Cold War Early Tension Flashcards
Decisions made at Tehran
USA and Britain open up a second front
Soviet Union would declare war on Japan once Germany was defeated
Boundaries of Poland moved westwards
International body would be set up to settle future disputes between countries- united nationa
Decisions made at Yalta
Germany when defeated would be reduced in size and demilitarised and it would have to pay reparations
Europe would be rebuilt along the lines of the Atlantic charter
United Nations would be set up
Poland would be in the soviet sphere of influence
Potsdam
A council of foreign ministers was set up to organise the rebuilding of Europe
Nazi party was banned and war criminals were to be prosecuted
Germany was to be reduced in size and devided into four zones
Berlin was also to be divided up into zones O’C occupation
End of the grand alliance
USA dropped atomic bombs on Japan in august 1945- gave them a huge military advantage over other countries- Roosevelt was prepared to work with Stalin but he died in April 1945 and was replaced by Truman who trusted Stalin much less as he had broken the promises he made over Poland at Yalta- Stalin disliked the way in which Truman had tried to push him around in Potsdam in 1945
Britain economically exhausted after the war
Long telegram
To president truman
Soviet saw capitalism as a threat to communism that had to be destroyed
Soviet Union was building its military power
Peace between a communist soviet unto on and a capitalist USA was not possible
Novikov telegram
Told Stalin
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
USA was preparing its people for war with the Soviet Union
Impact of the Soviet occupation of Eastern Europe on superpower relations
USA saw the soviet takeover of easter Europe as a betrayal of the Yalta agreement which Stalin had made promises about holding democratic elections
Others saw it as evidence of soviet expansion
USA was determined to contain communism through military and economic assistance-the Truman doctrine and Marshall aid
Soviet unction argued it needed to control Eastern Europe as a buffer zone protecting it from attack by the west
What were Truman’s concerns pre Truman doctrine
Europe devastated after the war
Communism was attractive to these people
Some governments were too poor to combat communist revolutions in their own countries
Domino theory - if greece and turkey became communist, the rest would follow
Truman doctrine
Countries faced a choice between either capitalism or communism
Communism was bad because it meant people could not be free
USA must try to contain the spread of communism
USA should provide money and troops to help free governments to combat communist takeovers
Marshall plan
About 13 billion from USA to help rebuild Europe
Countries must trade with the USA to get the money
16 Western European countries took the money
Soviet Union criticised the Marshall plan as an attack on them because it threatened communist control
Communism appealed to most people with nothing to lose so the Marshall plan hoped to stop communism by giving people a stake in the capitalist system
Comin form
Stalin set up in 1947
Comin form got rid of any opposition to the soviet unions control in satellite states
It encouraged communist parties in western countries to block Marshall plan assistance
Comecon
Stalin set up in 1949
Soviets alternative to the Marshall plan
It built up trade links between comecon countries
It also prevented Comecon countries signing up to the Marshall plan
Consequences of cominform and Comecon
Western Europe was now in one camp
It was linked to the USA through the Marshall plan and the us policy of containment and communism
NATO- North Atlantic Treaty Organisation
NATO was set up in 1949. It was a military alliance based around the principle of collective security: if one country was attacked other countries had to assist it
NATO was directed against a possible military attack from the Soviet Union on Western Europe
Significance of NATO
Showed that after the Berlín blockade and the Soviet Unions own development of the atomic bomb, neither the US nor Western European governments were prepared to accept future soviet aggression
The Soviet Union therefore turned to strengthening its control over Eastern Europe
There were now two military alliance nato and Warsaw pact facing each other across the iron curtain
