV) Communist (marxist-leninist) state
- tensions simmering since 1917]]> 2017-08-02 01:50:57 UTC https://padlet.com/samantha_wong/adzkid65useb/wish/179907740 samantha_wong https://padlet.com/samantha_wong/adzkid65useb/wish/179907774 Woodrow Wilson: his Fourteen Points (Jan 1918) presented an ambitious global programme that called for the self-determination of subject peoples, creation of democratic states, free trade and collective security through a LON. 
Lenin: preached world revolution and communism, repudiated Russia's foreign debts and nationalised all business in Russia, including those owned by foreigners. 

- Tensions were simmering, how did the events of 1943-45 contribute and further escalate tensions
- Link ideology to policies: How did their ideologies manifest in the way their countries were run

]]> 2017-08-02 01:51:20 UTC https://padlet.com/samantha_wong/adzkid65useb/wish/179907774 samantha_wong https://padlet.com/samantha_wong/adzkid65useb/wish/179907793 "Cordon Sanitaire" refers to a zone of states to prevent the spread of communism to the rest of Europe.

A zone of Eastern European states serving to isolate Russia geographically in order to curtail further spread of Communism.
Impact: recovering these former Russian territories became a major foreign policy aim]]> 2017-08-02 01:51:37 UTC https://padlet.com/samantha_wong/adzkid65useb/wish/179907793 samantha_wong https://padlet.com/samantha_wong/adzkid65useb/wish/179907829 Formation of the Comintern. Whereby a communist organization was set up in Moscow in 1919 with the goal of promoting a worldwide revolution.
Later he actually abolished the comintern. Is he exactly aggressive?

The setting up of "Cordon Sanitaire, look above.
Who set up the cordon sanitaire?

The text mentions "funding the KMT in China" but how is this anti-Western? Didn't the West fund the KMT too? I don't quite understand.

Russia invaded Poland in 1920. A big middle finger to the Western Powers.

Supporting rebellions in European colonial territories, promoting them to overthrow the western powers' presence in that area.


---------
Indirect aggression:
 - Supporting (and coordinating through Comintern) Communist activities in Western countries/colonies > undermine stability etc. of those countries
 - Support for KMT in China (unclear)

Direct aggression to West's allies:
 - Invasion of Poland > Polish-Russian War 1920 (Poland allied to France)]]> 2017-08-02 01:52:08 UTC https://padlet.com/samantha_wong/adzkid65useb/wish/179907829 samantha_wong https://padlet.com/samantha_wong/adzkid65useb/wish/179907853 There was immediate hostility between Bolshevik Russia and the US which, along with the other Western powers consisting of Britain and France, intervened in the Russian Civil War (a year after) by helping the Bolsheviks' opponents, the White Army. The Western powers hoped that by assisting the Whites, they would be able to strangle Bolshevism and prevent it from spreading to Germany (which was in turmoil and vulnerable to communist revolution by its own workers).

The hostility was intensified by the ideological crash between President Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points and Lenin's Bolshevism. 

non-immediate reaction?]]> 2017-08-02 01:52:31 UTC https://padlet.com/samantha_wong/adzkid65useb/wish/179907853 samantha_wong https://padlet.com/samantha_wong/adzkid65useb/wish/179907892 After the possibility of a world communist revolution vanished, the consolidation of communism within the USSR became the priority for Lenin and his successors.

Firslty, this was largely due to the extension of Poland after the poles inflicted a decisive defeat of the Red Army (with the help of France) in the Polish-Russian War of 1920. As a result, Poland signed the Treaty of Riga with Russia in 1921 and was awarded considerable areas of Ukraine and Byelorussia.
Secondly, the creation of a Cordon Sanitaire, such as Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania helped prevent the spread of Communism to the rest of Europe. 
Due to these two reasons, the result was that Russia was geographically isolated from western and central Europe and was unable to further their goal of a worldwide communist revolution.


you have not ATQ
put aside Foreign Policy aims for consolidation of Communism within Russia]]> 2017-08-02 01:52:55 UTC https://padlet.com/samantha_wong/adzkid65useb/wish/179907892 samantha_wong https://padlet.com/samantha_wong/adzkid65useb/wish/179907940 Britain, USA and the USSR]]> 2017-08-02 01:53:20 UTC https://padlet.com/samantha_wong/adzkid65useb/wish/179907940 samantha_wong https://padlet.com/samantha_wong/adzkid65useb/wish/179907989 The Big Three were the leaders of USSR, US, and Great Britain!

Can also be considered as the leaders of those countries - Stalin, Churchill, Roosevelt]]> 2017-08-02 01:53:56 UTC https://padlet.com/samantha_wong/adzkid65useb/wish/179907989 samantha_wong https://padlet.com/samantha_wong/adzkid65useb/wish/179908025 2017-08-02 01:54:30 UTC https://padlet.com/samantha_wong/adzkid65useb/wish/179908025 samantha_wong https://padlet.com/samantha_wong/adzkid65useb/wish/179908085 To a small extent. Agreements to divide Europe (90% predominance in Romania and 75% in Bulgaria to the USSR, and 90% of Greece to Britain) was only made between Britain and USSR while the US sat out for most discussions. 
However, this agreement was later dropped by Churchill, realising that it would be rejected by Roosevelt, and also in fear that it would lead to unwelcome tension in the Anglo-US Alliance. This would suggest that the US were never in favour of granting the USSR these states, and that they were unaware of the Soviets plans in Europe. (Thus, may view the USSR's expansion as aggressive rather than defensive?)
Despite this, Stalin did keep to his end of the deal, refusing to support the local Communists in Greece, recognising Britain's interest and dissolved the Comintern.]]> 2017-08-02 01:55:30 UTC https://padlet.com/samantha_wong/adzkid65useb/wish/179908085 samantha_wong https://padlet.com/samantha_wong/adzkid65useb/wish/179908147 The liberation of Eastern Europe from German occupation/domination by the Soviet army and western Europe by predominantly Anglo-American forces in 1944-1945, which created the context for the Cold War in Europe.

Created the context as the USSR could extend their sphere of influence and their ideology]]> 2017-08-02 01:56:14 UTC https://padlet.com/samantha_wong/adzkid65useb/wish/179908147 samantha_wong https://padlet.com/samantha_wong/adzkid65useb/wish/179908179 The Allied Control Commissions (ACC) which were set up in each occupied territory and administered a particular territory in the name of the Allies]]> 2017-08-02 01:56:35 UTC https://padlet.com/samantha_wong/adzkid65useb/wish/179908179 samantha_wong https://padlet.com/samantha_wong/adzkid65useb/wish/179908222 Stalin's concerns about post-war Poland were prompted by Soviet security needs to a great extent. Poland, situated as it was between Russia and Germany, was a key region of the 'buffer zone' which the USSR wanted to establish for security reasons. Given Poland's invasion by Germany during the war, Stalin was keen to establish a Communist, pro-Soviet government in Poland to bring it under the Soviet sphere of influence.
So keen that he decided to annex it and forcibly establish a Communist dictatorship, despite the strains this would impose on the Alliance.
*Poland later becomes an ISSUE with the Alliance

*explain: TWE was it not so much about security? Ans: ref Nazi-Soviet Pact 1939 where G and USSR split Poland up. USSR wanted to claim what it had staked its claim on.]]> 2017-08-02 01:57:04 UTC https://padlet.com/samantha_wong/adzkid65useb/wish/179908222 samantha_wong https://padlet.com/samantha_wong/adzkid65useb/wish/179908259 Romania: The USSR consolidated its position by undermining the current government through a coup and then took control of this power vacuum by installing the pro-Soviet, communist-dominated National Democratic Front government had formed before through an ACC: Allied Control Commission

Bulgaria: There was inherent support for the Communist ideas the USSR and the ACC represented, as evidence by the Patriotic Front as well the coup against the German government and ruling class. However, to push their own position and agenda for Bulgaria: which is to gain Bulgaria, Stalin attempted to sway the country into a more moderate position, so as not to further increase tension with the West regarding Eastern Europe, making them more inclined to give Bulgaria to Stalin. 
>> maintaining relationships w. the West over pushing a Communist agenda. Evidence for Stalin not being expansionist.]]> 2017-08-02 01:57:30 UTC https://padlet.com/samantha_wong/adzkid65useb/wish/179908259 samantha_wong https://padlet.com/samantha_wong/adzkid65useb/wish/179908304 Tito was a successful partisan in Yugoslavia and had a position of power. Also, as Tito established communist-dominated committees in each area he and his partisans occupied, people took orders from him and not anyone else, minimising the USSR's influence. Moreover, Tito acted independently and tried to carry put his own policies. For example, he established communist governments in both Yugoslavia and Albania even though these were not Stalin's orders. Therefore, he not only posed a threat to Soviet influence and control in Yugoslavia, he also had the potential to cause problems for Stalin on the world's stage (could be perceived by Allies as Stalin expanding Soviet influence)

]]> 2017-08-02 01:58:06 UTC https://padlet.com/samantha_wong/adzkid65useb/wish/179908304 samantha_wong https://padlet.com/samantha_wong/adzkid65useb/wish/179908341 Stalin aimed to pursue Russification strategies in Hungary and Czechoslovakia to achieve the goals of reducing resistance to his rule in order to ready the Soviet Union for war, facilitate the acceptance of Communism, and increase economic and political efficiency. ]]> 2017-08-02 01:58:28 UTC https://padlet.com/samantha_wong/adzkid65useb/wish/179908341 samantha_wong https://padlet.com/samantha_wong/adzkid65useb/wish/179908385 The opposition that Stalin faced in Finland, the Finnish Communist Party, was weak and unpopular. In addition, Finland had reparations to provide USSR including barges, railroad equipment, and manufactured goods. An oppressive occupation policy would have restricted the delivery of these resources.
Context: USSR's need for economic recovery post-war]]> 2017-08-02 01:58:55 UTC https://padlet.com/samantha_wong/adzkid65useb/wish/179908385 samantha_wong https://padlet.com/samantha_wong/adzkid65useb/wish/179908400 The French Communist Party were a significant force in the resistance against Germany, and after French was freed, it became a significant political force. 

Italian communists were largely under Stalin's control, and was told to participate in a coalition government. The party leader, Palmiro Togliatti, carried this out and the Italian Communist Party became a major part of the Coalition Government in Italy.
> evidence of Stalin's cooperation w. Western powers (note Italy's proximity to Western powers + under Western SOI)]]> 2017-08-02 01:59:12 UTC https://padlet.com/samantha_wong/adzkid65useb/wish/179908400 samantha_wong https://padlet.com/samantha_wong/adzkid65useb/wish/179908460 The main purpose of this Conference was to lay the foundations for the coming peace by discussing post-war reorganisation (mainly Germany and Poland) (also: how to deal with postwar Europe, Japan).

How Germany was administered in the post-war era:
The Big Three, Stalin, Churchill, and Roosevelt came to a consensus to divide Berlin into 3 zones, each to be controlled by the USSR, Great Britain and the U.S.. Churchill would then insist France to be included as he feared the U.S. might withdraw its troops from Europe soon after the end of hostilities. Thus each victorious power was allotted its own zone, including a section of Berlin, which was placed under Four-Power Control (USSR, Great Britain, U.S. and France). This decision would then prompt the establishment of the United Nations.]]> 2017-08-02 01:59:53 UTC https://padlet.com/samantha_wong/adzkid65useb/wish/179908460 samantha_wong https://padlet.com/samantha_wong/adzkid65useb/wish/179908499 At the Yalta Conference attended by Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill in 1945, the three leaders attempted to create plans for ending the war and attempted to lay foundations for upcoming peace. Part of these plans was to reach a consensus regarding the issue of Poland. In such case the allies were only able to reach an agreement through a series of ambiguous compromises, which could be interpreted differently by the USSR and the Western powers. Firstly they confirmed that Poland's eastern border would run along the Curzon Line. Secondly they agreed in principle as they previously had in Tehran, that in compensation for land lost in the USSR, Poland would receive a substantial increase in territory in the north and west from land to be removed from Germany. Thirdly a decision was also taken to reorganize the provisional government by including democratic politicians from both Poland and the London government in exile. Fourthly elections would be held as soon as possible. Superficially this seemed to be a success for Britain and the US , but in fact the terms were so vague that Stalin could easily manipulate them. Firstly, the exact amount of land Poland would receive was not fixed and secondly democracy meant very different things to its participants. For Stalin, it essentially meant the domination of Poland by Communist Party while for Britain and the US it meant effectively the domination of non-communist party. As a result, the lack in reaching complete and clear agreements during the Yalta conference, resulted in Stalin to implement his system of "democracy" after the conference, which further encouraged the tension between the US and the Soviet Union. ]]> 2017-08-02 02:00:21 UTC https://padlet.com/samantha_wong/adzkid65useb/wish/179908499 samantha_wong https://padlet.com/samantha_wong/adzkid65useb/wish/179908534 What: the Declaration underpinned the right of the liberated states to determine their own governments, and committed the three governments of the Allies to carry out emergency measures to assist the liberated states and to encourage democratic governments.

How significant: very.
Reasons: according to historian Martin Walker, the Declaration became a key text 'upon which all future accusations of Soviet betrayal and bad faith were made'. (However, the accusations ignored the reality of the situation in eastern Europe, which necessitated a Soviet sphere of influence through their establishment of friendly governments.)]]> 2017-08-02 02:00:43 UTC https://padlet.com/samantha_wong/adzkid65useb/wish/179908534 samantha_wong https://padlet.com/samantha_wong/adzkid65useb/wish/179908587 8 May 1945]]> 2017-08-02 02:01:21 UTC https://padlet.com/samantha_wong/adzkid65useb/wish/179908587 https://padlet.com/samantha_wong/adzkid65useb/wish/179913273 2017-08-02 02:45:34 UTC https://padlet.com/samantha_wong/adzkid65useb/wish/179913273 https://padlet.com/samantha_wong/adzkid65useb/wish/179913419 2017-08-02 02:47:26 UTC https://padlet.com/samantha_wong/adzkid65useb/wish/179913419 https://padlet.com/samantha_wong/adzkid65useb/wish/179913928 2017-08-02 02:53:13 UTC https://padlet.com/samantha_wong/adzkid65useb/wish/179913928 https://padlet.com/samantha_wong/adzkid65useb/wish/179914548 Communist beliefs > already hostile to West (viewed as threat)
Communism viewing Capitalism as a stage which communism woud inevitably triumph over]]> 2017-08-02 03:01:10 UTC https://padlet.com/samantha_wong/adzkid65useb/wish/179914548