Co-Operation Ends And The Cold War Begins Flashcards
describe the characteristics of a capitalist democracy
Free and regular elections where people vote for candidates
freedom of the press and of speech is protected. people are free to disagree with the political system.
Individuals own the different industries. They are free to keep the profits that they make
Describe the characteristics of a communist country
Elections (if they are held at all) have no choice - all candidates are for the same party. Only the government party’s ideas are heard
No freedom of speech. The media is only allowed t print and say what the government allows it to.
All industry is under the control of the government. Individuals aren’t allowed to make a profit.
Describe the characteristics of a Cold War
Indirect fighting Rival ideologies (USA= capitalist, USSR=communist) The arms race The space race Propaganda War
When did the bolsheviks seize power in Russia, who were they led by and why did this worry other countries?
October 1917
V I Lenin
They believed in communism and wanted to destroy the capitalist system that they operated
When did Britain agree to recognise the communist regime as Russia’s government?
1924
When did the USA agree to recognise the communist regime as Russia’s government?
1933
What did Stalin sign with Hitler in August 1939 and what did it mean?
Non-Aggression Pact
USSR didn’t go to war against the Nazis a month later when WW2 began. This was mainly because USSR wasn’t ready for War
When did Germany invade the Soviet Union?
June 1941
what went wrong for the USSR when they went into alliance with the allies?
The soviets suffered terribly during the Nazi Invasion. With perhaps as many as 20 million people killed during the war, yet Britain and America ignored Stalin’s pleas to open up a ‘second front’
who was the USSR leader in 1945?
Stalin
who was the USA leader in 1945?
Franklin D Roosevelt / Harry Truman
who was the UK leader in 1945?
Winston Churchill / Clement Atlee
What conference was held in February 1945 and what happened?
Yalta conference (Ukraine) Leaders of the ‘Big Three’ met to reach an agreement on what would happen in post-War Europe.
What was Churchill hoping to achieve at the Yalta conference?
Ensure the survival of the British empire
Saw USSR as a danger to the west that needed to be stopped
What was Roosevelt hoping to achieve at the Yalta conference?
Not keen on the revival of the British Empire
Sought the creation of a free world that would be protected by the United Nations
Wanted the USSR to join the UN
What was Stalin hoping to achieve at the Yalta conference?
Sought the creation of a buffer zone between Western Europe and the USSR as a way of protecting the USSR from attack
Wanted them to be controlled by communist governments so he could ensure they would be friendly towards the USSR
What decisions were made at Yalta?
Germany and Berlin would be divided into four zones, occupied by the armies of Britain, France, USSR and USA
Germany would pay reparations
UN would be established to keep the peace
USSR would declare war on Japan in August, 3 months after Germany’s surrender
New borders for Poland
Eastern Europe would come under the influence of the USSR. There would be Democratic elections to allow the people of Eastern Europe to choose their own governments
What conference was held in July 1945 and what was it about?
Potsdam Conference, Germany
US and British attitudes towards the USSR were hardening as they watched Germany being stripped of resources and saw puppet governments being set up in several of the countries in Eastern Europe now under Soviet control
which leaders attended the Potsdam Conference?
Roosevelt had died in April 1945 and was replaced by Harry Truman, who didn’t like Stalin and was suspicious of the USSR’s aims
Labour’s Clement Atlee replaces Churchill as Britain’s PM
Stalin
When did WW2 end?
May 1945
What decisions were made at the Potsdam conference?
How Germany was to be divided and occupied
How Austria was to be divided and occupied
Changes to Germany’s border with Poland
What were Truman’s worries about defeating Japan?
Japanese fought so much that American Generals feared the invasion and conquest of Japan itself might cost perhaps a million American soldier’s lives
Truman was also 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 21st July 1945 during the Potsdam conference?
Truman received confirmation that an atomic bomb test had been successful. He didn’t directly inform Stalin that the USA had developed an atomic bomb, but observers at the conference noted that Truman’s attitude towards the Soviets became more assertive from that moment
What happened on 6th August 1945?
America dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Everything within a 2 mile radius was flattened and people at ground zero were vaporised. Around a quarter of a million people were killed.
