Development of the Cold War, 1944-1953

Question 1

What crucial events happened in 1945?

Answer 1

Hiroshima
Nagasaki
Potsdam Conference
Yalta Conference
VE Day
VJ Day

Question 2

When was NATO established?

Answer 2

1949

Question 3

When was the Berlin Blockade?

Answer 3

1948-49

Question 4

When was the Sino-Soviet alliance signed?

Answer 4

1950

Question 5

When did Stalin die?

Answer 5

1953

Question 6

When were the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan launched?

Answer 6

1947

Question 7

At which Conference did Truman announce that the US had a bomb?

Answer 7

Potsdam.

Question 8

Who were the key personalities in the development of the Cold War in 1945-50?

Answer 8

Harry Truman, Franklin D Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, Joseph Stalin.

Question 9

Why was Stalin suspicious of the US and the UK?

Answer 9

Their delay in opening a second front during WW2.

Question 10

Why did the Grand Alliance fall apart so shortly after WW2?

Answer 10

Because it was only created to defeat the common enemy, Germany. After the war, the ideological differences and tensions became very apparent and the alliance fell apart.

Question 11

What was the Policy of Containment?

Answer 11

A policy adopted by the US to contain communism and prevent its expansion.

Question 12

How did Truman’s replacing Roosevelt affect the US approach to the conflict?

Answer 12

Their attitude went from one of accommodation to one of confrontation.

Question 13

How would Truman’s approach become known?

Answer 13

The Iron Fist.

Question 14

Why did the US misinterpret Stalin’s want for security as expansionism?

Answer 14

Because they had not been affected directly by the war due to geography, so they had not lost territories and cities as the USSR had.

Question 15

Who replaced Churchill as prime minister in 1945?

Answer 15

Clement Attlee.

Question 16

Why did the West believe that Stalin was trying to expand communism?

Answer 16

He didn’t keep his promise of allowing free elections in Eastern Europe and wanted to keep the region as a buffer zone.

Question 17

When was the Atlantic Charter agreed to?

Answer 17

August 1941 between the US and the UK.

Question 18

What were the principles of the Atlantic Charter?

Answer 18

Economic collaboration, a general security system and the drawing of national boundaries with regard to the wishes of the local population

Question 19

When was the Yalta Conference?

Answer 19

February 4-11, 1945

Question 20

When was the Potsdam Conference?

Answer 20

July 17 -August 2, 1945

Question 21

What agreements were reached at the Yalta conference?

Answer 21

-Demilitarisation of Germany
-Punishment of war criminals
-Division of Germany into 4 zones
-Creation of a reparation council
-Stalin’s commitment to join the UN
-Stalin agreed to declare war on Japan
-Agreement to hold elections in Poland

Question 22

When did FDR die? What was his role in UK-US-USSR relations?

Answer 22

He died in April 1945. His role was that of a diplomat/middleman.

Question 23

What were the main concerns at the Potsdam conference?

Answer 23

-Immediate administration of Germany
-Demarcation of borders of Poland
-Occupation of Austria
-Determination of reparations
-Prosecution of the war against Japan
-Definition of the USSR’s role in Eastern Europe

Question 24

Why was there no amity or goodwill at Potsdam?

Answer 24

Each nation was concerned with its self-interest and Roosevelt wasn’t there to act as a diplomat.

Question 25

Why did the dropping of an atomic bomb have little effect on Stalin’s policies?

Answer 25

Because he didn’t think Truman would bomb Europe. He saw the bomb as a bluff. The US having an atomic bomb deepened his mistrust and paranoia. He may have been scared but didn’t show it.

Question 26

In which Eastern European countries were pro-communist governments set up in 1945-47?

Answer 26

-Poland
-Hungary
-Romania
-Bulgaria
-Albania

Question 27

Which was the only Eastern European state not under communist control in 1947?

Answer 27

Czechoslovakia

Question 28

Why was Churchill’s Iron Curtain speech important?
When did it happen?

Answer 28

March 1946.
It gave words to the general sentiment of the time. It called for a UK-US alliance. He delivered the speech as a private individual and without informing PM Attlee of its content.
Truman was present.
Stalin saw it as provocative and called Churchill a warmonger.

Question 29

What did the Marshall Plan consist of?

Answer 29

Giving financial aid to European countries affected by the war. Churchill called it the most unselfish act in history.
The money was only for non-communist countries though, and there were loans and interest attached to it. It was implemented because the US feared that poverty was a breeding ground for communism.

Question 30

What did the Soviet Union view the Marshall Plan as?

Answer 30

An attack on communism. Foreign minister Molotov called it ‘Dollar Imperialism’.

Question 31

What was Cominform?

Answer 31

An organisation to coordinate communist groups and parties throughout Europe. Set up in 1947.

Question 32

What was Comecon?

Answer 32

Organisation to provide economic assistance to Eastern European countries in response to the Marshall Plan.
Set up in 1949.

Question 33

When did the Czechoslovakian crisis happen? Briefly explain it.

Answer 33

1948. Czechoslovakia was not under communist rule but didn’t receive Marshall aid. This was blamed on the communists in government. Before the elections, the communists staged a coup and took over the police force. The president was forced to resign and replaced with a communist.
      The communists took over the country with little bloodshed and without direct help from Moscow.

Question 34

Why was the Berlin Blockade set up?

Answer 34

Because Stalin felt excluded by the Allies from the 4-zone system. The Allies established a separate West German state in 1948 and introduced a new currency.
Stalin set up the blockade in June 1948.

Question 35

What were some results of the Berlin Blockade?

Answer 35

The West airlifted supplies in, this was very dangerous and expensive.
Definitive end of US isolationism.
NATO was set up.
The division between East and West was now permanent.
The East became the DDR.

Question 36

When did the USSR explode their first atomic bomb?

Answer 36

1949.

Question 37

When was the hydrogen bomb developed?

Answer 37

1952.

Question 38

What were some factors in the arms race?

Answer 38

US concerns about not having nuclear monopoly anymore, China falling to communism, desire to have military superiority, fear of Russia catching up

Question 39

What was McCarthyism?

Answer 39

An irrational fear in the US of communists infiltrated in the government and society. This led to trials, lies, people being imprisoned and extreme paranoia.