Beginning Of The Cold War Flashcards
1
Q
Describe what happened at the Potsdam conference (4)
A
- In 1945, after the war, Stalin, Truman from USA and Atlee from Britain met up who had never met up before
- There was an agreement of splitting Germany into four for each superpower
- Nazi leaders were to be tried as war criminals
- Stalin announced that he wants reparations from Germany which the leaders hadn’t previously discussed
2
Q
Explain why the USA was hostile towards the Soviet Union in the years 1945-1949 (8)
A
- Truman (western ally) was suspicious of Stalin’s motives in Europe, he was less trusting that Roosevelt had been.
- Truman was against communism but Stalin had replaced non Communist leaders in Poland with Communists. He had removed democratic governments also.
- Truman believed he was going to set up USSR controlled States in European countries that he occupied
- Stalin caused tensions in the decisions over Germany and he refused to reduce the size of the Red Army. The western allies wanted Germany to recover as quickly as possible but Stalin had different views
3
Q
Explain why Marshall aid was offered to countries in Europe (8)
A
- To help USA fight the spread of communism in Europe (containment)
- It would help the Europe’s ruined economy and it would gain them allies
- It would improve US trade opportunities in Europe and Truman wanted to prevent another economy disaster for USA like during the depression.
- They had introduced Marshall aid when the communists took over Czechoslovakia so it was already known to work in Europe
4
Q
Explain why the Soviet Union blockaded West Berlin in 1948 (8)
A
- Stalin was in charge of the western part of Germany and part of Berlin. There was already existing tensions and mistrusts between Stalin and the other superpowers from Potsdam and yalta and he was a communist leader and the others did not agree with communist governments.
- People were moving from East Germany to the West as people were living in more wealth there than under Stalin, because there was poverty (as he did not want to rebuild Germany) so this would have angered Stalin.
- Stalin was opposed to a new currency for Germany in the allied zones. The others wanted Germany to recover.
- He was suspicious about the three allies creating a new Germany that would be wealthier.
- He saw them as a threat to the communist way of life and if they got wealthier then Germany would become strong and threaten the USSR
5
Q
What was decided at the Yalta conference in February 1945? (4)
A
- Germany to be divided into four zones run by each superpower - Churchill & Roosevelt
- Berlin to also be divided into four run by each superpower
- Eastern European countries to have free elections
- USSR to join in war against Japan in return for territories in the Far East
- Stalin wanted frontier to move west into German territory and Churchill and Roosevelt had no choice as USSR troops were still in Poland
6
Q
What did the USSR gain from the yalta and Potsdam conferences? (4)
A
- Strength in Eastern Europe
- One Soviet zone in Germany and in Berlin
- An agreement that USSR could enter the war against Japan
- That Eastern Europe should be seen as a soviet sphere of influence
7
Q
Explain why it was difficult to reach an agreement in the Potsdam conference (6)
A
- Roosevelt had died and been replaced by Truman who was much more anti communist and distrusting of Stalin so tensions had risen. Truman thought he would take over the Europe with communism. There was Attlee representing UK which was new as well
- Truman announced that he had an atomic bomb. This caused tensions and there was a new race between USA and USSR to develop atomic weapons
- They disagreed about what to do about Germany. Stalin wanted more reparations from Germany but the others didn’t due to remembering the damage of WW1 reparation. Stalin was suspicious that they wanted Germany’s economy to recover.
8
Q
What decisions about Germany were taken at yalta and Potsdam? (4)
A
- To split Germany and then Berlin into four zones, each occupied by UK (Churchill), USA (Roosevelt), France and USSR (Stalin)
- For Germany’s reparation to not be as big as WW1’s even though stalin did want bigger reparation than the others, which caused disagreement but the others did not want a repeat of Versailles
- Some German territory was taken by Poland and the others had no choice but to let Stalin do this and he then agreed to not interfere in Greece
- They would hunt down nazi war criminals and put them in prison in Germany
9
Q
What was the iron curtain? (4)
A
- A term introduced by Churchill in his speech
- A divide between capitalism and communism
- A metaphorical curtain in Europe between the west and east
- The west is dominated by USSR is controlled by soviets
10
Q
Explain why the wartime allies disagreed about Poland in 1945 (6)
A
- Stalin disagreed with the others because he wanted to be in charge of the government and he wanted it to be pro-Soviet, like he had done with the Lublin Poles.
- Truman and Attlee were anti-communist but Stalin had communist ideas about taking over Poland and they had already had tensions relevant to communism in the past
- Poland was the traditional enemy of USSR so the Soviet Union were determined to have it as a communist state under their control. The others had not had this experience of previous tensions and wanted to preserve the Republic.
- There was a growth of communism in Eastern Europe and the others were frightened of this rapid increase
11
Q
Explain why there was a breakdown in relations between USSR and the west from 1945 to 1945 (6)
A
- The allies in Europe had the same enemy - the USSR - and they were both anti communist. The two sides (USSR and the others) disagreed on reparations at yalta and Potsdam as Stalin did not want to rebuild Germany’s economy.
- The USA also announced that they had an atomic bomb so Stalin thought that Truman didn’t tell him because he wants to win worldwide power
- The western allies were concerned about Poland’s borders, as the others did not want communism to spread as much as it was by Stalin. Churchill had made his iron curtain speech which enforced how separate the countries were with ideas and views.
12
Q
Explain why the USA-USSR alliance had broken by 1947 (6)
A
- Stalin was annoyed at Truman for not telling him at Potsdam that he had an atomic bomb and stalin was convinced that he would use it to win worldwide power. A race of atomic weapons between USA and USSR raised tensions and threats
- Both sides had differing views about things- Poland’s borders, Germany’s reparation and communism. Stalin felt vulnerable so they created communist countries as a barricade between them but Truman supported Churchill’s iron curtain speech which left an impact on the British and USSR relationship so it affected USAs relationship too.
- The war was over and they had nothing in common whereas during the war they both had mutual enemies - Germany
13
Q
Explain why Berlin was a cause of tension between East and west between 1945 and 1949 (6)
A
- In 1947 the allies merged their zones and worked together without Germany and even went about to introduce a new currency which Stalin felt threatened by because he thought Germany would then be a threat to USSR
- The formation of west Germany was against the original yalta agreement and by these actions Germany became a small island of capitalism and democracy surrounded by communism
- There was a Berlin blockade, dividing the two styles of government but the west side was very successful and wealthy whereas USSRs Germany was poor so his people living there would rebel against him and move to the east of Germany instead
14
Q
The USA was successful in containing communism in Europe up to 1949. How far do you agree with this statement? (10)
A
- Yes because the majority of eastern Europe remained anti Communist and Greece in particular did not become communist
- Also yes because Stalin was unsuccessful with the Berlin blockade
- When the west introduced the Truman doctrine and Marshall aid, this was effective and made clear to Europe that they would easily help stop the spread of communism and it was effective for Greece.
- ## When Germany was a republic and the allied zone, people were moving from living in the east to the west as they would be living better lives there. This is evidence that even the people who were being controlled preferred life under the allied forces than Stalin’s communist ideas. If people living in Communist countries had the choice, they would leave
- However, no because Stalin was still in control and got as many countries communist as he did (all Eastern European governments except Yugoslavia) such as late Czechoslovakia and he established his communist satellites
- Stalin further made actions that would make communism more powerful and he set up communist alliances like comiform in 1947. He acted quickly in response to the NATO set up as he announced that he was part of a communist version of it
- The west changed their policy of containment to no longer push communism back, to just contain it, in 1947 showing a sign of weakness as they had to compromise
- ## Churchill, from the west declared that an iron curtain had descended over Europe, admitting that Stalin was successful in his intentions of spreading communismOverall, I do think that containing communism was successful but it was not the west’s success. Stalin and the red army were too mighty for any of the satellite countries to fight back against and Stalin would never have had gotten away with it for that long, people would have moved or stood up to him like the people of west Germany did.
15
Q
The Berlin blockade was more to blame than the Marshall plan for increasing Cold War tension. How far do you agree with this statement? (10)
A
- It was more to blame as
