Consolidation of Rival Blocs 1948-1955

Question 1

What were the conflicting views on Western Europe and Germany?

Answer 1

The USA was very keen on Western European integration to have strong anti-communist bloc and would accept German partition, whereas the USSR wanted to avoid it so that this strong capitalist group would not form and Germany would move toward communism

Question 2

What happened after the London Conference of Foreign Ministers?

Answer 2

It took place in 1947 and Britain, France, the USA and the Benelux countries agreed to a west German state

Question 3

What was the Occupation statute?

Answer 3

It persuaded France to agree to a west German state, which gave them, Britain and the USA powers over West Germany that there would be troops in it to prevent a rise of power

Question 4

What happened with the Deutschmark?

Answer 4

It was introduced on the 20th June 1948 by the wester allies as currency in their zone without consultation with the USSR, who immediately created the Ostmark

Question 5

Why was the Berlin Blockade ordered?

Answer 5

It was started in order to pressure the West to stop the creation of the new state, and the response was an airlift of supplies through three allowed corridors

Question 6

When was the blockade called off and why?

Answer 6

It was called off in May 1949 as the airlift had been successful and a counter blockade of supplies to the east was damaging the soviet zone economy

Question 7

What was the FRG?

Answer 7

It was set up in the west in summer 1949, with Adanaeur becoming the new chancellor. On the 12th October after poor showing in West German elections by the communists Stalin reluctantly agreed to the creation of the GDR in the east, with Ulbricht as the leader of the sham democracy, although there was no physical barrier

Question 8

Why was NATO created?

Answer 8

It was created in response to the takeover of Communists in Czechoslovakia and the Berlin Blockade in 1948, so NATO was created as a defensive alliance on the 4th April 1949. It had vague wording which concerned the French particularly

Question 9

What happened in September 1949?

Answer 9

The USSR exploded its first atomic bomb and built up other arms

Question 10

What happened as a result of the Korean War?

Answer 10

In 1950 it sped up Western European moves for integration as they feared a communist world takeover

Question 11

What was the Spofford compromise and why was it set up?

Answer 11

West Germany was seen as a vital country in the defence of Europe and a plan was created to pacify French fears where a supranational European Defence committee would be created. This was unpopular so the Spofford comprise took place whereby small units from each NATO country would form a larger force

Question 12

Why was there a split in NATO?

Answer 12

It was split over fears of US use of an a bomb in the Korean War and French concerns over German rearmament in the early 1950s

Question 13

What caused political and economic problems in Europe?

Answer 13

The USA created the hydrogen bomb and diverted Marshall spending to rearmament in western europe

Question 14

What was the OEEC?

Answer 14

It organised Europe for the creation of ‘guns and butter’ to improve economies

Question 15

How did Stalin react to western rearmament?

Answer 15

With eh world peace movement for disarmament and a note to Adanaeur in 1952 offering German unification to exploit divisions

Question 16

What was the European Coal and Steel Community?

Answer 16

It was formed to interlock the industrial economies of Western Europe, making them stronger and countering the soviet threat. Britain refused to join fearing they would lose control of industry

Question 17

Why was COMECON created?

Answer 17

It was created in 1949 to integrate eastern economies and satellite state armies were linked together under Soviet control

Question 18

Why was Tito expelled from cominform?

Answer 18

There were disagreements with Stalin as Yugoslavia moved towards the west. This led to a propaganda offensive by the west in Eastern Europe to try and cause further rifts

Question 19

What happened in 1953?

Answer 19

Stalin died and was replaced by a collective leadership and Eisenhower was elected in 1953 with a strong anti communist rhetoric. The collective leadership offered detente but Eisenhower would only improve relations with elections in the East

Question 20

What happened in the GDR in 1953?

Answer 20

There was an uprising against Ulbricht’s unreasonable demands on workers, which required soviet tanks to put down, even though the USSR had tried to get him to relax his policies. The situation was not interfered with by the West but it was taken as an opportunity to use propaganda

Question 21

When did the FRG join NATO?

Answer 21

They joined NATO in May 1955, with Britain promising to keep troops in Germany and Adanaeur promising to restrict troop levels to pacify France

Question 22

When was the Warsaw Pact signed?

Answer 22

It was signed between the USSR and Eastern European states including the GDR as a counterbalance to NATO now that the FRG had joined

Question 23

What happened at the Geneva conference?

Answer 23

It took place in 1955 and there was supposed to be a thaw in relations between east and west, and at the Geneva conference there was an agreement made on Austrian independence, but other issues such as Germany and arms control were deadlocked

Question 24

What happened in September 1955?

Answer 24

Adanaeur visited the USSR to secure POW released for the last Germans in Soviet camps, but relations between the FRG and USSR broke because he refused to accept the existence of the GDR under the Hallstein Doctrine of 1955