IB History Soviet-us Relations 1947-79 Notes

Key Questions

1. How did the Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan shape US Cold War policy?
2. Why did superpower crises escalate from Berlin to Cuba?
3. What factors led to detente and why did it collapse by 1979?
4. How did ideology and realpolitik drive Soviet-US relations?

The Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan (1947)

1. In 1947, Truman declared the US would support free peoples resisting subjugation - the Truman Doctrine
2. This was triggered by Britain's withdrawal from Greece and Turkey, leaving a power vacuum
3. The Marshall Plan offered 13 billion dollars in aid to rebuild war-torn Europe
4. The USSR rejected Marshall Aid and created Cominform (1947) and Comecon (1949) in response
5. The Marshall Plan aimed to prevent economic desperation that could push nations toward communism
6. Stalin saw it as dollar imperialism - an attempt to dominate Europe economically

The Berlin Blockade (1948-49)

1. Stalin imposed a blockade of West Berlin in June 1948 to force the Allies out
2. The trigger was the introduction of the Deutschmark in the Western zones without Soviet consent
3. The US and Britain launched the Berlin Airlift - supplying 2.3 million tons of goods over 11 months
4. Stalin lifted the blockade in May 1949 - it was a propaganda defeat for the USSR
5. The crisis led directly to the creation of NATO (1949) and the division of Germany into FRG and GDR
6. The blockade showed that neither side wanted direct war - but brinkmanship was now the norm

The Korean War (1950-53)

1. North Korea invaded South Korea in June 1950 - the first major Cold War proxy conflict
2. The US intervened under a UN mandate - possible because the USSR was boycotting the Security Council
3. China entered the war in October 1950 - pushing UN forces back from the Yalu River
4. The war ended in stalemate at the 38th parallel - Korea remained divided
5. Korea proved containment could be applied militarily - but at enormous human cost
6. US defence spending tripled after NSC-68 - the war militarised containment permanently