GCSE-ready- Home
- Lessons
- GCSE & IGCSE History
- Early developments in the Cold War, 1945 to 49
Early developments in the Cold War, 1945 to 49
🎬 The doodle video for this lesson is coming soon. Subscribe on YouTube to see it first.
Between 1945 and 1949 Europe was split in two, and the first major crisis of the Cold War took place in Berlin.
The iron curtain
In 1946 Churchill said an "iron curtain" had come down across Europe.
The USSR set up communist governments across Eastern Europe.
The USSR set up communist governments across Eastern Europe.
The US response
Truman Doctrine (March 1947): the USA would help countries resisting communism: containment.
Marshall Plan (1947): billions of dollars of aid to rebuild Europe.
The USSR replied with Cominform (1947), to control communist parties, and Comecon (1949), an economic union for the East.
The British and US zones of Germany merged as Bizonia (1947).
Marshall Plan (1947): billions of dollars of aid to rebuild Europe.
The USSR replied with Cominform (1947), to control communist parties, and Comecon (1949), an economic union for the East.
The British and US zones of Germany merged as Bizonia (1947).
The Berlin Crisis, 1948 to 49
In June 1948 the West introduced a new currency. Stalin blockaded West Berlin, cutting road, rail and canal links.
The West flew in supplies in the Berlin Airlift until Stalin lifted the blockade in May 1949.
Results: NATO (April 1949); Germany split into the FRG (West) and GDR (East) in 1949.
The West flew in supplies in the Berlin Airlift until Stalin lifted the blockade in May 1949.
Results: NATO (April 1949); Germany split into the FRG (West) and GDR (East) in 1949.
Explain why the Marshall Plan increased tension.
- It gave huge US aid to help Europe recover.
- Stalin saw it as a way of spreading US influence and capitalism.
- He refused it for Eastern Europe and set up Comecon instead.
Answer: Stalin saw it as US economic imperialism, so Europe split further.
1946: iron curtain. 1947: Truman Doctrine (containment), Marshall Plan, Cominform, Bizonia. 1948 to 49: Berlin Blockade and Airlift. 1949: Comecon, NATO, FRG and GDR.
Check you have got it
Answer 6 quick questions with instant marking. If you get one wrong, GCSE-ready shows you why and gives you another go. It is free, and you do not need an account.