Chapter 1 (1945) Flashcards
Yalta and Potsdam
Date of the Yalta conference
February 1945
Date of the Potsdam conference
July-August 1945
Impacts of WW2 on USA
Loss less than 2% of loss inflicted on USSR, economically benefitted
Impacts of WW2 on USSR
70,000 villages destroyed, fought on Russian soil, economy and infrastructure destroyed
Percentage of the world’s goods and services produced by the USA after WW2
50%
Number of Russians killed in WW2
Around 25 million
Number of Americans killed in WW2
300,000
USA + Britain: what they wanted at Yalta
Rebuild Germany, national self-determination, collective security by UN, no spheres of influence
USSR: what they wanted at Yalta
Make Germany weak, spheres for security, Poland as a buffer zone
Meant that they could put their ideological differences aside at Yalta
Fighting a common enemy
Main agreements made at the Yalta Conference
Division of Germany and Berlin, formation of UN, Polish border changes, Declaration on Liberated Europe
Leaders at Yalta Conference
Stalin, Roosevelt, Churchill
Years of the Grand Alliance
1941-45
Leaders at the Potsdam Conference
Stalin, Truman, Atlee
Potsdam: 4 ‘Ds’ for Germany
Division, demilitarisation, denazification, decentralisation
Main agreements at Potsdam
Germany (4 ‘ds’), Polish borders confirmed, reparations
Potsdam: why is the USSR unhappy
Do not get as many reparations as they want
Truman’s attitude at Potsdam
He adopts an aggressive and bullish attitude, confrontational towards Stalin rather than cooperating
Potsdam: why Truman behaves more aggressively
The USA have the atomic bomb, felt more confident and powerful
Potsdam: one reason why Truman behaves differently to Roosevelt
He is inexperienced at foreign policy
Potsdam: what was Stalin’s priority
Soviet security, wanted a buffer zone against the west
Potsdam: what did Stalin break
The Declaration on Liberated Europe = installed Lublin Poles in Poland
Why was there tension between the USSR and the West during WW2?
The West’s failure to put up a second front, the USSR’s failure to help the Poles during the Warsaw Uprising
