Emerging superpower rivalry and its consequences 1945–49

Question 1

How did Stalin want to protect the USSR

Answer 1

Buffer zone - the area surrounding the USSR, made up of countries such as Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland and Romania that was seen as protecting the USSR

Question 2

What did the Allies believe Stalin was out to do?

Answer 2

Out to expand communism

At Yalta, Stalin had promised to ensure that the occupied countries of Eastern Europe would have free and fair democratic elections.

However, by 1947, Albania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland and Romania all had communist governments. By 1948, the government in Czechoslovakia had been replaced by a communist government.

These new communist governments were largely loyal to the USSR as many of their leaders had been trained in Moscow.

Naturally, the USA and their allies suspected that these elections had been rigged and that these new governments were merely puppets for the USSR.

Question 3

What did the ‘long telegram’ by George Kennan (a US Embassy Official) advise?

Answer 3

1. The Russians are determined to destroy the American way of life and will do everything they could to oppose America.
2. This is the greatest threat the US has ever faced.
3. The Soviets can be beaten.
4. The Soviets must be stopped.
5. This can be done without going to war.
6. The way to do it is by educating the public against Communism, and by making people wealthy, happy and free.

Question 4

What is the “iron curtain”

Answer 4

A phrase used by Winston Churchill to describe the division in Europe between Capitalist West and Communist East

Speech given on 5th March 1946

Question 5

What was the Truman Doctrine/Policy of Containment 1947

Answer 5

American Foreign Policy that was created as a reaction to soviet expansion in Eastern Europe, in order to stem the rise of communism and support countries threatened by it

Question 6

What was the Marshall plan/aid

Answer 6

Money would be offered to any country that wanted it, on the
grounds that country would open their markets to western
goods and made their economic records available for inspection.

Question 7

How did Stalin react to Marshall aid

Answer 7

-He called it Dollar imperialism and banned Eastern European countries receiving aid from USA

-Cominform created in 1947: This was designed to spread communism and to protect states from US aggression. The USA saw Cominform as a serious challenge to the West. Relations between the superpowers deteriorated further.

-Comecon: Stalin set up a Soviet version of Marshall Aid, COMECON, and the Council for Mutual Economic assistance January 25 1949. It was intended to be the Soviet Union’s response to Marshall Aid. Stalin offered aid to communist countries to help them recover from the effects of the Second World
War.