Chapter Two: The Breakdown Of The Grand Alliance

Question 1

What events had taken place prior to Potsdam and why were they significant?

Answer 1

• death of Roosevelt: Truman a lot harsher on communism and not have the experience or relationship with Stalin that Roosevelt did. Ended lend-lease aid programme to the USSR
• USA atomic bomb: Americans no longer need USSR to help destroy Japan and possession would force Stalin to make concessions in Eastern Europe but it made Stalin suspicious of USA and motivated to catch up

Question 2

What was decided at Potsdam?

Answer 2

1. Allied control council (ACC): each power responsible for its own zone but in the end the AAC had limited power
2. Reparations: no set amount — USSR already stripping Germany of its resources whereas west wanted Germany to be self sufficient in its economy
3. British section had highest population density
4. Denazification

Question 3

What was the iron curtain speech?

Answer 3

A speech given by Churchill in USA in 1946. First time ussr and communism were named publicly as the enemy. Stalin angered by this. Some say it was the start of the Cold War

Question 4

What was the Truman doctrine?

Answer 4

The Truman Doctrine (1948) demonstrated that the United States would not return to isolationism after World War II, but rather take an active role in world affairs. To help rebuild after the war, the United States pledged $13 billion of aid to Europe in the Marshall Plan.

Question 5

What was Marshall aid?

Answer 5

Economic aid to newly emerging counties in Europe after ww2 to stop them becoming vulnerable to communism. Offer was extended to Moscow to prevent USA looking like the ones at fault for diving Europe but gave ussr terms they couldn’t agree to. Stalin ordered counties in Soviet sphere not to accept

Question 6

What happened at the Moscow conference of foreign ministers (1947)?

Answer 6

• a successful failure
• ussr wanted 4 power control
• west offered revising of Potsdam agreements
• nothing decided