22.3: World War II and the USSR

During World War II, the USSR bore the brunt of the German war machine. More than 25 million Soviets died on the eastern front, soldiers and civilians alike. Futher, it was through the incredible sacrifice of the Soviet people that the German army was finally broken and driven back. During the war, Stalin had played the role of the powerful, protective "uncle" of the Soviet people. After victory was achieved, he enjoyed a period of genuine popularity, especially as returning Soviet soldiers were given good positions in the bureaucracy.

Britain, the US, and the USSR had a shared enemy, Germany. In 1943, the "Big Three" leaders met in Tehran to discuss the war and what would be done afterwards. There, Stalin insisted that the territory seized from Poland by the USSR in 1939 would remain in Soviet hands, shrinking the country's geographic size enormously. Roosevelt and Churchill, well aware of the critical role being played by Soviet troops, were not in a position to insist otherwise.

Figure 22.3.1: The Tehran Conference (1943) represented the first in-person meeting of the “Big Three.” From left: Josef Stalin, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and Winston Churchill.

In 1944, British and American economists devised the basis of the postwar economic order, the Bretton Woods Agreement, which fixed the dollar as the monetary reserve of the Western world, created the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to stabilize the international economy, and set currency exchange rates. This plan initially included the Soviets, who would be eligible for financial support in addressing the devastation wrought by Germany. However, the USSR pulled out in 1948, creating an economic divide between east and west).

In January 1945, Stalin stipulated that the postwar governments in Eastern Europe would need to be “friendly” to the Soviet Union, an ambiguous term whose practical meaning suggested dominance by communist parties. Churchill and Roosevelt agreed on the condition that Stalin promised to support free elections, something he never intended to allow. The 'big three' also agreed to divide Germany into different zones until such time as they could determine how to allow the Germans to have self-government again.

In part, Britain and the US gave in to Soviet demands because of the incredible sacrifice of the Soviet people. Approximately 90% of the casualties on the Allied side up to 1944 were Soviets (mostly Russians, but also including millions of Ukrainians and Central Asians). In addition, until 1945, Roosevelt assumed the United States would need Soviet help in bringing about the final defeat of Japan. Each side tried to avoid antagonizing the other, even though they privately recognized that there were incompatible visions of postwar European reorganization at stake.

Despite those incompatible ideas, many political leaders and regular citizens across the globe hoped that the postwar order would be fundamentally different than its prewar analog. Fundamental to that vision was the creation of an official international body, whose purpose was the prevention of armed conflict and the pursuit of peaceful and productive policies around the world. Founded in 1945, the United Nations was a body of arbitration and, when necessary, enforcer of internationally agreed-upon policies. Its Security Council was authorized to deploy military force when necessary, while preventing war from being used as a tool of political aggrandizement. The Soviet Union joined the Western powers as a founding member of the UN.