First key events Cold War (1945-46) Flashcards
What was the name of the first Wartime conference and when did it take place?
Tehran conference, November 1943
- USA and Britain agreed to invade Nazi-occupied Europe
- Poland would gain terrirtory from German and lose territory to the Soviet Union
- International body would be set up to settle future disputes between countries
Name the five main agreements made at Tehran:
- USA and Britain open up a ‘second front’
- Stalin would declare war on Japan and help US after victory in Europe
- Aim of war was to bring unconditional surrender of Germany
- Poland should receive land from Germany but lose land to Soviet Union
- International body should be set up to settle disputes through discussion and negotiation
Who made up the original Grand Alliance?
- Britain- Winston Churchill,
- USA- Franklin Roosevelt,
- USSR- Joseph Stalin
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What was the name of the second wartime conference and when did it take place?
Yalta conference, February 1945
What were the agreements made about Germany at the second wartime conference?
- Germany and Berlin would be divided into four zones,
- Nazi war criminals would be put on trial and
- Nazi party would be banned,
- Germany would pay $20 billion reparations (Half goes to USSR)
What were the agreements made about Eastern Europe at the second wartime conference?
- Eastern Europe would become a Soviet Sphere of influence to reflect Russia’s sacrifice during the war, liberated countries would be allowed to hold free elections (run democratically),
- USSR would move the border of Poland further West to their position in 1921
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What were the decisions made at the second wartime conference regarding the UN and Japan?
- USSR would declare war on Japan three months after defeat of Germany,
- a United Nations would be set up on 25th April 1945
- but Stalin could only have Russia, Ukraine and Belarus admitted
What was the name of the third wartime conference and when did it take place?
Potsdam, July 17th- August 2nd 1945
What were the changes in leadership at the third wartime conference?
Harry Truman was now the President of the USA and Clement Attlee replaced Churchill on July 26th
What were the decisions made about the fate of Germany at the third wartime conference?
- -Country division,
- -Nazi criminals and purging of Nazi influence remains the same as at Yalta
- -Soviet Union can extract reparations from its zone and take 10% industrial capacity from the other zones
- -Other powers can extract from their zones
What were the decisions made about Eastern Europe at the Potsdam conference?
- Eastern Europe becomes Soviet sphere of influence,
- free and fair elections in Eastern Europe,
- Poland’s border confirmed on Oder-Neisse line (gain 25% of German land) but lose land to Soviet Union
What is the final decision, regarding Japan, made at the Potsdam conference?
- America doesn’t have need for the USSR in defeating Japan as they have a new atomic weapon.
- Japan will be asked to surrender unconditionally or meet with “prompt and utter destruction”
What was important about the United Nations, created at the Treaty of San Francisco in June 1945?
USA, Soviet Union, France, Britain and China were all permanent members of the UN security council meaning they could veto any resolution
What disagreements and rejections took place at the third wartime conference?
- -Britain and USA dislike Poland’s new borders
- -USA rejects the Soviet’s demands to play a part in the running of the rich German industrial area of the Ruhr
- -The USA rejects Soviet desires to share in the occupation of Japan
- -Soviet Union rejects the USA and Britain’s request for a greater say in what went on in Eastern Europe
When did the USA drop atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki?
August 1945
