Conflict and Tension between East and West - The end of the Second World War

Question 1

what was the cold war?

Answer 1

the state of hostility that existed between the USSR and the USA from 1945 to 1990. Tensions never led to direct military conflict but were carried out through diplomacy arms race and proxy war

Question 2

what is the USSR?

Answer 2

Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

Question 3

what is diplomacy?

Answer 3

managing international relations

Question 4

what is a superpower?

Answer 4

a country which is so powerful that it can assert its influence anywhere in the world

Question 5

what is a superpower?

Answer 5

a country which is so powerful that it can assert its influence anywhere in the world

Question 6

what is an ideology?

Answer 6

a political system which is used to build an entire society

Question 7

what is capitalism?

Answer 7

an economic system in which investment and ownership of means of production, distributions and exchange of wealth is made and maintained chiefly by private individuals or corporations

Question 8

what is communism?

Answer 8

a theory or system of social organisation based on the holding of all property in common, actual ownership being described to the community as a whole or to the state

Question 9

why was there mistrust between the USSR and the West before WWII?

Answer 9

spying - both sides secretly checked on each other to find out if they had made any new technology or military developments
propaganda - both sides used this to create the worst possible image of the other side. It was used to make people support their government and believe that their system was better than the other
arms race - there was competition in nuclear and conventional weapons. By the 1960s, each side had enough weapons to destroy the other. This was known as M.A.D
space race - each side competed for success in this area. At first, it was to see which side could launch the first satellite and then the first man on the moon
economic superiority - Each side competed with the other to provide money and help to countries that were less developed or had recently become independent. This helped them to gain allies.
proxy war - this was when the superpowers fought indirectly with each other through their smaller allies. They provided the equipment and funding and often intervened militarily, but did not fight each face to face

Question 10

what action did Lenin take that showed the world he could not be trusted?

Answer 10

Lenin withdrawed Russia from the first world war, abandoning its former allies

Question 11

how did the west support “the whites” and what was their aim?

Answer 11

• Western countries, most notably Britain and France, sent weapons and troops to support the whites.
• The Western countries’ aims were to secure their own business and trade interests in the region, but also, most importantly, to undermine the Bolsheviks and stop events in Russia from inspiring support for communism in their own countries

Question 12

How effective was the West’s support of the Whites and why?

Answer 12

• After WW1, the West’s commitment was limited
• Few soldiers were sent and there was little interest from Western governments who were more focused on rebuilding their war-ravaged countries

Question 13

How did Lenin see the West and why?

Answer 13

• In the eyes of Lenin and the communists, the West was the same as the bourgeois oppressors who they had overthrown at home

Question 14

what did the Russian Revolution cause in America?

Answer 14

• In the USA, the government began to view trade unions and similar organisations with suspicion

Question 15

what is the red scare?

Answer 15

a period of paranoia that swept America in the years after the Russian Revolution

Question 16

what was the Nazi soviet pact?

Answer 16

• In 1939, Stalin and Hitler signed a non-aggression agreement not to attack each other. They both wanted to invade Poland
• For many in the West, this proved that Stalin could not be trusted

Question 17

why did the Nazi-Soviet Pact break down?

Answer 17

• Operation Barbarossa, the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union on 22nd June 1941, broke the Nazi-Soviet Pact and forced the Soviets into the Grand Alliance

Question 18

what was the Grand Alliance?

Answer 18

• the Grand Alliance consisted of Russia, the USA and the UK (Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill.)
• propaganda emphasized the idea of a united fight against the evil Nazis.

Question 19

what was the ‘percentages agreement’?

Answer 19

• The percentages agreement was a secret informal agreement between British prime minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin during the Fourth Moscow Conference in October 1944.
• It gave the percentage division of control over Eastern European countries, dividing them into spheres of influence.

Question 20

what were the West’s aims at the Tehran Conference?

Answer 20

• the West and the USSR should continue to cooperate
• Germany should be rebuilt as an independent democratic country
• liberated countries in Eastern Europe should have the right to self-determination and there should be no spheres of influence
• the formation of the United Nations should lead to collective security and solve future disagreements to avoid another war
• international economic cooperation through the creation of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund should help restart the global economy

Question 21

what are spheres of influence?

Answer 21

areas under the indirect control of larger countries that act as a buffer to invasion

Question 22

what were the USSR’s aims of Tehran?

Answer 22

• the USSR should continue to cooperate with the USA and Britain
• spheres of influence should be created to guarantee the USSR’s security
• Germany should remain weak so that it could never threaten the USSR again
• German industry should pay for the rebuilding of the USSR
• the USSR should be able to make its own decisions on all matters

Question 23

what were Winston Churchill’s aims?

Answer 23

• worked to look after Britain’s interests and limit soviet expansion
• wanted to retain a close relationship with the USA
• anti-communist

Question 24

what were Franklin Roosevelt’s aims?

Answer 24

• committed to working with the USSR to rebuild Europe
• got on well with Stalin
• believed that only a European built on American capitalism would avoid another war

Question 25

how well did the Grand Alliance cooperate?

Answer 25

Tehran - November 1943, held in the Soviet embassy in Iran
Yalta - February 1945, held in Crimea, Soviet Union
Potsdam - July 1945, held in occupied Germany

Question 26

what were the Grand Alliance’s main agreements at the Tehran conference?

Answer 26

• Britain and the USA agreed to open up a second front by invading France in May 1944
• the Soviet Union was to wage war against Japan once Germany was defeated
• A United Nations organisation was to be set up after the war
• An area of eastern Poland was added to the Soviet Union and Poland’s borders moved
• the Tehran meeting was mainly a success for Stalin who achieved most of what we wanted

Question 27

what were the agreements at Yalta?

Answer 27

• Germany would be divided into four zones of occupation with the USSR, Britain, France and the USA each controlling a zone
• the German capital of Berlin, inside the Soviet zone, was also to be divided into four zones, each controlled by one of the Allied powers
• All countries freed from Nazi control were to be guaranteed the right to hold free democratic elections to choose their governments. This commitment was released as an official joint statement, the Declaration on Liberated Europe. However, Stalin was offered a sphere of influence in Eastern Europe where communist ideals would dominate
• Stalin would join the war against Japan 90 days after Germany was defeated
• Nazi leaders to be put on trial for war crimes
• The Allies agreed to the setting up of the United Nations

Question 28

what were the problems with the agreements at Yalta?

Answer 28

• Stalin didn’t want France to have an equal part of Germany
• USSR would not return land annexed from Poland
• Stalin did not honour his promise to hold free and fair elections

Question 29

what were Harry Truman’s aims for the USA?

Answer 29

• Truman shared many of the same goals as Roosevelt: he argued for self-determination for the countries of Europe and a world in which countries cooperate politically and economically
• unlike Roosevelt, his friendship with Stalin was unfriendly from the start
• He was very concerned about the growth of Soviet power in Eastern Europe
• He became quickly convinced that Stalin was not interested in cooperation, and he was willing to use force to achieve America’s aims
• Truman saw the fact that the USA held the world’s first atomic bomb as a way of ensuring he got what he wanted from the conference

Question 30

what were Clement Attlee’s aims for Britain?

Answer 30

• Attlee thought the key to a peaceful Europe was in making sure Germany was safe from attack
• the labour government worked to focus on improving the lives of people in post-war Britain
• Attlee recognised the reality of Britain’s position in 1945; it was no longer the dominant force had once been and he saw it as vital to stay close to the USA in the face of growing Soviet Power

Question 31

when was the Potsdam conference?

Answer 31

July - August 1945

Question 32

what were the agreements in the Potsdam Conference?

Answer 32

• Germany divided + discussed at Yalta
• Nazi Party would be banned and its former leaders would be tried as criminals
• Germans living in Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia were to be returned to Germany
• Poland would lose some territory in the east to the USSR

Question 33

what were the disagreements at the Potsdam Conference?

Answer 33

• Stalin wanted Germany to pay reparations to the USSR
• the West wanted Eastern Europe to have free elections

Question 34

when and where was the first atomic bomb dropped by the USA?

Answer 34

• At 8:15 am on 6 August 1945, the world’s first atomic bomb was dropped, by the American plane Enola Gay, on the Japanese city of Hiroshima
• it killed around 70,000 people instantly

Question 35

what was the impact of the bombing of Hiroshima on the Grand Alliance?

Answer 35

• Stalin was determined that the USSR should have its own atomic bomb
• Truman was equally determined to stop Soviet expansion and the spread of communism into the rest of Europe