The Significance of Changing Relations in Europe (1945-1991)

Post-War Europe and the Beginnings of the Cold War (1945-1948)

The Yalta and Potsdam Conferences in 1945 aimed to shape a post-war peace that represented a collective security order, but differing viewpoints between the Allies, especially the USA and USSR, led to increased tensions.
Europe was divided politically and ideologically into two blocs: Eastern Bloc controlled by the Soviet Union, promoting Communism, and the Western Bloc under the influence of the USA and Britain, advocating for capitalism and democracy.
The Truman Doctrine (1947) and the Marshall Plan (1948) reflected the USA’s new global leader role and intensified the ideological divide, escalating the Cold War.

Movements Towards European Integration

The creation of NATO in 1949, a military alliance formed to counter Soviet power, reinforced the political alignment of Western European states.
The Schuman Declaration in 1950 pioneered the idea of a European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), the first step towards political and economic integration of Western European countries.
The Treaty of Rome, signed in 1957, established the European Economic Community (EEC), fostering the growth of a united Europe and was a fundamental step towards the modern European Union.

The Thawing of the Cold War (1953-1979)

After Stalin’s death in 1953, Khrushchev’s policy of ‘peaceful coexistence’ aimed for a reduction in tensions between the two blocs.
But crises caused by the Soviet repression of the Hungarian Revolution (1956) and the construction of the Berlin Wall (1961) highlighted the ongoing ideological divide.
Détente, characterised by signed treaties such as the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (1968), SALT I (1972) and Helsinki Accords (1975), attempted to reduce tensions and arms competition.

The Climax and End of the Cold War (1980-1991)

The 1980s saw a temporary return to Cold War tensions with the invasion of Afghanistan by the Soviet Union in 1979 and Reagan’s ‘Second Cold War’ policies.
Gorbachev’s policies of Glasnost (openness) and Perestroika (restructuring) facilitated a more open dialogue between East and West, contributing to the end of the Cold War.
The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 marked the beginning of the end for the Soviet control, and the USSR was officially dissolved in 1991, leading to the end of the Cold War.