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
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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