HIEU 242 Chapter Notes - Chapter 27: Marshall Plan, Berlin Blockade, Europe 1
22 May 2018
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Saturday, May 5, 2018
HIEU 242 Ch 27 Notes
-WWII brought devastating and dramatic changes in international balance of power:
•emergence of superpowers —US and USSR
•dismantling of European empires
-after WWII relations between Allied powers descended from mistrust to open conflict
•US and USSR rapidly formed centers
-capitalism vs communism
-Cold War structured peace, shaped international relations and affected governments
and peoples across the globe
-Declaration of Principles of Liberated Europe (1945)
•guaranteed free elections
•Stalin believed this gave him free hand in Eastern Europe
-Communist party took hold of all key positions of power—> “Iron Curtain”
-some countries tried to fight him and for independence
-1948- Western Allies with German territory begin to make their own governments
•Soviets retaliated by cutting off supplies and access
-Berlin Blockade (June 1948-May 1949) —> two Germanys
•Federal Republic and German Democratic Republic
-European Recovery Program (ERP)- aka Marshall Plan
•$13 billion in aid for four years, starting 1948, for industrial redevelopment
-North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
•April 1949
•Canada, US, representatives of Western Europe signed to shore up military
defenses in Western Europe
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Saturday, May 5, 2018
•Greece, Turkey, West Germany later added
•response to growing rift between US and USSR
-in Cold War world “the West” = anticommunism
-Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (Comecon) (1947)
•USSR version of Marshall Plan
-Warsaw Pact (1955)- response of NATO
-both US and USSR make new bombs meant to wipe out humanity
•countries without nuclear power found difficulty not choosing a side
•encouraged disparity between superpowers and reliant nations
•Hydrogen bomb confirms humanity’s power and vulnerability
-1953- Stalin dies—> 1956- Khrushchev’s power
•eased tensions for a time
•1964- Khrushchev falls
-Khrushchev’s efforts at presenting gentler USSR had been shattered by revolt and
repression
-1961- building of Berlin Wall by East Germany
•up until 1989
-post war in Western Europe= economic miracle
•Marshall Plan solved immediate problems but not central concept
•rising demand for Europe’s goods hastened agreements that encouraged the free
flow of international trade and currencies
•mixed economies of public and private ownership
•reversed pre-war economies
-European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) (1951)
•coordinate and management trade of Europe’s most crucial resources
-European Economic Community (EEC) (1957) [Common Market]
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Document Summary
Wwii brought devastating and dramatic changes in international balance of power: emergence of superpowers us and ussr, dismantling of european empires. After wwii relations between allied powers descended from mistrust to open con ict: us and ussr rapidly formed centers. Cold war structured peace, shaped international relations and affected governments and peoples across the globe. Declaration of principles of liberated europe (1945: guaranteed free elections, stalin believed this gave him free hand in eastern europe. Communist party took hold of all key positions of power > iron curtain . Some countries tried to ght him and for independence. 1948- western allies with german territory begin to make their own governments: soviets retaliated by cutting off supplies and access. Berlin blockade (june 1948-may 1949) > two germanys: federal republic and german democratic republic. European recovery program (erp)- aka marshall plan: billion in aid for four years, starting 1948, for industrial redevelopment.
