Development of the Cold War 1946-55 Flashcards
What was the Marshall Plan?
- Created by Secretary of State George Marshall and offered billions of dollars in aid all across Europe.
- By 1952 the figure had reached $13 billion.
What are some examples of countries accepting Marshall Aid?
- France accepted it as it meant they were locked in economically with Germany- no longer pose a threat.
- Britain avoided economic collapse and appreciated anti-communist ideologies.
What was created to oversee how funding was spent for the Marshall Plan?
- ‘Advisory Steering Committee’
- This suggested how money was spent. However Britain was not keen on losing sovereignty and most nations spent money how they wished.
What slogan was used by Russia to disperusade Eastern Europe from taking Marshall Aid?
-The USSR barred states from joining stating that Marshall Aid was in reality ‘Dollar Imperialism’.
What was created in retaliation to the Marshall Plan?
What else did the Soviets attempt when it came to opposing the Marshall Plan?
- Cominform was created as a rival grouping to Espouse Eastern foreign policy and try to ensure all nations followed Soviet ideas.
- They supported reasonably popular communists parties in Italy and France which were told to strike against plans, however this backfired and these parties were soon discredited.
What was COMECON?
-Set up as a rival economic grouping and showed the division of East and West both economically and politically had been made clear.
what was the Iron Curtain Speech?
- A speech in March 1946 where Churchill accused the USSR of taking control of East.
- Hysterics at Moscow where Stalin compared Churchill to Hitler and called him a ‘warmonger’.
What were the realities of Soviet involvement in eastern Europe?
- Poland was characterised by rigged elections and the formation of the Lublin government. Gomulka was removed in 1947 for independent thought.
- Romania there were semi-free elections with a communist coalition victory. Soon after the king abdicated and a Communist republic 1948.
- Bulgaria; Communist victory and liquidation of other parties.
- Czechoslovakia had initial freedom however there was a communist coup following attempts to accept Marshall Aid in 1948.
- Hungary experienced a forced merger of parties in 1948 followed by a dictatorship in 1949.
- Yugoslavia; Tito independent communism from Stalin.
What was the truman Doctrine?
When was it passed?
- An American foreign policy, purpose was to contain Soviet geopolitical expansion during the Cold War.
- Passed on March 12th 1947 and truman asked Congress for $400m in military and economic assistance for Greece and Turkey.
- Stated that the US would provide political and economic assistance for all democratic nations under threat from external or internal authoritarian forces.
As well as prevent the spread of communism what did the Marshall Plan aim to create?
- Aimed to rebuild war-torn countries ravaged by the realities of conflict.
- Remove trade barriers and modernise industry
- Improve European prosperity
What was the name for the first nuclear agreement?
When did the USSR agree to terms?
November 1945 the Un Atomic Energy Commission created rules for the control of nuclear weapons. Three conditions;
- Countries exchange scientific info
- Means for control of atomic energy
- Elimination of national atomic weapons
-The USSR agreed to conditions at the Conference of Foreign Ministers in December 1945.
What were the limitations of nuclear talks in the 40s?
- The USSR insisted that nuclear talks should be reported to the UNSC and that veto power could be used on it.
- The USA said no to this and growing distrust led to vetoes from both sides.
When did the USSR detonate its first nuclear bomb?
What were the consequences of this?
-Detonated in August 1949, this took away from the victory experienced by the US at Berlin and as a result US funding of Western Germany increased.
What was the name of the German physicist who passed details of the US bomb to the USSR?
-Klaus Fuchs
How could it be argued that Nuclear Weapons were helpful in the Cold War?
-They prevented the conflict turning hot due to Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD)
What were the USSR’s aims in regard to Germany?
How about aims in Eastern Europe?
-Wanted to hold onto land annexed from Poland in 1939 and in return give Polish land to Germany, beyond the River Oder.
- Wished to reintegrate Baltic States (e.g Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) back into the USSR.
- As well as territories lost in Finland in 1941, annex Bessarabia and bring Romania within Soviet orbit.
Why did Stalin disintegrate Comintern in 1943?
What was the British government reaction?
- To show his allies that the USSR were no longer supporting a global communist revolution.
- The British government saw this as optimistic as it was evidence that Stalin wished for co-operation in the reconstruction of Europe after the end of the War.
What were the economic aims of the US?
- Wished to turn the world into one large free trade era.
- Comprised of democratic states where tariffs and economic nationalism would be banished.
- Determined to stop attempts by Germany or Italy to create autarchic economies.
How could it be argued there was a ‘Thaw’ in relations from 1953 to 1955?
- Warsaw Pact; Stability of the European situation as there was a counterbalance to NATO, meant negotiations were easier.
- Stalin’s death; new leadership which could follow a ‘new course’ of peaceful coexistence. New leadership wanted to avoid war and spend money to improve the lives of Russian people at home, previously 1/3 of spending had been on military spending.
- Mutually Assured Destruction
Why did the USSR and FRG fall out during the early 50s?
-Following Adenauer’s creation of the Hallstein Doctrine which refused to acknowledge the existence of East Germany and considered anyone recognising it as being an ‘unfriendly act’.
between 1945-61 what fraction of GDR citizens had fled for the FRG?
-1/6
What did Khrushchev say Berlin was in relation to the West?
-‘Berlin was the testicles of the West… everytime I want to make the West scream I squeeze on Berlin’
What were Khrushchev’s aims in regards to Germany?
-
What was life like in Berlin in the period 1948-9?
- Low levels of food
- Currency was worthless
- Black market was king
- Rations such as cigarettes were used as currency
- During the blockade electricity would only come on for 4 hours a day.
When was Bizonia formed?
- Bizonia formed 1st January 1947
- Trizonia formed April 1949
By what was the West German Deutschmark worth more than the Ostmark
-One Deutschmark was worth 5-7 Ostmarks.
How did the USSR react to currency reform?
- All access to West Berlin from rest of West Germany was cut off, e.g. major roads, canals and railways.
- The USSR did this to stop the importation of 12,000 tons of food, coal and other supplies.
- Electricity for factories and offices was also cut off and major power stations in West Berlin were dismantled by the Soviets.
How were the West able to get supplies into West Berlin?
How did Berliners help with the airlift?
-There were three ‘air corridors’; Hamburg, Hanover and Frankfurt were agreed with the USSR in order to being supplies into the city.
-Thousands of jobs were created for Berliners and were given hot meals.
They were put into work groups and unloaded planes, on average could unload 9 tons of supplies from a plane in 7 minutes.
How did the USSR try to disrupt the airlift?
-They antagonised planes in the air corridor and would perform aerial maneuvers and also fire military equipment.
what happened when berliners protested in September 1948?
-they did so to break up the old city council, communist gangs attended in order to stir up trouble and as a result many protestors had to leave fearing their well being.
How did divisions consolidate the divisions of the city?
- Western Berliners voted for a new council to run for their half of Berlin; the Socialist Unity Party which had previously dominated the old city council.
- East Berliners boycotted the elections.
What happened on Easter Sunday 1949?
- A record 13,000 tons of supplies were transported into West Berlin in a 24 hour time period.
- This showed that the airlift could continue indefinetely.
What were the immediate consequences of the Berlin blockade?
- Western powers approved constitution for the creation of the FRG. Adaneur was elected as Chancellor. however his power was ultimately held with Western powers due to the Occupation Statute.
- Stalin had no choice but to create an East German State in retaliation.
- Constitution of the GDR was a sham and all power lay with Ulbricht and the SED. East German voters were simply presented with a list of SED deputies to choose from for ‘People’s Congress’.
- Freedom of movement between the East and West remained.
What did the berlin crisis convince France and Britain needed to be created?
- That there needed to be an alliance against the USSR and expansion its expansion of communism into Western Europe.
- The USA would underpin this alliance and on the 4th April 1949 the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) was created in order to promise mutual assistance if attacked.
- There was now a clear military division in Europe, although European response was not completely clear until 1955.
What did the GDR rely on to keep peace?
- Relied on Soviet force to maintain its existence.
- For example in July 1953 100 people were killed protesting against the communist state.
- The FRG made it very clear that it did not recognise the GDR through the Hallstein Doctrine and said that it represented the whole of Germany.
The West’s aims were to unify Germany through the magnetic forces of capitalism.
What was the Czech crisis in 1948?
- Czechoslovakia had a genuine coalition government, President Benes was in good relations with both the East and the West.
- Problems arose after Czechoslovakia attempted to receive Marshall Aid, Soviets forced them to not take the help.
- Poor harvest in 1947 saw the country appeal to US but were denied aid if they did not take Marshall Aid, the USSR took advantage in preventing starvation by offering 60,000 tons of grain.
- Scared of dominance from the communist, many political parties resigned in hopes to secure more power following a forced election.
- A seriously ill Benes was forced by Comms to allow the party to form a government without the coalition partners- using terror to gain control.
- Foreign Minister Masaryk was pushed from a window and within 5 days the communists had power. When Benes died in July 1948 he was replaced by Communist leader Klement Grottwald.
What was the Western response to the Czech crisis?
What was the name of the pact signed and when was it signed? (who by?)
-Shocked the West as Czechoslovakia was seen as a strong resistor to the grip of communism, as a result they increased funds to Marshall Aid and it was a very convincing view that the USSR were attempting to expand across the whole of Europe.
- The Brussels Pact was signed by the end of 1948 and was a treaty of collective security against the Soviet Union.
- Signed by Britain, France, Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg.
What convinced the US to remain in Europe and what did this lead to?
- The Berlin Crisis as well as the Czech crisis convinced the US that they needed to underpin the Brussels Pact with their strength, this would later lead to the creation of NATO.
- The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation was created as a defensive alliance.
- NATO considered an attack on one of the countries as an attack on all.
What was the impact of the creation of NATO?
- Brought the US advantages as it tied the strongest country in Western Europe, Britain, to the continent. It could also set up military bases in Europe and respond to threats quicker.
- The treaty reassured anxious governments in the West that the US would act and that it was everybody’s responsibility to counter the Soviet threat.
- French fears about a strong German state were quelled
- Set a clear military division of Europe and a new phase of hostility. Both sides now began to consolidate their blocs and rearm. Eventually the Warsaw Pact was created as counter to NATO.
What were the consequences of the Berlin Crisis of 1948-49?
- Formation of NATO and the adversary ‘Warsaw Pact’
- Division of Germany
- Impact on German individuals
What were the parties that were merged to created the SED in East Germany?
-The Soviets orchestrated the forced merger of the East German Socialist Party and the communist party in 1946.
In the rigged elections in 1947 what share of the votes did the Polish United Worker’s Party gain?
- 80%
- As a result the leader of the Polish Peasant Party, Mikolajczyk, resigned in disgust and fled the country.
What was the ‘Guns and Butter Scheme’?
- Focus of Marshall Aids to finance both military and consumer goods.
- Because of the demand for consumer goods more money was made that could be put into arms.
What was the organisation created which looked to quell French fears over German economic power?
- The European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) was a grouping of countries free of that of the US. initially involved France and West Germany.
- Linked the countries economies together along with Italy and the Benelux countries so a supranational organisation could regulate their industries.
- Meant that France were no longer worried about German attacks on the rich region of Ruhr/Rhineland region.
What are the examples of Western European economic integration?
- International Ruhr Authority
- European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC)
- The Organisation for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC)
What were the limitations of political european intengration?
- The British were very weary of protecting their sovereignty and as a result were reluctant to join the ECSC.
- The French were also weary of too much FRG power and as a result did not join the European Defence Community (EDC).
What did Stalin create in order to try and take the moral high ground over the West?
-He established the Cominform led ‘World Peace Movement’ which launched the ‘Stockholm Appeal’ which demanded the banning of the nuclear bomb and criminalising its use.
What was the process of the FRG joining NATO?
- French rejected the EDC but accepted FRG into NATO as Adenauer had rejected nuclear weapons, kept the army low and Britain kept 4 divisions of troops in the FRG.
- The FRG joined NATO 5th May 1955.
- By 1961 however the FRG was 350,000 troops strong and the second largest force in NATO.
When was Tito expelled from Cominform?
-Expelled in 1949.
How much money was offered to each state to resist communist antagonism?
-$50b
Who created the ‘Guns and Butter Scheme’?
-The OEEC
How did the USSR respond to the creation of NATO?
- Ignited the Arms Race by detonating its first atomic bomb
- Ploughed investment into rearmament of satellite states, for example issuing them with Red Army uniforms and materials.
What are the the US containment policies?
- Truman Doctrine
- Marshall Aid
- Creation of NATO
