4 Cold War Flashcards
How did the USA and USSR ideologies clash?
USSR had been communist for more than 30 years
The USA:
- Was Capitalist, Business and property were privately owned
- It was a democracy
- The worlds wealthiest countires (more extremes, very welath and very poor
- Beleived other countires should be run the Amercan way as they saw this as ‘doing the right thing’
The USSR:
- Was Communist, all industry was owned and run by the state
- It was a one party dictatorship/ All candidates belonged to the communist party
- Lower standard of living, unemployment and extreme poverty was rarer than the USA
- Most Soviet people beleived that other countires should be communist and saw the USA’s actions as selfishly building its economic empire and politcal influence
What were the agreements and disagreements at Yalta?
In Februray 1945, It was clear that Germany was losing the European War. The Allies met at Yalta in Ukraine to plan what would happen to Europe after Germany’s big defeat. The Yalta conference went well. The Big three (Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill) agreed on important matters.
Agreements:
Japan - Stalin agreed to enter the war against Japan once Germany had surrendered
Germany - They Agreed that Germany would be divided into four zones: American, French, British and soviet
Elections - They agreed that as coutnires were liberated from occupation by the German army, they would be allowed to hold free elections to choose the government they wanted/
United Nations - They Big Three all agreed to join the United Nations organisation, which would aim to keep peace after the war.
War criminals - As allied soldiers advanced through Germany, they were revealing the horrors of the Nazi concentration camps. The Big Three agreed to hunt down and punish war criminals who were responsible for the genocide
Eastern Europe - The soviet unions had usffered terribly in the war (20 milllion soviets dead). So Stalin was concerned about security (an invasion frm Europe). The Big Three agreed that Eastern Europe should be seen as the ‘Soviet sphere of influence’
Disagreements:
Poland:
- Stalin wanted his border to move westwards into Poland and Poland could move its border westward into Germany.
- Churchill did not approve of Stalin’s plan. However, there wasn’t muhc that could be done as Stalin’s Red Army were in total control of both Poland and eastern Germany.
- Roosevelt was also unhappy about Stalin’s plan, but was persuaded by Churchill to accept it, as long as the USSR agreed not to interfere in Greece where the British were attemtping to prevent the communist taking over. Stalin accepted this
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What were the changes since Yalta at the Potsdam conference?
In May 1945, 3 months after Yalta, Allied troops reaached Berlin. Hitler commintied suicide and Germany surrendered.
A second conferemce of the Allied leaders was arranged for July 1945. In the Berlin suburb of Potsdam. However, in the five months since Yalta a number of changes had taken place which greatly affected the relationships between leaders/
Changes since Yalta:
1) Stalin’s armies occupied most of Eastern Eruope
Soviet troops liverated countires in Eastern Eruope Stalin left his troops there. Many refugees fled due to fears of a communist take-over. Stalin had set up communsit governments in Poland, (against the wishes of the majority of Poles. He insisted this control was a defensive measure against possible future attacks.
2) America had a new president
On the 12 April, 1945, President Roosevelt died. He was replaced by his vice-president, Harry Truman. Truman was a very different man from Rossevelet. He was much more anticommunist and suspicious of Stalin. He saw Stalin’s actions in Eastern Europe as preparations for a Soviet take-over of the rest of Europe,
3) The allies had tested an atmoic bomb
On 16 July 1945 the Americans successfully tested an atomic bomb at the desert site in the USA. At the start of the Potsdam conference, Truman informed Stalin about it.
What were the disagreements at Potsdam?
Germany:
Stalin wanted to cripple Germany completely to protect the USSR against future threats. Truman did not want to repeat the mistakes of the TOV.
Reparations:
20 million Russians had died in the war and the USSR was devastated. Stlain wanted compensation from Germany. Truman, however, was once again determined not to repeat the mistakes at the end of the First World War and resisted this demand.
Eastern Europe:
At Yalta, Stalin had win agreement from the Allies that he could set up pro-Soviet governments in eastern Europe. He said, ‘If tha slav (majority of east European) people are united, no one will dare move a finger against them’. Truman became very unhappy about Russian Intentions and sson adopted a ‘get tough’ attitude towards Stalin.
What was the iron curtain?
The Postdam conference ended without complete agreement on any of the disagreements on the previous page. Over the next 9 months, Stlain achieved the domination of eastern Europe that he was seeking. By 1946 Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Albania all had communist governemtns which owed their loyalty to Stalin. Churchill described the border between Societ cotnrolled contrires and the west as an Iron Curtain.
What was Cominform?
Stalin gradually tightened his control in each country througout eastern Europe. The secret police imprisoned anyone who opposed communist rule.
Cominform:
In October 1947, Stalin set up the Communsit Information Bureau, or cominform, to co-ordinate the work of the communist parties of eastern Europe. Cominform regularly borught the leaders of each communsit party to Moscow to be breifed by Stalin and his ministers. This allowed Stalin to keep a close eye on them. He spotted independent-mindded leaders and replaced them with people who were completely loyal to him. The inly cimmunsit leader who escpaed this close control was Tito in Yugoslavia. He resented being controlled by Cominform and was expelled for his Hostiltiy in 1948.
How did the USA react to soviet expansion?
Western Powers were alarmed at Stalins complete take-over of eastern Eruorpe. Whilst they had agreed on the Soviet Sphere of Influence and that Stalin would Heavily infliuence this region. They did not expected Stalin’s complete communsit domination. They felt it should have been possible for governments in Eastern Europe to be both democratic and freidnly to the USSR. Stalin saw his policy in Eastern Europe as making himself secure, but Truman could only see the spread of communism.
By 1948, Greece and Czechoslovakia were the only eastern european country not controlled by communist governments. It seemed to the Americans that not only Greece and Czechoslovakia but even Italy and France were vulnerable to a communist takeover. The events in two of these countries were to have a decisive effect on America’s policy towards Europe.
What happened in Greece?
After the Nazis retreated from Greece in 1944 there two rival groups. The Monarchists and the communists. Churchill snet troops in Greece in 1945 to supposedly help resotre order and supervise free elections . In fact, the British supported the monarchists and the king was retured to power.
In 1946 the USSR protested that British troops were a threat ot peace in Greece to the UN. The UN took no action so communists tried to take control of Greece by force. A civil war developed. Britian couldm’t afford the cost of such a war and announced on 24 Februray 1947 that they were withdrawing their troo[s. Truman stepped in. Paid for by the Americans, some British troops stayed in Greece. They tried to prop up the King’s government. By 1950 the royalsits were in control of Greece. Although they were a very weak government, always in crisis.
What was the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall plan?
The Truman Doctrine:
American Intervention in Greece marked a new era in the USA’s attitude to world politics, which became known as ‘the Truman Doctrine’
Under the Truman Doctrine, the USA would send Aid to any country threatened by a communsit takeover. Truman accepted the eastern Europe was now communist. His aim was tro prevent the spread of communism further. This was known as containment.
The Marshall Plan:
Truman beleived that communism succeded when people faced poverty and hardship. He sent the Secretary of State and former US army generl George Marshall to asses the economic sate of Europe. Europe owed $11.5 billion to the USA. They were extreme shortages of all goods and ost ocuntires rationed bread. There was such a coal shortage in the hard winter of 1947 that in Britian all electricity was turned off for a period each day. Churchill descirbed Europe as ‘a rubble heap, a breeding ground of hate’.
Marshall suggested about $17 billion would be needed to rebuild Europe’s prosperity. He said the poicy was directed against hunger, poverty, desperation and chaos.
In December 1947, Truman put his plan to congrees, For a short time, the American congrees refused to grant this money. Many americans were becoming concerened by Truman’s involvement in foregin affairs, Besides $17 billion was a lot of money.
What happened in Czechslovakia?
American’s attitude cahnge when the communsit tok over the government in Czechoslovakia. Czechoslovakiahad been ruled by a coalition government which, although it included communists, had ben trying to persure policies independent of Moscow. The communists came down hard in March 1948. Anti-soviet leaders were purged. One pro-American minister, Jan Masaryk, was foudn dead below his open window. The communits said he had jumped. The americans suspected he’d been pushed. Immediately accepted the Marshall Plan and made $17 billion availale over a period of four years
What was Marshall Aid?
Marshall aid was an extremely genours act by the American people. However, it was also motivated by American slef interest.
- The USA wanted to create new markets for American goods to prevent events such as the great depression of the 1930s again.
- Many in the US government argued that Aid should only be given to states which embraced democracy and free markets (a government and economy the USA aprroved of). They wanted an ‘open door’ to these countries as the policy was called, with no trade tariffs or other restriction to stop US companies.
Stalin viewed Marshall aid with suspicion. After expressing some intial interest he later banned all governemtns of cominform for applying for Marshall aid. He thought the anticommunsit aims behind the Marshall Aid would weaken his hold on Eastern Europe. He also felt that the USA was trying to dominate as many states as possible by making them dependent on dollars.
What were the causes of the Berlin Airlift?
By 1948 distrust between USA and USSR was alarming. Both sides increased their weapons stocks and a propaganda war developed. They both denounced the policies or the plans of the other. Despite this the two side never fired on one another. But in 1948 it looked like they might.
After the war, Germany was divided into 4 zones. At first the US plan, known as the Morganthau Plan, was to remove all German Indsutry and make it an agricultural coutnry so it could never wage modern war again. However, as Truman gew more concerned about the USSR, he decided that a strong Germany might be a useful ally. It was also clear that if German industries were not allowed to recover then tens of millions of Germans would simply starve. In 1946, Britian, France and the USA combined their zones. This became West Germany in 1949.
Berlin was devided into 4 zones as well and lay deep inside soviet territory and was linked to westerm areas by roads, railways and canals.
What were the events of the Berlin Airlift?
In June 1948 Stalin blocked these supply lines, stopping the Western pwoers reaching their zones of Berlin. If the USA tried to ram the roadblocks or railway blocks, it could be seen as an act of war. Stalin expected Truman to announce a humilitatin withdrawal from Berlin, which would given the soviets control of berlin and a propaganda victory.
If they gave in to Stalin on this issue then he would become further invloved and commmunsit may spread to western Germany. Truman ordered aircraft to fly supplies into berlin. This was known as the Berlin airlift. As the First planes took off from their bases in West Germany everyone fear that the soviets might shoot them down - an undeniable act of war. People waited anxiously as the planes flew over Soviet territory but no shots were fired. For the next ten months, West Berlin received the supplies it needed in this way - everything from food and clothing to building materials and oil. Stalin eventually lifted the blockade in May 1949.
What were the consequences of the Berlin Airlift?
A power symbol:
- Berlin became a powerful symbol of Cold War rivalry. From the US point of view, it was an oasis of democratic freedom in the middle of communist repression; from soviet point of view it was a cancer growing in the workers paradise of East Germany.
- Cold War flashpoint: Was one of the few places where US and Soviet troops faced each other directly (and on a daily basis), and it would be vulnerable if the Soviets chose to act. Later in the Cold War, Berlin would become even more significant.
- Cold War patterns of thinking and acting: Despite the mistrust shown by the superpowers, the crisis in Berlin suggested that there would not be direct war between them. There would be other types of conflict as each side would always distrust one another and use propaganda to critisice the other side. They would fight ‘proxy wars’ - helping any state, group or individual opposed to the other side, no matter what that state, group or individual was like. There were also more formal allainces.
What was NATO and the Warsaw Pact?
During the Blockade, war between the USSR and the USA seemd a real possibility. At the height of the crisis, the Western powers met in Washington DC and signed an agreement to work together. The new organisation, formed in April 1949, was known as NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization). An attack on one was an attack on all.
Although the USSR was critical of Nato, Stalin took no further action until 1955, when the NATO powers allowed Western Germany to join the orgnaisation In response the USSR and mian communist states in eastern Europe formed an allaince known as the Warsaw Pact. Its members promised to defend each other if any one of them was attacked.
