Cold War Flashcards
Who was Stalin 🇷🇺
The leader of the USSR from 1928 till 1953.
Who was Harry Truman 🇺🇸
The 33rd President of the USA, served from 1945 till 1953
Who was Dwight Eisenhower 🇺🇸
The 34rd President of the USA, served from 1953 till 1961
Who was JFK 🇺🇸
The 35rd President of the USA, served from 1961 till 1963
Who was LBJ 🇺🇸
The 36rd President of the USA, served from 1963 till 1969
Who was Richard Nixon 🇺🇸
The 37rd President of the USA, served from 1969 till 1974
Who was Khrushchev 🇷🇺
The leader of the USSR from 1956 till 1964.
Tehran Conference
It was at Tehran from November 28th till December 1st 1943. It was a meeting by the Big Three in Iran to discuss how to rebuild Europe after WWII. They agreed the USSR could have a ‘sphere of influence’ which was communist respected. They also agreed the UK and US could have a ‘sphere of influence’ which was capitalist. However they disagreed over Germany.
Dollar Imperialism
The phrase Stalin gave to describe Marshall Aid
The Eastern Bloc
The area that Stalin had control over in Eastern Europe, also known as the satellite states
Marshall Aid
Named after General Marshall, it was the money given to the European counties after the destruction in WWII in hopes that these countries wouldn’t turn to communism in their time of need. It cost the USA about $13 billion in the end, with 24% going to the UK, 20% to France, 11% to Italy and 10% to West Germany. As well, Stalin didn’t let any of his satellite states take the aid, even though they needed it
The Czech Coup 1948
The Czech Government were coup by the communist party, with soviet backing, assuming undisputed control over the government of Czechoslovakia
Comecon
This was an economic organization which ran from 1949 to 1991 under the leadership of the Soviet Union that was made up the Eastern Bloc countries
Cominform
This was the communist information bureau which existed from 1947 to 1956. It promoted Stalin’s ideas to communist parties across several countries. It was dissolved due to de-stalinization
Zhdanov Doctrine
The idea that ‘the only conflict that is possible in Soviet culture is the conflict between good and best’
The Truman Doctrine
Harry S Truman’s foreign policy pledge. Its main goal was to stop the spread of communism in Europe and Asia. It was announced on the 12th of March, 1947 and further developed on July 4th 1948 to help in the Greek civil war.
Who was Jan Masaryk 🇨🇿
He was the Czech Foreign Minister from 1940 to 1948. On March 10th 1948, he was found dead after being thrown out of a window to his death by the new communist government. His father was also the first president of Czechoslovakia
Percentages Agreement
This was at Moscow in October 1944 to make the ‘spheres of influence’ for Eastern Europe. The percentages were Romania (90% Soviet, 10% Western), Bulgaria (75% Soviet, 25% Western), Yugoslavia (50% each), Greece (90% Western, 10% Soviet) and Hungry (50% each)
Yalta conference
It was at Yalta from the 4th of February till the 11th of February 1945. It was between the Big Three, as they discussed establishing democracy in Europe. Stalin believed only communist governments could be democratic whereas Roosevelt believed that democracy could only be achieved when several political parties competed
Potsdam Conference
It was at Potsdam from the 16th of July till the 2nd of August 1945. It was again between the Big Three, this time with Harry Truman. At this agreement, they agreed to divide Germany in 4 small zones, going to the USA, UK, USSR and France, as well as banning the Nazi party and prosecuting surviving Nazis as war criminals. Furthermore, cracks were beginning to show between the allies, especially due to the USA’s arrogance with the atom bomb at the conference. As well, the day before the conference, the first successful detonation of the atomic bomb had taken place
Berlin Blockade
Berlin Airlift
Stalin’s Bolshoi Speech
It was said in February 1946 by Stalin at the Bolshoi Theatre. He praised the party, the socialist regime and justified policies such as collectivisation and industrialisation. He then said that WW1 and WW2 were inevitable due to capitalism and imperialism and that the USSR should strengthen itself to prepare for these conflicts, saying war would be inevitable
Kennan’s Long Telegram
It was sent by George Kennan on the 22nd of February 1946. This was an 8,000 word telegram sent to the Department of State detailing his view on the Soviet Union. His opinion in end stated that Soviet expansionism needed to be contained.
NATO
Iron Curtain Speech
Salami tactics
Novikov’s Telegram
Greek civil war
Split of Germany
The CIA
The Central Intelligence agency behind all of the USA’s missions
Fulgencio Batista
The leader of Cuba before the revolution took place
January 1959
The time the Cuban revolution took place
U2 spy plane
The plane that was used to take pictures of the missile bases in Cuba
1500 men
The amount of men who stormed the beach in Cuba’s bay of pigs
72 hours
The time it took for all of the men who stormed to be captured or killed
Cuabn agrrement 1
cuban agreement 2
Robert Kennedy
he was JFK’s brother and adviser during the Cuban missile crisis
‘Hawks’ and ‘doves’
The way people describe US advisers, hawks wanted immediate action whereas doves wanted to avoid nuclear war at all costs
Test ban treaty
It as the agreement in 1963 to not test nuclear weapons above ground, so in caves and underwater were still fine
Hotline teleprinter
This was a direct line between the White House and the Kremlin so that they could talk directly whenever and tensions wouldn’t get so high again
Sputnik I MOVE
It was the first USSR satellite, launched on October 4th 1957
Sputnik II MOVE
It was the second USSR satellite with Laika the dog being the first animal in space, launched on November 3rd 1957
Nuclear deterrent
The idea of having nuclear weapons deters the other side from using them
ABM (Anti Ballistic Missile)
They were a way to shoot down induvial missiles - The USA 1972, The USSR 1968
Atom bomb
The first nuclear bomb ever made - The USA 1945, The USSR 1949
Hydrogen bomb
The second nuclear bomb made which way more powerful than the atom bomb - The USA 1952, The USSR 1953
ICBM (InterContinental Ballistic Missiles)
The missiles that could travel to another country from the home country - The USA 1958, The USSR 1957
Early warning radar
It made it so they could tell when nuclear missiles were incoming - The USA 1960, The USSR 1958
SLBM (Submarine Launched Ballistic Missiles)
Submarines that could launch missiles out of the water - The USA 1960, The USSR 1968
MIRV (Multiple Independently Targetable Re-entry vehicles)
Missiles that had 10 separate war heads in the end that struck individual targets - The USA 1970, The USSR 1975
Sea cruise missiles launched
Missiles that were launched from the sea - The USA 1982, The USSR 1971
MAD theory
Mutually Assured Destruction was the idea that no one wins in nuclear war
The Gaither report
It was a report that stated the USA needed to prepare for nuclear war, with that being with deterrence or survival
Nuclear stockpile
The collection of each sides nuclear missiles, with both realising it was too many and too expensive
The Bomber gap
The gap between the USA and USSR with the amount of bomber planes they had
Gary Powers
He was the pilot in the U2 crisis who was shot down and admitted to spying to the soviets, he was then put in soviet prison for 21 months before being swapped for Rudolf Abel
Rudolf Abel
The USSR spy who was swapped in 1962 for Gary Powers at the Glienicke bridge in Berlin
The Missile gap
The gap between the USA and USSR with the amount of missiles they had
Warsaw pact
The Soviet equivalent to NATO which involved the Eastern Bloc states (The USSR, Hungary, Poland, Albania, Romania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia and East Germany). This strengthened the USSR in Europe greatly
Peaceful coexistence
Was first spoken by Khrushchev after his secret speech, 1956. He said even though the east and west had different ideologies, they could still work together on certain things
De-Stalinisation
After Stalin died, Khrushchev got rid of all traces of Stalin and called him a tyrant. This made it look like the USSR was going to be different an fairer for people, which it did slightly
Austrian state treaty
It was signed in 1955 and made it so Austria was split into 4 zones between the UK, USA, France and the USSR, just like Germany was split
The Polish uprising
Wladyslaw Gomulka was elected the first secretory of the Polish workers party. He met with Khrushchev who threatened him with military intervention if he refused to cooperate. In the end, Khrushchev conceded that Gomulka could be first secretary if he agreed to not carry out reforms that may threaten communists and Poland must stay a member of the Warsaw pact
The Hungarian uprising
It was in 1956, the Hungarian people had freedom for 5 days until over 1000 tanks rolled in and killed around 4000 people, with the USA doing nothing to help. This increased tension as it showed the western world that the USSR were the same under Khrushchev
Imre Nagy
State visits
It involved both sides seeing each other face to face to show they could cooperate
Summit meetings (Geneva spirit of cooperation)
It was the four great powers first meeting in 10 years, with them discussing European security, disarmament and east-west relations
U2 crisis & Paris summit
When the U2 plane was shot down in the USSR and Khrushchev used the knowledge of it to lure Eisenhower into a lie, before storming out of the meeting, increasing tension of the cold war
2nd berlin ciri
3d berlin
4th berlin
The Vienna summit 1961
This was between Kennedy and Khrushchev and they discussed the Berlin crisis, the Laos conflict and the Bay of Pigs invasion
38th Parallel
The parallel in which North and South Korea was divided
Kim Il Sung
The communist ruler of North Korea
Mao Zedong
The leader of Communist China
General MacArthur
The commander behind the US who led attacks in Korea, but was removed from command by Harry Truman after suggesting to use nuclear weapons on China
Pusan
The area in which the south were pushed down into in 1950
Syngman Rhee
The capitalist leader of South Korea
16
The amount of countries that said yes in the UN to invade Korea with their troops in support for the South
‘Veto’ during the Korean war
The USSR were boycotting the UN meetings due to them not recognising the Chinese Communists, so they didn’t veto the agreement to support South Korea
DPS (Defensive Perimeter Strategy)
This was the area the USA promised to protect in Asia, however Korea was outside of it, meaning the North could invade the South without directly upsetting the West
Pyongyang
The capital of North Korea
Panmunjom
The place where the armistice and was signed on July 27th 1953
Seoul
The capital of South Korea
The UN
The United Nations is a group of counties that made decisions as a collective, however they didn’t go ahead if a country vetoed the decsion
NSC-68
It was a bill passed in 1950 by the US which increased spending on their army, navy and air force so they could better protect other countries
Inchon landing
The area where a naval attack by the US took place to catch the North Koreans out when the South were stuck in the Pusan pocket, September 1950
Yalu river
The river which divides the border of North Korea and China. In October 1950, around 200,000 Chinese troops pushed from there in support of Kim Il Sung, a communist ally
An Armistice
The agreement to stop the fighting of a war (ceasefire)
The fall of China
In 1949, the CCP took control of China, making it communist after the KMT fled to Taiwan, which the USA started to recognise. Republicans in the USA said ‘Truman lost China’
What state was Japan in by 1945
◦ Complete disarray, with the living having to bury the dead
◦ Hirohito was sent around the country to show his support to the people
◦ 120,000 orphans
◦ Around 250,000 dead from the bombs
◦ Soldiers would rather kill themselves than return home out of humiliation
◦ The USA realised the wrong they did and started supporting Japan with aid
US policy in Japan
◦ They had free press, but couldn’t talk bad about General MacArthur
◦ Gave women rights, but the Japanese men hated this
◦ Built trading relations and the economy up
◦ The support from Hirohito was traded for no prosecution
◦ The Pacifist clause was introduced - Japan couldn’t use war as a way to settle international disputes
The super balanced budget
It was used in Japan to make sure that all of the government income and expenditure was very closely monitored and confirmed to strict guidelines. It was an additional economic cushion to minimise borrowing
The San Francisco peace treaty
It was in September 1951, it made it so Japan could grow on its own more without US help and that Japan had to give up claims on surrounding countries and the US could still hold some military control over them. The USSR refused to sign
The result of US policy in Japan
◦ 1st election was held on April 10th 1946, which was a great success
◦ Western values and culture were promoted (US sports and movies)
◦ Japan was transformed economically, socially and culturally
◦ The US military occupation ended in 1952
The Rearmament of Japan
Japan was ordered to have 75,000 men by MacArthur, but by 1952 they had 110,000 ground troops and 7,600 maritime personnel. By 1954, it was agreed that a new 140,000 self-defence force should be created with US funding of $240 million, with the sales of US goods in Japan
Jiang Jieshi
He was the leader of the KMT who fought again Mao Zedong but inevitably fled to Taiwan. He was supported by the West, even though he was corrupt
The Sino Soviet pact in 1950
It was a pact between the USSR and China which gave China aid (a loan of $300 million) after just becoming communist. This was bad for the USA since now the USSR had the biggest country in Asia on their side
George Marshall
He was a US military leader and secretary of state. He was the man who went to Europe after WWII and was named after the aid to give the countries help to recover (Marshall plan)
Dean Acheson
He was the US secretary of state and helped make the Truman doctrine in 1947
Capitalism
A political ideology based on free trade / economy used in Western countries
Communism
A political ideology based on everyone being equal and sharing, with most if not all things being owned by the state used in Eastern countries
Democracy
Countries where people are given freedom to vote and elect governments
Comintern
Communist (international) groups created to spread communism worldwide
The Domino theory
If one country falls to communism, then the countries next to it will follow and also fall to communism due to the countries being the same economically or politically
Undermining communism
The National Security Council recommended (NSC-68) abandoning containment to ‘roll back’ communism
Containment
It was the US policy in 1947 (Truman doctrine) to contain communism within the world, not letting other countries fall to it
The Rosenbergs
They were a Jewish couple who were found guilty in 1951 for ‘conspiracy to commit espionage’ in favour for the USSR. They were executed for these crimes in 1953
Alger Hiss case
Hiss was a high-ranking member of the US state department who was accused by Whittaker Chambers of being a communist. In the end, Richard Nixon was the one who ‘caught’ Hiss passing information to the USSR. He got 5 years for purjury
The McCarran Act
The act made it so all communist organisations had to be registered, no communist could have a US passport or work in defence and also allowed the opening up of detention camps. It was an act that Truman vetoed, but then congress overrode his veto letting the act pass
The FBI (during McCarthyism)
It investigated over 3 million people from 1947 to 1950, with only 212 being a ‘security risk’
J Edgar Hoover
He was the director of the FBI during McCarthyism and was strongly anti-communist
The House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC)
It had the right to investigate anyone who was un-American, with a group of Hollywood writers (the Hollywood ten) being arrested for not answering questions
Joseph McCarthy
He was chairman of the Government Committee on Operations of the Senate (Republican) who accused members of the government and state department of being communist
How was Joseph McCarthy exposed
His trials were televised and people saw his accusations had no basis. He began to accusing Republicans and senior military figures who began to feel he had served his political purpose and was damaging his own side
Causes of McCarthyism
◦ China became communist in 1949
◦ Spy rings were uncovered in the years after WWII
◦ The USSR had exploded a nuclear bomb 3 years before the US predicted they would
◦ Republican politicians could portray their Democratic rivals of being soft on communism
Consequences of McCarthyism
◦ McCarty was censured in the Senate
◦ His trials are exposed and people see he is a liar with no evidence
◦ Richard Nixon gains from this and runs as Eisenhower’s vice president in 1952
◦McCarthy lost role in government
◦ Thousands of lives were ruined by allegations of being communist, with people being blacklisted
◦ 3,000 government employees were forced to resign
“More bang for your buck”
This was Eisenhower’s saying when talking about how nuclear weapons were more cost effective than the conventual army
Nuclear umbrella
The allies of the USA had a nuclear umbrella since anyone who attacked them is protected by the US nuclear weapons
Massive retaliation (NSC 162/2)
They built up lots of nuclear weapons, taking it to 18,000 during the 1950s
Brinkmanship
It was the idea of going right to the edge with threats without actually causing conflict in hopes that the opponent backs down, it was very risky if both sides did it
NATO in 1955
West Germany had just joined. This caused the USSR to make the Warsaw pact in retaliation since West Germany was on the border of the satellite states, which they didn’t like
Rollback
This was the idea to instead of contain communism, get rid of it completely
John Foster Dulles
He was Eisenhower’s secretory of state from 1953 to 1959. He pursued a foreign policy designed to isolate the USSR and undermine the spread of communism
SEATO
It was the defensive treaty with South East Asian countries (The USA, UK, France, Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Thailand and the Philippines) to protect them from communism in Asia
The ‘New Look’ policy
This was Eisenhower’s foreign policy which focused on brinkmanship, nuclear stockpiling, massive retaliation and to make more alliances
Which countries might have needed protection that weren’t members of SEATO
◦Burma
◦South Vietnam
◦Laos
◦Cambodia
Ngo Dinh Diem
He was the brutal, autocratic and nepotistic ruler of South Vietnam who was killed by his own people in 1953
Guerrilla tactics
These were the tactics used by the North Vietnamese which involved using ‘hit and run’ tactics SHEEETT EXAMPLES
Saigon
The capital of South Vietnam
1956 (Vietnam)
The year that the elections were scheduled, but never happened due to Diem and the West knowing the communists would win
Ho Chi Minh
The ruler of North Vietnam, who had a trail named after him
Geneva Agreement 1954 (Vietnam)
It was agreed that Vietnam would be divided into North and South due to the French Indochina attacks. As well they scheduled elections for 1956
Hanoi
The capital of North Vietnam
The Viet Cong
This was the North Vietnamese army, who’s goal it was to unite Vietnam under communism
Indochina
This was France’s empire in Asia which collapsed in 1954 when the lost to Vietnam. It covered Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and parts of China
The National Liberation Front (NLF)
It was the same as the Viet Cong, they wanted to liberate Vietnam and make it communist
Viet Minh
This was the original Vietnamese army who fought against the French Indochina army. Parts of the Viet Minh joined the Viet Cong
Buddhist Crisis 1963
This was when Buddhists in South Vietnam set themselves on fire in protest of Diem’s pro-catholic policies and discriminatory Buddhist laws. The South Vietnamese lady even said ‘let them burn and we shall clap our hands’
Dien Bien Phu
It was the place in North Vietnam where a fight took place with the French Indochinese lost in 1954
Revolutionary Violence Strategy
This was a saying from the Vietnamese workers party, which said ‘conflict is justified for unity of Vietnam’ in 1958
Truman’s involvement in Vietnam
He authorised a modest program of economic and military aid to the French who were fighting. He also gave aid to them due to him ‘losing China’ the year prior and couldn’t let another country fall to communism
Eisenhower’s involvement in Vietnam
He undertook the task of trying to build a nation from the current political entity that was South Vietnam. He reinstated US involvement there because he saw Vietnam as an escalation of the Cold War
JFK’s involvement in Vietnam
In 1961, he secretly sent 400 special operations forces to train the South Vietnamese soldiers. He also increased the number of US helicopter force, strategic bombing of North Vietnam
The Ho Chi Minh trail
This was the route, named after the North Vietnamese leader, that the Viet Cong used to travel into the South either to attack or use to promote propaganda to Southern people. The route went from the North, through Laos and Cambodia and then into the South
The Strategic hamlet program
These were areas were the Americans moved South Vietnamese people into to protect them from Viet Cong attacks and propaganda. However, the South Vietnamese weren’t very big fans of this due to them being taken from their home villages and their disliking of US troops
What role did the US ambassador do to Vietnam
Henry Cabot Lodge, the new US ambassador for South Vietnam, sent a telegram that he should explore an alternative leader for South Vietnam and this was approved by Kennedy
‘Open skies’ policy
This was an agreement by Eisenhower that both sides should be allowed to take pictures over the others airspace. The intent of the policy was to prevent nations from stockpiling dangerous weapons, which the soviets rejected the idea of, 1955
Consequences of the Hungarian Uprising
◦Over 200,000 refugees left Hungary for the West via Austria
◦Other satellite states did not dare to challenge soviet authority
◦Khrushchev showed peaceful coexistence had its limits
Janos Kadar
He was instated as the Hungarian leader after the Hungarian uprising (Imre Nagy taken out subtly) by Khrushchev due to him being a hard line communist with the views Khrushchev liked
Yuri Gagarin
He was the first man in space, sent up by the USSR on April 12th 1961
Explorer 1
This was the first satellite launched by the USA on January 31st 1958
