1945-1950 Flashcards
the origins of the cold war
why were the usa and the ussr allies during ww2
nazism threatened boht their ideolodies so both had a common interest to fight them but after ww2 both wanted to rpove that there way of life was better than the other
there are 3 factors that could be said to have started the cold war ideology was one of them what were the differences between the 2 idieolgies of the usa and ussr?
capitalism:
more than one polictical party and anyone can create a political party
evryone is free to make as many prdoucts as they want for profit
freedom of speech
free elections held
focus on the rights of the individual
Communism:
there should be only one political party
everyone works for the state and only make products that they need
no one must critise the stae
could only vore for one party
equality most important
what are the postivies and negitives of communism and capitalism
positives of communism:
few people live in extream poverty
people are more equal
less waste
less extream of wealth
postives of capitalism:
freedom to choose how they live
every individual has rights
insentive to work hard
many policical parites so can vote for one that represents your values
negatives of capitalism:
widespread poverty
money can be prioritesed over the welfare of others
negatives of communism:
cannit voice polictical opinions
only polictical party so could lead to corruption
less luxuries
when was the yalta conference
February 1945 in Ukraine (the war had ended in many )
what was the background to Yalta
both countries werw orried they didn’t want to punish the german people and get a reapeat of versilles but they felt if left on their own the german people must rise up
Roosevlet, Stalin, and Churchill were at this conference
what was agreed at Yalta
they would fight Japan together
germany would pay reparations
germany and berlin were split into 4 sections
they would join the UN
Eastern Europe would be under the USSR’s supervision but would be free to hold elections
what happened inbetween the conferences
turman took over from rooservelt and was much are anti-stalin and atlle replaced churchill
stalin’s armies did not leave eastern europe and a communist goverment was set up in poland
the USA developed the atomic bomb and the ussr were worried about competing with them
when was the potsdam conference?
july/ august 1945?
what happened at potsdam?
they argued what to do about germany-stalin wanted to cripple their economy to prevent themrising up but truman thought this would lead to a repeat of versilles stalin also wanted 10 billion dollars in reparations but turman opposed this for the same reason
turman wanted eastern europe to be free but stalin wanted to cobtrol it
it ended wihtout an agreement
what were the consequences of the use of the atomic bomb
started the arms race betwwen the ussr and usa ensured any furture war between the 2 counties would be a neuclear war
increased tension as stalin felt he would not be able to keep up
when was Hiroshima
6th august 1945
60% of their buildings were destroyed with a single bomb
what had stalin delayed that caused tension with the usa
delayed entering the war in japan despite having prpmised to dec;ar war on japan in retrun for terriorty in the east as negotiated at yalta
what did the usa do in relation to yalta that caused tension with the ussr?
made stalin aware of the testing of the bomb but was not told of the american’s plans to use it in the war against japan but churchill was made aware at yalta
impact on the development of the atomic bomb on realtions between east and west
(lack of communication)
turman kept the details of the bomb’s development a sectret
turman deliberatly timed the testing of the atomic bomb to the first day of the postdam conference to give him an advantage over stalin in negotiations
although stalin was not immediaty told he was aware of turamn’s neuclear wepons due to his spies
impact on the development of the atomic bomb on realtions between east and west
(chnage in power)
stalin felt threatened by the atomic bomb and feared it would affect the ussr’s place
the dropping of the atomic bomb showed the power of the us
