Cold War Flashcards
When did the USA join WW1
December 7th 1941 after attack on Pearl Harbour by the japanese. Japan declared war 2 hours after followed by Hitler on Dec 11th
What were the losses for each ally after WW2
Soviets 25-27 million
USA 420,000
Britain 451,000
When was the Yalta Conference and who attended
February 1945, FDR Stalin and Churchill
Who was George F Kennan
American Diplomat in American Embassy in Russia
Delivered Long Telegram Speech
Anti-Communist
Warned of Soviet Expansionism and therefore shaped US foreign policy
When did the USSR join the league of nations
November 1934 to gain British and French trust
To try to secure alliance with France there was a military treaty signed in May 1935
Statistics for Stalin’s purges during the 1930’s
At its peak, 20,000+ people were killed a day
3 million approx. total sent to slavery
1.2 million total die
When was the Nazi-Soviet pact made and why did Stalin agree to it?
23rd August 1939, Stalin’s aim was to ensure Britain and France involve themselves fully in the war as Chamberlain’s original plan was to let the Soviets do most of the fighting.
When did the Nazi-Soviet pact fall apart?
June 1941 as Hitler invaded the Soviet Union, the Soviets then officially became a part of the allies relationship
Statistics of Soviet suffering during WW2/ Great Patriotic War 1941-1945
25-27 million dead
65,000km of railroad lost
25 million homeless
70,000 villages destroyed
Pariah State meaning
A state whose actions are regarded as out of step with international norms of conduct
Neocolonialism meaning
When a foreign power indirectly influences a territory usually through financial means
Hegemon meaning
A powerhouse culturally, economically and industrially - a supreme leader
How much in reparations from Germany did Stalin think he was going to get as of the Yalta Conference
$10 billion
When was the Potsdam Conference and who attended
July-August 1945
Truman, Stalin and Churchill (replaced after 1st day by new PM Clement Atlee)
Date of FDR death
April 12th 1945, replaced by Harry Truman
Date of Germany’s surrender
May 9th 1945
Date of first American atom bomb test
July 16th 1945 - Stalin is aware of something big happening due to his spies but he doesn’t know what
Date of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
6th August and 15th August 1945
Truman’s reasons for dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945
- Predicted 2 million americans would have died during invasion
- revenge for Pearl Harbour
- Truman trying to prove himself to the Soviets via atomic diplomacy
Salami tactics meaning
Marginalise socialist and peasant parties by falsifying elections, using Soviet secret police (NKVD) to get rid of opposition
Used by Soviets in EE to establish influence
Fellow traveller meaning
Not a part of the communist party but wants the same things
Who was Dr Petru Groza
PM of Romania, fellow traveller, became PM in march 1945 as he was put in change by the Soviets
Who was King Michael I
Last King of Romania before his forced abdication at gunpoint on the 30th december 1947
What were the names of the leaders of the french and italian communist party
Maurice Thorez - French (Party of the Martyrs)
Palmiro Togliatti - Italian
By May 1947, most communists were thrown out of Western governments?
Why was this?
The expanding influence of the USA meant that Truman was gaining influence, meaning communists got kicked out of governments - genuine popularity of communism was a problem
When did the Block of Democratic Parties (the BPD) win the election in Romania
19th November 1946 with 84% of the votes - used intimidation, electoral fraud and assassinations
When was the Romanian Workers Party formed
February 1948 after communists forced merge with socialists
What percent of the votes did the Hungarian Communist Party win in 1945
17%
Who was Zoltán Tildy
The PM of Hungary from 1945-46 until he was disregarded by Stalin’s puppet government
When did the communists win the majority of voted in Hungary
August 1947 with Lajos Dinnyés
When was the Hungarian Working Peoples Party formed
June 1948 after the Communists forced merge with Social Democrats
When was Dinnyés replaced as PM of Hungary and who by
December 1948, replaced by István Dobi who was openly communist
When did Hungary become the People’s Republic of Hungary
20th August 1949
When did the Communists win the first postwar election in Czechoslovakia
May 1946, Klement Gottwald brought in
When did the communists fully assume control in Czechoslovakia
February 25th 1948
Evidence for Communism growing in popularity in Italy during the 1940’s
Italian Communist Party membership increased from 5,000 in 1943 to 1.7 million at the end of 1945
Evidence for Communism growing in popularity in France during the 1940’s
In November 1946 the French Communist Party became the largest party in parliament - rougly 29% of seats
When was Kennan’s Long Telegram speech
February 1946, outlining his views on how Soviet Expansionism was dangerous, creating the idea of containment
When was Churchill’s Iron Curtain speech
March 1946 - first public expression of the end of the grand alliance
Who was James F Byrnes
Truman’s secretary of state July 1945- Jan 1947
When was the French Indochina War
1946-1954
Statistics for post-war Germany
40% of German housing destroyed
1/3 of their railway system is impassable
Factors of the satellite states
Bureaucratic regimes created by Stalin, similar to that of the USSR
Secret police, censorship, show trials, 5 year plans that furthered development of heavy industry
When did the USA and UK stop Soviets from taking reparations from their zones?
July 1946 (it was originally agreed Soviets could take 25%of reparations from their zones - excuse was refugee crisis
When was Bizonia created
1st January 1947 by merging USA and British zones
When was the Moscow Conference for foreign ministers?
Spring 1947 - Soviets tried to destroy Bizonia by demanding new central German government - opposed
When did Britain invade Greece to kill Greek resistance
December 1944
When did Britain pull out of Greece during the Greek civil war
February 1947 as they don’t have enough money
How much did the Truman Doctrine grant and to who (and when was it outlined)
March 1947 - granting a total of $400 million
$300 million to Greece to contain communism
$100 million to Turkey to prevent invasion
When was the Marshall Plan launched and how much was granted in total
Launched 5th June 1947
$13.5 billion to 13 countries total
How much did Japan receive in Marshall aid
$500 million to the economy to protect from communism - prospering economy meant less communist influence
How much did China receive in Marshall aid?
$2.8 billion to defeat Chinese communism
How much did France receive in Marshall aid and what for
$4 billion to use in French Indochina war - which they lost
What cemented the abandonment of isolationism
The containment strategy as it officially got American goods involved in European markets
What triggered the shift from passive to active containment
The start of the Korean War
Define passive containment
Political aid to countries, not getting directly involved
When was NATO created
1949
What was the issue of accepting Marshall aid in France
The French wanted to reject marshall aid from a nationalist view but politicians were desperate
French communists were also extremely Pro-Soviet and therefore against the war in Vietnam
Who was Tito and why didn’t Stalin like him
Communist leader of Yugoslavia, came to leader himself due to genuine popularity of communism in Yugoslavia
He was an independent thinker and a threat to Stalin as Stalin failed to assert power in Yugoslavia - He didn’t follow Stalinist communism and therefore criticised it which threatened Stalin’s power
What were the effects of Titoism
Laszlo Rajk - Hungarian foreign minister - was executed for ‘Titoism’ in October 1949 (he disagreed with Stalin and was then framed as a spy)
Jan Masaryk - Czech foreign minister - objected communist coup in Czechoslovakia and then ‘commited suicide’ in March 1948
What was Cominform and what triggered it
Created in September 1947 so that all communist parties and regimes had the same ideas
Triggered by ‘Titoism’
When was Comecon launched
25th January 1949
When did the Czechs accept Marshall aid
February 1948
When did Yugoslavia accept Marshall Aid
June 1948 after Tito broadcasted how Stalin had sent 6 assassins total to kill him and had all failed (and how he was willing to send one over to Stalin)
Between 1948-1952 how many communists were imprisoned for fears of Titoism
Approx 250,000
When did the Soviets invade Hungary
November 1956
When did the Soviets invade Czechoslovakia to overthrow Dubcek
August 1968 as he was trying to create reformed communism
When was Trizonia created
June 1948
What is a power vaccuum
A situation where there is a lack of leadership in a government due to there no longer being a leader
When was the SED founded
April 1946 by unifying SPD and KPD
When was the Deutschmark launched
20th June 1948
When was the Berlin Blockade launched
24th June 1948
When did the Berlin Blockade end
12th May 1949
When did Adenauer come to power In West Germany
September 1949 - became Chancellor of FDR
When did Ulbricht come to power in East Germany
October 1949 - General Secretary of the SED
Who was the leader of North Korea during the Korean War
Kim Il Sung
Who was the leader of South Korea during the Korean War
Syngmann Rhee
Duration of the Korean War
June 1950 - July 1953
How much did the US spend on the Korean War
$18 billion - $3 billion spent on Japan for tech advancements and repairs as it was used as a Western Base (economic boom lasts until 1990’s)
When was the People’s Republic of China created
October 1949
When was the San Francisco Peace Treaty
September 1951, involved the USA and Japan
When was Japan allowed to have a defence force
1st July 1954 - creation of the JSDF
2 Examples of Domino Theory during the late 1940’s
1947 - If Greece fell to communism then Turkey would fall, causing eventual Soviet domination through Middle East and Asia
Late 1947 - If West Germany was weak it would create a power vaccuum meaning communist takeover - eventual communist influence spreads through Europe
What did domino theory justify
The West’s involvement in SE Asia
When was NSC-68 created
January 30th 1950
Third world nationalism meaning
A political response t o colonialism, hoping to achieve economic development, national sovereignty and peace
How could the West’s interventions in East Asia be described
Imperialism vs third world nationalism
Dates for the Century of Humiliation
1840 - 1940’s (1949)
When did Japan take over Singapore
15th Feb 1942 (fall of Singapore) - 1945
When was the 2nd Chinese Civil War
1946-1949
Who was Ho Chi Minh
Leader of Vietnamese Workers Party
When was the Vietnamese Declaration of Independence created
2nd September 1945 by Ho Chi Minh
Who was General Doug MacArthur
US military governor in charge of Japan
How much money was pumped into Japanese economy before the Korean War for containment (not Marshall Aid)
$500 million
In 1948, if Japan were to fall to communist influence how much more war-making potential would the USSR had gained
an additional 25%
When was Acheson’s Defensive Perimeter Speech
January 1950
When did Stalin and Mao sign the Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship and Alliance
February 1950
When did Stalin start to back Mao and the CCP
Summer of 1949 after his reputation was damaged due to the Berlin Blockade
How much money had Truman given to Jiang Jieshi and the GMD for the civil war
$2.8 billion which was wasted
When does the breakdown in relations between the Soviets and the Chinese begin
February 1956
When is the full breakdown in relations between the Soviets and the Chinese
October 1962 with the Cuban Missile Crisis
What was the Domino Theory in relation to SE Asia
The Loss of Indochina - Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos:
Swift alignment with communism with the rest of SE Asia,
India aligns,
Middle East falls to communism with probable exception of Pakistan and Turkey,
Endangers stablility of Europe and loss of major sources of materials and trade routes
When was the first CIA coup and where
July 1953, Iran
