Cold War Flashcards
Describe the features a Capitalist government (USA)
- Democracy - people can choose between republican or democratic government
- Fear of communism
- Belief that other countries should be ruled their way
- Sees their policies as ‘doing the right thing’
Describe the features of a Capitalist industry (USA)
- Businesses & property privately owned
Describe the features of Capitalism regarding individual rights (USA)
- Worlds wealthiest country
- With extremes: some people are very rich, and some very poor
- Being free from the government thought to be more important than equality
Describe the features a Communist government (USSR)
- Dictatorship
- Rights tightly controlled
- Belief that other countries should be communist
- Feeling that it is their role to spread communism over the world
Describe the features of a Communist industry (USSR)
- Industry run by the state
Describe the features of Communism regarding individual rights (USSR)
- Standard of living lower than in USA
- Less unemployment
- Less extreme povery
Where was the Yalta conference?
Yalta, Ukraine
When was the Yalta conference?
February, 1945
(War was coming to an end)
Who participated in the Yalta conference?
Joseph Stalin, Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt
What agreements were made in the Yalta conference?
- Stalin to enter war with Japan when Germany is defeated
- Germany to be divided into 4 zones; British, French, Soviet, American
- Countries to have free election
- Big three to join UN & keep peace
- To hunt creators of the Nazi concentration camps
- Eastern Europe to be a ‘soviet sphere of influence’
- Stalin to hold democtratic election in Poland (he does not do this. Instead, he sends returned Polish politicians to the Goulags month later)
What were the different opinions on the disagreement at the Yalta conference?
Stalin: Wants his border with Poland to move westward, and Poland to move into Germany
Churchill: Did not approve, but did not want to make a move as Stalin had his red army securly in eastern Germany, and poland
Roosevelt: Was convinced by Churchill to not interfere as long as USSR does not try to convert greece to communism
What makes the Yalta conference a turning point?
It shows that Europe is now divided
How does Stalin discover about the Atom bomb and why is this important/what does it demonstrate?
He has secret intelligence in the USA that reported back to him. This shows he did not fully trust the USA.
When was the Potsdam Conference?
July 1945
5 months after the Yalta Conference
Where was the Potsdam Conference?
Potsdam, Germany
Emphasises Germany’s defeat
Who participated in the Potsdam Conference?
Harry Truman, Clement Attlee & Joseph Stalin
What important events happen between the Yalta and Potsdam conferences?
- Roosevelt –> Truman
- Churchill –> Attlee
- Germany has surrendered
- The atomic bomb is first tested (Manhattan Project)
- USSR has invaded majority of Eastern Europe
Btw Stalin’s spies know about the Atomic Bomb
What disagreements were there at the Potsdam conference?
Germany
- Stalin wants to cripple Germany so it poses no threat to the USSR
- Truman does not want to repeat the mistake of Versailles
Reparations
- 20,000,000 Russians died in the war, so Stalin wants compensation from Germany (e.g money/slave labour)
- Truman does not want to repeat the mistake of Versailles
Eastern Europe
- Stalin wants to set up pro-communist governments as a buffer zone
- Truman is afaid of spreading communist influence, as agreed in Yalta, but Truman is opposed to this idea
What “agreements” took place at the Potsdam conference?
- Germany is to be divided into 4 pieces (France, Britain, USA & USSR), and Berlin (which is in USSRs territory) is split into 4 again.
- Fair elections to take place in eastern europe (Stalin completely ignores this)
Stalin is not happy
What reasons caused the allies to fall out in 1945?: Personalities
- Capitalist/Conservationist Churchill is replaced by Democtratic Attlee, meaning he was kind of in the middle while Stalin and Trumans opinions conflicted
- Friendly Roosevelt is replaced by less tolerant, strict Truman, meaning he is more menacing towards the USSR
- Hitler is gone, and so is the Allies’ common enemy
What reasons caused the allies to fall out in 1945?: Actions by the USA
- The manhattan project & the creation of the Atomic Bomb. This leads to USA using this as an untold threat if other countries don’t behave their way. This also creates suspicion on the behalf of Stalin
What reasons caused the allies to fall out in 1945?: Actions by the USSR
- Stalins secret intelligence tells him about the Atomic bomb in advance, increasing his mistrust
- The fact that Stalin is controlling most of eastern europe & insists of on them becoming satellite states
What reasons caused the allies to fall out in 1945?: Misunderstandings
- At Yalta, it had been decided that the USSR could have a Soiet sphere of influence. However, Truman does not want to let this happen.
- There is a conflict about Poland, as Stalin wants is for his buffer zone but Churchill and Roosevelt want free elections there
- Secret deal between USA & USSR at Yalta letting them have absolute Veto in the UN
- USSR is told to invade Japan but USA is going to deal with them using the Atomic bomb
What was the iron curtain?
It was both a landmark/barrier/frontier geographically, but also an ideological divide between Eastern and Western Europe. On the Eastern side, most countries were under communist influence and control.
Which countries were in the soviet sphere of influence?
Poland, Hungary, Albania, Romania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia
During which period was the USSR establishing communist governments in other countries to create a buffer zone?
from 1945 - 1948, mostly during 1946/47.
What was the Cominform?
The Communist Information Bureau, coordinated the communist parties of Eastern Europe. They even went as far as reinforcing communist parties in Italy and France. They regularly brought the Communist leaders to Moscow, and got rid of too strong-minded leaders.
When did Churchill make his speech about the Iron curtain?
1946
Who was marshall Tito?
A general fighting against Hitler during WW2, and who was elected Preident of Yogoslavia. He wanted to apply communism his own way and resisted the Cominfrm, and was expelled from it in 1948.
Who wrote the long telegram, and to whom was it written to?
George Kennan (embassador) to Harry Truman (President)
When was the long telegram sent?
February 1946
What were the three main points in the long telegram?
- USSR is determined to destroy democracy
- Communism only becomes popular if people are poor and ignorant
- USA should give economic aid to poor countries to keep them safe from communism
Summarise the events from 1945-48 that turned Czechoslovakia to a Soviet Satellite State
- The USSR withdraws in 1945
- Beneš returns to Czeckoslovakia right after
- He forms a left-wing coalition
- Communism gains support in 1946, and becomes the largest party
- USA refuses to give loans from the Marshall plan to Czechoslovakia because they opposed Germanies rearmament. This ironically creates more support for communsim.
- USA proposes Czechoslovakia helps with Marshall plan, but this is met with rvolts
- Throughout Feb 1948, other political parties are slowly forced out of the coalition
- Beneš forcedm to retire and his first minister suspiciously dies
- Communism organise rigged vote to assert their dominance
When was the Greek Civil War?
1947
When was Greece invaded by Nazi?
1941
When did Germany retreat from Greece?
1944
Which two groups wanted power in Greece, 1944?
Monarchists (want to establish a king) vs Communists (want to establish a soviet republic)
What was decided at the Lebanon Conference, 1944?
The when WW2 ended, there would be a referendum to decide the new Greek government. The communist party was to stop attacks, but they could make a party in the government.
Britain supervised this
Why did the Greek Civil war break out?
Britain was helping Greece establish a Monarchist goverment in Athens, but the communist revolutionaries wanted the government to be communist, so they protested and war broke out.
Who supported who during the Greek Civil war?
Stalin refused to support the communist rebels as they were on the side of General Tito. Meanwhile, Truman grants economic support to the anti-communists to win the war and establish a new government.
Why are was Truman’s intervention in the Greek Civil War significant?
This time, it could not be blamed on Stalin that he was trying to manipulate other countries. It was truman who molded other countries governments to please him.
What was the concept the Americans called the ‘Domino Effect’
If one country were to become socialist, it would increase the chance of other countries becoming socialist, and this must be stopped before it gets out of hand.
This is one of the rwasons why the Americans were scared of Communism.
When did Truman declare the Truman doctrine?
March 1947
What type of change in foreign policy did the Truman doctrine cause?
Isolationalism –> Internationalism
What was (publicly) the aim of the Truman doctrine?
Wage war against poverty and mantaining the freedom of countries
What was (secretly) the aim of the Truman doctrine?
Containment of communism
What did the Truman doctrine request?
$400 Million aid for Turkey and Greece
What was the state of Europe after the war?
$11.5 billion owed to America
How much aid was given by the Marshall plan?
$17 Billion of social, Industrial, and economic aid
Which countries agreed to the Marshall plan?
All of europe except for USSR and his satellite states
What are the possible ulterior motives of Truman regarding the Marshall plan?
- Containment of communism
- Gaining control over Europe and buying it’s support
- Getting more partners for ‘open door’ trade
What causes the congress to agree to the Marshall plan?
First they resisted, then Czechoslovakia was purged of anti-communist leaders
How does Stalin interpret the Marshall plan?
Attack against communism
What were the causes that led to the Berlin Blockade?
- Rising tensions between East and West, seeming as of war would break out
- ‘Propaganda war’ taking place, where the East and the West try to influence the populace in Europe
- The Deutschmark is introduced as a new currency that unites Western Germany. In addition, the parts of Western Germany want to meld together as one
- All of these factors make the USSR afraid of the West eaming up against the East
In addition, the USSR findswest Berlin annoying, like a disturbance in theur territory that could be a danger to their ‘Soviet Sphere of Influence’
What was the Berlin Blockade?
- All channels, railways and roads are cut off by Stalin
- This movement was a sort of checkmate - If the USA tried to ram through to Berlin, they would be sparking a war
- The USSR want Berlin to themselves, and expect USA to give up
What was the Berlin Airlift?
As a reaction to the Berlin Blockade:
- America sends planes to transport supplies to Western Berlin, which was starving, and were followed by Britain
- If the USSR were to shoot these planes, they would be declaring war
- ‘Operation Santa Claus’ & ‘Operation Vittles’ send presents and chocolate to Berlin to gain popularity
This was a defenite win for the USA
How long did the Berlin Airlift last?
10 months
How many tonnes of supplies were flown to Berlin during the Berlin Airlft
250,000 tonnes
What were the consequences of the Berlin Blockade?
- Propaganda for the West & USA reputation gets better
- Berlin becomes a powerful location and symbol of USA and USSRs rivalry
- This is a cold war flashpoint; everyone knows that a cold war is happening by now
- Suggests the Cold War would never be outright violent, more tensions, propaganda, manipulaton and manouvers, and fight ‘proxy wars’
- NATO
- People leave Berlin
- Better relationship between G and West
- G divided into 2 blocs
When was the Berlin Blockade?
June 1948 - May 1949
When is West Germany Formed?
1949
When was NATO formed?
North Atlantic Treaty Organisation
April 1949
When was the Warsaw Pact formed?
1955
What were the two main articles of NATO?
Article 3 - ‘The Parties will keep up their individual and collective capacity to resist armed attack’
Article 5 - ‘The parties agree that an armed attack on one or more of them in Europe of North America shall be considered an attack against them all’
How does the USSR react to the formation of NATO?
Stalin feels threatened, as America and Western Europe are forming a significant Military alliance. They form the Warsaw pact in response.
What did countries want to do with Germany after WW2?
US plan: Morgenthau Plan, removing all German industry and making it an agricultural country, so it could never again wage modern war.
However, Truman saw Germany as a potential ally against the USSR, and wanted to make it strong.
