The Adversaries America, Russia and the Open World, 1941–62

The Adversaries (1981) examines the post-war world that both the US and the Soviet Union tried to mould in their own images. Their faith in their respective systems came at the cost of a political, economic and military clashing in various parts of the world, an antagonism that rendered the United Nations ineffective as an organ of world government. This book analyses these clashes, as the foreign policy decisions of both superpowers had wide-ranging effects over large portions of the globe.

1. 1941–5 1.1. The Signing of the Atlantic Charter 1.2. Roosevelt Rejects a Compromise Peace 1.3. Articles 2 and 3 of the Charter and Political Freedom 2. 1945–7 2.1. Truman and the Roosevelt Legacy 2.2. America and the Reconstruction of Russia 2.3. Compromise in Germany 2.4. The Punishment of War Criminals 2.5. Control of the Atomic Bomb 2.6. Britain After 1945 2.7. France and Italy 2.8. The US and USSR in Eastern Europe 2.9. Breakdown in Germany 2.10. Hull’s Policies Come to a Halt 2.11. The Unnecessary Panic 2.12. A Tragedy Without Villains 3. 1947–9 3.1. Marshall Aid 3.2. The Russian Reaction 3.3. The Berlin Blockade 3.4. The Brussels Pact and NATO 3.5. The Establishment of Two German Republics 3.6. The Council of Europe 3.7. The Establishment of Israel 4. 1950–2 4.1. The Korean War 4.2. The Impact of the Korean War in Europe 4.3. West Germany’s Economic Miracle 4.4. Britain in the 1950s 4.5. The Schuman Plan 4.6. The European Defence Community 4.7. Communist Reactions to the EDC 5. 1953–6 5.1. The Death of Stalin 5.2. Western European Union 5.3. The Path Towards Détente 5.4. The Transient Triumph of Tito 5.5. The European Economic Community 5.6. The Suez Crisis 5.7. The Twentieth Party Congress: Poland and Hungary 6. 1957–60 6.1. The Sputnik 6.2. Khrushchev and Berlin 6.3. Algeria and de Gaulle 6.4. Britain Fails to Fit the EEC into the OEEC 6.5. The American and Russian Economies Compared 6.6. Half the American Dream Comes True 7. 1961–2 7.1. The Building of the Berlin Wall 7.2. Adenauer in Decline 7.3. Britain Fails to Enter the EEC 7.4. The Cuban Crisis 8. Concluding Reflections 8.1. Adjusting to Change 8.2. The Prospects for Growth 8.3. Is Growth Desirable? 8.4. The Days of Horse and Candle Are Over 8.5. The Limits of Co-Existence

Michael Balfour