Early Tension between East and West Flashcards
1
Q
What is a ‘cold war’ and when was the term first used?
A
- A war waged in every way short of actual fighting (a ‘hot war’ is conflict that involves actual fighting)
- It was first used to describe the atmosphere between the superpowers in the years following WW2
2
Q
List 4 features the Cold War had in common with ‘hot wars’.
A
- It had causes and consequences
- There were two sides: East/ the Soviet Union and its allies against the West/ the USA and its supporters
- There were 2 rival armed camps: NATO and the Warsaw Pact
- Battling for influence, such as through sending support in civil wars elsewhere (e.g Korea in 1950-3 and Vietnam in the 1960s)
3
Q
List 3 causes of the ideological gap between the USSR and the USA.
A
- Communism (linked to ideas of spreading revolution and censorship) vs. capitalism
- Autocracy (one party state) vs. democracy
- Atheism vs. Christianity
4
Q
List 5 ways in which rivalry was shown between the opposing groups.
A
- Spying: usually to find out military developments using spy planes that flew at great heights and took photos
- Propaganda: used by both the USA and the USSR to gain support for the government at home and show the superiority of their system
- Arms race: competition to have more and newer weapons (especially nuclear weapons) which tended to act as a deterrent, but both sides continued
- Space race: fed into propaganda
- Loans and aid: both countries gave this to other smaller countries to win their support
5
Q
Before WW2, what had the USSR’s relationship with the West been like?
A
- In 1914, under Tsar Nicholas II, Russia fought alongside Britain and France in WW1
- In 1917 the Bolsheviks replaced the Tsar, and left the war
- In 1918 the West sent support to the Bolsheviks’ opponents in the Civil War
- In 1919 Russia wasn’t allowed into the League of Nations
- In the 1920s the most contact they had with the West was a trade agreement with Britain
- USSR signed the Nazi-Soviet Pact in 1939, agreeing to invade Poland with Hitler
6
Q
Who was in the Grand Alliance, and how was it formed?
A
- The USA (Franklin D Roosevelt), Britain (Winston Churchill) and the USSR (Joseph Stalin)
- The three leaders were known as the ‘Big Three’
- Hitler had invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941- ‘Operation Barbarossa’
7
Q
What was the relationship of the ‘Big Three’ like?
A
- It was strained, mostly between Stalin and Churchill as Roosevelt tended to side with Stalin
- Stalin disliked the other two as he felt they were delaying opening a second front, and Russia was being seriously damaged by the Nazis
- Churchill had been an opponent of the Bolshevik Revolution
- He was also suspicious of Stalin’s motives in eastern Europe, as he believed Stalin was likely to keep his troops stationed in countries he liberated from Germany
8
Q
What 3 issues occurred in/ concerning Poland in WW2?
A
- Britain had gone to war in September 1939 to keep Poland independent
- However, Stalin believed Poland needed to be under Soviet control to prevent future invasions of the USSR
- In April 1943 German troops discovered a mass grave in the Katyn Forest
- It contained the bodies of 10,000 Polish officers murdered by the Soviets in 1939
- In August 1944 the Polish resistance organised an uprising in Warsaw against the Germans
- The Soviets stood by as it was crushed, which therefore left Poland defenceless
9
Q
When and where were the 3 main conferences held regarding WW2?
A
- Tehran (Iran), November 1943
- Yalta (USSR), February 1945
- Potsdam (Germany), July 1945
10
Q
List 6 outcomes of the Tehran conference.
A
Roosevelt organised a conference to improve relations between the three Allies.
- Stalin achieved most of what he wanted
- Churchill suggested an Allied invasion from the Balkans to prevent the Red Army taking control, but this was rejected
- Britain and the USA agreed to open a Western front in May 1944
- After Germany was defeated, the USSR would wage war against Japan
- A United Nations organisation would be set up
- Poland’s border would be changed, so some of Eastern Poland would be part of the Soviet Union
11
Q
List 7 achievements of the conference in Yalta.
A
- Once again it was agreed that the USSR would declare war on Japan after Germany’s defeat
- Germany would be split into four zones (US, Britain, Soviet and French)
- Berlin would also be divided into 4 zones
- Nazi criminals would be found and tried in an international court of justice
- Countries freed from Nazi control would be allowed free elections
- To join the new United Nations Organisation
- Eastern Europe would be a Soviet ‘sphere of influence’
12
Q
What 2 issues were disagreed over at Yalta?
A
- How much Germany would pay in reparations
- Poland; Stalin wanted its borders further to the West, and a Soviet-friendly government
- Churchill and Roosevelt convinced Stalin to allow free elections in Poland
13
Q
List 6 things that happened between the Yalta and Potsdam conferences.
A
- Roosevelt had died in April and been replaced by his Vice-President, Harry Truman
- Truman was distrustful of Stalin and his motives in Europe, and was determined to stand up to him
- Churchill was defeated in a general election and was replaced by Clement Attlee (Labour)
- Soviet troops liberated Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Finland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania but kept their troops stationed there
- Stalin set up a communist government in Poland, ignoring the majority of the Polish population, the agreements at Yalta and the USA and Britain’s protests
- The Red Army was the world’s biggest, but while the West underwent demilitarisation, Stalin refused to reduce the size of his armed forces
- In July 1945, the USA successfully tested its first atomic bomb
14
Q
List 8 things agreed on in the Potsdam conference.
A
- The Allies agreed again to split Germany and Berlin as previously decided
- Germany would be demilitarised
- Democracy (freedoms of speech, elections and press) would be re-established in Germany
- The Nazi Party was banned and leading Nazis were put on trial in 1946
- Poland’s borders were to be moved to the Oder and Neisse rivers
- Germany to pay reparations to the Allies (mostly the Soviet Union) in equipment and materials
- A trade agreement was also made for the USSR to give raw materials to West Germany in return for industrial goods for East Germany
- Full participation in the United Nations
15
Q
List 3 things disagreed over in Potsdam.
A
- Truman wanted free elections in Eastern European countries (where the Soviets had kept their military presence), but Stalin refused
- 20 million Russians had died in the war and Stalin wanted enough compensation to permanently cripple Germany and protect the USSR, but Truman disagreed as he saw Germany as a barrier to Soviet expansion, and did not want a repeat of what happened with the Treaty of Versailles in 1919
- Truman informed Stalin at the beginning of the conference about the US’s atomic bomb, which infuriated Stalin, as he had not been told earlier
