Cold War- WW2 aftermath

Question 1

What happened to Polish territory?

Answer 1

Poland lost 70,000 square miles of territory, but gaining more than 40,000 square miles from Germany and was effectively ‘shifted’ to the left on a map

Question 2

What did Stalin promise at Yalta?

Answer 2

Free elections in Eastern Europe under the ‘Declaration of Liberated Europe’ publication that largely agreed with the principles of the ‘Atlantic Charter’ made between Roosevelt and Churchill

Question 3

Why was Poland so important to Britain and America?

Answer 3

Britain went to war with Germany over its invasion of Poland
America was home to 7 million Polish-Americans who put lots of pressure on the US government to support the allies

Question 4

What were the reasons for the deterioration in the Grand Alliance?

Answer 4

1. Change in leaders- Churchill→Attlee Roosevelt→Truman
2. Atomic bomb (Truman not having told Stalin of its testing)
3. Defeat of Germany (no common enemy)
4. Stalin not keeping promises

Question 5

What did Stalin do that upset the West?

Answer 5

• Set up communist government in Poland (against ‘Declaration of Liberated Europe’)
• Kept the Red Army even after allies had demilitarised