Cold War Flashcards
The Grand alliance
The Grand Alliance is form of Britain,USA and USSR only formed to defeat Hitler
With him gone, disputes and disagreements at conferences made it rumble.
The USSR believed in communism and the west believed in democracy. This weakens the Grand alliance.
The Tehran conference (1943)
> The big three: Roosevelt-USA leader, Churchill- Great Britain and Stalin- USSR
discuss about what to do when Hitler was defeated
They agreed on the soviet ‘ sphere of influence’ in the Eastern Europe and a capitalist one in Western Europe
> they couldn’t agree with what to do with Germany
Yalta conference
(Feb 1945)
the big three agreed :
> that Poland would be communist
> that the USSR would help against the war in Japan
> that the United Nation would be set up
They disagreed over Germany- especially about whenever or not it should reparation.
> Stalin wanted to treat Germany harshly
> USA and Britain wanted to allow it to rebuild
Potsdam conference (July 1945)
> Truman replaced Roosevelt as he had died and Attlee replaced Churchill
> the USA has successfully tested the atomic bomb by this point, causing further mistrust with the USSR
> At Potsdam it was agreed to ban Nazi party and punish remaining Nazis as war criminal
> it was agreed to divide Germany by four zone and run by Britain, France,USA and USSR
> Berlin would also be divided this way
The long and Novikov Telegrams (1946)
> An American diplomat in Moscow and a soviet ambassador in America sent a telegram home in 1946, warning about the military build ups and the threats they posed to their country.
> the telegrams contributed to the tension at the start of the Cold War.
The Truman doctrine (1947)
> The US president Truman was worried that communism would spread in Europe, so his doctrine said the USA would use military and economic means to stop it from spreading and to contain it.
The Marshall plan (1947)
> The Marshall plan aimed to reduce poverty to stop the spread of communism
> The USA offered $13 billion to rebuild Europe
> Britain, France and 14 other nations accepted the offer
> communist countries in the Eastern Europe were also offered this help in attempt to encourage them to become capitalist, but they were unable to accept it by the USSR.
Satellite states
> The Marshall plan was a threat to the USSR
> Stalin was worried it would buy influence in Easter European states and called it ‘ Dollar imperialism
> to try and stop this he increased soviet control in countries like Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Poland
> they became satellite states- supposedly independent but really controlled by the USSR
Comin form (1947)
> Cominform is the communist information bureau
> it was an organisation with represent the communist parties all over Europe
> this was used to ensure all Eastern European government to remain loyal to Stalin and his communist rule
Comecon (1949)
> Comecon is the council for mural economic assistance
> it was a rival to the Marshall plan
> it encouraged trade and industry with the Eastern Europe and discouraged trade with the west
> was used to encourage economic development in Eastern Europe
Bizonia and trizonia
> They USA and Britain zone in Germany was run so closely together that it became 1 unit. Bizonia
> they had good relations with the French zone
> in 1948 the western allies started to make the three zones into a democracy and a capitalist state
> this increased the tension with the USSR as Stalin was not consulted with the changes
The Berlin blockade (1948-49)
> The USSR tried to get all parts of Berlin to vote to become communist
> When they refused, it was cut off all supply routes except from the USSR
> The aim was to prevent the new state, being set up by the western allies, being run from Berlin
> Stalin’s ultimate aim was to force western influence out of Berlin all together and make it communist
The Berlin airlift (1948/49)
> This was the western allies reaction to the Berlin blockade
> they flew in supplies to their area of Berlin
> in the end it was clear to Stalin that the western allies would not stop delivering supplies by air, so he had to stop his blockade
Divided Germany (1949)
> Germany was formally divided in two.
> in September, the western Germany became a federal republic of Germany
> in October, the Eastern Germany became a German Democratic Republic
NATO (1949)
North Atlantic treaty operation
This was set up in 1949, as a consequence of the Berlin blockade and airlift were tensions had been very high and war seemed close
> it was up of the USA and its allies
> it’s members promised to defend each other if attacked
The Warsaw Pact (1955)
> It was the Soviet response to the creation of NATO
> it was a communist version, were the USSR and the satellite states promised to defend each other if attacked
> the creation of the Warsaw Pact now meant that Europe was divided militarily into two opposing alliances
Khrushchev and the secret speech (1956)
> Khrushchev became the soviet leader after Stalin had died in 1953
> his ‘secret speech’ promised to change Stalin’s policy and relax control of satellite states
> this gave some people in countries like Hungary hope that harsh rule would end
The Hungarian uprising (1956)
> Following Khrushchev’s secret speech there had been a riot in Hungary demanding change
> the USSR agreed to remove Rokasi and put Nagy in charge Of Hungary
> Nagy proposed reforms such as leaving the Warsaw Pact and allowing free elections in Hungary
> the USA, offered $20 million of aid to Nagy’s government to encourage him
The Hungarian uprising consequences (1956)
> Khrushchev was worried that Nagy’s reforms would go too far and would set a trend which would see other satellite states leaving the Warsaw Pact
> the USSR sent 200,000 soviet troops into Hungary to regain control
> the USA and UN disapproved, but sent no military aid fearing it would spark a much bigger war with the USSR
> 20,000 Hungarian died in the soviet takeover, many fled over the border to Austria
> Nagy was found guilty in treason and hanged to set an example to other leader in the satellite states
