Cold War Flashcards
Yalta conference: feb. 1945 (Stalin, Churchill, Roosevelt) (2)
- Agreed to divide Germany into four zones. Occupied by the French, british, US, and Soviet Union
- Stalin promised to give Eastern European countries free elections after the war
USA and the Soviet Union had different postwar goals
the major goal of the Soviet Union was to: (2)
shield itself from another invasion from the west and to
• 2. spread communism
• *Stalin wanted to use Eastern Europe as that shield or buffer (wall of protection)
Major goal fo the USA -
was to spread democracy in the world
Potsdam conference - July 1945 (2)
- Stalin said he was not going to allow free elections in Eastern Europe
- He declared that communism and capitalism could not exist in the same world
(*the Cold War began)
By 1948 the allies (USA, Britain and France) had given back their zones to the Germans as promised! the Soviet Union had not! (2 german states now)
- Federal republic of Germany - west Germany - free
2. German Democratic Republic - east Germany - russia
Cold War
a struggle over political differences, carried on by means short of military action or war
*struggle to see if political ideas of democracy or communism would rule the world
US foreign policy
“containment” - blocking and stopping the spread of communism and spreading democracy
Truman doctrine:
gave US aid ($) and support to any country that resisted and rejected communism
(Turkey and Greece)
Marshall plan
assistance aid program to rebuild Western Europe after the war ($12.5 billion) the only requirement was to stay away from communism! (Named after Secretary of State, George Marshall)
Berlin Airlift
Soviet Union demanded Berlin! Berlin was in the soviet secotor - set up a blockade around West Berlin (island of democracy)
Two rival alliances formed during the Cold War
- NATO - (north Atlantic treaty organization) led by the USA, canada, and Western Europe
- Warsaw Pact - led by the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe
• Brinkmanship
was the willingness to go to the brink, or the edge of war created huge tension between the two superpowers
1961 - Berlin Wall
- living conditions in east Berlin were very bad
- Between 49 and 61, hundreds of thousands of east berliners fled to the west, escaping communism
- Soviet Union built a wall over night to keep the people in
- Wall divided east and West Berlin - over 87 miles long
Iron curtain
Winston Churchill called it an “Iron curtain” - separated freedom from tyranny - Berlin Wall that is
Bay of pig invasion - (cuba)
president john F. Kennedy gave approval to an over throw of the communist government. CIA trained Cuban exiles to invade cuba. Fails miserably1
Cuba turns to the Soviet Union for protection