Chapter 2: The Development Of The Cold War 47-49 Flashcards
What was the Truman doctrine
This is where Truman changed the American foreign policy so that the US took over Greece and Turkey from the British, to stop a Communist takeover. Truman wanted to protect capitalist states from the USSR, and believed America should help countries resist communist takeovers by giving economic aid
What was the Marshall plan
This is where America aided war - torn Europe with financial support to help rebuild their strength and economy, creating sustainable trade links and deterring a communist takeover
What were the factors of the Marshall plan
13 billion supplied by the US to rebuild europe Helped Western Europe recover Made Communism less attractive Helped Us countries create trade links Huge propaganda success
What was the USSR reaction to the Marshall plan
Stalin was furious
It was a huge propaganda fail
Stalin made all his eastern european countries refuse the aid
Reduced the likelihood of communist uprisings elsewhere
Why was the Marshall plan ‘selfish’
The main aim was to stop the spread of communism
Gave the US trade links for future profits
Could be viewed as a show of power to the Soviet Union
Stalin claimed it was a US plan to dominate Europe and boost the US economy
Why was the Marshall plan not ‘selfish’
They gave a huge amount (13 billion)
It protected/aided Europe, not America
The US met countries to discuss it, giving them options
The European countries loved it and supported it
The US still had wounds of its own to heal
What was coniform
Coniform (the Communist information bureau), 1947
It was the soviet response to the Truman doctrine. It enabled the Soviet Union to coordinate communist parties throughout Europe. It ensured that eastern European countries followed Soviet aims in foreign policy
Was also used to purge any members who disagreed with Moscow, like Tito
What was Comecon
The Council for Mutual Assistance (Comecon), 1949 was the Soviet response to the Marshall plan
It was supposed to be a way the Soviet Union of financially supporting the eastern european countries. But in reality it was used to:
- control the economics to these states
- give the Soviet Union access to their resources
- encouraged economic specialisation within the Soviet bloc e.g East Germany and Czechoslovakia concentrated on heavy industry
Why was NATO set up and when
(the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation). April 1949
This was because, after the Berlin blockade, there was fear of confrontation in Europe, so European nations established an alliance to ‘keep the US’ in and the USSR out. Members agreed that if one nation was under attack, all the others had to come to its defence
What were the consequences of NATO
(the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) The US was now committed to the defence of western Europe It intensified the arms race The USA set up missile bases in europe Later caused the Warsaw pact The USSR believed it was a threat
What were the causes of the Berlin blockade
- The west wanted to speed up the recovery of Germany, whilst the Soviets wanted the opposite, especially during the Marshall plan
- Berlin was in the Eastern part of Germany, and Stalin did not want the West seeing past the “Iron curtain”
- Stalin disliked the way that the three other powers had united their zones
Factors of the Berlin blockade
From June 1948 - May 1949, Stalin blocked off West Berlin from the rest of the world (318 days, (11 months))
He stopped railways, roads, and anyone leaving or entering. Power was cut, all products were stopped
In response the west flew an airlift to get supplies in
275,000 planes transported 1.5 million tons of supplies, 4000 a day. A plane landed every 3 minutes at the airport
What was the significance of the Berlin crisis
- The cold war got worse, a war almost started over the incident
- The iron curtain became permanent, Germany was split into 2 different nations
- Military alliances were created - NATO and the Warsaw Pact
- The arms race was intensified - both sides realised that they were in competition for world domination. The Soviets made a nuke in 1949
- Huge propaganda success for Americans, Truman was peaceful and the blockade had failed. Huge failure for the USSR, Stalin was furious
What was the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic republic
The Federal Republic of Germany was the alliance of West Germany, France the Uk and the USA
The German Democratic republic was East Germany
