CORE 4: Who was to blame for the Cold War? Flashcards
Which countries were the world’s main superpowers after the Second World War?
The USA and The USSR
What was the WWII death toll for the USSR, USA, UK and France?
- USSR: 20 million = 13.7%
- USA: 0.42 million = 0.32%
- UK: 0.47 million = 0.94%
- France: 0.6 million = 1.44%
When did Russia become Communist?
1917
What was the political and economic ideology of the USA?
- Democracy: Elected representatives in free, multi-party elections. Rights and freedoms protected by a written constitution.
- Capitalism: economic system were businesses and property are privately owned. Greater contrast of rich and poor in USA.
What was the policy of isolationism for the USA in the 1920s and 1930s?
Prior to WWII, the USA had avoided getting involved in issues around the world, they had encouraged trade partnerships with the USA, but avoided involvement with the League of Nations.
What was the political and economic ideology of the USSR?
- Totalitarian: One party rule with no opposition and few rights and freedoms.
- Communism: economy controlled by the state and centrally planned with no private enterprise. A low standard of living existed, but not extreme wealth and poverty.
Why did the USSR fear the capitalist West before WWII?
- The West had supported anti-communist ‘whites’ during the Russian Civil War.
- In the 1930s the West had appeased Hitler and directed Germany East towards the USSR (e.g. Munich Agreement)
Why did the West fear the Soviet Union before WWII?
They feared that the Communists shared the Imperial ambitions of the Russian Tsars to expand into central and Eastern Europe
Communism was meant to be a worldwide revolution increasing the chance of a conflict with capitalism
How did the allies cooperate during WWII to fight against fascism?
- British merchant ships sailed across the Baltic to supply the USSRs effort on the Eastern front
- From 1941 the USA Lend-Lease programme sold military equipment to countries fighting Germany, Italy or Japan
- Regular meetings of military officials and politicians
What tensions existed between the allies during WWII?
- Stalin kept his battle plans secret
- Churchill would not share the Enigma codes with the USSR
- The USA kept the details of the Manhattan Project a secret
- Stalin felt the USA and UK deliberately delayed opening a Western Front in Europe
What is a sphere of influence?
A territory where one country has political or economic control
Which conference took place in February 1945 and which key leaders attended?
The Yalta Conference
Attended by Churchill (UK), Roosevelt (USA) and Stalin (USSR)
What 4 issues were agreed at Yalta?
- What to do with Germany after it was defeated
- Establishment of the UN
- USSR to enter war against Japan
- Future of Poland
What was agreed at Yalta about Germany?
- Unconditional surrender with no separate peace
- Temporarily divide Germany (and Berlin) into four zones (USSR, USA, Britain & France)
- Germany’s eastern border would be moved westwards
- $20 billion in reparations, half to the USSR
What was agreed at Yalta about the UN?
- Initially made up of all the countries at war with Germany
- The Security Council would have five permanent members each with a veto
- First meeting to be held in San Francisco June 1945
What was agreed at Yalta about Japan?
The USSR would join the war against Japan after Germany was defeated. In return the USSR was given territory lost Japan during the 1904-5 Russo-Japanese War and outer Mongolia and Manchuria would become Soviet ‘spheres of influence’.
What was agreed at Yalta about Poland?
A provisional government would be established with members of the pro-Soviet ‘Lublin’ government and the exiled ‘London’ Poles. Free and fair multi-party elections would be held as soon as possible.
What did the USSR gain at the Yalta Conference?
- $10 billion in reparations
- Occupation Zone ¼ Germany, ¼ Berlin
- ‘Spheres of influence’ in Asia (Mongolia & Manchuria)
- Sakhalin Island in Asia
- Poland’s border moved west into Germany.
What was the major dispute between the superpowers at Yalta?
USSR wanted Poland’s border moved west into German land, Churchill and Roosevelt disagreed, but with Soviet control in Poland, they had no choice.
When did Germany surrender?
May 1945
Which conference took place in July-August 1945 and which leaders attended?
Potsdam Conference
Attended by Truman (USA), Churchill/Atlee (UK) & Stalin (USSR). During the conference a British election meant Churchill was replaced by Attlee.
Why did Truman not trust Stalin at Potsdam?
- The Soviet Union had liberated Eastern Europe and was installing pro-Soviet governments, targeting political opponents with no free elections.
- Truman was inexperienced in dealing with international affairs (only a few months as VP) believing Stalin should keep to the agreements made at Yalta.
What was decided at Potsdam about Germany?
- The Polish-German border was to be settled at the Oder-Neisse Line
- Germany would be denazified and war crimes trials would be held
- Germany would be governed by an Allied Council in Berlin with unanimous decisions and the country treated as a single economic unit
- Each country to take reparations from its own zone of occupation with the USSR taking additional equipment from Western zones
What was the CFM agreed at the Potsdam Conference?
The Council of Foreign Ministers established to deal with the defeated European countries
What was decided about the Polish-German border at Potsdam?
Settled at the Oder-Neisse Line
What were the key disagreements at Potsdam?
- The allies couldn’t agree on the future government of Poland so the Soviet controlled government at Lublin remained in power
- Stalin was denied access to the industrial heartland of the Ruhr
- Stalin was denied a naval base in the Mediterranean
- Stalin was denied a foothold in Japan
- Stalin wanted to cripple Germany; Truman wanted to rebuild Germany
What did Britain and the USA do when the Soviets refused to trade agricultural goods from the Soviet zone for industrial goods from the Western zones?
- Britain had to introduce bread rationing in 1946 to export wheat to Germany
- The USA had to pay for the food imports themselves.
- US Commander General Clay stopped delivery of reparations to the Soviets in May 1946.
How did the political structure of the Soviet and Western zones of Germany differ?
- The Soviets merged the Social Democratic and the Communist parties into the Socialist Unity Party.
- The Western zones developed a multi-party democracy.
What did Churchill describe across Europe in 1946?
An Iron Curtain dividing Western and Eastern and Europe into free Capitalist/Democracies and Communist States controlled by Moscow
How did the Soviet Union create a ‘sphere of influence’ in Eastern Europe?
- Soviet troops remained after liberation (except Czechoslovakia).
- Communist parties joined coalition governments
- Persecuted opposition parties
- Rigged elections
What were satellite states?
A country under political, economic and military control from another country
Which areas of Europe had become Soviet satellite states in the late 1940s?
- 1947: Poland, Romania, Bulgaria
- 1948: Hungary, Czechoslovakia
What percentage did the Communists win in the 1947 rigged elections in Poland?
80%
How did the Soviets take control of Romania in 1947?
- Soviet troops remained
- communists in coalition government
- took over police and security forces
- rigged elections (90% of vote)
- “show trial” of opposition leader in Oct 1947
- King Michael abdicated Dec 1947.
How did the Soviets take control of Bulgaria in 1947?
- Soviet troops remained
- communists in coalition government (the Fatherland Front)
- purged rival groups in the Fatherland Front
- abolished monarchy in 1946
- New constitution destroyed parliamentary democracy in 1947
How did the Soviets take control of Hungary in 1947?
- Soviet troops remained
- communists win 17% and form part of a coalition government
- given control of Ministry of Interior and use secret police used to persecute opposition parties
- rigged elections in 1947 give communists control in coalition
- Merge Social Democratic Party and Communist Party in 1948
How did the Soviets take control of Czechoslovakia in 1947?
- Soviet troops left
- strong support for communists and President Benes prepared to cooperate with Stalin
- Communist Party leads a balanced coalition government
- Gain control of key Ministries to arrest political opponents
- Popular non-communist Foreign Minister Jan Masaryk ‘fell’ out of a window in May 1947
- All non-communist members of government resigned in Feb 1948
Who ‘fell’ out of a window in May 1947 in Czechoslovakia?
Jan Masaryk the popular non-communist Foreign Minister
What control did the USSR have over Finland?
It controlled Finland’s foreign policy but gave control of domestic policy to the Finnish government
What control did the USSR have over Yugoslavia?
Close ties but Yugoslavia was controlled by Tito who established a communist state after partisans liberated the country without Soviet assistance.
Why was Greece an important event in 1947?
Britain announced that it could no longer afford to sustain its support for Greek government royalists in their civil war against the Yugoslav backed communists. The USA supported Britain and Greece with arms and money to win the war in 1949. Greece became a USA ally.
Why did Stalin not trust Truman at Potsdam?
The USA told the USSR about the successful testing of a secret new weapon the Atomic Bomb, which was about to be used by the USA on Japan to end WWII. Soviet agents on the Manhattan project and in British intelligence had already provided the Stalin with details.
What was the ‘Long Telegram’?
An analysis of Soviet attitudes written by American diplomat George Kennan based in Moscow in 1946 (also published anonymously in 1947 as ‘Mr X in the Journal Foreign Affairs). It said Russian Communism was hostile and insecure, there was no chance of peaceful cooperation, the way to defeat the Soviets was through a policy of ‘Containment’ an wait until they collapsed.
What was the policy of containment introduced by Truman in 1947?
Stop the spread of communism
- Truman Doctrine: help any country threatened by communism
- The Marshall Plan: European economic recovery programme
Where was the Truman Doctrine first used?
Truman persuaded Congress to provide $400 million in economic and military aid to Greece in March 1947
What was the Marshall Plan?
Money from the US to stabilise the economies of Europe and prevent the spread of communism. Offered to all of Europe, 16 countries accepted and Eastern Europe refused. It was also given to West German Zones in breach of Potsdam agreements.
How much money did Marshall Aid make available to European countries?
$13.3 billion over 4 years
What did Stalin think of Marshall Aid?
It was a serious threat to Soviet interests, undermining communism by requiring accepting countries to align their economies with US interests.
What was Cominform and when was it introduced?
The Communist Information Bureau was created in 1947 to coordinate European communist parties and maintain unity in the states under Soviet control (Czechoslovakia lost its limited independence).
What was Bizone/Bizonia?
In January 1947 Britain and the USA joined their occupation zones into a single economic unit
What was Trizone?
The French occupation zone combined with Bizonia on 1 August 1948.
What did the western powers introduce to Germany in June 1948?
A new currency for (the Deutschmark)
Why were western improvements in Berlin a problem for Stalin?
The population could see that the non-communist zone was more pleasant than the communist zone
How did Stalin try to remove western powers from Berlin?
Berlin Blockade – closed rail, canal and road access to West Berlin and turned off all gas and electricity supplies
How did Britain, America and France respond to the Berlin Blockade?
Berlin Airlift (Operation Vittles) – they flew supplies into West Berlin for 11 months in 300,000 flights (1 every 2min) bringing 2 million tones of cargo.
How did Stalin respond to the Berlin airlift?
He couldn’t shoot the planes down so obstructed the airlift by jamming radios and blinding pilots with searchlights. 65 German, British and Americans died during the operation.
When did Stalin lift the blockade?
May 1949, after 11 months
What happened to Berlin after the blockade?
East Berlin became the capital of the new German Democratic Republic (East Germany).
West Berlin did not become part of the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) but remained under the protection of Britain, France and US
When was the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) created?
Immediately after the Berlin Blockade, in May 1949. The British, French and American zones became officially known as the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany). Konrad Adenauer became the first Chancellor but foreign policy was controlled by the occupying powers until 1951.
When was the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) created?
In October 1949 the Soviet zone of occupation became the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). All government positions were occupied by the communist Socialist Unity Party.
What was NATO and when was it created?
In April 1949, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation was created uniting 12 states across Western Europe, USA and Canada to defend each other from attack.
What was Comecon and when was it set up?
Comecon was the Council for Mutual Assistance set up in 1949 to co-ordinate the economies of the Soviet bloc.
Which country joined NATO in May 1955?
West Germany
What was the Warsaw Pact and when was it created?
In May 1955, after West Germany joined NATO, the Soviets created the Warsaw Pact uniting the armed forces of the Soviet bloc and the Soviet Union under a single command controlled from Moscow.
When did the USSR detonate its first atomic bomb?
1949
