Foreign policy Flashcards
1
Q
Phase 2 - Foreign involvement in the Russian civil war
A
- 1918 - 1920 Foreign troops stationed in areas of conflict from Baltic to Black sea - No. of troops small and did little fighting
- Motives for foreign intervention = Keep Russia fighting in WW1 and protect armaments that had been sent to Russia by allies
2
Q
Phase 2 - Foreign intervention timeline - 1918
A
- 1918 = Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in March and 9000 troops land at Vladivostok in Aug
3
Q
Phase 2 - Foreign intervention timeline - 1919
A
- Feb = German troops in Latvia to oppose red army
- Mar = Bullitt peace mission gets Lenin to agree to peace terms
- Aug = British naval assault on Soviets at Petrograd
4
Q
Phase 2 - Foreign intervention timeline - 1920
A
- Mar = Defeated white army evacuated by British warships
- June = Polish armies defeated by red army in Ukraine
- Nov = Bolshevik state recognised by Britain
5
Q
Establishment of the Comintern
A
- International socialist organisation promoting Marxism and spreading ‘proletarian revolution’ from Russia to the world
- Chairman = Zinoviev
- Optimistic of worldwide communist revolution
6
Q
2nd Comintern congress
A
- July - August 1920
- Some European delegations broke away from the Comintern
7
Q
3rd Comintern
A
- Summer of 1921
- Realisation that world revolution was not as close as previously hoped
8
Q
Russo-Polish war
A
- Recreation of Polish independence was a commitment of allied powers after WW1
- Lenin saw Poland as a bridge to the west
- Poland advanced and occupied Kiev in May 1920
- Red army launched counter attack and Polish forces abandoned Kiev by Aug 1920
- Polish army on point of defeat but managed o defend Warsaw in battle known as the ‘miracle of the Vistula’ - War turned into stalemate
9
Q
Socialism in one county VS Permanent revolution
A
- Theories of Marxism and Leninism felt it was impossible for revolution to survive in a single country - It would be destroyed
- Trotsky and left felt Soviet Union should commit to permanent revolution
- 1923 Stalin believed there could be ‘socialism in one country’
10
Q
Phase 3 - Rapallo treaty
A
- 1922
- Lenin realised world revolution was postponed
- Bolshevik Russia excluded from league of nations
- Chicherin became foreign minister in 1922 and invited to international economic conference
11
Q
Treaty of Rapallo
A
- Agreed to waive claims for compensation arising from WW1
- Mutual goodwill in commercial and economic relations
- Additional agreement in July 1922 allowed for German army to carry out military training in the USSR
- For all involved this was a way out of unwelcome diplomatic isolation
12
Q
Zinoviev letter
A
- Forgery made by conspirators and led by ‘ace of spies’, Sidney Reilly - British intelligence agent
- Created to influence public opinion against Labour party in 1924 British election
- Affected Britain more than the Soviet Union
13
Q
Treaty of Berlin
A
- 1926
- Litvinov described it as an amplification of treaty of Rapallo - aimed to promote general peace between Germany and the USSR
14
Q
Changes in Comintern
A
- Zinoviev president from 1919 to 1926
- Bukharin then became president but was later forced out and replaced by Molotov
- in 1920s Stalin’s move towards leftist policies denounced SD parties as ‘social fascists’
15
Q
Phase 5
A
- Between 1935-37 there were negotiations on improving economic and political relations with Germany
- ‘collective security’ against facism - working with other states to stop fascist expansion
- Litvnov in favour and Molotov against
16
Q
Western Appeasement
A
- Hitler joins with Austria - against treaty of Versailles
- Munich conference - decision on Sudetenland - Stalin not invited
17
Q
Japanese aggression
A
- wanted to avoid war on two fronts - Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931 was a direct threat to soviet railway
18
Q
Anti-Comintern pact
A
Signed by Germany and Japan in nov 1936
19
Q
Hitlers foreign policy plans in the 1930s
A
- Germany must expand to survive - Austria and Czech Slovakia - wanted a 1000 year reich
20
Q
Hitler’s attitudes towards Czechoslovakia
A
- focused on Sudetenland which is home to German speakers
21
Q
What happened in the Sudetenland and then the rest of Czechoslovakia
A
- People happy when took Sudetenland
- Hacha, the Czech leader, handed over Czechoslovakia after Hitler threatened to invade it
22
Q
What happened in Austria
A
- Had political instability - German troops crossed the border - majority of Austrians celebrated arrival of Nazi’s
- Britain was annoyed that treaty of Versailles had been broken but didn’t want to go to war over it
23
Q
The Munich Agreement
A
- 29th Sept 1938 - Hitler granted Sudetenland as long as that was his last territorial demand - Hitler still felt cheated
24
Q
The Nazi-Soviet pact
A
- Von Ribbentrop (German foreign minister) involved
- 23rd Aug 1939
- Protected Hitler from an attack on two fronts
25
Q
Russo-Finnish war
A
- 30th Nov - 22nd Dec 1939
- Went badly as the red army had been purged during the terror
- Finnish were outnumbered 3:1
- Finnish used guerrilla warfare
- Jan 1940 a peace treaty was signed - Soviets had lost 10,000 men
- Conscription had to be reintroduced in Russia - army grew from 2 million to 5 million
- Stalin didn’t believe he could face Germany until 1943
26
Q
Nazi Soviet pact - Why did Hitler want an agreement with Stalin
A
- Didn’t want to fight against a British - French - Soviet alliance
- Allowed Hitler to invade Poland
- Gave Germany raw materials from Russia on very favourable terms
27
Q
Nazi Soviet pact - Why did Stalin want an agreement with Hitler
A
- Avoid a war on two fronts against Germany and Japan
- Territorial gains in Poland and the Baltic’s
- Allowed Stalin breathing Space to consolidate the economic changes in Russia at the time
28
Q
What did Stalin Miscalculate in the Nazi Soviet pact
A
- Strength of the French army and nature of modern warfare - Believed the war would be long - as seen in WW1 - France was instead taken over very quickly
- Trusted Hitler - By Oct 1940, Hitler was already planning to invade the USSR in 1941
29
Q
Russo-Finnish war
A
- Soviet forces invaded in Nov 1939
- Finland only lost 10% of their land in the peace treaty
30
Q
Katyn Massacre
A
- 22,000 Poles killed by NKVD in 1940 - eliminated Polish nationalists who opposed Communism - It was kept a secret and the Nazi’s were blamed
31
Q
Hitler after signing the Nazi Soviet pact
A
- Invaded Poland 8 days after signing the pact
- Roosevelt elected as president worried Hitler as he was anti-Nazi
- May 1941 - date Hitler wanted to invade Russia - felt the Bolsheviks were Jewish - turned it into a war of extermination
32
Q
Stalin after signing the Nazi Soviet pact
A
- Believed Hitler was undermining the capitalist system - potentially becoming a communist in Stalin’s eyes
- Wasn’t loyal to Hitler as he had gone against the Bolsheviks in Mein Kampf
- Feared the strong Nazi army - Russia looked weak after Russo-Finnish war
- Attack on Bukovina (Romania) Angered Hitler as this was Nazi territory under the pact
- Nov 12th 1940 - Molotov offered parts of the British empire to Russia if they helped Hitler defeat Russia
33
Q
Stalin - Operation Barbarossa
A
- Molotov believed that the Nazi’s were too busy Fighting Britain to pose an immediate threat to the USSR
- Stalin prone to believing conspiracy theories - Makes no serious preparations for an invasion
- Stalin doesn’t believe the intelligence being sent to him from spies in the German government
- Goes missing after start of Operation Barbarossa - quickly resumed power
- Stalin refers to the pop. as brothers and sisters to try and promote nationalism
- Bring back Zhukov and gives him responsibility
