Co-Operation Ends and the Cold War Begins Flashcards
Who were the three leaders met at Yalta? Where were they the leaders of?
Winston Churchill (Britain)
Franklin D. Roosevelt (USA)
Stalin (USSR)
When did the Yalta meeting take place?
February, 1945.
What was the aim of the meeting in Yalta?
To reach an agreement on what would happen in post-war Europe.
What did Churchill hope to achieve from the meeting in Yalta?
To ensure the survival of the British empire; however, he also saw the USSR as a danger to the West that had to be stopped. This was because as the USSR was pushing the Germans back into Western Europe, it was gaining control over countries such as Poland and Hungary.
What did Roosevelt want to achieve from the meeting in Yalta?
He was not so keen on a revival of the British Empire. He sought the creation of a free world that would be protected by the United Nations (UN), which was a new peace-keeping organisation. The Americans wanted the USSR to join the UN and were prepared to work with Stalin to ensure that this happened.
What did Stalin want to achieve from the meeting in Yalta?
He sought the creation of a ‘buffer zone’ between Western Europe and the USSR as a way of protecting the USSR from attack. To ensure that the countries making up this zone would be friendly towards the USSR, Stalin wanted them to be controlled by communist governments.
What agreements were reached at Yalta?
-Germany and Berlin would be divided into four zones, to be occupied by the armies of Britain, France, the USA and the USSR.
-Germany would pay reparations.
-The UN would be established to keep the peace.
-The USSR would declare war on Japanese in August, three months after Germany’s surrender.
-There would be new borders for Poland.
-Eastern Europe would come under the influence of the USSR. However, it was also agreed that there would be democratic elections in these countries to allow the people of Western Europe to choose their own governments.
When did the Potsdam conference take place? Who met there?
The ‘Big Three’ met again in July 1945.
Since meeting in Yalta, what changes had taken place as the ‘Big Three’ met at Potsdam?
-Hitler was dead and the war in Europe had ended with the surrender of Germany; plans were being made for most US troops to return home.
-Soviet troops were spread throughout Eastern Europe.
-Roosevelt had died in April 1945 and was replaced as President by Harry Truman. Truman did not like Stalin and was suspicious of the USSR’s aims. Truman’s advisers were also urging him to take a harsh line against Stalin.
-Labour’s Clement Attlee replaced Churchill as Britain’s Prime Minister during the conference at Potsdam.
-US and British attitudes towards the USSR were hardening as the watched Germany be stripped of resources and saw puppet governments being set up in several of the countries in Eastern Europe now under Soviet control.
What were the decisions made at Potsdam?
-How Germany was to be divided and occupied. Each power could take reparations from its own zone, although not so much to endanger the lives of ordinary Germans.
-How Austria was to be divided and occupied.
-Changes to Germany’s border with Poland.
While the Potsdam conference was taking place, what was happening? Why was the USA scared?
The war in Pacific against Japan was continuing, and it was proving difficult. The Japanese fought so much that American generals feared the invasion and conquest of Japan itself might cost perhaps a million American soldiers’ lives.
Why was President Truman scared during the Japan war?
He was alarmed by the idea of Soviet intervention in the Pacific, as had been agreed at Yalta. He feared that the USSR would try to establish Communism in the Pacific as they had already done in Eastern Europe.
What happened on the 21st July, 1945?
During the Potsdam conference, Truman received confirmation that an atomic bomb test had been successful.
Did Truman directly tell Stalin about the atomic bomb?
No, but observers at the conference noted that Truman’s attitude towards the Soviets became more assertive from that moment.
What happened on the 6th August, 1945?
The American B29 bomber, Enola Gay, dropped an atomic bomb (nicknamed ‘Little Boy’) on the Japanese city of Hiroshima.
