1945-1975 Foreign Policy Flashcards
why was stalin so resentful of america after ww2?
lost 20m russians
believed fdr should’ve entered ww2 sooner
what were the 2 key post war conferences?
potsdam (july 1945)
yalta (feb 1945)
what 2 things were agreed at yalta?
- 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
what key thing happened before potsdam in july 1945, and what key thing happened during it?
fdr died, replaced by truman
during conference Atlee won GB election, and replaced churchill as negotiator
why did the allies now feel no need for the ussr’s help after 1945, and what did this cause?
- usa hat atom bomb
- germany defeated
no longer happy to look at russian aggression sympathetically
give 3 key points regarding soviet expansion after ww2?
- 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
what divided the communist east and capitalist west of europe?
iron curtain
what did the ussr see eastern europe behind the iron curtain as?
a buffer zone from capitalist threats
what was the truman doctrines sole aim?
to resist the spread of communism at all costs
what was the marshall plan, and how much did it spend?
help economic recovery of the west/assist countries fighting domestic communism (e.g. greece/turkey)
$12.5b by 1951
what was stalins response to the marshall plan?
cominform and comecon
when was NATO formed?
1949
what was unique about berlin?
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
what was stalin doing to east germany?
draining it of resources
what did stalin do against capitalism in the berlin blockade of 1948-49?
- 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
what was the outcome of the berlin blockade?
by 1950 germany was 2 countries
where was korea split in half after it was freed from the japanese in 1945?
38th parallel
what sparked the korean war?
- 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
outline the korean war?
- 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
what happened in hungary in 1956?
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
when was sputnik launched?
1957
when was nasa formed?
1960
when was the warsaw pact signed and why?
1955
rival NATO
what 3 things caused the cuban missile crisis?
- 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
outline the events of the 1962 CMC?
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
what was the gulf of tonkin?
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)
how many died during the vietnam war for the usa?
58k
300k injured
give 3 reasons for strong opposition to the vietnam war?
- 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
define detente?
reducing cold war tensions by bilateral agreements
what was signed at the SALT talks?
Ballistic missile treaty (limiting number of missiles for both sides)
what halted the second round of SALT talks?
russian invasion of afghanistan
what was the nixon-kissenger plan?
push on with detente
when did the berlin wall go up?
13th august 1961
