Cold War Flashcards
What was agreed at the Tehran Conference in 1943?
- The USA and Britain would invade Nazi controlled Europe.
- The Soviet Union would declare war on Japan when Germany was defeated.
- The boundaries of Poland would be moved westwards and some territory given to the Soviet Union.
- An international body would be set up to help settle disputes between countries (UN).
What was agreed at the Yalta conference in 1945?
- Germany would be reduced in size, demilitarised and forced to pay reparations.
- Europe would be rebuilt along the lines of the Atlantic Charter.
- The UN would be set up.
What was agreed at the Potsdam conference in 1945?
- A council of foreign ministers would be set up to help rebuild Europe.
- The Nazi party was banned and war criminals were prosecuted,
- Germany would be run by Britain, France, the US and the Soviet Union.
What was the order of the 3 conferences at the beginning of the Cold War?
Tehran, Yalta, Potsdam.
Who were the leaders of the Grand Alliance at the start of the Cold War?
Churchill, Roosevelt, Stalin.
What did the US do in August 1945?
They dropped atomic bombs on Japan.
Who was the new American president by the time of Potsdam?
Truman.
Why did Truman distrust Stalin at Potsdam and why did he feel able to push him around?
Stalin had broken his promises over Poland made at Yalta. The US felt more powerful because of the atomic bombs. This increased tensions.
What were the 2 main reasons for early tensions between the Soviet Union and the USA?
Ideological differences and the US’s possession of nuclear weapons.
At Yalta, what did the Soviet Union promise elections would be in countries in their sphere of influence and what did they end up doing?
They promised it would be free, but when countries didn’t vote for communism the fixed elections.
What were the countries near the Soviet Union that they turned communist known as?
Satellite states.
How did America see the communist takeover of Eastern Europe?
It was seen as a breach of trust.
What did America do in response to the creation of satellite states?
They created the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan.
What did the Truman Doctrine state?
That the US would provide military and financial aid to stop the spread of communism.
What did the Marshall Plan state?
That America would give $13billion to help rebuild Europe. This was in the hope that people wouldn’t turn to communism as long as they had a stake in the capitalist system.
What did the Soviet Union see the Marshall Plan as?
Bribery.
What were the reasons for the Marshall Plan and the Truman Doctrine?
- Communism was attractive to the affected countries after WW2.
- Many countries had been freed by the Soviet Union and so may have loyalties to them.
- Many Eastern European countries had already had communism forced upon them.
- Some countries like Turkey or Greece were too poor to combat a communist takeover.
- The theory of the domino effect.
Who created comniform and what was its purpose?
Stalin set it up in 1947. It organised all the communist parties in Europe so that they would do what Moscow told them to.
What did comniform do?
- Got rid of any opposition to the Soviet Union’s control in satellite states.
- Encouraged communist parties to block Marshall Plan assistance.
Who created comecon and what was its purpose?
It was created by Stalin in 1949 and it was the Soviet Union’s opposition to the Marshall Plan.
What did comecon do?
- Built up trade links between comecon countries.
2. Prevented comecon countries from signing up to the Marshall Plan.
What are 8 countries who were in comecon?
The Soviet Union, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Albania, the German Democratic Republic.