Cold War Flashcards
What does the Truman doctrine state?
America should help countries resist communist takeover with economic troops if necessary. It said that capitalism vs communism is like good vs evil.
What did Truman make it clear that they needed to do?
Contain communism which becomes central to American foreign policy e.g vietnam, Korea
What was the Truman doctrine a declaration of?
A declaration of war
What did the Truman doctrine want to do?
Provide economic aid to countries in Europe to rebuild after the war. Truman wanted to do this because communism would look like a fancy option to poorer countries after the war but he wanted to contain the spread of communism. Truman made a speech saying that he would probide 400 million to help Greece and Turkey and send American troops over.
What did the marshall plan do?
It was a practical outcome of the Truman doctrine. It provided economic aid to help war torn countries from communism.
What could the European countries now do after the aid from the Marshal plan
Rebuild without communism
What would the Marshal plan do to the Us economy?
It would improve it as the countries had to agree to trade with them
What was the Soviet response to the Marshall plan?
Stalin said they were ‘enslaving weakened capitalist countries’ and ‘imitating Hitler’.
What term did the Soviets use for the marshall plan?
Dollar imperialism is how the soviets saw the marshall plan as trying to divide Europe in 2 and use their economic power to influence countries in Europe.
What actions did the USSR take in response to the Marshall plan?
Stalin insisted that Eastern European countries should refuse it.
How many countries accepted the marshall plan?
16 and they were given significant help in recovery
What did the 16 countries accepting the Marshall Plan result in?
No more grand alliance
Europe Divided
Intense rivalry for 50 years after
What were the events of the Hungarian revolution in 1956?
23rd Oct - student demonstrations began in Budapest demanding free elections and withdrawal of Soviet troops
24th - Krushchev agrees Nagy can be new prime minister
28th - Soviet troops withdraw from Budapest, government promises free elections and freedom of speech
3rd Nov - Nagy announces Hungary is leaving the Warsaw Pact.
4th - Soviet troops return, after a bloody street battle Soviets regain control.
How did Krushchev respond to events in Hungary?
Ordered Soviet invasion of Hunagry
4 Nov 1956, 1,000 tanks entered budapest
Killed up to 20,000 hungarians
Kidnapped and killed Nagy as a message to all other socialist leaders.
What were the effects/consequences of the Hungary uprising?
Hungary: 20,000 died New-pro communist government under Kadar Nagy hanged in 1958 200,000 fled the country
USSR:
Krushchev position in Soviet Union made stronger
Stringer position in Warsaw pact
Maintained the empire
Superpower relations:
Krushchev became more confident in dealing with USA
West condemned the Soviets - but didn’t back up words
Soured relations
What were some reasons for Hungary demonstrations?
Living standards were poor but Soviet’s saying they are better than ever, lying to the people.
No freedom, western clothes ‘dangerous’. Strict punishments.
Krushchev was a forceful ruler and willing to use force
Purged political opponents
What started the cuban missile crisis?
A US U2 spy plane discovered the Soviet Union’s missile sites in Cuba in 1962. The USA was torn on how to respond: attack and risk war or do everything possible to avoid war
What was the events of the cuban missile crisis?
8 sept - Soviet ships carry nuclear warheads and missiles to Cuba
16 Oct- Kennedy is informed that spy planes found missiles sites on Cuba
20 Oct - Kennedy orders a blockade of Cuba
24 Oct - USSR says a blockade is an act of aggression and its ships will ignore it.
25 Oct - USA and Soviet Union prepare for immediate nuclear attack.
27 Oct - Cuba gets ready for invasion. Krushchev offers to publicily remove Cuban missiles if US does same for it’s Turkey and Italy bases. US remove missiles secretly to make them look better. US agreed to never attack Cuba again
What were the consequences of the cuban missile crisis?
USA appeared strong
Soviet’s appeared weak and Krushchev was replaced by Brezhnev
Communist Cuba survived
Both sides moved towards détente
Hotline created between Washington and Moscow
Limited Test Ban treated was signed
Outer Space treaty
What was the olympic boycotts?
In 1980, the USA boycotted the Moscow olympics in retaliation to the Soviet invasion of Afganistan. This was effective as it meant the Soviet Union couldn’t use the olympics to promote communism as it has intentended to do so and it showed the USA’s influence.
What did the soviets do to retaliate from the olympic boycott in Moscow in 1980?
In retaliation the Soviet Union boycotted the 1984 olympics in Los Angeles
What happened in the fall of the Berlin wall?
East Germany was slow to take on Glasnot and Parestroika
Once neighbouring countries broke free many East Germans started leaving through those countries e.g Hungary
East German government forced to allow greater freedom of travel including opening border with West Berlin.
9th Nov 89 - mistaken announcement by East German press secretary that the birder was to open immediately
Thousands flooded to Berlin wall and started to dismantle it - very symbolic.
What happened in the breakup of the warsaw pact?
Dec 88 - Gorbachev announces end of Brezhnev doctrine
Aug 89 - Hungary opens its borders to East Germans
Oct 89 - sinatra doctrine, Soviet Union no longer interfere with affairs of eastern block
Nov 89 - Berlin wall falls
Dec 89 - communists governments fall in Czechoslovakia (Velvet revolution), Romanian (leader executed), Bulgaria (resigns) and Yugoslavia colapses.
What was the meaning of glasnost?
Glasnost: Russian for ‘openess’ or ‘transparency’. Describes Gobachev new attitude to government and foreign relations.
What was the meaning of parestroika?
Parestroika: Russian for ‘rescontruction’. Describes his programme for resconstructing and restructing the Soviet state.
What did Gorbachev recognise?
Gorbachev recognised that the economy was failing and that public opinion was low.
Why did Berlin become a flashpoint in 1948?
The division of Berlin annoyed the Soviets, as consequently there existed a small island of capitalism within their communist Eastern zone.
What was economic specialisation?
Each country was responsible for a certain part of the economy. Ussr controlled the whole thing.
How did the soviets respond to the Marshall plan and truman doctrine?
Made cominform and comecon.
What date was cominform made?
22nd September 1947
What date was Comecon made?
25th January 1949
What were the aims of Cominform?
Direct and control the governments of the satellite states. Making sure they followed communism and took orders from moscow.
What were the effects of Cominform?
It would effect the spreading of communism.
What were the aims of comecon?
Provided economic development to mentoring states. Main activities were arranging trades and credit agreements between member countries.
What were the effects of comecon?
It would create even more of a divide and help rebuild the Soviet economy.
What was the name of the combination of the Usa, Britain and France Zones in Berlin?
Trizonia
What did France, Usa and Britain create in Trizonia?
Deutschmark, which gave Trizonia economic unity.
What did Deutschmark create?
A separate economic unit from the East and it acknowleged that there was 2 Germany’s- East and West.
What did Stalin see the creation of Deutschmark as?
The west ‘ganging up’ on the Soviet union. He thought they were trying to send the Soviets into poverty.
What did the Berlin blockade do?
Shut off land routes across Soviet-controlled Germany into Berlin.
What did Stalin want to show the Western countries with the Berlin blockade?
That a divided Germany wouldn’t work.
What did Stalin try and achieve with the Berlin blockade?
The main section wouldn’t be able to communicate with Berlin and Berlin would soon run out of food. Stalin hoped the West would just ‘give up’. He gambled.
What would have been the disadvantages if the West withdrew from Berlin?
Would make them look weak.
Lose Berlin
What would the advantages if the West withdrew from Berlin?
No war
No lives possibly lost
What were the disadvantages if the West supplied Berlin by air?
Could get shot down.
On soviet territory.