US & USSR From Allies to Enemies

1. US & USSRFrom Allies to Enemies

2. From “Iron Curtain” Speech to Truman Doctrine Winston Churchill & Fulton Speech • March 1946 • Fulton, Missouri • “From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the continent.” Churchill’s Messages • USSR building an empire in Eastern Europe • US cannot sit idly and, worse still, return to isolationism • US should stop entertaining the idea of post-war cooperation with the USSR

3. From “Iron Curtain” Speech to Truman Doctrine Truman Doctrine • March 12, 1947 • $400 million as eco & military aid to Greece & Turkey • Help free people maintain institutions, nat’l integrity • Official pronouncement of containment policy

4. From Allies to Enemies What went wrong? Why couldn’t West-USSR continue wartime collaboration in post-war years? • Russian historical experience • Mongol invasion (13th and 14th centuries) • Napoleon Bonaparte’s invasion (1812) • British & French invasion of Crimea (1854-1856) • Japan took Russian interest in Far East (1905)

5. From Allies to Enemies • Russian historical experience • Western hostility towards the Soviet Russia (1917-1921) • A cordon sanitaire in eastern Europe to check spread of Soviet system • British appeasement towards Hitler • The Munich agreement • Japanese attack in east Russia (1939) • German invasion (WWI & WWII) • Delay of second front in W Europe • US possession of nuclear bombs • Churchill’s Fulton speech

6. From Allies to Enemies • Russian Geopolitical Concerns • Unprotected by natural barriers such as oceans or mountains • Vulnerable to invasions from several directions • Enormous territorial size makes int’l cohesion, communication & transportation difficult • Policy implications • Territorial expansion as a means of national defense • Expand spheres of influence • Build pro-Soviet regimes

7. From Allies to Enemies • Russian Security & State • Obsession with security & militarism • Military for defense and expansion purposes • Leninist Party-state & authoritarianism • Centralization of power • Soviet Communist Party • Joseph Stalin • Russian foreign policy & expansionism • Power top priority • Territorial security • Self-reliance • Distrust of other countries

8. From Allies to Enemies • Soviet Ideology • Marxism • Capitalism creates conditions for its demise • Capitalism creates conditions for world socialist revolution • Leninism • Imperialism, last stage of capitalism • Imperialism, source of world wars • Socialist revolution achievable in individual nations • Proletariat in full control of state power

9. From Allies to Enemies • Soviet Ideology • Stalinism • Socialist society achievable in one country • Forceful nationalization & collectivization • Socialist success intensifies class struggles • Struggles btwn people & enemies of people • Backwardness leads to defeat & humiliation • Industrialization • Military buildup • The capitalist West threat to world peace

10. From Allies to Enemies • Soviet Ideology • Stalinism • Socialist society

11. From Allies to Enemies • Soviet Ideology • Stalinism • Socialist society

12. From Allies to Enemies • Soviet Ideology • Stalinism • Socialist society achievable in one country • Forceful nationalization & collectivization • Socialist success intensifies class struggles • Struggles btwn people & enemies of people • Backwardness leads to defeat & humiliation • Industrialization • Military buildup • The capitalist West threat to world peace

13. From Allies to Enemies • Soviet Ideology • Stalinism • Socialist society achievable in one country • Forceful nationalization & collectivization • Socialist success intensifies class struggles • Struggles btwn people & enemies of people • Backwardness leads to defeat & humiliation • Industrialization • Military buildup • The capitalist West threat to world peace

14. From Allies to Enemies • Soviet Ideology • Stalinism • Socialist society achievable in one country • Forceful nationalization & collectivization • Socialist success intensifies class struggles • Struggles btwn people & enemies of people • Backwardness leads to defeat & humiliation • Industrialization • Military buildup • The capitalist West threat to world peace