Cold War Flashcards
What countries were in the Grand Alliance?
The USA, the USSR and Britain
When was the Tehran Conference?
1943
What was agreed at Tehran? (2)
- USA and Britain would open a second front and launch an attack on Germany from the West
- Stalin would declare war against Japan
What impact did Tehran have on international relations? (3)
- Stalin was pleased the USA and Britain were opening a second front against Germany
- But Britain was annoyed and wanted the second front in the Balkans
- Good relations between the USA and USSR – development of the two superpowers.
Which leaders met at Yalta Conference? When was it?
Roosevelt (USA), Churchill (GB), and Stalin (USSR) / Feb 1945
What was agreed at Yalta? (4)
- Germany would be divided into zones of occupation under control of the USA, USSR, GB, and FR
- USSR would join the war against JAP
- United Nations to be set up after WWII
- Eastern European countries could hold free elections after the end of the war
What did the Allied leaders disagree on at Yalta?
Stalin wanted to move the border of Poland westwards into German territory – Roosevelt was unhappy but agreed since Stalin promised not to help Communist rebels in Greece. The British supported the London Poles.
Which leaders met at Potsdam Conference, July 1945?
Truman (USA), Attlee (GB), and Stalin (USSR)
What was agreed at Potsdam? (3)
- Germany and Berlin would be divided as agreed at Yalta
- Poland’s eastern border moved west – this would give the USSR more territory
- Nazi leaders to be tried as war criminals
What were the disagreements at Potsdam? (3)
- Truman blocked Stalin’s demands for crippling reparations (fines) to be placed on GMY
- Truman refused to allow the USSR to occupy JAP once it was defeated
- Truman and Atlee opposed Stalin’s demand that he set up pro-Soviet governments in Eastern Europe. Stalin’s Red Army was looking like an army of occupation.
Why was Potsdam less successful? (5)
- Stalin’s troops remained in Eastern Europe – hopes of free elections seemed very distant now
- Truman informed Stalin that the USA now possessed the atom bomb – Stalin feared that the USA might use this weapon in the future against the USSR
- Truman adopted a far more hard-line approach to Stalin than Roosevelt had
- GB and USA were suspicious of Stalin who had now set up a pro-Communist government in Poland
- Stalin was suspicious as to why USA wanted GMY to ‘recover’ economically
When did the USA drop atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan?
August 1945 to end World War Two
How did the development of the atom bombs make the USA and the West feel?
More confident/secure. Could use it to persuade Stalin to hold free elections in Eastern Europe.
What did Stalin do in reaction to the USA’s Hydrogen bomb? (2)
- He made a buffer zone between Eastern European countries and the West.
- Tested their own atomic bomb in 1949.
How did the development of the atom bomb affect USA/USSR relations? (3)
- Increased cold war tensions as the bomb was so powerful
- Made both sides reluctant to go to war
- Arms race between USA and USSR
What was the Kennan Long telegram?
A telegram discussing US-Soviet relations was sent by George Kennan, the US ambassador in Moscow. It said Stalin wanted to destroy capitalism but that the USSR would back down if threatened by the USA.
What was the Novikov Telegram?
A telegram sent by Nikolai Novikov, a Soviet diplomat in Washington that said that the USA wanted to dominate the world.
How did both telegrams affect American-Soviet relations?
Both sides now distrusted the other side even more. Led eventually to America’s policy of containment as the USA felt that the USSR was now looking to spread communism and led to the Soviet desire to protect itself.
Why did Stalin ensure that every government in Eastern Europe was pro-communist?
Stalin wanted to create a buffer zone between east and west. The USSR had suffered two invasions in the last thirty years – if Eastern Europe was under his control, this would make any future invasion less likely
How did the USA interpret Starlin’s ‘buffer zone’?
The USA believed that this was part of Stalin’s aim to spread communism throughout the world – in particular, they thought countries in Western Europe were under threat
What and When was the Iron Curtain speech?
- Churchill visited the USA where he made a speech in which he declared that Europe was being divided by Soviet policy. In the West were free and democratic states, but in the East, countries were living under the domination of communism and the USSR – an ‘iron curtain’ separated the two
- March 1946
How did the Iron Curtain speech affect American-Soviet relations?
It increased tension and mistrust and led the USSR to step up its campaign of anti-Western propaganda. Intensified hostility.
What were satellite states? Name four.
Countries that were freed from Nazi rule by the Red Army. These included: Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Romania.
How did Stalin set up pro-Communist governments?
Although Stalin did hold elections, these were rigged to ensure Communists won. Politicians from other parties were beaten, intimidated, or even murdered (e.g. Jan Masaryk). Even after the war, six million Soviet troops remained in Eastern Europe to stamp out opposition
How did Stalin ensure the satellite states relied on the USSR?
He set up COMINFORM in 1947, an alliance of Communist countries, which restricted their contact with the West. This was done in response to the Marshall Plan. Later on, he set up COMECON to coordinate trade between these countries.
Why did events in Greece change US policy?
Truman was informed in 1947 that GB could no longer afford to keep troops in Greece & Turkey. If GB withdrew these countries could well come under the influence of Stalin. Truman, therefore, paid for the troops to be kept there and gave financial backing to the two countries. This was the beginning of the US policy of CONTAINMENT.
What was Marshall Aid?
Truman believed poverty and hardship were the breeding grounds for communism, and he therefore provided billions of dollars for the wrecked economies of Europe. Between 1948 and 1952 the USA gave $12.7bn to West Europe. He also wanted these economies to recover so that they could provide a market for US-produced goods.
What was the Soviet response to the Truman Doctrine?
Stalin thought it showed that the USA was trying to extend its influence in Europe. He argued that the MP was a way of using economic strength to divide Europe in two. He called it dollar imperialism.
What impact did the Truman Doctrine have on international relations after 1947? (3)
- The USA was now in direct opposition to the USSR
- Stalin’s suspicions of the West were reinforced
- Europe was now divided into two economic and political camps
What did Stalin set up to rival the MP? When
Comecon, 1949
What did Comecon allow?
Aimed to support economic development in member states/trade and industrial planning across East European countries. Trade with the West was discouraged.
What was Cominform?
Set up in 1947 in response to the Truman Doctrine. The political organization included the USSR, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romani, and Poland. Yugoslavia was expelled in 1948.
It directed and controlled the governments of satellite states and made sure they took orders from Moscow.
How did the USA’s actions help to cause the Belin Blockade (1948-1949)? (3)
- West Germany (and West Berlin) were benefitting from Marshall Aid
- GB and USA had combined their parts of West Germany to form BIZONIA, then TRIZONIA (French zone)
- They introduced a new currency called the Deutschmark across Trizonia
How did Stalin interpret the USA’s actions in berlin before 1948?
The USSR believed that this was part of the USA’s to rebuild Germany into a strong nation once more and to leave the Soviet zones in poverty. Now two Germanys had been created: East and West. The West was more prosperous.
Why did Stalin decide to impose a blockade on Berlin in June 1948?
By blockading road and rail links from West Germany into West Berlin, Stalin hoped to test the strength of the USA and to force them into surrendering West Berlin where two million people lived free from Soviet rule.
Why did the USA and GB decide to fly in supplies to West Berlin in 1948/49?
They could not break the road and rail blockade with force as this might be seen as an act of war; nonstop flights (a total of 275,000!) ensured that 1000 tons of food and other necessities came to West Berlin each day. This was known as Operation Vittles or the Berlin airlift.
Why did Stalin not shoot down the planes of the Berlin Airlift?
This would be seen as an aggressive act of war – Furthermore, the US had also stationed B29 bombers in GB, capable of dropping the atom bomb on the Soviets
What were the consequences of the Blockade? (5)
- Stalin gave in and ended the Blockade in May 1949 – he was humiliated
- The USA, GB, and FR combined their zones to form WEST GERMANY (FRG)
- Stalin set up East Germany (GDR) in 1949. West Germany refused to recognise it until the 1970s.
- NATO, a military alliance of western nations, was set up in 1949 to ensure that any future attack by Stalin would be met with force. West Germany joined in 1955.
- Stalin set up the WARSAW PACT in 1955 – a similar alliance of Eastern European countries; by 1949 Soviet scientists had also developed the atom bomb
When were nuclear bombs developed by both sides? (6)
- 1945 USA atomic bomb
- 1949 USSR atomic bomb
- 1952 USA hydrogen bomb
- 1953 USSR hydrogen bomb
- 1957 USA ICBM
- 1957 USSR ICBM
What were the effects of the arms race on both sides? (3)
- Each side became more powerful
- USA and USSR spent huge sums of money on developing conventional and nuclear weapons and armies
- Led to a change in thinking about war – they acted as a deterrent to war
Which President took over from Truman in 1953?
Eisenhower- he was fiercely anti-communist but open to talks between the two sides
When Stalin died in 1953 who took over leadership of the USSR?
Khrushchev in 1956 – followed a policy of de-Stalinisation.
Why were people in the satellite state of Hungary unhappy by 1956? (3)
- Lack of political freedoms
- Fuel shortages
- Poor harvests
Who replaced the Hungarian Prime Minister Rakosi in 1956?
Imre Nagy (Khrushchev hoped he would improve things in Hungary)
What did Nagy do?
He re-organised the government to include non-communists, released political prisoners, and persuaded Khrushchev to withdraw Soviet troops from Hungary.
What did Nagy announce on 1 November 1956?
He would withdraw Hungary from the Warsaw pact
What happened during the Hungarian uprising? (6)
- Khrushchev could not accept that Hungary would leave the Warsaw Pact.
- On 4 November 1956 his Soviet army invaded Hungary – 1,000 tanks rolled into Budapest.
- Nagy begged the West for support but none came.
- Up to 20,000 Hungarians were killed.
- A new pro-communist government was set up under Kadar.
- Despite being offered safe passage out of Yugoslavia, Nagy was tried and executed in 1958
How did other countries respond to the Soviet invasion of Hungary?
Although Radio free Europe, a US-government funded radio station had been urging people of Eastern Europe to rebel against communism, no military support was offered by the USA. The USA was not prepared to interfere in the affairs of an existing communist country.
What was the impact of the Hungarian uprising on international relations? (5)
- Khrushchev’s position in the Soviet Union was more secure
- Warsaw Pact members now knew they had to do what the USSR said
- Khrushchev was more confident dealing with the USA as he knew they would probably not take military action
- The West looked bad – they had not offered military support to Hungary
- Relations between the USA and USSR got worse again as the USA condemned the Soviet invasion of Hungary
How many Germans had left East Germany by 1958?
Three million. Over a sixth of the country’s population.
What kind of people were leaving East Germany during the ‘Brain Drain’?
Skilled workers who were essential to the East German economy, such as engineers, technicians, and teachers.
