Cold War Events, Themes and Concepts

Question 1

What was the Yalta Conference?

Answer 1

Meeting between Stalin, Roosevelt and Stalin near the end of the war February 1945. They discussed:
- The partitioning of Germany
- Fate of Poland
The United Nations
- German Reparations

Question 2

What was the Potsdam Conference?

Answer 2

Conference between Churchill (later Attlee), Stalin and Truman.

• Germany and Austria divided into four zones
• Berlin divided into four zones
• Russian Polish border determined
• Korea divided

Question 3

What was the Marshall Plan?

Answer 3

A programme of economic aid offered by the United States to any European Country in June 1947. The plan was rejected outright by Stalin and any Eastern Bloc country considering accepting aid was reprimanded severely. Consequently the aid was only given to Western European Countries

Question 4

What was the Berlin Blockade?

Answer 4

Russia’s response to the merger of the French, USA and UK partitions of Berlin was to cut all road and rail links to that sector. This meant that those living in Western Berlin had no access to food supplies and faced starvation. Food was brought to Western Berliners by US and UK airplanes, an exercise known as the Berlin Airlift, June 1948

Question 5

What was the Geneva Accords?

Answer 5

the Set of documents that ended the French war with the Vietminh and divided Vietnam into North and South states. The communist leader of North Vietnam was Ho Chi Minh while the US friendly south was led by Ngo Dinh Diem

Question 6

What was the Hungarian Revolution?

Answer 6

A Hungarian protest against Communist rule in Budapest that quickly gained momentum and Soviet tanks entered and then withdrew from Budapest. A new government was formed that introduced democracy, freedom of speech etc. but Soviet tanks returned and captured it. October-November 1956

Question 7

What was the Suez Crisis?

Answer 7

Following military bombardment by Israeli forces, a joint British and French force invaded Egypt to regain control of the Suez Canal which had been nationalised by the Egyptian leader Nasser. The attack was heavily criticise by World leaders, especially America because Russia had offered support to Egypt. The British and French were forced to withdraw and a UN peace keeping force was sent to establish order, October 1956

Question 8

What was the Bay of Pigs Invasion?

Answer 8

A force of Cuban exiles, trained by the CIA, aided by the US government attempted to invade Cuba and overthrow the Communist government of Fidel Castro. The attempt failed, April 1961

Question 9

What was the Cuban Missile Crisis?

Answer 9

A US spy plane reported sighting the construction of a Soviet nuclear missile base in Cuba. President Kennedy set up a naval blockade and demanded the removal of the missiles. War was averted when the Russians agreed on 28th October to remove the weapons. The United States agreed not to invade Cuba, October 1962

Question 10

What was the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia?

Answer 10

Warsaw Pact forces entered Czechoslovakia in a bid to stop the reforms known as ‘Prague Spring’ instigated by Alexander Dubcek, which mainly involved giving additional rights to citizens and decentralising the economy. When he refused to halt his programme of reforms Dubcek was arrested, August 1968

Question 11

What was SALT I?

Answer 11

Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty, interim agreemenyt between US and Soviet’s on certain measures with respect to limitation of strategic offensive arms

Question 12

What was the Apollo Soyuz Test project?

Answer 12

Joint space venture between USA and USSr heralded as an end to the ‘Space Race’

Question 13

What was the Iranian hostage crisis?

Answer 13

A group of Iranian students and militants stormed the American embassy and took 53 Americans hostage to show their support for the Iranian Revolution

Question 14

What was the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan?

Answer 14

Soviet leaders thought President Amin was having discussion with the US. In December 1979, the Soviet Union invaded, killed Amin, and installed their own leader, Babrak Karmal

Question 15

Why did the U.S. Boycott the Moscow Olympics?

Answer 15

A number of countries including the U.S. boycotted the summer Olympics held in Moscow in protest at the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, July 1980

Question 16

When did Gorbachev announce Glasnost and Perestroika and what were they?

Answer 16

Glasnost - openness, transparency and freedom of speech

Perestroika - restructuring of government and economy. He also advocated free elections and ending the arms race

June 1987

Question 17

What is the idea of Containment?

Answer 17

Associated with George Kennan’s “X” article

Essentially you hold the Soviet Union in its current borders and await for the “internal contradictions” of the system to bring about its demise

Question 18

What was the Truman Doctrine?

Answer 18

Truman’s response to events in Greece and Turkey in 1947 whereby Truman openly states that he will provide assistance to people fighting the oppression of Communism. Marshall Plan followed on from this

Question 19

What is the idea of Rollback?

Answer 19

Associated with Eisenhower and John Dulles

Rollback is the strategy of forcing change in the major policies of a state, usually by replacing its ruling regime

But nuclear weapons make the implementation of this extremely dangerous so Eisenhower essentially just pursues a strategy of containment

Question 20

What is the idea behind Massive Retaliation?

Answer 20

Eisenhower’s nuclear strategy whereby any overt military move against the United States or its allies by the Soviet Union would be met with a full nuclear retaliation

This is “official” U.S. military strategy from 1953-67

But it becomes less credibly because of Soviet nuclear gains

Question 21

What is the idea of Flexible Response?

Answer 21

JFK desired flexibility but Robert McNamara is the “brainchild” behind the policy

The emphasis is on responding in degrees from conventional forces to tactical nuclear weapons to strategic nuclear weapons

Official U.S. and NATO military strategy from 1967

European allies are always wary of this scheme for they fear a local nuclear war would annihilate them

Question 22

What was the doctrine of MAD?

Answer 22

Mutually Assured Destruction

A central tenet of deterrence theory is predicated upon the assumption that a rational state will not commit to a nuclear strike because it would be annihilated in a nuclear response

The politicians might believe in it but the military planners clearly do not, given they are planning to fight and win a nuclear war

You need “rational” actors and you need a rough nuclear equivalence

Question 23

What was Mao’s concept of “People’s War”?

Answer 23

Essentially you need to win the support of the mass majority of the people (through whatever means available)

Once you have achieved this you then draw the enemy into the centre and defeat them through guerrilla tactics

Utilized this to win power in mainland China

Exports this concept to wars inside Indochina with success

Tried to export the concept to Malaya and to a litany of African wars but was less successful

Question 24

What were Khrushchev’s wars of national liberation?

Answer 24

Announced in January 1961 by Khrushchev, he stated that the Soviet Union would assist movements seeking to throw off the shackles of Colonialism

Essentially a similar approach to Lenin’s ideas about defeating “imperialism”

We see this in Cuba, Latin America, Indochina and Africa

At exporting Communism, it is really not that successful given the resources Moscow affords the project

But we have notably successes inside Africa and Southeast Asia

Question 25

What was the Domino Theory?

Answer 25

The domino theory was a theory prominent from the 1950s to the 1980s, that speculated that if one country in a region came under the influence of communism, then the surrounding countries would follow in a domino effect. The domino theory was used by successive United States administrations during the Cold War to justify the need for American intervention around the world.

Question 26

What was the Brezhnev Doctrine?

Answer 26

Brezhnev believed his support for national liberation movements was expending too many resources for insufficient gains

The intention was to maintain the integrity of the Soviet Union’s territorial borders and the influence of all Communist parties

We see this in practice in Czechoslovakia in 1968 and Afghanistan in 1979

Question 27

What was the Nixon Doctrine?

Answer 27

Limit the amount of military support you provide for America’s allies to avoid Vietnam like wars in the future

A return to American isolationism or simply a practical response to the new realities confronting the president

Detente, linkage and leverage and triangular diplomacy are the means to achieving this strategic advantages in these altered geopolitical, economic and domestic political circumstances

Question 28

What was the Carter Doctrine?

Answer 28

Emphasis on human rights and the power of individual freedoms

You support Soviet dissidents in their quest for “freedom”

Yet you build up America’s military (post Afghanistan invasion, christmas 1979)

New emphasis on rebuilding tactical and strategic nuclear weapons with a view to providing flexibility but maintaining parity

Question 29

What was the Reagan Doctrine?

Answer 29

The United States will support any (and all) anti-communist movements wherever they may be in an effort to rollback the Soviet Union’s global influence

Efforts at rollback occur throughout: Afghanistan, Angola, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Iran, Laos, Libya, Nicaragua, and Vietnam

Anti-communist governments and groups throughout Latin America receive considerable support

The United States also builds up its military strength and nuclear weapons with a view to achieving strategic superiority yet paradoxically Reagan proposes the abolition of nuclear weapons

Question 30

What was Ostpolitik?

Answer 30

Ostpolitik was the normalization of relations between the Federal Republic of Germany and Eastern Europe, particularly the German Democratic Republic beginning in 1969 and advocated by Willy Brandt, Chancellor of West Germany from 1969-1974

Question 31

What was NSC-68?

Answer 31

NSC-68 advocated a large expansion in the military budget of the United States, the development of a hydrogen bomb, and increased military aid to allies of the United States. It made the containment of global Communist expansion a high priority. April 1950

Question 32

Why did the Tito-Stalin split occur?

Answer 32

Scholars now emphasize the cause was Stalin’s rejection of Tito’s plans to absorb Albania and Greece in cooperation with Bulgaria, thereby setting up a powerful Eastern European bloc outside Moscow’s control.

Question 33

What was the Able Archer exercise?

Answer 33

A military exercise carried out by the countries of western Europe that simulated going to Defcon 1, ready for nuclear war. The Soviets, however, believed that this was real but did eventually back down. November 1981

Question 34

Who is a key historian of the Orthodox school of thought?

Answer 34

Arthur Schlesinger Jr.

Question 35

What are the arguments for the Origins of the Cold War according to the Orthodox school?

Answer 35

America is largely reactive to Soviet policy

Stalin is seeking geopolitical and strategic aggrandisement

Communism as an ideology is seeking world domination

FDR naively trusted Stalin

Truman responded in the only ‘reasonable’ fashion afforded to him

Question 36

Who is the key historian of the Revisionist school of thought?

Answer 36

William Appleman

Question 37

What are the arguments for the Origins of the Cold War according to the Revisionist school?

Answer 37

The United States was seeking new markets to sustain its economic recovery

Stalin has legitimate security concerns which are never met

The US is largely responsible for the Cold War

Question 38

Who is the key historian of the Post-Revisionist school of thought?

Answer 38

John Lewis Gaddis

Question 39

What are the arguments for the Origins of the Cold War according to the Post-revisionist school?

Answer 39

The Cold War is essentially a classic ‘security dilemma’

In obtaining security, Stalin makes the United States feel insecure

Likewise, by advancing their own security the United States fails to take into account Stalin’s security concerns

Question 40

What was linkage?

Answer 40

A policy pursued during the Cold War that aimed to persuade the Soviet Union and Communist China to cooperate in restraining revolutions in the third world in return for concessions in nuclear and economic fields

Question 41

What was the SALT I agreement?

Answer 41

US and Soviets pledged to limit the number of intercontinental ballistic missiles each side would build, and to prevent the development of anti-ballistic missile systems, May 1972

Question 42

What was the soviet occupation of Iran?

Answer 42

In 1946 the Soviets fails to leave Iran as per the agreement with the allies that they would leave 6 months after the end of hostilities. They supported local pro-Soviet Iranians who proclaimed the People’s republic of Azerbaijan. They eventually left due to US pressure

Question 43

What was the Czech Coup?

Answer 43

In February 1948 The Czech communist party with backing from Moscow took control of the government

Question 44

What does historian Gar Alperovitz argue in relation to the dropping of the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki?

Answer 44

That Japan was attempting to surrender but the US used to a bomb anyway in order to warn the Soviet Union

Question 45

What was one of the consequences of Maos declaration that he was unafraid of nuclear war in 1957?

Answer 45

Soviets begun to withdraw nuclear cooperation which contributed to the Sino-Soviet split

Question 46

What occurred at the Vienna summit?

Answer 46

Khrushchev threatened JFK with a nuclear winter if the west didn’t pull out of West Berlin, but by August 1961 he had opted to build the Berlin Wall instead

Question 47

What led to the development of Pershing-II missiles in west Germany?

Answer 47

Soviets placing SS20 missiles in Eastern Europe in the late 1980s that led to NATOs Double-Track decision

Question 48

What was Reagans Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI)?

Answer 48

1983, a satellite-based nuclear Defence system, which would destroy incoming missiles and warheads in space