Cold War 1945-1950? Flashcards
why did the USSR/USA alliance break down in 1945?
- ideological differences: america was a capitalist democracy with voting rights, the USSR was a communist one party state with no political opposition
- lend-lease: america had lent military equipment to the soviet union during ww2. this equipment was valued at 11 billion dollars by 1945. after the war, no one knew if the USSR would pay for these wartime supplies.
- with the defeat of germany, the USSR and the USA no longer shared a common enemy.
- yalta
- potsdam
yalta conference: who was there?
roosevelt, stalin and churchill
what did the grand alliance decide on what was to happen to germany?
five ds
- demilitarisation
- de nazification (removing nazis from positions of power)
- democratisation (restoring free elections and a multiparty system)
- de industrialisation ( reducing germanys heavy industry)
- decentralisation (taking power from the central government)
what happened at yalta?
- germany to be divided into soviet, american, british and french occupation zones
- germany to pay 20 billion dollars in reparations, 50% to the USSR
- UN to replace league of nations at the end of the war
- the five Ds in all four german zones
who was at potsdam?
truman, atlee, stalin
what was decided at potsdam?
- division of the country and berlin into four zones
- payment of reparations confirmed, but amount reduced and industrial goods had to come from each power‘s own zone.
- germans living in poland, hungary and czechoslovakia would be moved to germany.
- un was formally created with britain, france, the usa, the USSR and china as the five permanent members of the security council, each with a veto.
what caused tension at potsdam?
truman informed stalin that the USA had developed a new and powerful weapon, the atomic bomb.
he refused to allow the USSR a role in post-war occupation of japan.
refused to share atomic secrets with the USSR, which led to stalin ordering his atomic weapons programme to accelerate.
how did stalin gain control in eastern europe?
stalin gained his sphere of influence as his 11 million soviet troops marched westwards, pushing germany back. the red army held on to as much of eastern european territory as possible, to create a buffer zone between the soviet union and germany.
what did the USA want?
- prevent repeat of great depression
- break up spheres of influences to promote self-determination
- free trade
- containment: democracies had to stand up to dictators. communism opposed the idea of a free market and free trade.
what were the countries stalin took over and how?
- czechoslovakia: many felt betrayed by britain and france after they gave in to hitlers demands at the munich conference in 1938. in may 1946, the communists emerged as the largest party with 31% of the vote.
hungary: in 1948 the communist party merged with the social democratic party.
romania: in 1947, king michael was forced to abdicate.
poland: opposition politicians were arrested, murdered and locked up. but
what is the bizone/trizone
in january 1947 britain and the usa created a single economic unit called bizonia out of their respective zones. the french added their zone later and this formed the „trizone“. this worried stalin.
truman doctrine: response to soviet expansionism
- speech by truman in march 1947
- stated that the usa should support free people who were resisting communism.
- in february 1947 britain could no longer afford to support greece and turkey: so the USA stepped in. he believed in the „domino theory“ where one country at risk of communism could set off a chain reaction, putting those nearby at risk.
- the usa adopted a policy of containment; this meant supporting nations in danger of communism to prevent it from spreading by sending military and economic aid.
soviet response to truman doctrine:
cominform: communist information bureau to link communist parties worldwide in common action.
marshall plan:
- announced by US secretary of state general george marshall in june 1947.
- it was introduced as a programme of aid to help western europe to reequip its factories and revive agriculture and trade
- the USA offered support. in return, nations would agree to buy american goods and allow american companies to invest capital in their industries.
- bring economic and political benefits
- by 1953 the USA had supplied 17 billion dollars.
- stalin accused the usa of using the plan to dominate europe
how long did the blockade last?
318 days, 11 months
