Cold war origin 2 Flashcards
What was the Truman Doctrine policy 1947, and the method
Feb - The British government informed the USA that it could no longer afford to support the Greek government against Communist rebels. (400 mill)
March - The USA would aid people who are at risk of subjugation by armed minorities or external pressures
The USA would provide European states with arms, money and training to fight Communist takeover, and promising American military support if necessary
It suggested that America, not the UN had a responsibility to protect the world
What was the Marshall Plan 1947
The USA would provide 17 billion dollars of aid to help rebuild the infrastructure and economies of Europe after the Second World War
By helping to make Europe prosperous and by giving it’s citizens better standards of living, the appeal of Communism as an ideology could be reduced
It would show the benefits of capitalism
Why did Stalin block Berlin in June 1948
West Berlin was a temptation to East Berliners. In the west the Marshall Plan was beginning to make life much better. Already East Berliners and East Germans were trying to escape to the west.
Great Britain and the USA had made it clear that they intended to rebuild the economy in their zones of Germany. In 1947 the British and US zones were joined together in ‘Bizonia’ and the French zone was added in 1948 to create Trizonia.
Stalin believed that Germany should be kept weak to prevent any risk of further trouble, he also wanted to get reparations from Germany to help rebuild the Soviet Union. On the contrary, in 1948 the western allies announced that they were going to introduce a new currency the Deutschmark in the west to help the economy get going again. This would mean that east and west would be separate economically.
How did Stalin block Berlin from June 1948 to May 1949
From June 1948 to May 1949 Stalin ordered that all traffic between West Germany and West Berlin should be stopped. He was able to close the road, canal and
rail routes, but was not able to prevent the western allies, Great Britain, France and the USA from bringing supplies into West Berlin by air.
One plane would land in Berlin every 90 secs
What is NATO
North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, which was set up in 1949 during the Berlin Blockade. The alliance was between America and other countries of Western Europe. NATO members agreed that if any country came under attack, all members of NATO would come to their defence
What was the Arms Race
Both sides racing to develop more and bigger bombs. As the Cold War developed, the theory of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) took shape, which said that the existence of such massive nuclear weapons meant that a future World War could end life on earth.
The Hungarian uprising 1956
Stalin died in 1953 and he was succeeded by Nikita Khrushchev. He believed in Co-existence. Rather than try to destroy the West, the Soviet Union should accept that it had a right to exist.
Hungarian land was redistributed to other Eastern European Countries
Hungarian coal, oil and wheat were shipped to Russia while Hungarian citizens were deprived of food.
The Hungarian people were unhappy with Communist education and the lack of freedom in religion
Short term causes of the Cold war
East Germany was very unpopular and many citizens fled to the West. 2.7 million between 1949-1961.
Most of these refugees were skilled workers, who left for jobs and better pay, which further undermined the economy of the East.
This was also very bad propaganda for the USSR as it made them look weak and made capitalism look a more popular and successful system.
In 1958 Khrushchev declared that the whole of Berlin belonged to USSR and demanded the USA remove their troops. The USA refused. 4 meetings were arranged to discuss the future of Berlin
The four summits Geneva 1959
Foreign ambassadors were able to speak face to face about the problems.
No solutions were agreed but it was planned that the presidents would meet together
The four summits Camp David 1959
The 2 leaders spoke honestly and this was good progress.
No solutions were agreed although they promised to meet again next year.
The four summits Paris 1960
The meeting was ruined by the shooting down of the U2 spy plane.
Khrushchev refused to take part in the talks unless the Americans apologised and cancelled all future spy-flights.
President Eisenhower agreed to cancel the spy- flights, but would not apologise – so Khrushchev went home; the Paris Summit collapsed.
The four summits Vienna 1961
Khrushchev saw the new US president JFK as inexperienced and someone who could be bullied.
He again demanded that the Americans leave West Berlin within 6 months.
JFK refused and on 25 July increased America’s spending on weapons by £3.2billion
On 13 August, Khrushchev closed the border between east and west Berlin – and built a wall.
Impact of the Berlin wall
It stopped East Germans escaping to the West and ended the refugee crisis
Allowed Khrushchev to avoid war with USA and still appear strong
Became a powerful symbol of division in Europe and between the different ideologies
The Wall remained in place until 1990 and more than 300 people were killed trying to cross it.
What was the significance of the Truman Doctrine
It suggested that America not the UN had a responsibility to protect the world
It marked the end of isolationism (Americas traditional policy towards international affairs)
It divided the world based on ideology (Communism and capitalism were clearly in opposition)
What did the Truman Doctrine state
The world had a choice between tyranny and democratic freedom
America had a responsibility to fight for liberty wherever it was threatened
America would send in troops and resources to help governments that were threatened by communists
Communism should not be able to grow and gain territory
