3.4 + Cold War Short version (CH4)
3.4 Stalinism
Stalin completely controlled the lives of the citizens = totalitarian state.
1. Secret police had informants everywhere who betrayed ‘enemies of the state’.
2. Controlled the press: propaganda idolized communism
3. Large scale terror: rebelling peasants were arrested and sent to forced labour camps.
3.4 The Great Terror
Stalin did not rust the ‘old’ Bolsheviks: and they remembered that Lenin’s ideas were different than his.
They might want his power. From 1934 to 1938 he killed his political ‘opponents’ and other powerful
leaders, such as generals-just before WW2
First they had a show trail which was determined in advance, then most were sentenced to death.
Stalin did not allow religion: the church was persecuted as well.
Ch. 4 1945 conferences
Feb 1945 Yalta conference: GB, US and SU decide to split Germany into 4 areas after WW2 was over,
governed by them. In May 1945 GER surrenders.
July 1945 Potsdam conference: Truman (US) did not trust the SU and told them he had a nuclear
weapon. Stalin wanted a buffer zone between the SU and GER. August 1945 Japan surrenders.
Ch. 4 1947
The US is scared that the SU will spread communism to other countries = domino theory. So, US wants
to contain communism and prevent the spread = containment politics. He contains communism through
military intervention and through economic aid.
Marshall plan in 1947: US economic aid to Western Europe to repair war damage and simulate the
economy.
Ch. 4. MAD
Both the SU and the USA started to make more (atomic) bombs. They could destroy the world multiple
times over = MAD = Mutually Assured Destruction, it led to peace because otherwise it would be the
end of the world. In 1953 Stalin died and Khrushchev became leader of the SU. Khrushchev helped Cuba
become communist under Fidel Castro, and could then build missile launch spots on the island. US
president Kennedy discovered these in 1962 and felt threatened.
3.4 Stalinism
Stalin completely controlled the lives of the citizens = totalitarian state.
1. Secret police had informants everywhere who betrayed ‘enemies of the state’.
2. Controlled the press: propaganda idolized communism
3. Large scale terror: rebelling peasants were arrested and sent to forced labour camps.
3.4 The Great Terror
Stalin did not rust the ‘old’ Bolsheviks: and they remembered that Lenin’s ideas were different than his.
They might want his power. From 1934 to 1938 he killed his political ‘opponents’ and other powerful
leaders, such as generals-just before WW2
First they had a show trail which was determined in advance, then most were sentenced to death.
Stalin did not allow religion: the church was persecuted as well.
Ch. 4 1945 conferences
Feb 1945 Yalta conference: GB, US and SU decide to split Germany into 4 areas after WW2 was over,
governed by them. In May 1945 GER surrenders.
July 1945 Potsdam conference: Truman (US) did not trust the SU and told them he had a nuclear
weapon. Stalin wanted a buffer zone between the SU and GER. August 1945 Japan surrenders.
Ch. 4 1947
The US is scared that the SU will spread communism to other countries = domino theory. So, US wants
to contain communism and prevent the spread = containment politics. He contains communism through
military intervention and through economic aid.
Marshall plan in 1947: US economic aid to Western Europe to repair war damage and simulate the
economy.
Ch. 4. MAD
Both the SU and the USA started to make more (atomic) bombs. They could destroy the world multiple
times over = MAD = Mutually Assured Destruction, it led to peace because otherwise it would be the
end of the world. In 1953 Stalin died and Khrushchev became leader of the SU. Khrushchev helped Cuba
become communist under Fidel Castro, and could then build missile launch spots on the island. US
president Kennedy discovered these in 1962 and felt threatened.
