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Year 13 History- USA > 1945-1975 Foreign Policy > Flashcards

1945-1975 Foreign Policy Flashcards

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1
Q

why was stalin so resentful of america after ww2?

A

lost 20m russians

believed fdr should’ve entered ww2 sooner

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2
Q

what were the 2 key post war conferences?

A

potsdam (july 1945)

yalta (feb 1945)

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3
Q

what 2 things were agreed at yalta?

A
  • russian occupied nations should have democratic elections (usa feared this was just a way for ussr to expand)
  • germany divided into 4 zones and occupied by each of the allies
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4
Q

what key thing happened before potsdam in july 1945, and what key thing happened during it?

A

fdr died, replaced by truman

during conference Atlee won GB election, and replaced churchill as negotiator

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5
Q

why did the allies now feel no need for the ussr’s help after 1945, and what did this cause?

A
  • usa hat atom bomb
  • germany defeated

no longer happy to look at russian aggression sympathetically

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6
Q

give 3 key points regarding soviet expansion after ww2?

A
  • stalin took resources from germany etc to help rebuild ussr
  • ‘democratic’ elections all won by communist governments
  • when most were reducing their armed forces, stalin kept his at ww2 size and left troops in eastern european areas that had been occupied by the nazis
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7
Q

what divided the communist east and capitalist west of europe?

A

iron curtain

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8
Q

what did the ussr see eastern europe behind the iron curtain as?

A

a buffer zone from capitalist threats

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9
Q

what was the truman doctrines sole aim?

A

to resist the spread of communism at all costs

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10
Q

what was the marshall plan, and how much did it spend?

A

help economic recovery of the west/assist countries fighting domestic communism (e.g. greece/turkey)
$12.5b by 1951

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11
Q

what was stalins response to the marshall plan?

A

cominform and comecon

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12
Q

when was NATO formed?

A

1949

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13
Q

what was unique about berlin?

A

split into 2 (east comm, west cap) but it was in east germany behind the iron curtain
meant west berlin was at threat of becoming communist, usa determined to stop this

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14
Q

what was stalin doing to east germany?

A

draining it of resources

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15
Q

what did stalin do against capitalism in the berlin blockade of 1948-49?

A
  • 26th june 1948: soviets formed a blockade against western berlin
  • truman resisted, and started an airlift programme over the next 10 months where 2.3m tonnes of materials lifted into west berlin over blockade
  • stalin dared not fight back, and removed the blockade on 11th may 1949
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16
Q

what was the outcome of the berlin blockade?

A

by 1950 germany was 2 countries

17
Q

where was korea split in half after it was freed from the japanese in 1945?

A

38th parallel

18
Q

what sparked the korean war?

A
  • domino theory (china had fallen to communism in 1949)

- kim il sung supported by stalin, so if truman supported the south then he could be directly-indirectly against stalin

19
Q

outline the korean war?

A
  • june 1950: north easily invade the south
  • 27th june: alarmed usa persuaded UN to support SK
  • 15th september: Inchon landings led by MacArthur
  • 7th october: MacArthur invaded NK as far as china, alarming Mao
  • 25th november: 200k chinese attacked USA, backed by stalin
  • 31st december:500k more chinese entered, recapturing NK and driving usa back
  • feb-march 1951: us landed more troops and used bombers to get back to 38th parallel, but lost 54k doing so
  • march 51- 1953: truman sacked MacArthur when he criticised him publicly, and by july 1953 a truce was agreed
20
Q

what happened in hungary in 1956?

A

revolt against communist government (rebels hoped for US support)
Khrushchev used military force to impose a communist government loyal to USSR
americas failure to intervene showed dominance of soviets in eastern europe

21
Q

when was sputnik launched?

A

1957

22
Q

when was nasa formed?

A

1960

23
Q

when was the warsaw pact signed and why?

A

1955

rival NATO

24
Q

what 3 things caused the cuban missile crisis?

A
  • kennedys aggressive stance towards russia and other rising tensions (e.g. space race, vietnam, berlin wall)
  • castros rule on cuba since 1959 and the trade deals with russia; in 1960 america stopped trading with russia, so cuba nationalised all US owned companies in cuba
  • bay of pigs: CIA tried to get anti cuban exiles to invade cuba, but it was a massive failure and russia promised cuba weapons to defend against america
25
Q

outline the events of the 1962 CMC?

A

14th october: U2 spy plane takes pictures of cuban missiles, tells kennedy theres 10 days until they’re operational
22 oct: kennedy announces naval blockade on cuba
24th oct: Khrushchev accused america of piracy
25th oct: russian oil ship reaches blockade, is allowed through- all other russian ships turn back carrying missiles+ secretly america offered to remove their missiles in turkey if cuba gets rid of theirs
26th oct: krushchev sent a message to kennedy offering to dismantle missile bases if the usa lifted blockade and didnt invade cuba
27th oct: krushchev also tells usa to remove turkey base, and shots down a U2 plane. kennedy ignores incidents, and tells agrees to russian terms
28th oct: krushchev agrees and the crisis ends

26
Q

what was the gulf of tonkin?

A

aug 1964: claims of 2 attacks on maddox and turner joy

LBJ+McNamara asked for congressional support (was it just an excuse to send direct action against communists)

27
Q

how many died during the vietnam war for the usa?

A

58k

300k injured

28
Q

give 3 reasons for strong opposition to the vietnam war?

A
  • draft was unpopular
  • chemical attacks etc.
  • bombing of cambodia (led to congress repealing gulf of tonkin resolution in 1971)
  • nixons madman theory
  • should’ve ended after 1968 tet offensive
29
Q

define detente?

A

reducing cold war tensions by bilateral agreements

30
Q

what was signed at the SALT talks?

A

Ballistic missile treaty (limiting number of missiles for both sides)

31
Q

what halted the second round of SALT talks?

A

russian invasion of afghanistan

32
Q

what was the nixon-kissenger plan?

A

push on with detente

33
Q

when did the berlin wall go up?

A

13th august 1961

Year 13 History- USA (8 decks)

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