International Relations: 1945-present

International Relations: 1945-Present

The U.S and Soviet union were superpowers meaning they each had the power to destroy the other with nuclear weapons
They disagreed on everything as the soviets were communists and the Americans were capitalists and a democracy
The USSR also had a one party government
When hitler died the soviets marched into east Berlin and took control of it, while the allies took west Berlin
Stalin used his armies to control eastren Europe such as Poland and Czechoslovakia against the wishes of their people
The allies feared the spread of communism and the U.S decided to send economic help to Western Europe
This was known as the Marshall Plan and gave millions of dollars to allow countries to rebuild roads and other infrastructure especially Germany and France
Stalin refused to allow Eastren Europe to benefit from the Marshall Plan while the rest of Europe recovered in 10 years

The Berlin blockade was also known as operation Vittles
Stalin of the U.S.S.R shared the ruling of Germany with the Allies. Stalin controlled East Germnay and East Berlin
Berlin was split into 4 zones. The allies controlled the first three and the USSR controlled the 4th
2 million people lived in west Germnay and they had to get food and supplies through the east
Stalin did not like the fact that West Berlin was controlled by America. In 1948 he cut off the link between East and West Berlin
Relations were further damaged when the allies tried to bring in a new currency called the Deutschmark and Stalin rejected
The allies decided to air lift supplies into West Berlin citzens. However Stalin did not believe they would do it
The allies sent 270,000 flights in 321 days of blocade
For almost a year the blockade continued and the allies still continued to airlift in food and water into the West
Eventually Stalin lifted the blocade realising it was futile and allowed road and rail links to bring supplies to West Berlin.
Results: The Berlin Blockade showed that Stalin and the allies wanted to avoid war again at all costs
Germany now was officially divided into East (USSR) and West (The Allies). They were now two seperate countries
Stalin now built a wall between East and West which was gaurded by soldiers. Nobody could cross, however it was torn down in 1989. Between 1961-1980 over 200 people died trying to escape from East to West
The Berlin wall symbolised a divided Europe

The cold war continued into the 1950's with the Korean War
Before WW2 Korea was a japenese colony
Later Soviet troops took control of North Korea and the Americans took South Korea
The North Korean Leader Kim Il Sung invaded the South in an anttempt to unite the country
The South Koreans asked the U.N to send an army to assist them and they did. The U.N army was led by General MacArthur
The U.N army drove the North Koreans back
The Chinese then stepped in on the side of the North Koreans and forced MacArthur and the U.N army back southwards
Talks were started and after 4 million soldiers and civilians died they agreed to leave their territory as it was at the start of the war
Results: 4 million people died
All out war was avoided using nuclear weapons
The authority of the U.N security council was improved

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