2.1 causes of the cold war (1945-50) Flashcards
what are the ideals of a capitalist nation?
- business and property privately owned
- democracy based on a two party system
- there were extremes of wealth and poverty
- americans believed that every country should be run this way
what are the ideals of a communist nation?
- the USSR was communist, all industry was owned by everyone
- one party dictatorship - believed solely in communism
- though countries should be run the soviet way
- the rights of individuals were less important and many people were employed
when did the cold war take place?
1945-50
when was the yalta conference? and what was the purpose of it?
feb 1945 - to decide what would happen after the second world war
who were the big three during the yalta conference?
churchill, FDR and stalin
what were churchill’s beliefs?
- he was an imperialist -> believed in the empire
- had always been suspicious of communism
- served many years in the government - first as a liberal and then as a conservative
- had an aristocratic background
what were FDR’s beliefs?
- had a wealthy background
- was progressive and liberal
- strove for internationalism
- had been president for 12 years
what were stalin’s beliefs?
- former revolutionary
- from a poor background
- a ruthless dictataor - came to power through terror
- paranoid about enemies
- committed to the USSR becoming a global power
what was agreed during the yalta conference?
- stalin agreed to join the war against japan
- countries liberated from german occupation would be allowed to choose their government in free elections
- to track down nazi war criminals
- germany would be divided into 4 occupied zones: US, soviet, britain and france
- to help stalin ensure the USSR would neve be invaded again, eastern europe would become a soviet sphere of influence
what were the areas of disagreement during the yalta conference?
- stalin wanted the border of the USSR to move westwards into german territory
churchill and roosevelt both disapproved of this plan but agreed because stalin said that in return he wouldn’t interfere in greece, where the british were attempting to prevent the communists from taking over
who replaced roosevelt?
harry truman - he was much more anti-communist than roosevelt
- truman believed that the soviet union’s actions in eastern europe preparations for them to take over the rest of europe
-
when was the potsdam conference?
1945
what were the disagreements at the potsdam conference?
- germany stalin wanted to protect the USSR from german threats by completely crippling germany. however, truman didn’t want to make the same mistake as the treaty of versailles
- reparations - stalin wanted compensation for the deaths of 20 million russians in the war. initially, truman agreed but changed his mind later. this confused stalin because he didn’t understand why anyone would want to protect germany
- eastern europe - stalin insisted that his pro-soviet givernments in eastern europe were defensive measures against future attacks. truman was concerned about soviet intentions
what was the significance of churchill’s ‘iron curtain’ speech?
1946 - churchill expressed his belief that the USSR posed a great danger to europe and the world. he condemned stalin’s actions towards europe
how did the communists gain control of eastern europe?
1) banning other parties - czechoslovakia, bulgaria
2) killing or imprisoning other opponents - romania, hungary, poland
3) winning democratic elections: albania, east germany
what was the truman doctrine?
- the beginning of the containment policy - trying to stop the spread of communism
- the USA said they would provide money, equipment and advice to any country that was under the threat of communism
what was marshall aid?
- truman sent an army general (gerorge marshall) to assess the situation in europe -> marshall concluded that 17B was needed to rebuild europe
- at first, US congress was reluctant to agree but changed their minds when communists took over in czechslovakia
- the plan was approved in april 1948
what is dollar imperialism?
- the soviet view that marshall aid had the motive of making american countries dependent on american trade
why was stalin concerned about the truman doctrine and marshall aid?
- he believed it was an act of self-interest
- he felt that truman was trying to influeence as many states as possible by making them dependent on US money (dollar imperialism)
- he believed it would weaken his hold on europe
what led to berlin blockade being made?
- by 1948, there was much distrust between USA and USSR and there was threat of war
- both sides were stocking up on weapons and took every opportunity to threaten and denounce each other’s politics -> war of propaganda
what happened to germany after the WW2?
- germany was split into 4 zones: british, french, soviet and american
- morgenthau plan: was to remove all german industry so that it could never wage a modern war
- ## truman decided that germany could be a useful ally against USSR
when did britain, france and the US merge their zones of germany?
- ## 1946 - they combined their zones to become known as west germany in 1949
what was the berlin blockade?
- stalin wanted to show the wastern powers that he could fight back
- berlin was divided to four zones at the time but the main city was in the soviet zone and was linked to the western zones by canals, roads and railways
- stalin cut those supply lines so that the western zones could no longer access their part of berlin, nor could they rebel violently because it would be an act of war
- stalin wanted truman to back off from berlin to give the soviets complete control
what was the berlin airlift?
- truman ordered that the aircrafts should fly supplies into berlin
- everyone feared that those planes would be shot down - an act of war
- stalin couldn’t shoot them down so all supplies to the western part of berlin were flown in
when was the berlin blockade lifted?
- lifted in 1949
- west germany recovered from US aid
what is nato?
north atlantic treaty organisation
- founded in 1949 by the USA
- western powers wanted to work together so an attack on one of them would be considered an attack on all
what was the warsaw pact?
- a pact between the USSR and the satellite states to defend each other if any one of them was attacked
which countries were considered to be satellite states?
- the eastern bloc - the countries in eastern europe, who had communist governments in 1949 (their equivalent of NATO)
what is MAD?
mutually assured destruction
what are some examples of proxy wars?
- korean war
- vietnam war
