Brainscape Deck Flashcards
In July & August of 1945, representatives from the USSR, the US, & UK divided into zones of occupation at the ______
Potsdam Conference. The British, French, Americans, & Soviets each agreed to occupy roughly a quarter of Germany. In addition, the parties divided Berlin (which lay within the Soviet Zone) into four quarters, each assigned to one of the four powers.
In an agreement with the US, Stalin & the USSR were to allow free elections in the Eastern European countries they occupied at the end of World War II. What were the results of these elections?
The countries of Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, Hungary, & Czechoslovakia all backed Soviet candidates, although the elections were not open & honest. The Soviets’ failure to allow open & honest elections strained relations with the US.
What did Winston Churchill an “Iron Curtain” in 1946?
Churchill was referring to the USSR’s domination of the countries of Eastern Europe. The term Iron Curtain came to represent the ideological & economic divide between the countries of Western Europe and those countries of Eastern Europe under Communist Control.
In early 1947, US President Harry Truman announced that the US would provide aid to ____, where pro-Western forces were involved in a civil war with Communist troops.
Greece. Truman announced the aid with the statement that “the policy of the US is to support free people who are resisting subjugation by armed minorities or by outright pressure.” Truman’s support for non-Communist nations resisting Communist forces became known as the Truman Doctrine.
Beginning in 1948, US foreign policy centered upon the doctrine of containment. What is containment?
Suggested by George Kennan, the US foreign policy of containment centered on containing Communism to those countries where it existed and halting its further spread. Containment led to the creation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and to US involvement in the Korean and Vietnam Wars.
What was the Marshall Plan?
Beginning in 1948, the US provided $13 Billion in economic aid to rebuild Europe after the devastation of WW2. Aid was available to al European countries, but was rejected by the USSR, & the Communist states of Eastern Europe. The Marshall Plan didn’t only repair damage, but also aimed to modernize European industrial and business facilites. As part of the policy of containment, the Marshall Plan allowed the pro-democracy government of France and Italy to provide an alternative to Commmunism. The Marshall Plan was a resounding success. By 1951, those European countries involved in the Plan saw their economies grow at a rate 35% higher than in 1938. The Marshall Plan also proved advantageous to both the US and Canada. As the only Western economies were not destroyed by war, most Marshall Plan purchases came from these two countries.
How did US President Truman and the Western powers respond to Stalin’s 1948 closure of road and rail traffic to their enclaves in Berlin?
The US, Britain, and France each had enclaves under the control in Berlin, which had at most a month’s worth of food and coal and required 5000 tons of food per day to supply. With the assistance of the British and French air forces, Truman launched an airlift into Berlin to keep the city supplied. The Berlin Airlift was a success, and Stalin reopened access to the city in May 1949.
How did the Berlin Airlift affect the creation of the two separate countries of East and West Germany?
After the Berlin Airlift, the de facto division between the USSR controlled and Western-controlled areas of Germany became official. The USSR sector became the Germany Democratic Republic(East Germany) and the western portion became the Federal Republic of Germany(West Germany). Armed checkpoints prevented people from leaving East Germany.
In 1949, in partial response to the Berlin Airlift, the US, Canada, UK, France, and several other European nations created a mutual defense organization, the Nort Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). How did the USSR respond?
The USSR created their own alliance with the Eastern European Communist states: the Warsaw Pact. The formation of NATO and the Warsaw Pact formalized the Cold War, which would last until 1991. Several former Warsaw Pact countries are now member of NATO.
Define: Cold War
The Cold War, often dated from 1945 to 1991, was a longstanding state of political and military tension between the USSR and its allies and the West primarily the US and the NATO nations. Neither side’s allies were limited to the Western world, as both sides had defense arrangements with countries in Africa and Asia as well.
In 1949, the USSR escalated the Cold War by detonating their first atomic bomb. How did President Truman respond?
Truman countered the USSR threat by giving approval for the development of the H-Bomb, which was 450 times more powerful than the bomb dropped at Nagasaki. Competition between the USSR and the US had escalated into an arms race, which would continue virtually unabated until the fall of the USSR in 1991.
After the end of the Second World War, who set up democracy in Japan?
General Douglas MacArthur. MacArthur set up a parliamentary democracy, but retained the Japanese Emperor as a figurehead. In addition, the Japanese constitution barred Japan from participating in (rest blocked)
What took place at the end of WW2?
At the end of WW2, a civil war between the republican forces and the communist forces, led by Chairman Mao Tse-Tung, resumed. In 1949, Chiang Kai-Shed was defeated and fled to Taiwan, establishing a separate government there. Communist forces took over Mainland China. The rise of a Communist Chinese government, allied with the USSR, terrified the Western powers.
Define Domino Theory
The Domino Theory held that if one nation feel to Communism, nations in the immediate region would also fall, creating a chain reaction. The Domino Theory was used to justify American intervention in both Korea and Vietnam.
How did the US and the USSR administer the Korean Peninsula at the end of the Second World War?
After the War, the Korean Peninsula had been divided at the 38th Parallel, with the USSR occupying the northern portion and the US occupying the Southern one. Elections to establish a permanent government were to take place in 1948, but never happened. Instead, the North formed a Communist government under Kin II-sung, and the South formed a democratic government, under Syngman Rhee.
