Consolidation of the Rival Blocs 1948-1955 Flashcards
What was the USA keen on in term of blocs?
- Western European integration
- A strong anti-Communist bloc
- Would accept German partition
What was the USSR’s opinion on blocs?
Wanted to avoid them so that a strong capitalist group wouldn’t form and so that Germany would move towards Communism
What happened after the London Conference of Foreign Ministers in 1947?
After the failure of agreement, Britain, France, the USA and Benelux countries agreed to a West German state
What was France persuaded to agree to a West German state with?
The Occupation Statute, which gave France, Britain and the USA powers over West Germany, and that there would be troops positioned to prevent a rise of power
When was the Deutschmark introduced?
20th June 1948
How was the Deutschmark introduced?
It was brought into the Western powers’ zones without consultation with the USSR
What did the USSR create in response to the Deutschmark?
They created the Ostmark
What did the USSR do in order to pressure the West to stop the creation of the new West German state?
They blockaded West Berlin
What was the response to the Berlin blockade?
The West started an airlift of supplies through three allowed corridors
When was the Berlin Blockade called off by Stalin?
May 1949
Why did Stalin have to call off the Berlin Blockade?
The Airlift had been so successful and a counter-blockade of supplies to the East was damaging the Soviet zone economy
When and where was the Federal Republic of Germany set up?
In the West in summer 1949
Who became the new chancellor of the FRG?
Adenauer
When did Stalin agree to set up an East German state?
12th October
Why did Stalin agree to set up an East German state?
There were poor showings in West German elections by the Communists
What was the East German state called?
The German Democratic Republic
Who was the leader of the (sham democracy) GDR?
Ulbricht
Was there a physical barrier between East and West Berlin?
No
When was the takeover of Communists in Czechoslovakia?
1948
What did the takeover of Communists in Czechoslovakia and Berlin Blockade in 1948 persuade the US to do?
Set up a military alliance
What did the US set up in terms of a military alliance?
NATO
When was NATO set up?
4th April 1949
What concerned the French about NATO?
It had vague wording
What did the USSR do in September 1949?
Exploded its first atomic bomb and built up other arms
When did the Korean War start?
1950s
What did the Korean War do?
Sped up western European moves for integration as they feared a Communist world takeover
What was West Germany seen as?
A vital country in the defence of Europe
A plan was created to create what to pacify French fears about West Germany?
A supranational European Defence Community; the plan was unpopular
What did Charles Spofford do in terms of the EDC?
He created a compromise whereby small units from each NATO country would form a larger force.
What was NATO split over?
Fears of US use of the A-Bomb in the Korean War and French concerns over German rearmament in the early 1950s
What happened to Marshall spending?
The USA created a Hydrogen Bomb and diverted Marshall spending to rearmament in Western Europe
What did the diversion of Marshall spending create?
Political and economic problems in Europe
What did the OEEC organise?
For the creation of ‘guns and butter’ to improve economies in Europe
How did Stalin react to western rearmament?
By the World Peace Movement for disarmament, and a note to Adanaeur in 1952 offering German unification to exploit divisions
Why was the European Coal and Steel Community created?
To interlock the industrial economies of Western Europe, make them stronger and counter the Soviet threat.
Why did Britain refuse to join the ECSC?
From fear they would lose control of industry
Why did Stalin create COMECON?
To integrate Eastern economies and satellite state armies
Why were Tito and Yugoslavia expelled from Cominform?
Due to disagreements with Stalin; as a result it moved towards the West
What did Tito’s break from Stalin cause?
A propaganda offensive by the West in eastern Europe to try and cause further rifts
When did Stalin die?
1953
Who was Stalin replaced by?
A collective leadership; they offered détente
When was President Eisenhower elected?
1953, with strong anti-Communist rhetoric-
Eisenhower would only improve relations with elections in the East
When was there was an uprising in the GDR?
1953
Why was there an uprising in the GDR?
Against Ulbricht’s unreasonable demands on workers
What did the uprising in the GDR end in?
Soviet tanks putting it down, even though the USSR had tried to get Ulbricht to relax his policies; the situation was not interfered with by the West but it was taken as an opportunity to use propaganda
When did the FRG join NATO?
May 1955, with Britain promising to keep troops in Germany and Adanauer promising to restrict troop levels to pacify France
Why was the Warsaw Pact signed?
To act as a counterbalance to NATO now that the FRG had joined; it was signed between the USSR and Eastern European states (inc. the GDR)
What was the result of a thaw in relations in the 1950s?
A summit between the Potsdam powers in Geneva in 1955, where an agreement of Austrian independence was made, but other issues such as Germany and arms control were deadlocked
When had Adenauer visited the USSR?
September 1955
Why did Adenauer visit the USSR?
To secure POW releases 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
