Cold War Flashcards
Why did the wartime alliance begin to break down in 1945?
- The conflicting beliefs of the super powers
- Long-term distrust
- Misunderstandings between the leaders
- Personalities of the leaders
- Actions by the USA
- Actions by the USSR
communism politically
more controlling, not much freedom of speech, authoritarian
capitalism politically
democracy, freedom, choices
capitalism economically
private land ownership, less controlling, market (supply and demand), great inequality
communism economically
more controlling, businesses owned by the state (nationalizd), equality
capitalism socially
hierarchy
communism socially
very equal (egalitarian), utiliterian architecture
Reasons for distrust
- Stalin did not always treat his people well, e.g. prison camps and purges (killings) of opposition in the 1930s
- USSR left World War One in 1918 and made peace terms with Germany. The Versailles Treaty did not reward the Russians.
- The Russians had not been allowed to join the League of Nations after WW1
- Britain and France had given Hitler what he wanted in order to avoid a war.
- Britain, France and America had delayed opening a ´Second Front´, ie they were not quick enough to attack Hitler from the West to take pressure off the USSR in the East.
- Britain, France and America had sent soldiers to try to defeat the Communists in the Russian Civil War.
- The USSR signed the Nazi-Soviet Pact with Hitler, his old enemy.
- The USSR had not been allowed to attend the Munich Conference in 1938.
why did the west distrust ussr
they pulled out of WWI in 1918 after the Revolution. Lenin, the first Soviet leader, wanted to spread the Revolution all over the world. Later, the USSR signed a pact with Hitler
why did ussr distrust the west
Britain, France and the USA had intervened in the Russian Civil War to try and defeat the communists. The USSR was not invited to be part of the League of Nations in 1919 neither were they invited to take part in the Munich Agreement of 1938
who attended yalta
roosevelt, churchill, stalin
when was yalta
feb 1945
agreements at yalta
- stalin agreed to enter war against japan once germany surrendered
- countries were allowed to hold free elections
- punish war criminals (responsible for genocide)
- division of germany into 4 zones and berlin into sctors
- join UN
- eastern europe to become a soviet sphere of influence
disagreements at yalta
poland: stalin ended up taking poland but in return, could not take greece (where britain was trying to stop a communist take over)
when was potsdam
july 1945
who was at potsdam
stalin, atlee, truman
disagreements at potsdam
- germany: stalin wanted to cripple it but the USA was suspicious of their intentions and did not want a repeat of tofv
- ussr wanted to get reparations from germany
what was the iron curtain
metaphor used by churchil in his speech delivered in fulton, missouri 1946 to describ the increasing sclusion of of eastern europe from th rest of th world. division of american and soviet ideologies (communism vs capitalism)
when was the truman doctrine
march 12 1947
what was the truman doctrine
policy introduced by american government announcing thir foreign policy to contain th soviets communist influence. eg - usa provided support to the govrnments of turkey and greece to help them out of the ussr’s sphere of influnce
why did stalin want to take over eastern europe
- spread of communism
- take control
- buffer
- safety and security
- empire
- greed
- realism
- economy
- spheres of influence
when did the marschall plan start
june 1947
who started the marschall plan
state secretary george marschall
what was the marschall plan
american plan offered to all european countries with the aim of helping war torn governments from falling into USSR’s sphere of influence. the plan, however, came with strings attatched such as banning trad barriers and encouraging economic freedom, all incompatible with russian ideologies
how much money did the marshall plan offer
13 billion dollars
when was the blockade of berlin
june 24 1948 - may 12 1949
what was the berlin blockade
attempt by ussr government to cut off west berlin from the west’s ideologies in a attempt to acquire the entire city. airlift was used to get more supplies into the city
causes of the berlin blockade
- stalin did not feel he was getting fair reparations after the war
- he wants to force the west to give up berlin
- formation of bizonia and trizonia
- new currency induced in the west (deutschmark) which stalin believed to be a threat
consequences of the berlin blockade
- nato established
- worldwide awareness of the cold war
- hopes for a united germany ended
what was the berlin airlift
- US began to airlift supplies into West Berlin – if Stalin shot down these planes it would be act of war
- For 10 months West Berlin was supplied by US in this manner
- May 1949 – Stalin gave up and lifted blockade
When did NATO begin?
4th april, 1949
what does NATO stand for
North Atlantic Treaty Organization
what is NATO?
organization that tries to assure the mutual protection of its member states, by each agreeing to protect each other in case of war
who set up NATO and why
the Americans set it up during the cold war to provide collective security against the soviet union and keep communist influence to a minimum
why might NATO be seen as bad
it poses as a threat to the soviets which lead to the creation of an alliance of their own
what was the warsaw pact
agreement by the soviet satelite states to military align themselves with the USSR to establish a mutual defense organization
why was the warsaw pact formed
it was a reaction/response to NATO - designed to make sure that the countries would not be threatened because no one would want to threaten all the countries in it at once
why did the warsaw pact fall apart
it fell apart as most communist governments were removed from power
when was the warsaw pact
14 may 1955 to 1991
What happened in 1945?
- Yalta
- Potsdam
What happened in 1946?
Iron Curtain Speech
What happened in 1947?
Truman Doctrine
Marshall Plan
What happened in 1948?
Berlin Blockade
What happened in 1949?
NATO
What happened in 1950?
Korean War starts (ended in 53)
What happened in 1955
Warsaw pact
Consequences of the Berlin Blockade
- both soviet union and west claimed victory
- NATO was set up
- many westerners left berlin for good
- airlift showed west’s commitment to berlin
- split germany into two blocks
- increase in tension
- berlin became a symbol
