Cold War 45-49 Flashcards
1
Q
Creation of Soviet Satillite States
A
- During WW2 the USSR occupied many countries
- After the war the USSR wanted to mantain these countries as a buffer zone
- They wanted to keep control of Poland, Hungary, Romania, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria and East Germany, rigging the elections
2
Q
Iron Curtain Speech and Long Telegram
A
- US ambassador George Kennan reported that Stalin wanted to see the destruction of capitalism and that the USSR would soften their position with resistance
- This informed Trumans tough policy against the USSR and communism
- Nikolai Nivikov sent a telegram to Moscow from Washington claiming that Washington wanted to use their army to dominate the world and the US people supported the Soviets
- Churchill in 1946 performed the Iron Curtain speech, claiming that Communism and the Free World were opposed
- Stalin took this as the American view as well
3
Q
Truman Plan + Marshall Doctrine
A
- In 47, Truman decided to send an economic aid package to Greece and Turkey
- This led to the Truman doctrine, abandoning isolationism and pursuing containment
- Truman believed the best way to defeat communism is avoid poverty
- If European countries were better off they wouldn’t fall to communism
- They also pursued the Marshall doctrine, 13 billion USD of aid + 13 billion USD given prior
- Britain recieved 1/4, the largest amount
4
Q
Cominform and Comecon
A
- The USSR believed that the US was using their wealth to divide Europe
- He called it Dollar Imperialism
- It also incited tensions between the superpowers
- Stalin also denied members of the Warsaw Pact to accept US aid
- Instead they used the Cominform for political unity and Comecon as a replacement for the Marshall doctrine
- Cominform allowed Stalin to control the satillite states and ensured their loyality
- Comecon was an alternative to the Marshall doctrine to incentive the Warsaw Pact to remain loyal and encourage trade with USSR
5
Q
Disagreements over Partition of Germany
A
- The west and USSR had different views on Germany
- The west wanted to rebuild Germany while the USSR felt they should strip Germany and use its resources for themselves
- WIth the USSR no longer cooperating, Trizonia was formed uniting the French, British, and American sectors of Germany
- This divided Germany into 2
- As well the west created a new currency, the Mark in Trizonia
- This caused the Berlin crisis as the USSR to protest blockaded West Berlin, trying to starve the city out
- To counter the blockade the West began the Berlin airlift, shipping suppies by air to Berlin
- This led to victory for the West, in the media and in support from German people
- Following the blockade West and East Germany were made official, the FRG and the GDR
- East Germany was only recognized by communist nations
