A World Divided: Superpower Relations (Chapters 1 and 2)

Question 1

What were the long term reasons for poor relations between the USA (the West) and Soviet Union?

These were the reasons why relations were poor before the second world war, which goes to show that the Grand Alliance was only a ‘marriage of conveinance’ to defeat their common enemy, Nazi Germany

Answer 1

• Ideological differences - Communism vs capitalism, single party rule vs free elections, classless society vs lots of wealth inequality. This was the basis for mistrust as they felt the other beliefs were being imposed on their people
• During the Russian civil war, the West had sent troops to help the Whites so Russia could get back into the war (as well as for ideological reasons), worsening relations as it showed the Bolsheviks (who were still in power) that the West wanted to see them overthrown
• In 1938, the West had allowed Nazi Germany to take over parts of Czechoslovakia, and though it was very close to the Soviet Union, they did not include them in negotiations, showing Stalin the West did not want to co-operate
• Stalin’s Nazi-Soviet pact with Hitler in 1939, agreeing to split up parts of Poland. This meant Britain and France had to declare war on Germany after they invaded Poland, with the Soviet Union only helping out once the Nazis started to invade them (even though they had taken their portion of Poland upon the commencement of the war)

Question 2

What were the reasons for poor relations between the USA (the West) and Soviet Union during World War 2 (excluding the conferences)?

Answer 2

• Britain and the USA delayed opening a second front which would have taken the pressure off of the Soviet Union until 1944, which Stalin saw as them allowing the Nazis to weaken them
• Stalin had made a push into Berlin at the end of the war before Western troops had arrived so he could take control of Berlin and have a larger share of it, further worsening relations with them and the West
• The USA had not let Stalin know about the development of their nuclear bombs which they dropped on Japan, which made Stalin worried they were planning to use them on the Soviet Union

Question 3

What were the terms agreed at the Tehran conference (1943)?

Answer 3

• A second front was agreed to be opened against Germany in Western Europe
• Stalin would declare war against Japan, but only once the Nazis were defeated
• It was agreed that Germany should completely surrender and remain weak, and that the Soviets could keep some land in Poland they had captured in 1939
• The groundworks for the United Nations were laid

Question 4

What were the effects of the Tehran conference on superpower relations?

Answer 4

• For now, it improved them as Stalin was anxious about the second front and the USA needed the Soviet’s help in Japan
• That being said the fact that it had been delayed in the first places accentuated tensions and this talk was the precursor to disputes surrounding Eastern Europe

Question 5

What were the terms agreed at the Yalta conference (Feb 1945)?

Answer 5

• Germany would be split into four zones, each owned by a power and Germany would have to pay reparations and establish a new government
• Stalin agreed to hold free elections for the governments of countries in Eastern Europe he still had control over
• Poland’s borders were drawn up, giving the Soviet Union signifigant gains, though it was a point of major debate. Stalin agreed to hold free elections in Poland as he expected a pro-communist government to be elected
• Agreements about the United Nations and the Soviet’s declaration of war on Japan were finalised

Question 6

What were the effects of the Yalta conference on superpower relations?

Answer 6

• Overall, this conference improved relations as the West were relieved to hear about the free elections
• Though Poland did highlight some clear tension, especially which ideology the new Polish government would support and how much land Poland would get (as it is representative of what the Soviet Union might do with other Eastern European countries)

Question 7

What were the terms agreed at the Potsdam conference (August 1945)?

At this conference, Truman was there because Roosevelt died, and Clement Atlee was elected instead of Churchill. Germany had also surrended, and the USA had developed nuclear weapons

Answer 7

• Agreement that Berlin should be split into four zones, each ruled by a power was made, with the Soviet Union gaining half
• Agreements on how Germany should be divided were finalised
• No agreement was reached over the Governments of Eastern Europe, as Truman was objected to the Soviet’s rule of these countries but there was nothing he could do without risking war
• Truman rejected the borders previously drawn up for Poland and its communist influenced government
• While Stalin wanted Germany to pay heavy reparations, Truman was worried it would damage its economy, so it was agreed they would take money from their own controlled zones of the country

Question 8

What were the effects of the Potsdam conference (and the conferences in general) on superpower relations?

Answer 8

• Many issues were agreed on
• However, the main point of contention was Eastern Europe
• Stalin wanted to secure his power in this countries and use them as satellite states for the Soviet Union’s security, while Truman saw this as Stalin’s way to spread communism
• So overall, the conferences increased tensions between the two superpowers

Question 9

What was the impact of the atomic bomb on superpower relations?

Answer 9

• The Soviets were left uninformed, which made Stalin feel he like was going to be the next target
• Stalin could see that the bomb dropped shortly after the Potsdam conference commenced was only for negotiating power and so that European countries would ally with the USA
• Therefore, all this led to was making Stalin want to expand the Soviet Union into Eastern Europe even more in order to create a buffer zone
• Over the course of the cold war, the nuclear weapons created very high tensions and started an arms race

All of these things signifigantly worsened relations

Question 10

What were the causes of Soviet expansion into eastern Europe?

Answer 10

• Throughout 1944 and 1945, the Soviets freed many countries in Eastern Europe from the Nazis
• However, when the war ended, Stalin kept control of these states
• He did this to create a buffer zone to protect the Soviet Union from attack, as well as expanding the Soviet sphere of influence and communism

Question 11

Which eastern European countries were fully taken under communist control?

Answer 11

Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia

Question 12

Which countries were communist already, but never occupied by the Red Army or the Soviets?

Answer 12

Yugoslavia and Albania

Question 13

Which countries were democratic and non-communist, but were turned communist by the Soviets?

Answer 13

• Poland (Non-communists were allowed to be defeated by Germans in 1944, then the Soviet Union invaded and made a communist government)
• Czechoslovakia (previous government overthrown)
• Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania (people threatened into voting for a communist government)

Question 14

What were the effects of Soviet expansion into Eastern Europe?

Answer 14

• Truman knew Stalin wanted to do this, but when he actually did it relations signifigantly worsened
• This was because Truman thought this was evidence that Stalin wanted to spread communism and Soviet influence around the world, triggering his containment policy

Question 15

What was George Kennan’s long telegram and what did it say?

Answer 15

• George Kennan, the USA ambassador in Moscow, sent a telegram to the US Government discussing Soviet views
• He reported that Stalin wanted to destroy capitalism and felt that the rest of the world wanted to destroy the Soviet Union and communism
• He reported that the Soviet Union wanted to spread communism globally
• He also said that when met with force, the Soviet Union may soften

Question 16

What were the effects of George Kennan’s long telegram?

Answer 16

• It worsened relations and made the United States much more aware of the Soviet threat and how Western ideals were at stake
• It was a signifigant reason for the US’s policy of containment and getting tougher with the Soviets

Question 17

What was Nokikov’s telegram and what did it say?

Answer 17

• Nokikov, a Soviet diplomat in Washington, sent a telegram to the Soviet government discussing US views
• He reported that the USA wanted to use its massive military power and economy to dominate the world and spread capitalism, and that they were not willing to co-operate with the Soviets
• It worsened relations by making the Soviets believe that the USA was a threat to communism and Soviet interests and was important in encouraging Stalin to secure his buffer zones even more to protect the Soviet Union

Question 18

What was the Iron Curtain Speech and what did it say?

Answer 18

• Winston Churchill, no longer Prime Minister but still influential, made a speech in Missouri regarding the Soviets
• In light of what had recently happened in Hungary, Poland, Romania and Bulgaria, he said that the Soviets were a threat to freedom and world peace
• Stalin thought these views reflected American views, so secured his buffer zones even more and published anti-west propaganda
• The US also got tougher with containment, so overall it deeply worsened relations

Question 19

What were the main points of the Truman Doctrine?

Answer 19

• Communism meant no freedom and democracy so must be contained
• Truman was prepared to send troops and economic aid to US allied countries vulnerable to becoming communist

Before he made this doctrine, the US had done this once before during the Greek civil war in 1947 to defeat the communist-government there

Question 20

What was the Marshall plan?

Answer 20

• As part of the Truman Doctrine, Truman decided to sent economic aid to help war-torn countries in Western Europe recover to prevent communism from taking them over
• Between 1948 and 1952, over 13 billion dollars were given as part of Marshall aid alone to countries including Britain, France, West Germany, Italy, Netherlands and many more countries in Western Europe
• Some economic aid was offered to Soviet states in the east, but Stalin rejected it as he did not want reliance on the US

Question 21

How did the Soviets respond to the Marshall plan?

Answer 21

• They called it ‘dollar imperialism’
• They belived that it was the US trying to extend its influence by making countries reliant on them
• It showed them that the they had no hope of an alliance and relations worsened, dividing Europe into two

Question 22

What were the two organisations Stalin set up in response to the Marshall Plan?

Answer 22

• Cominform (1947)
• Comecon (1949)

Question 23

What was Cominform?

Answer 23

• It was a government body in assocation with all Communist parties in Europe
• It allowed Stalin to control these states as satellite states, spreading propaganda and rejecting US influence

Question 24

Why was Comecon formed and what was it?

Answer 24

• Stalin wanted communist states to be independent and not rely on the US, so he had to set up his own economic aid package
• Therefore, Comecon was set up to give aid to the Soviet-influenced communist governments in eastern Europe such as Bulgaria, Hungary, East Germany and more

Question 25

What were the causes of the Berlin blockade (1948)?

Answer 25

• Formation of Trizonia (British, French and American zones of Germany and Berlin combined)
• Creation of the Deutschmark in order to give Trizonia economic utility
• Showed that there were, effectively, two Germany’s and neither wanted to co-operate with the other
• Stalin, seeing that West Berlin was a way for Western influence to be spread in East Germany, looked for ways to mitigate Western economic and political control

Question 26

What were the events of the Berlin blockade (including airlift) of 1948?

Answer 26

• Stalin cut off all ground routes into West Berlin from West Germany meaning it could not receive any supplies in an attempt to unify Berlin under full Soviet control
• Truman knew he could not force supplies into Berlin along the ground as it could be seen as war, so instead organised airlifts to take supplies from allied zones into West Berlin (Operation Vittles)
• It was hugely successful, bringing in supplies at a peak of 1000 tonnes per day in January 1949
• A year later, Stalin gave in and West Berlin had survived

Question 27

What were the effects of the Berlin Crisis on Germany?

Answer 27

• In order to gain better control of the region, Trizonia came together to create a country known as the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) which had free elections
• Stalin responded by creating the German Democratic Republic (East Germany), though only communist bloc countries recognised it as a nation

Question 28

What were the causes for the creation of NATO?

Answer 28

Stalin’s threat to Berlin, as well as the communist takeover in Czechoslovakia persuaded the West that they needed a formal military alliance to protect countries from communism

NATO was signifigant because it showed the Soviets that the US were willing to get involved militarily in foreign affairs, contradicting their isolationist policy and worked as a deterrent to the Soviets to invade Western Europe