In February 1945, with victory in Europe in sight, the leaders of the 'Big Three' Allied powers met at the Yalta Conference. US President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin gathered to plan the future of a defeated Germany. They agreed to divide the country into four occupation zones, controlled by the US, Great Britain, France, and the Soviet Union. Berlin, the capital, would also be split four ways, despite sitting deep inside the Soviet zone. But amidst the plans for a new United Nations, a critical point of friction emerged. Stalin agreed to allow free and fair elections in the Eastern European nations his army was liberating. This promise, however, would soon be broken, planting the first seeds of deep mistrust.
The Beginning of the Cold War
How wartime allies became Cold War rivals between 1945 and 1949: Yalta, the bomb, the Iron Curtain, the Berlin Airlift and the Soviet bomb.
An Uneasy Alliance
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Frequently Asked Questions
What was the 'Iron Curtain'?
The 'Iron Curtain' was a political and ideological boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991. The term was popularized by Winston Churchill in a 1946 speech, where he described the line as stretching from 'Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic'.
Why did the Berlin Airlift happen?
In June 1948, the Soviet Union blocked all land and water access to West Berlin in an attempt to drive out the Western Allies. In response, the United States and its allies supplied the city entirely by air for 11 months until the blockade was lifted. This operation, known as the Berlin Airlift or Operation Vittles, continued for 15 months in total to build up reserves, delivering food and fuel to over two million residents.
What was the Truman Doctrine?
Announced by President Harry S. Truman in 1947, the Truman Doctrine was a new American foreign policy of 'containment'. It pledged US support for 'free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures'. It was first applied by providing $400 million in aid to Greece and Turkey to counter communist influence.
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