The USA were the only country to have the atomic bomb
Bretton Woods 1944
Fixed currencies to the US Dollar, and the dollar was pegged to Gold ($35/ounce), to preserve stability
The gold garanteed the value of the dollar
The US organizes that, with the US leading the dollar
The US have the military power (atomic bomb), but also the economic power as it sets rule to the rest of the world with the US dollar leading
International Monetary Fund
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development or, World Bank
Once again, the US control the world
Lends money to states with serious economic issues
Makes sure those states don’t go bankrupt, to keep stability
Contributes for countries to develop, so that they can also be more active in globalisation
ITO : International Trade Organisation
To become GATT in 1947, then WTO in 1995
GATT : Global Agreements on Trade and Transactions
WTO : World Trade Organisation
Created institutions to keep stability in the world
World Bank
IMF (International Monetary Fund)
International Monetary Fund
The US Voting Share is 16.51%
Need 85% of the votes to change the rules
The US has a veto power, no decision could be made by the IMF without the US agreeing
The United Nations
1941 : The Atlantic Charter
Roosevelt and Churchill
The idea of a new international organization
1944 : a tentative charter of the UN was established at Dumbarton Oaks
USSR, USA, UK, China
China was a founding member, but was not a permanent member of the security council
China is a permanent member of the security council
1945 : San Francisco Act
The UN were officially created
UN Top 10 contributors !!! UNVERIFIED
USA : 22%
Japan : 9.68%
Germany : 6.39%
France : 6.31%
UK : 5.18%
China : 3.93%
Italy : 3.64%
Russia : 3.53%
Canada : 2.98%
Spain : 2.97%
B. Why a change in Balance of Power, post war ?
The United States is the strongest military power in the world
They have the atomic bomb
Biggest budget
Largest air force in the world
12M people in the air force
Largest navy in the world
The United States are out of isolationism
Started to become the leading power in the world diplomatically
C. Superpower Rivalry
Different ideology
They fundamentally believe in different systems
Presence for years (since the russian revolution)
Resurface after WWII
The Americans wanted open door economy, trade, etc…
The russians didn’t appreciate
The Americans wanted to spread democracy
D. The Cold War
The Cold War began where it had left off in 1941, with profound distrust of Soviet motives, and an ideological divide every bit as deep as that between liberalism and Nazism.
From Richard Overy, Why the Allies Won, 2006
The Bolshoi Speech (Feb 1946)
Stalin’s speech
The soviets were not going to be friendly with the USA
World capitalism proceeds through crisi and the catastrophes of war
The Russians are determined to destroy the Americans
This speech war the greatest threat the US had ever faced
The Soviets can be beaten and this can be done without going to war
The US had to educate the public against communism, make them fear communism
The Long Telegram (Feb 1946)
George Kennan
In the US embassy in Moscow, he was the ambassador
He sent a telegram to the US government
Winston Churchill’s Fulton Speech (March 1946)
From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the continent
The soviets were trying to take over the world
The Truman Doctrine (1947)
The USA would support any country that was threatened by communism
The USA would support any country that was threatened by a totalitarian regime
The United States would support Greece and Turkey with political, economic and military aid to prevent them from falling into the Soviet sphere
Before that, the British were helping but they couldn’t anymore since the war
The US would help any country threatened by communism
The soviets are seing the Americans as expansionist predators
The Marshall Plan (1947)
Officially know as the European Recovery Program
A plan that was annonced by General George Marshall, who was the American secretary of state
Plan to offer reconstruction aid to all countries who would want it in Europe
The US would be willing to issue loans to give technical assistance to help Europe recover economically
But Stalin didn’t want to owe anything to the US so he refused the plan