Cold War Flashcards
When did Franklin D. Roosevelt die?
1945
When was the Grand Alliance formed?
1941
When was the Tehran Conference?
November 1943
What were the agreements made at Tehran?
USA and Britain would open a ‘second front’ by launching an attack on Germany in Western Europe, drawing German troops away from the Eastern front (Soviet Union side).
Stalin would declare war against Japan, and supply troops to help the USA against Japan, only when the war in Europe was over.
Ideas about leaving Germany weak after the war.
An international body should be set up to settle disputes through discussion and negotiation, rather than war. This laid the ground for the future formation of the United Nations.
What was the impact of the Tehran conference on international relations?
Roosevelt backed Stalin on the idea of launching a ‘second front’ on Germany, but Churchill wanted to open the ‘second front’ in the Balkans, not in the West. Churchill relations with Roosevelt weren’t strong.
Stalin had better relations with Roosevelt, as he was concerned that USA and the UK were deliberately delaying the second front, and they reached an agreement.
When was the Yalta Conference?
February 1945
What had happened between the Tehran conference and the Yalta conference?
The ‘second front’ had been launched in France and the US and British were pushing the Germans back towards Berlin.
The Soviets defeated the Germans in the Soviet Union, and now had control of most of Central and Eastern Europe. Stalin wanted to keep the territory he’d won to use as a cushion against future German invasions.
What were the agreements made at Yalta?
After the war, Germany would be split into four zones, being controlled by the USA, Britain, France and the Soviet Union. Germany would pay $20bn in reparations, half of which would go to the Soviet Union. The Nazi party would be banned, and war criminals prosecuted.
The United Nations would be set up, with it’s first meeting on 25th April 1945. The USA and France didn’t agree with Stalin that all 16 Soviet republics should be given individual membership.
Stalin agreed to join in the war against Japan, 3 months after the defeat of Germany.
Stalin agreed that future governments of countries in Eastern Europe would be decided in free elections.
The borders of Poland would be returned to their position in 1921 and there would be free elections. Stalin expected those elections to bring about a pro-communist government, whereas the British supported the non-communist London Poles.
What had happened between the Yalta conference and the Potsdam conference?
Roosevelt died in April 1945, replaced by Henry Truman.
Winston Churchill and the Conservative Party lost the 1945 general election, being replaced by Clement Attlee.
Germany had surrendered in May 1945.
Scientists in the USA had developed an atomic bomb (tested the day after the Potsdam conference began).
The UN had been created in the Treaty of San Francisco in June 1945, where 51 members signed the treaty, with the USA, Soviet Union, France, Britain and China all made permanent members of the UN security council, with the power to veto resolutions.
When was the Potsdam Conference?
July-August 1945
What were the agreements made at Potsdam?
Germany would be divided into four zones, but the German economy would be run as a whole.
Berlin would also be divided into four zones, even though it was based well inside Soviet-controlled Germany
Each administering country should take reparations from its own zone.
What were the disagreements at Potsdam?
The Soviet Union wanted Germany to pay heavy reparations, but Truman was concerned that this would make it harder for the German economy to recover.
Agreement was not reached over the government of Eastern Europe. Truman objected to the control that the Soviet Union had over the countries it had liberated from Nazi rule. He was beginning to see the Red Army as an army of occupation. However, without risking further war, there was little Truman could do.
Truman also objected to the arrangements for Poland and the borders that had previously been agreed. He wanted to see a government with less communist influence.
What was the Iron Curtain speech and why was it said?
In March 1946, Winston Churchill was no longer prime minister but he still had enormous influence. On a visit to Fulton, Missouri, he gave a speech that is now seen as a defining moment in US-Soviet relations.
In the speech he made it plain that he thought the Soviet Union was a threat to freedom and world peace.
He was provoked to make this speech by the fact that communist governments had recently been set up in Hungary, Poland, Romania and Bulgaria.
What was the significance of the ‘Iron Curtain’ speech?
The speech, along with the Novikov telegram, increased tension and mistrust, and led the Soviet Union to strengthen its forces and step up a campaign of anti-Western propaganda. This intensified hostility between the East and the West.
What caused Henry Truman to announce the Truman Doctrine?
The British government announced in 1947 that it could no longer provide military support to the Greek government against communist guerrillas.
When was the speech to the US Congress given announcing the Truman Doctrine?
12th March 1947
What was the intention of the Truman Doctrine?
Truman would provide $400m in aid to Greece and Turkey and sent American civilian and military personnel to the region.
The policy of isolation was dropped here, and now focussed on containment.
How were the details for the Marshall Plan provided?
George Marshall, the US secretary of state, would provide details in a speech.
What was the Marshall Plan?
The US would provide economic aid to help war-torn countries in order to stop communism from taking over in Western Europe.
How much money was given in effect of the Marshall plan?
$12.7bn between 1948-52
When was the Marshall Aid distributed?
1948
What was the Soviet response to the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan?
Stalin was furious stating that the action is imitating hitler and believed the Truman Doctrine showed that the USA was trying to extend its influence in Europe. He also thought it was undermining the international role of the United Nations by suggesting that it was America’s job to protect the world.
Stalin argued that the Marshall Plan was a way of using economic might to divide Europe in two and establish an American economic empire in Europe (dollar imperialism).
How did the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan have impact on international relations from 1947?
Any lingering belief that there was still a Grand Alliance was gone, as the USA had now set itself up in direct opposition to the communist Soviet Union and invited other nations to join it.
Stalin become more suspicious of the USA trying to crush the Soviet Union.
The Marshall plan successfully tied Western European countries into supporting the USA, with Stalin rejecting this and setting up Comecon.
When did Cominform begin?
22nd September 1947
What 9 members were part of Cominform?
The communist party of the Soviet Union, the Communist Parties of the satellite states of Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland and Romania, along with Yugoslavia, France and Italy.
When was Yugoslavia expelled from Cominform?
June 1948
What was the use of Cominform?
He wanted to make sure the satellite states not only follow communism, but take orders from Moscow. The satellite states were encouraged to concentrate on trading with other Cominform members and all contact with non-communist countries was discouraged.
At Cominform’s first meeting it rejected the Marshall Plan and began to spread propaganda accusing America of being no different from Nazi Germany.
When was Comecon established?
25th January 1949
