cold war origins 1941-56 Flashcards
explain what the early tension between the east and west was like
The USA entered WW2 against Germany and Japan in 1941, creating a Grand Alliance of the USA, Britain and the USSR. This uneasy alliance would break down into the Cold War.
The alliance of the USA and the USSR brought together two sides that were divided by political ideologies. The political and economic systems of the USA and Britain were based on capitalism, while the USSR had based its economy on communism.
How did the actions of Germany and Japan bring the usa and ussr together
Britain was at war with Germany since Germany’s invaded Poland in 1939.
Despite the fact Stalin invaded Poland in 1939 with Hitler, the USSR allied itself with Britain in 1941 when Germany began to invade its territories.
In December 1941, Germany’s ally, Japan, launched a surprise attack on the US naval base at Pearl Harbor. This brought the USA into World War Two on the same side as Britain and the USSR.
main aspects of capitalism
-Several political parties represent different sectors of society
-Governments are chosen by democratic elections
-People can set up private businesses and make money for themselves
-Individual rights and freedoms are important
-Freedom of speech and freedom of the press
main aspects of communism
-one party state
-No democratic elections and no opportunity to change government by election
-All businesses and factories are owned by the state
-Individual rights and freedoms are less important than obedience to the state
-Censorship and state controlled media
explain the tehran conference of November 1943
big three
uk-churchill
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usa-roosevelt
the conference was to discuss the group’s planned invasion of Nazi occupied France. Stalin, leader of the USSR, wanted to see this happen, as at the Soviet Red Army was the only army fighting the Nazis on land.
Outcomes:
the USA and Britain would invade France by May 1944
-USSR would join the USA and Britain in the war against Japan, once Nazi Germany was defeated
explain the yalta conference of february 1945
Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin - met again at Yalta in Crimean region of the USSR.
Objectives: aim
to decide what to do with Germany once it was defeated. the Yalta Conference set the scene for the rest of the Cold War in Europe.
Outcomes:
Germany to be divided into 4 zones of occupation with USSR, Britain, France and USA controlling a zone. France was free from Nazi Germany and included at conference due to pressure from French leader, General de Gaulle, because Britain wanted European ally to share cost of the post-war reconstruction of Germany.
Berlin, was 100 miles inside Soviet zone and was to be divided into 4 zones, each controlled by one of the Allied powers. Berlin would become a continuing source of tension once Cold War began.
All countries freed from Nazi control were guaranteed the right to hold free, democratic elections to choose own governments. This was released as a statement, the Declaration on Liberated Europe. But Stalin was offered a sphere of influence in Eastern Europe where communist ideals would dominate.
And, Stalin would join war against Japan, once Germany was defeated. This was important to Americans who were suffering heavy losses in the Pacific, despite the fact they were pushing back the Japanese.
All the leaders made a commitment to put on trial, suspected Nazi war criminals.
The Allies agreed to set up United Nations= dedicated to international cooperation and the prevention of war.
explain potsdam conference in july 1945
uk-attlee
usa-truman
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Objectives:
to finalise a post-war settlement and put into action all the things agreed at Yalta. Potsdam Conference had disagreements, which were result of significant changes that took place since Yalta Conference.
- A new US President:
Roosevelt died and replaced by Vice-President, Truman. While Roosevelt was willing to work with Stalin, bc he needed USSR to join the war against Japan, Truman made his dislike for communism and for Stalin personally.
- Nuclear threat:
Image of the first nuclear weapon was part of Manhattan Project.
The first detonation of nuclear weapon was part of Manhattan Project.
Just before potsdam Conference, USA exploded an atomic bomb at their test site in New Mexico.
At Potsdam, Truman told Stalin the US possessed a new weapon of unusual destructive force. Although Stalin knew details about the Manhattan Project through his spy networks, he could complain at this treatment and the fact there were secrets between supposed Allies.
- Expansion of communism:
Despite agreeing at Yalta that free elections would be held in Eastern Europe after the defeat of Nazi Germany, there was little evidence at Potsdam that Stalin wanted to allow them. the Red Army was in control of Poland and the USSR was in the process of setting up a communist government.
explain who truman was
Truman became president when Roosevelt in 12 April 1945
-heserved in France during the last five months of World War One and had been a successful officer.
-he was a Baptist and, this guided his morality and ethics.
-Truman was unaware of the Manhattan Project (the scheme developing the USA’s nuclear weapons).
what happened in hiroshima on the 6th of august 1945
the USA dropped an atomic bomb on Japanese city Hiroshima. The blast destroyed an area of 5 square miles, destroyed more than 60 per cent of city’s buildings and killed 140,000 people. 3 days later the USA dropped a second atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Nagasaki, killing around 74,000 people.
why did the usa drop bombs on hiroshima
The official US justification for the dropping of the two atomic bombs was to force the Japanese government to surrender, which it did on 14 August 1945. Some say that the bombs may have been dropped to send a warning to the Soviet Union about the strength of the American arsenal.
the USA had changed the nature of warfare, and for the remainder of the Cold War the threat of atomic weapons and nuclear war would be a constant theme.
howdid espionage worse the superpower relations
The Manhattan Project, the USA’s secret project to develop atomic bomb, begun in 1939 based on the fear that the Germans were developing something – Albert Einstein had warned them of this. The USA’s top scientists worked on the Manhattan Project with some European and Jewish scientists.
The Manhattan Project was top-secret even in the US : Truman didn’t know about it when he was Vice President, and found out when he became President. Truman was told that the US was the only nation which could produce a weapon so destructive it could destroy the whole world. But, the USSR was expected to catch up within four years.
After the american bomb was tested in New Mexico on 16 July 1945. Truman did not fully explain the test and its success to his allies. after the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 stalin was informed on the weapon’s existence by Truman.
However, in 1943, two spies for the USSR, Klaus Fuchs and Rudolf Peierls, started working for the Manhattan Project and sent information back to the USSR. it did not help in terms of the strength and honesty of the East – West relationship.
howdid espionage worse the superpower relations
The Manhattan Project, the USA’s secret project to develop atomic bomb, begun in 1939 based on the fear that the Germans were developing something – Albert Einstein had warned them of this. The USA’s top scientists worked on the Manhattan Project with some European and Jewish scientists.
The Manhattan Project was top-secret even in the US : Truman didn’t know about it when he was Vice President, and found out when he became President. Truman was told that the US was the only nation which could produce a weapon so destructive it could destroy the whole world. But, the USSR was expected to catch up within four years.
After the american bomb was tested in New Mexico on 16 July 1945. Truman did not fully explain the test and its success to his allies. after the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 stalin was informed on the weapon’s existence by Truman.
However, in 1943, two spies for the USSR, Klaus Fuchs and Rudolf Peierls, started working for the Manhattan Project and sent information back to the USSR. it did not help in terms of the strength and honesty of the East – West relationship.
explain the soviet expansion into eastern europe
Despite the promises made by Stalin at the Yalta Conference to allow free elections, he started turning Eastern Europe into a buffer zone between Soviet Union and Western Europe.
Albania-1945 A communist government took power at the end of WW2.
Bulgaria 1946 the Bulgarian monarchy was abolished and a communist government was elected and got rid of its opponents.
East Germany 1945- was part of the Soviet zone of occupation agreed at Yalta Conference and in 1945 the Soviets set up a communist regime.
Romania -In 1945 elections, a communist-led coalition government was elected. The communists removed their coalition partners and abolished the Romanian monarchy.
Poland 1947 Fearing that a non-communist government would be elected in 1947, Stalin invited 16 non-communist politicians to Moscow, where they were arrested. With their political opponents removed, the Polish communists won the election.
Hungary 1948 -Although non-communists won the 1945 election, a communist politician, Rakosi, took control of secret police and used it to arrest and execute his political opponents. By 1948 the Communist Party was in complete control of the country.
Czechoslovakia 1948- the last country in Eastern Europe to fully fall to communism . At elections that year only Communists were allowed to stand and a communist government was duly elected.
reactions to the soviet expansion- what was the
for western allies, it felt like the nazi dictatorship was replaced with communist dictatorship
reactions to soviet expansion-
what was the long telegram in feb 1946
In 1946, George Kennan, an official at the US Embassy in Moscow, was asked to give a summary of what the Soviets were up to. His response was known as The Long Telegram because at 8,000 words,
It said the USSR was heavily armed and feared the outside world. It was determined to spread communism so there could be no peace between USSR and USA. However, the USA was stronger than the USSR and so communism could be ‘contained’.
explain reactions to soviet expansion- what was the sovet reaction to the long telegram
the novikov telegram 1946
The Soviet response to The Long Telegram was The Novikov Telegram, where the Soviet ambassador to the USA, Nikolai Novikov, warned that the USA had emerged from World War Two economically strong and bent on world domination. As a result, the USSR needed to secure its buffer zone in Eastern Europe.
These two telegrams set the scene for the Cold War in Europe. The USSR would attempt to dominate Eastern Europe and spread communism where possible. The USA would commit to a policy of ‘containment’.
what was the iron curtain speech
On 5 March 1946,former British Prime Minister, Churchill, condemned the Soviet expansion in Eastern Europe in his famous Iron Curtain speech. In that speech he noted that an iron curtain descended across the continent.
He meant that the Allies had spent six years fighting for the freedom from Fascism in Europe, only to have half the continent now under Soviet dictatorship.
what was the truman doctrine
12th March 1947- American and British politicians were concerned about events in Greece and Turkey. Britain was no longer in a financial position to support governments who would be pro-Western. Communism already spread around Greece and the Greek Communist Party was becoming popular: there were concerns that Greece would be communism next.
The USA was the only Western ally in a financial position to stop this.
In March 1947, President Truman made a speech to the US Congress where he promised that the USA would provide aid to any country that stood up to communism. This was developed into The Truman Doctrine. The USA was now fully committed to a policy of containment, or stopping the spread of communism
what was the truman doctrine
12th March 1947- American and British politicians were concerned about events in Greece and Turkey. Britain was no longer in a financial position to support governments who would be pro-Western. Communism already spread around Greece and the Greek Communist Party was becoming popular: there were concerns that Greece would be communism next.
The USA was the only Western ally in a financial position to stop this.
In March 1947, President Truman made a speech to the US Congress where he promised that the USA would provide aid to any country that stood up to communism. This was developed into The Truman Doctrine. The USA was now fully committed to a policy of containment, or stopping the spread of communism
what was the marshall plan
Fearing that all of Europe could become communist, in 1947 President Truman sent General George Marshall to see what could be done to ensure this didn’t happen. Marshall recommended spending lots of money - over $12 billion . This Marshall Aid money would be spent to help economies of Western Europe recover after WW2 and make them less likely to fall into communism.
Marshall Aid was a propaganda tool - a way of saying “Look how wealthy we are, you don’t need communism. Stick with us and you’ll be wealthy too”.
The Aid was offered to all countries, but Truman knew that the conditions were such that they would probably not take it up.
Stalin blocked Czechoslovakia when they considered accepting the financial assistance on offer.
explain the soviet response to the marshall plan
It said the Marshall Aid was ‘dollar imperialism’ and said the USA was throwing its economic weight around and used it to gain influence in Europe.
In September 1947 it set up Cominform – the Communist Information Bureau – to tighten Soviet control in Eastern Europe, to build collective heavy industry in those countries and to create a trade network between Communist countries.
It published its own newspaper to spread Communist ideals and held conferences in the Eastern Bloc. But, its effectiveness was limited, e.g. when Yugoslavia left the group in June 1948.
In January 1949 it established Comecon – the Council of Mutual Economic Assistance – to administer its own Molotov Plan of financial aid to keep the Eastern Bloc countries on side. Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland and Romania all joined the Soviet Union in this group and were joined by Albania and East Germany after. The group was not as successful as it might have been as the USSR dominated terms of industrial production and total economy size, but countries were committed to Communist economic theory. The group became more important after Cominform disbanded in 1956.
why was it clear that berlin was going to be a flashpoint for the cold war
Germany was divided into four zones of occupation each controlled by the Allies.
Berlin, lay inside the Russian zone and was also divided into four zones of occupation.
Access to Berlin for the Allies was by way of road, rail and canal, and via three specific air corridors.
what caused the berlin blockade
Stalin wanted Germany to remain weak, and as a ‘buffer zone’ between it and the West. He lost patience with the way the West were acting in Berlin and decided to push them out.
what did western allies do which annoyed stalin
-Using money from the Marshall Aid programme, the Allies were helping the Germans to rebuild their economy – they learnt their lesson from the Treaty of Versailles and did not want to make Germany poor again. This meant introducing a new, stable currency and more jobs for workers in the Western sectors. Stalin was angered by this.
-Under the Marshall Plan, USA supplied goods to German shops for workers to buy. This was a nice way of showing the communists that America’s capitalist economy was flourishing.
-At a meeting in London in January 1948, Britain and USA joined zones together to create ‘Bizonia’ and make it easier to administer them. (France would later join and they’d change the name to West Germany).
so On 24th June 1948, Stalin cut all land access to Berlin for the Allies. This became known as the Berlin Blockade.
