Cold War Flashcards
Cold war
Period of political hostility and military tension between USA and USSR -> started after WW2 ended with the reunification of Germany in 1990 and breakup of USSR in 1991
. Consequences: threats, propganda, political/economic rivalry, arms race and competition for influence (eg. Korea, Vietnam and Berlin)
Origins of Cold War: Allinace breakdown of 1945 -> History of Hostility
. Resentment: intervention of west in Russian Civil War againts Bolsheviks (Russian Revolution 1917)
. Mistrust: West appeased Hitler in the 1930s and Stalin believed that what they wanted was Hitler to destroy communism -> Nazi-Soviet pact 1939 (USSR couldn’t attack Germany) led Britain and USA to never fully trust USSR intentions
. Geopolitical rivalry: 2 biggest countries in the world with large populations and natural resources
Origins of Cold War: Allinace breakdown of 1945 -> Different ideologies
Communism (USSR -> dictatorship) VS capitalism (USA -> democracy)
. USSR: feared American expansion through economic power -> saw capitalist America’s actions as a selfish way of building their economic empire and political influence
. USA: fear of communism expanding -> by 1945 ‘Soviet Sphere of Influence’ was growing exponentially
Origins of Cold War: Allinace breakdown of 1945 -> Remival of common enemy
Germany was no longer common threat -> no need of allied cooperation like in WW2
Origins of Cold War: Allinace breakdown of 1945 -> USA’s change of policy
. USA was determined not to repeat its isolationist policies of the inter war years -> appeasement didn’t work and dictators had to be confronted and democracy supported
. USA did not want to return to the depression, and wanted to secure markets for its goods -> communist countries wouldn’t buy American goods and so was determined to prevent spread of communism
Yalta conference -> leaders, where, when?
Leaders: Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill
Where?: Yalta, Ukraine
When?: February 1945
Yalta conference -> What to do with defeated Germany
. Surrender was to be unconditional
. Germany and its capital Berlin: where to be temporarily divided into four occupation zones -> USA, USSR, Britain and France
. Germany’s eastern border: was to be moved, westwards -> land gained by Poland
. War criminals: were to be hunted down and punished
. Germany have to pay reparations
Yalta conference -> What to do with countries formerly occupied by Germany
Following liberation, they were to be allowed to hold free elections to decide how they were to governed
Yalta conference -> future of poland
. A provisional government was to be established consisting of pro-Soviet lublin Poles and exiled London Poles who had fled in 1939
. Poland border was to be moved westwards into German territory and east border also moved westwards
. Free elections were to be held
Yalta conference -> How war against Japan could be ended
. Stalin agreed to intervene in war against Japan, after Germany was defeated -> in return Russia was to receive land in Manchuria and territory lost to Japan during the 1904 -05 Russo-Japanese war
Yalta conference -> How a lasting piece was to be mantained
. United Nations was to be set up -> every country had a veto
. ‘Soviet sphere of influence’ to protect USSR -> Stalin concerned over security
Between Yalta and Potsdam conference: USSR
. USSR: Stalin liberated eastern Europe by installing sympathetic government, but he failed to hold free elections -> believed ‘Soviet sphere of influence’ was more important than three elections (term was misunderstood -> still inside as a Communist democracy and FDR, as freedom of speech)
Between Yalta and Potsdam conference: USA
. USA: Roosevelt died in April 1945, and was replaced by Harry S. Truman (strongly anti-Communist, but inexperienced in international affairs) -> Truman told USSR that they had successfully tested an atomic bomb just before Potsdam
Between Yalta and Potsdam conference: Britain
. Britain: Churchill’s Conservative party was defeated in general election, and so he was replaced by labour leader, Clement Attlee.
Between Yalta and Potsdam conference: Poland
. Two groups wanted to form a new government in Poland:
. London poles: anti-Communist -> hated stalin
. Public poles: communists -> trusted Stalin
Potsdam conference: leaders, where?, when?
. Leaders: Stalin, Truman and Attlee
. Where?: Berlin, Germany
. When?: July - August 1945
Potsdam conference: agreements
. Nazi party: was to be banned
. Germany: was to be denazified and war crime trials held
. Polish German border: was to be Oder-Neisse line formed by two rivers -> British and Americans disliked this position, but could do a little about it as they were dominated by red army
. Decision to split Germany and Berlin into four zones was confirmed
. German reparations agreed: each country was to take reparations from its own zone + USSR was to receive some additional industrial equipment from Western zones of occupation (little ever handed over)
Potsdam conference: disagreements
. Future Polish government: no agreement was reached.
. Disagreement over Germany: Stalin wanted Germany crippled to prevent future threat
. USSR wished to intervene in the war against Japan -> rejected by the USA
. USA/Britain wanted bigger say on which occurred In eastern Europe -> rejected by USSR
. USSR wanted to take part in running rich German industrial area of Ruhr -> rejected by USA
Soviet expansion over Eastern Europe: excuses given by Stalin -> effects of WW2 on USSR
25 million Soviet citizens had died in WWII -> Stalin was determined to prevent this from happening again
Soviet expansion over Eastern Europe: excuses given by Stalin -> in 1914 and 1941
Germany had attacked Russia through Poland -> (1945) Stalin wanted to take control of Poland and Eastern Europe countries to avoid future attacks