cold war Flashcards
yalta conference 1945
- germany was losing so leaders met to discuss what would happen to it
- germany would be split into 4 zones: america, britain, france, soviets
- free elections in countries to choose government
- joined the united nations
- punished soldiers for war crimes (concentration camps)
- agreed eastern europe should be a soviet sphere of influence
potsdam conference 1945
war was over
- stalin had occupied countries in eastern europe to help but he refused to remove troops which caused communist scare
stalin wanted to cripple germany and make them pay compensation but truman did not want to repeat the treaty of versaille
- stalin wanted a pro-soviet government in eastern europe
iron curtain
- by 1946 poland, hungary, romania, bulgaria and albania had communist governments
- churchill described these borders as an iron curtain
- stalin imprisoned anyone against communism
cominform 1947
this was made to organise communist parties. stalin replaced leaders with loyal people to him.
countries were alarmed by this and truman saw this as communist spread
greece 1947
- monarchists v communists
- communists wanted soviet government
- monarchists wanted king of greece
- churchill (supported the mon) sent troops to supervise elections
- monarchists won
- USSR appealed to UN as protest
- UN did nothing so communists tried to take control by force
- a war escalated so britain withdrew
- truman stepped in and sent money to britain
- 1950 royals were in power
marshall plan
- george marshall was sent to access economic state of europe
- there was a bad economy
- truman wanted to give 17 billion to sort out problems and contain communism
- truman doctrine was a plan to send money, food, equipment to countries under communist threat.
- in 1947 it was refused at congress but when communists took over czechoslovakia in 1948 it was accepted
berlin blockade 1948
- USA and USSR had a propaganda war.
- britain, france and usa combined theri parts of germany to make western germany in 1949
- stalin wanted to fight back if they entered the sphere of influence
- in 1948 stalin blocked roads, railways and canals to stop western powers reaching berlin
- stalin wanted truman to announce a withdrawal
- instead truman ordered aircrafts to fly supplies in which were the berlin aircrafts
- soviets did not shoot and in 1949 stalin removed the blockade
berlin blockade consequences
- soviet and west claimed victory
- west setup NATO
- berlin was a symbol of cold war
- increased soviet fear in west
- there was no physical fighting
NATO
western powers met and signed an agreement to work together in 1949 which is NATO
warsaw pact
stalin was critical of NATO.. when NATO allowed west germany to join in 1955 stalin formed an alliance between the communist states called the warsaw pact. this was an agreement to protect each other if they were attacked
