5.1-5.2 ID-Sig Flashcards
Atlantic Charter
joint declaration between Roosevelt and Churchill that expressed the two countries’ beliefs in the rights of self-determination (but not for themselves) + belief that all nations must abandon the use of force and work collectively towards security
Propaganda weapon against axis
Sig: publicly affirmed solidarity between US and Britain, could be seen as the first real step towards a world organization and paved the way for UN
Iron Curtain
metaphor used to describe the political boundary (imaginary line) dividing up Europe between soviet and western influence
Sig: symbolized efforts by the USSR to block itself and its satellite states from open contact with the west and non soviet controlled areas,used to arouse fear
De-nazification
allied initiative to rid German and Austrian society, culture, press, economy, judiciary, and politics of the nazi ideology following ww2 (goal at Potsdam)
Sig: never fully completed and the developing Cold War meant that Britain and America felt that west Germany was a useful ally against communism and USSR
Soviet Sphere
collectively refers to the world territories dominated by the USSR politically, economically, militarily during the Cold War
Sig: USSR would infiltrate liberated countries and force communism on them, aggravating western powers, communism government formed, acted as a buffer state in case the west attacked by land
Cominform
organization established by Stalin in 1947 with the goal to unite the ideologies of communist nations after ww2 to help maintain soviet influence over the satellite states, replaced the Comintern
Sig: strengthened Stalin’s control of Eastern Europe and communism by uniting countries to follow Stalinism and formed a barrier to protect USSR from invasion from the west
Bi-polar powers
dividing the world into two competing blocs (Americans, and soviets), began the spheres of influence and division of Germany)
Sig: defined the iron curtain and established spheres of influence, influenced new era of superpower competiton
Greek Civil War
Greek communists unsuccessfully tried to gain control of Greece
Sig: one of the first conflicts of the Cold War where communism was attempted but failed to take power, left Greece in a greater economic crisis than the country suffered as a result of German occupation
Comm insurgents threaten UK backed royalist gov, British can no longer afford to support Greece and asks US for help
Truman Doctrine
American foreign policy that pledged support for democracies against authoritarian threats, argued that the US could no longer stand by and allow the forcible expansion of Soviet totalitarianism into free independent nations
Sig: established US political, military and economic assistance to democratic nations under threat from authoritarian forces
US policy of govs vs communism and led to formation of nato
US will move from isolationism
Marshall Plan
proposed that US provide economic assistance to restore the economic infrastructure of postwar europe (only for allies outside soviet sphere)
Sig: caused tensions to grow because it encouraged Stalin to publicly denounce the USA’s actions and strengthen his hold on Eastern Europe
Administered by OEEC, defensive move by Western Europe vs Soviet expansion, 16 countries received aid
Comecon
economic organization of Soviet bloc countries established by Stalin among the communist countries to encourage interdependence in trade and production as the second pillar
Sig: consolidation of Soviet bloc
Encouraged economic integration, to coordinate economic and social development of Soviet satellite state
McCarthyism
leader of anti-communist crusade and ruined the lives and reputations of hundreds of Americans, launched a series of attacks on the CIA,claiming it had been infiltrated by communist agents
Sig: particularly responsive note at a time of deepening national anxiety about the spread of world communism (red scare)
McCarthyism: fostered idea of red scare, led to hysteria and witch hunt, right wing movement in US involving mass investigations and black listing
Domino Theory
geopolitical theory which posits that changes in the political structure of one country tend to spread to neighbouring countries in a domino effect
Sig: western belief that if one area or region falls, neighbours at risk (korea)
Containment
US realized that communism would be impossible to shut down communism entirely, so wanted to prevent the spread of communism post ww2
Sig: NATO created by the UN to help prevent spread of communism
CIA
US government agency that provides objective intelligence on foreign countries and global issues to the president
Sig: data collection and analysis important for arms control regulations with USSR through Cold War
What are the similarities and differences between the Yalta and the Potsdam conferences?
Yalta: Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin
Divided Germany into 4 occupied zones, divided Berlin and Vienna temporary, agreed upon free elections in liberated Eastern Europe, Stalin declared war on Japan, idea to create UN, Nuremberg trials and discussion of German reparations
Stalin demanded buffer zone at the expense of polish territory
Potsdam: Stalin, Churchill (replaced by Atlee), Truman
Reparations to be paid from Germany to USSR, denazification, demilitarization, disarmament, promote democracy in Germany with free local elections, called for unconditional surrender of Japan
USA didn’t tell Stalin about atomic bomb, USSR expels 5 million Germans from Poland, continued problems on division of Germany
