Polsc6 – International Relations

West and East Europe

“From Stettin in the Baltic to

Trieste in the Adriatic a

curtain has descended across the continent.”

- Winston Churchill

March 5, 1946

Capitalist Democracy

NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organization. U.S. & several Western European Countries.

Communism

Warsaw Pact -Soviet Union & Eastern European satellite countries.

Un

ited

Sta

tes

So

vie

t Un

ion

• A State of Diplomatic hostility among

nations without direct armed conflict

• Conflicts never escalated to all-out

war between the largest states

• A relatively stable framework of

relations emerged, especially in East-

West Europe

A US-Societ-Britain meeting

GOALS:

1. To promote world peace

2. To provide emergency relief

3. To help form interim governments based on the will of the people

CHURCHILL, ROOSEVELT, STALIN

Need a threat of force and power – Arms, technology, influence

Use of Propaganda – created hatred and paranoia of other side

Send economic aid to weaker nations to spread influence and gain allies

Support with military aid nations in conflicts to protect interests or agitate other side

Marshall Plan

Truman Doctrine

Policy of Containment

• US financial aid to rebuild European countries

• Post WWII assistance program, in which, the U.S. would provide, food, machines, and other materials to any country that needed it.

• to promote economic and political stability in post WWII world

• Stalin saw the plan as a threat

• Marshall Plan aid would largely be used by the Europeans to buy U.S. manufactured goods and raw materials

• Communist influence on Western Europe would be reduced

• Soviet Union did not (or could not) offer a similar program for Eastern Europe

• Monetary support

given by U.S. to

countries that resisted

Communism.

• This policy of stopping

any further spread of

communism became

known as the policy of

“containment”

• BERLIN BLOCKADE & AIRLIFT 1948-Soviets closed all road and rail links to Berlin. The Western allies began a massive airlift to feed the West Berliners.•Led to the creation of Federal Republic of Germany in 1949

• BERLIN WALL 1961- East German government built a wall that separated East Berlin from West Berlin. Soldiers shot anyone that tried to escape East Berlin.