Category: International Relations Since 1945
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The origins of the Cold War
This podcast aims to look at three key areas – why the alliance between the USA and the USSR broke down in 1945, how Stalin take control of eastern Europe in 1945 and America’s reaction to it, and the consequences of the Berlin Blockade. The podcast opens with a short explanation of the deteriorating relationship…
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Brief introduction to the Yalta Conference
Attended by the “Big Three” Allied leaders, the conference saw United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin meet to discuss the government of post-war Europe.
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Brief account of USA’s first ever nuclear test in the Manhattan Project
The 16th July 1945 marked the start of the atomic age when the USA detonated the first nuclear bomb under the codename ‘Trinity’.
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History of the Atomic Bomb 1945-49
A short film outlining the early history of the atomic bomb, from dropping ‘Little Boy’ on Hiroshima in 1945 to the creation of an atomic bomb by the USSR in 1949. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPLZ7v302Ig
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A short account of the bombing of Hiroshima
On the 6th August 1945, the USA dropped an atomic bomb nicknamed “Little Boy” on the Japanese city of Hiroshima from the B-29 aircraft Enola Gay.
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Truman and his advisors: different opinions of the atomic bomb
This short clip is taken from the BBC’s Curriculum Bites and offers a good overview of the different opinions about the use of the A-bomb in 1945.
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Interpretations of why the USA dropped the atomic bomb on Japan
This video presents historical interpretations of why America chose to drop nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It also explains how it affected relations between the USA and the USSR.
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Churchill and the ‘Iron Curtain’ speech
On the 5th March 1946, Winston Churchill described the post-war division of Europe as an “iron curtain” in his “Sinews of Peace” address at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri.
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The origin of the ‘Containment’ policy
On the 24th September 1946, Clark Clifford and George Elsey presented a report to President Truman in which they recommended “restraining and confining” Soviet influence.