Note
tensions between 2 countries not just about differing ideology US and USSR → had history of suspicion + mistrust going back to 1917 > when Russia became communist
-
USSR communist vision → aligned to communist manifesto → called for worldwide communist revolutions → to overthrow capitalist states.
- US + western European democratic countries → alarmed → feared communism would spread in their countries + cause similar revolutions
-
At PPC 1919 → decided that Germany would not be broken up. Paris Peace Conference and League of Nations Main Note
- 1 reason → Br + US → worried → about possibility of new communist state in Russia + its consequences.
- though Germany could be barrier to communism → highlighting their suspicion toward Russia.
- 1 reason → Br + US → worried → about possibility of new communist state in Russia + its consequences.
-
1918-1921 ⇒ bitter civil war → fought in Russia → between communists and their opponents → known as whites.
- US + Br troops → intervened on side of whites → hoping to prevent communist victory
-
1920s: Red scare in US.
- US govt → arrested / imprisoned many people → usually immigrants from Russia → accusing them of being communist
- most were innocent
-
1930s: Br + Fr → had Policy of Appeasement in the 1930s → toward Hitler
- (to some extent) Policy was driven by fear → that USSR was trying to spread communism by force.
- Br hoped → Hitler’s Germany → would oppose communism
- to USSR → appeasement → threatened its security → seemed to imply that Hitler was allowed to take over Eastern Europe.
-
USSR signed Nazi Soviet Non-Aggression Pact, 1939 with Germany.
- promising not to attack each other.
- such pact → surprised US + world → because earlier in year → USSR was in discussion → with Britain and France → with regard to formation of an alliance against Hitler.
- nothing came out of that discussion HAHA