Cold war Flashcards
What was the alliance called between USA ,USSR and UK?
The Grand Alliance
When was the Grand Alliance formed?
1941
Why was the Grand Alliance formed?
To defeat Nazi Germany
What year was the Tehran conference?
1943
What year was the Yalta conference?
1945
What year was the Potsdam conference?
1945
What did Nazi Germany say about the Grand Alliance?
The Grand Alliance was a ‘marriage of convenience’ , in which three countries shared the aim of defeating their common enemy
What was agreed at The Tehran Conference?
- The USA and UK agreed to open up a second front by invading Nazi occupied Europe
- The Soviet Union would declare war on Japan once Germany was defeated
- The boundaries of Poland would be moved west. Poland would lose territory USSR and gain some from germany
- They set up the would set up the UN
What was agreed at the Yalta conference?
- Germany would be reduced in size when it was defeated,divided and demilitarised. It would have to pay reparations
- Europe would be rebuilt along the lines of the Atlantic Charter. Countries would have democratic elections.
- The UN was set up
- The USSR would declare war on Japan once Germany was defeated
- Poland would be in the ‘Soviet sphere of influence’ but run on a broader democracy
What was agreed at the Potsdam conference?
- A Council of Foreign Ministers was set up to organise the rebuilding of Europe
- The Nazi party was banned and war criminals were punished
- Germany was reduced in size and divided into four zones of occupation run by Britain, France, the USA and USSR
- Berlin was also to be divided up into zones of occupation
- The USSR was receive 25% of the output from the other three occupied zones
The outcome of the conferences between the Grand Alliance?
Their differences where starting to emerge
What is the definition ideology?
A set of political ideas about how society should be run
What did USA, Britain and other capitalist countries say about communism?
Communism enslaved people to the state
What did the USSR and other communist countries say about capitalism?
Capitalism exploited the workers to make the rich even richer. Communism was based on fairness
What was the Long Telegram?
A secret report from the US ambassador Kennan in Moscow to President Truman
What did the Long Telegram say?
- The USSR saw capitalism as a threat to communism that had to be destroyed
- The USSR was building its military power
- Peace between a communist USSR and a capitalist USA was not possible
What was Novikov’s telegram (1946)?
A report from Novikov, Soviet ambassador the the USA
What was said in Novikov’s telegram?
- The USA wanted world domination and was building up its military strength
- The Soviet Union was the only country left after the war that could stand up to the USA
- The USA was preparing its people for the war with the Soviet Union
What two things made the relations between the superpowers worse?
- Ideologis
- The atomic bomb
What did the USA see the USSR as a threat to?
Their economy
What did the USSR see the USA as a threat to?
Nuclear military
When did the USSR create the Satellite States?
1947-49
What did the USSR think would happen in the free elections in their Satellite States?
People would vote for communism
What did the communist parties do once in power in the Satellite States?
Shut down the opposite parties and each country become a single-party state.(‘Salami tactics’)
How did Bulgaria become communist?
A communist government was elected in 1945, and all elected non-communists were executed
How did Romania become communist?
A communist-led coalition took power. However, by 1947 the communist had taken over and Romania became a one-party state
How did Poland become communist?
At Yalta Stalin promised to set up a joint communist/non-communist government. Stalin then invited 16 non-communist leaders to Moscow and arrested them. Thousands of non-communist were arrested. The communists then ‘won’ the 1947
How did Hungary become communist?
The communists lost the 1945 election but the communist leader Rakosi took control of the secret police,executed and imprisoned his opponents and turned Hungary into a communist state
How did East Germany become communist?
The original Soviet zone of occupation in Germany, it became a communist state in October 1949
What was 4 impact of the USSR taking of East Germany on the super power relations?
- The USA saw the USSR takeover East Germany as a betrayal of Yalta agreement, in which Stalin had made promises about holding democratic elections
- Others saw it as evidence of Soviet expansion: Eastern Europe was a stepping-stone to a Soviet takeover of Western Europe
- The USA was determined to contain communism through military and economic assistance: the Truman and marshall Aid
- The USSR argued it needed to control Eastern Europe as a buffer zone, protecting it from attack from the West. The US response was unnecessary
Why did events in Greece change US policy?
Truman was informed in 1947 that GB could no longer afford to keep troops in Greece & Turkey. If GB withdrew these countries could well come under the influence of Stalin. truman therefore paid for the troops to be kept there and gave financial backing to the two countries. This was the beginning of the US policy of CONTAINMENT
What was the Truman Doctrine?
Truman announced this change of policy from isolation to containment to the world in a speech in March 1947- he made it clear that the US was prepared to assist any country under the threat of communism. Truman said choosing democracy over communism was like choosing good over evil. The USA would send troops and money to stop communism spreading. This was known as containment
Why were people in the satellite states of Hungary unhappy by 1956?
- Lack of political freedom
- Fuel shortages
- Poor harvests
Who replaced the Hungarian Prime Minister Rakosi in 1956?
Imre Nagy (Khrushchev hoped he would improve things in Hungary)
What did Nagy announce 1st November 1956?
He would withdraw Hungary form the Warsaw pact
What happened during the Hungarian uprising?
- Krushchev could not accept that Hungary would leave the Warsaw Pact
- On 4th November 1956 his Soviet army invaded Hungary-1,000 tanks rolled into Budapest
- Nagy begged the West for support but none came
- up to 20,000 Hungarians were killed
- A pro-communist government was set up under Kadar
- Despite being offered safe passage out of Yugoslavia, Nagy was tried and executed
How did other countries respond to the Soviet union invasion of hungary?
Although Radio free Europe, as US-government funded radio station had been urging people of Eastern Europe to rebel against communism, no military support was offered by the USA. The USA was not prepared to interfere in the affairs of an existing communist country
what was the impact of the Hungarian uprising on international relations?
- Khrushchev’s position in the Soviet Union was more secure
- Warsaw Pact members now knew they had to do what the USSR
- Khrushchev was more confident dealing with the USA as he knew they would probably not take military action
- The West looked bad-they had not offered military support to Hungary
- Relations between the USA and USSR got worse again as the USA condemned the Soviet Union invasion of Hungary
What year was the Hungarian uprising?
1956
What did Krushchev think of Nagy
He didn’t like him
What were the consequences of the Soviet invasion of Hungary
- Over 5000 Hungarians were killed as a result of the invasion, including around 1000 Soviet troops. Many Hungarian soldiers loyal to Nagy and the revolution fought against Soviet troops
- Nagy and his government were deposed
- Imre Nagy was arrested, tried and executed. Krushchev wanted to prevent rebellions in other communist countries, such as Poland, and hoped he could do so by making an example of Nagy
- A new leader, Janos Kadar, was appointed. He introduced the Fifteen Point Programme
After the war how many parts was Germany split into
Four
After the war how many parts was Berlin split into
Four
Who owned the four sections of Germany
France
The UK
The USA
The USSR
What was the outcome of the Geneva summit ( May 1959), involving foreign representatives only
No solution agreed but a further summit organised for Camp David in the USA
Camp David (Sept 1959), involving Eisenhower and Krushchev
No solution agreed u a further meeting arranged in Paris
Paris Summit (May 1960), involving Eisenhower and Krushchev
A disaster. Krushchev stormed out because the Soviet Union had shot down a US spy plane over Russia
Vienna Conference (Jan 1961), involving Kennedy and Krushchev
Neither was willing to back down. Krushchev saw Kennedy’s inexperience as a weakness and reissued his ultimatum for the USA to remove its troop from Berlin
What did the Cia tell Kennedy regarding The Bay of Pigs
- The invasion will like like a Cuban revolt - we’ve trained Cuban exiles and disguised old US planes as Cuban
- Castro’s control of Cuba is very weak
- Most Cubans hate Castro
What actually happened with The Bay of Pigs
- The planes were recognised as US planes and photographed, and the information was published. The world knew that the USA had backed the invasion
- In fact, Castro knew of the invasion in advance and 1400 US-backed troops met 20 000 of Castro’s troops. The US-backed troops surrendered
- In fact, most Cubans didn’t want their old leader, Batista, back again, because he had been corrupt
What was the impact of Soviet rule over Czechoslovakia
- Czechoslovakia’s economy and living standards declined
- Any opposition to communism was crushed
- Communist rule became very unpopular
When did Alexander Dubček become Czechoslovakia leader
January 1968
Why was the Berlin Wall built
- Khrushchev backed down: as he knew he couldn’t win a nuclear war
- Western powers stayed in Berlin
- Instead, the Berlin Wall was built (from August 1961)
- Anyone trying to escape was shot at. Many people were killed
- The wall stopped East Germans leaving for the West, which solved the crisis
- This way, Khrushchev avoided war with USA but still looked strong
When did they start building the Berlin Wall
August 1961
How did Brezhnev respond to Dubček reforms
- Brezhnev could not allow the reforms, as any weakness in control could mean the break-up of the Warsaw Pact - even though this wasn’t Dubček intention
- Brezhnev failed to convince Dubček to stop the reforms
- In August 1968, the Soviet Union sent tanks to Prague and Dubček was arrested
- Czechoslavakia returned to being under strict Soviet control under Gustav Husak. This was known as ‘normalisation’
Consequences of the Brezhnev Doctrine
- From now on, the Soviet Union declared the right to invade any Eastern bloc country that was threatening the security of the Eastern bloc as a whole
- The USA condemned the invasion but did nothing to stop it: it feared war
What was the importance of the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia
The Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia was important because the Brezhnev Doctrine meant that the Soviet Union reserved the right to invade any country that threatened the security of the Eastern bloc. Therefore, other East European states, such as Poland or Hungary, were required to rigidly stick to Soviet - style communism, or risk invasion themselves
What were the impacts of the Berlin Wall?
- After the Berlin Wall went up in 1961, Western (British, US, and French) troops remained in Berlin
- The Wall solved the refugee problem, as East Germans could no longer travel to West Germany
- The number of military alerts in Berlin declined as a result of the construction of the Wall. President Kennedy commented that, although not a nice solution, a wall was at least better than a war. The Wall seemed to suggest that the Soviets were no longer interested in unifying Berlin under communist rule, as Khrushchev had originally demanded in November 1958
- The Wall was a humiliation for the Soviet Union and a propaganda victory for the West, as it suggested that East Germans preferred living in capitalist West Germany and had to be forced to stay in communist East Germany
- The wall was a notorious barrier between the freedoms enjoyed by West Berliners and those denied to East Berliners. It meant West Berlin became an enduring symbol of freedom. this was highlighted further by the fact that over 200 people lost their lives trying to cross the Wall
- Khrushchev mistakenly thought that Kennedy had shown weakness by allowing the Wall to be built, and this encouraged him to think about deploying missiles in Cuba
What were the short-term impact of the Cuban Missile Crisis
- Communist Cuba survived as Kennedy gave assurances the USA would not invade Cuba again
- The Soviet Union looked weak, as the world didn’t know the USA had removed missiles from Turkey. This undermined Khrushchev and Brezhnev replaced him as Soviet leader in 1964
- US ‘doves’ came out well, as their desire to avoid war resulted in the missiles being withdrawn
What were long-term consequences of the Cuban Missile Crisis
- The Hotline Agreement created a direct communication link between Washington and Moscow
- Limited Test Ban Treaty ( August 1963) - both sides agreed to ban all nuclear weapon testing except for underground tests
- In 1963 Kennedy gave a speech about working with the Soviet Union to focus on their ‘Common interests’t
- However, the Soviet Union was determined to catch up with USA in the arms race and achieved this by 1965. This meant Mutually Assured Destruction must be avoided at all costs
- The USA and Soviet Union also signed the Outer Space Treaty in 1967, which limited the deployment of nuclear weapons in space, and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 1968, which prevented nuclear weapons being given to other countries
What was the impact on the west to the Soviet measures in Czechoslovakia
- The USA and West Germany condemned the invasion and the Brezhnev Doctrine that followed it. The Soviet invasion was even described as ‘the rape of Czechoslovakia’
- However, the USA and West Germany offered no military support or assistance. The United States was already bogged down in the Vietnam War and also didn’t want to provoke an international crisis
- Communist leaders,such as Jacques Duclos in France and Enrico Berliner in Italy, were appalled by the invasion, France and Italy therefore began to end their links with the Soviet Union
What was the impact on the east to the Soviet measures in Czechoslovakia
- The invasion ad the Brezhnev Doctrine limited reforms in other Eastern bloc countries who feared a Soviet invasion
- Countries such as Poland pursued policies that ignored public opinion, which increasingly demanded change. This led to public protests
- The invasion strengthened Soviet control over the Eastern bloc as they could use military force to ensure their dominance
- Yet the crisis also exposed differences in the Eastern bloc. Both Roumania (led by Nicolae Ceausescu) and Yugoslavia (led by Josp Broz Tito) condemned the invasion and signed alliances with communist China, dividing the communist world
What was in SALT 1
Superpowers agreed to limit the number of nuclear weapons they had
- No further production of strategic ballistic weapons (short-range, lightweight missiles).
- No increase in number of intercontinental ballistic weapons (ICBMs) (though new ones could be added to replace old ones)
- No new nuclear missile launchers. New submarines that could launch nuclear weapons (SLBMs) only allowed as replacements for existing missile launchers
- The Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty limited both sides to two ABM deployment areas
What were the pros and cons of how effective SALT 1 was
- Slowed down the arms race by placing limits on the number of bombers, ICBMs and SLBMs each side could have
- Led to further negotiations that culminated in SALT 2 Treaty in 1979
- Ensured that neither side had a decisive advantage in strategic nuclear weapons
- Didn’t cover intermediate nuclear weapons, which both sides continued to deploy in Europe during the late 1970s
What was the importance of the Helsinki agreement
- Helped the USA and the USSR form a stable relationship
- Represented the high point of detente
- Coincided with more US-Soviet cooperation like the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (1975) - a joint space mission- and trade agreements
What were the limits of the Helsinki agreement
- The USSR continued to focus on Eastern bloc countries and to apply the Brezhnev Doctrine. It treated dissidents (protesters) harshly; scientist Alexander Sakharov was arrested, hospitalised and force-fed
- The USA continued to priorities its interests in countries it could influence, like Chile and El Salvador
What was in SALT 2
- Under negotiation since 1972
- Based on the Vladivostok Accords (1974)- agreements between between US and Soviet governments
- Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev and US President Jimmy Carter signed the agreement in Vienna in June 1979
- Each superpower limited to 2250 warheads. SALT 2 counted warheads while SALT 1 simply counted missiles and bombers
- Imposed limits on new launch systems including munition-warheads missiles
Why did SALT 2 fail
- Some West Germany politicians opposed the treaty, as they feared it weakened the defence of West Germany. They thought that after the treaty, the USA would be less likely to use its nuclear weapons if West Germany was attacked by the USSR
- Some US politicians thought the treaty made too many concession to the USSR
- US-soviet relations soured after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. This meant the US Senate never ratified (approved) the treaty, so it never became official US policy
When did Ronald Reagan become president
1981
Who became leader of the USSR in 1985
Mihail Gorbachev
When did Mihail Gorbachev become leader of the USSR
1985
What was the significance of Gorbachev’s and Reagan’s change in attitudes
- They represented an easing of Cold War tensions
- Led to greater cooperation between the USA and the USSR
- Let to arms control agreements, the INF Treaty and START I
What happened with Reykjavik in October 1986
- Reagan and Gorbachev said they would work to cut down the number of nuclear weapons they had
- Gorbachev wanted an end to Reagan’s Strategic Defence Initiative (SDI) - Reagan’s plan to have satellites in space to destroy nuclear missiles. However, Reagan didn’t agree to this
What did the INF treaty do
It got rid of all 500-5500km nuclear missiles each superpower had- better than SALT 1. The INF Treaty largely applied in Europe, where most of these missiles were deployed
What is background information about the invasion of Afghanistan
In 1968 the Soviet Union sent tanks into Czechoslovakia to put down the Prague Spring. The USA condemned this, but didn’t do anything. In 1979, the Soviet Union sent troops into Afghanistan, a country with a communist government, to take control after the president was assassinated. This time the USA reacted very strongly
Explain the process of the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan
- The USSR saw Afghanistan as in its sphere of influence, as it was bordering the USSR. This meant President Taraki’s government had to be communist and Soviet-backed
- When President Taraki was assassinated during civil war and replaced by Hafizullah Amin, the USSR felt its influence in Afghanistan was threatend
- Brezhnev ordered Soviet troops to invade Afghaniatan in December 1979. Barbrak Karmal was made president and Amin and many of his supporters were killed
- Soviet troops had to remain in the country to keep Karmal in power Afghan rebels known as the Mujahideen resisted these troop
- Breazhnev believed wrongly that the USA and its president, Jimmy Carter, would not object to the invasion
Why was Carter worried about the invasion of Afghanistan
- The USA was worried that the Soviet Union would get more control in the Middle East
- A successful invasion of Afghanistan might mean Soviet influence in Iran
- Iran could block Middle East oil exports at the Straits of Hormuz. Middle East oil was essential to the USA’s prosperity
What action did Jimmy Carter take regarding the Carter Doctrine January 1980
- He threatened to use force if the USSR attempted to take control of the Persian Gulf
- The US imposed economic actions- there would be no trade with the USSR. This meant the USA would no longer export grain to or import oil from the USSR
- The USA and its allies, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, security provided assistance to the Mujahideen. This meant the USA and its allies were directly backing a war against the USSR in Afghanistan
- In this way the USA ceased cooperating with the USSR and began to confront it instead
When did the USA boycott the Olympics
1980
When did the USSR boycott the Olympics
1984
What were the consequences of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan for the USA
- The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan persuaded many Americans that the USSR could not be trusted
- This helped lead to the electrition of President Reagan in November 1980. He was an anti-communist with a hard-line (tough) attitude towards the USSR
What were the consequences of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan for the USSR
- USSR troops remained in Afghanistan, to keep Barbrak Karmal in power
- These troops came under repeated attack from the Mujahideen, leading to rising casualties on both sides
- Pressure was put n the Soviet leadership to end the increasing unpopular war
Why did relations between the USA and USSR get worse between 1979 and 1984
- The olympic boycott
- The election of President Reagan, who was very anti-communist
- Increased military expenditure on missiles and the USA’s Strategic Defence Initiative (SDI):the Soviet Union retaliated but could not keep up with the USA, as its economy was much smaller
- The on-going war following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan
- The breakdown of the Salt 2 arms control negotiations
- The shooting down of KAL007 in September 1983
What was SDI
A plan to have satellites, lasers and mirrors in space that would destroy Soviet intercontinental nuclear missiles before they reach the USA
What were the reasons why Gorbachev scrapped the Brezhnev Doctrine
- He believed openess would make all Eastern bloc countries better
- The Eastern bloc communist governments were only planning a litle reform
- Reform would end unrest in countries such as Poland, where the trade union Solidarity and the Roman Catholic Church had challenged the government
- The USSR had to improve trade relations with the West to rebuild its economy. The West would only improve trade if repression was reduced
- Cost of troops and military hardware was crippling the Soviet Union’s economy. It could no longer afford to maintain the Warsaw Pact
When did Gorbachev announce the end of the brezhnev Doctrine
December 1988
When did Hungary open its borders to East Germans
August 1989
When did Gorbachev announces that Eastern bloc states can go their own way
October 1989
When did the Berlin Wall fall
Nov 1989
When did communist governments fall in Czechoslavakia, Bulgaria and Romania
Dec 1989
What was the significance of the fall of the Berlin Wall for Germany
- German reunification : East Germany ceased to exist and became part of a united Germany in 1990, with Berlin as its capital
- The USSR withdrew its troops for what was East Germany
- British, French and US troops remained in western Germany
What was the significance of the fall of the Berlin Wall for superpower relations
- The end of the Warsaw Pact in July 1991
- The withdrawal of Soviet troops from Eastern Europe from 1990 onwards
- NATO continued to exist but expanded to include many former members of the Warsaw Pact
- The fall of the Berlin Wall gave further momentum to the ‘thaw’ in the Cold War.
- The Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) Agreement (1990) set limits on non-nuclear forces deployed in Europe
- At the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) (1991), the USA and USSR agreed to reduce nuclear warheads by about a thirds, with an additional undertaking to reduce them further