How did the Cold War develop 1943-1956

Question 1

What was the cold war

Answer 1

1. expression used to describe the frosty atmosphere between the super powers from 1945-1991
2. no actual fighting took place because of MAD theory

Question 2

what were the cold war’s main features

Answer 2

1. spying- to find out any military developments e.g. American U2 spy incident which increased rivalry between sides
2. properganda- used to create bad image of other side and ensured national opinion supported the government
3. arms race- competition in conventional as well as nuclear weapons. by 1960s had enough weapons to destroy wold many times over
4. space race- success in this field was effective properganda
5. loans and aids- sides competed to provide loans and aid to less developed and newly independent states to win cold war support

Question 3

what were the differences between the soviet union and isa’s values

Answer 3

1. Russia were commies
   - wealth shared between people, low living standards
   - state runs economy
   - everything worked by state
   - censorship of media
   - one political party
   - no elections unable to change gov
2. USA were capitalists
   - extremes of wealth and poverty
   - independant businesses allowed
   - freedom of speech
   - several political parties
   - elections, to decided leaders
3. OPPOSITE- poor relationship
   - both thought each other were trying to take over world

Question 4

Why did the soviet union want to expand in the east

Answer 4

1. stalin wanted to create a protective ‘buffer zone’ of satellite states with soviet friendly governments because:
   - in 1914 germany attacked russia and killed millions
   - in 1941 hitler attacked through poland and killed 20-30 million russians
2. Truman felt this was the first step to the speed of communism (domino theory)
   - created distrust for USSR and hardened america’s views
3. Nonkov telegram 1949- soviet ambassador in washington sent stalin’s report that USSR have exactly the same views towards america and they were preparing for world dominion
   - built up distrust and suspicion
4. by 1949 they were enemies and was a key ingredient in cold war

Question 5

Who was at the first Wartime conference

Answer 5

1. At tehran (in iran) in november 1943
   - start as great alliance combatting common enemy
   - Roosevelt, Stalin and Churchill

Question 6

what was agreed at tehran conference 1943

Answer 6

Things agreed
1. united nations set up after war

2. russia wage war against japan after germanys were defeated
3. open a second front against germany by invading france in may 1944
4. areas of east poland offed to soviet union

Question 7

what were the strains in the grand alliance qt tehran 1943

Answer 7

1. USA and Britain were reluctant to open a second France front
   - Stalin thinks they are delaying helping because they hate communists
2. Churchill is suspicious of stalin
   - worried stalin will try and make world communist, starting with eastern europe

Question 8

who was at the second Wartime conference

Answer 8

1. at Yalta in ussr in February 1945
   - roosevelt, stalin and Churchill
2. they have basically won ww2 and have met to discuss the future after the war

Question 9

What was agreed at Yalta in 1945

Answer 9

1. divide germany and berlin into 4 zones: US, British, French and Soviet
2. hunt down and put Nazi war criminals on trial in an international court of justice
   - called Nuremberg in 1946
3. allow countries that have been freed from occupation by the german army to have free elections to choose the government they wanted

Question 10

What were the disagreements at Yalta in 1945

Answer 10

1. how much germany was to pay in reparations
   - stalin wanted a higher figure than churchill and rosevelt
2. stalin wanted a polish/ german boarder to be further west
   - wanted ‘friendly’ polish government so his country has protection
   - chuchill and roosevelt were worried this would mean a soviet controlled government so persuaded him to have free elections

Question 11

Who was at the third war time conference

Answer 11

1. potsdam july 1945
2. started as truman, stalin and churchill but Churchill switches with attlee
3. before meeting:
   - america deployed nuclear weapons
   - USSR left troops in freed countries
   - New american gov
   - no germany to glue grand alliance together

Question 12

What was agreed/ confirmed in potsdam 1945

Answer 12

1. germany pay reparations and the majority go to the ussr
2. confirm divisions of berlin and germany into 4
3. confirm Neurenberg dernatzification in germany
   - demilitarise them
   - find nazis and ban them

Question 13

What was disagreed on in potsdam 1945

Answer 13

same as yalta

1. stalin didnt want free elections in freed counties, thought it waS an unwelcome inference
   - truman furion and starts a get tough policy
2. stalin wanted a lot of compensation and wanted germany economically crippled to expand the ussr
   - truman wanted germany to rebuilt and not be punished to avoid repeat of the treaty of versailles

Question 14

how did the ussr expand

Answer 14

1. coalition governments formed with members of communists party and other political parties
2. key positions were taken over by communists e.g. police
3. opposition parties were arrested/ freed
   - police were communists
4. fixed elections cemented communist positions in power
   - communists won and formed ‘people’s democracies’
   - eastern european countries became satellite states

Question 15

what was the iron curation 1946

Answer 15

1. a term used by churchill in march 1946 speech warning the world about soviet union expansions

2 so russia was taking over europe and dividing the east and west but it was impossible to see so secret

Percentages agreement

• churchil and stalin came to an understanding over who gets what in europe
• suggests churchill accepted that stalin was going to get eastern europe

Question 16

what was cominform

Answer 16

cominform

1. communist information bureau, 1947
2. was soviet union’s response to the truman doctrine, enabled them to co-ordinate communist responses throughout europe
3. done to ensure:
   - states in eastern europe followed soviets aims in forgien policy and introduced soviet style economic policies e.g. collectivisation.
4. purged any members who disagreed e.g. tito who refused to follow soviet line so yugoslavia was expelled from cominform in 1948

Question 17

what was comecom

Answer 17

1. council for mortal economic assistance. 1949
2. was soviet response to marshall aid
3. supposed to be so soviet union could financially support other countries in eastern euope
   BUT
4. used by soviet union to :
   - control the economies of these states
   - give them access to their resources
   - encourage economic specialisation e.g. Czechoslovakia concentrate on heavy industry and hungary specialised in production of food and raw minerals

Question 18

what were causes of the truman doctrine

Answer 18

1. the usa and especially truman believed that the soviet union was trying to spread communism, beginning with eastern europe but then the world
2. events in greece
   - civil war between king and capitalist government against communism
   - british helping capitalists but cant afford it and want to pull out, stalin helping communists
   - but if they pull out greece will turn communist

Question 19

what happened in the truman doctrine

Answer 19

1. ‘would support free peoples who are resisting subjugation by armed minorities or outside pressures’
2. so basically, support free countries who felt threatened by communism or stalin
   - america has atomic bomb, very threatening
3. will protect inside civil walls or outside countries who are fighting communism
   - his ‘get tough’ policy has expanded

Question 20

what was the significance of the truman doctrine

Answer 20

1. greek government were able to defeat communists
2. rivalry between the superpowers increased
3. usa became committed to the policy of containment and was far more involved in european affairs
4. 1947 stalin set up com inform to link communist parties in eastern europe and worldwide
5. usa decided on marshall plan
   - this combined with the doctrine was the policy of containment

Question 21

what were the causes of the marshall plan 1947

Answer 21

1. truman didnt want to commit us military against the spread of communism
   - because communism won the support of countries where there were economic problems, unemployment and poverty
2. so usa decided to help these countries recover economically and provide employment
   - then there would be no need to turn communist

done by US Secretary of State, George Marshall so nicknamed Marshall Plan

Question 22

what happened witht eh marshall plan

Answer 22

1. programs of aid was offered to war torn european countries
   - aid in the form of cash, machinery, food and technological assistance
2. helped requip factories and revive agriculture and trade

Question 23

what was the significance of the marshall plan

Answer 23

1. OEEC (Organisation for european economic recovery) set up to decide how to use US aid
2. by 1953, usa had provided $17 billion dollars worth of aid
   - US advisors helped rebuild transport systems
3. stalin said marshall plan was to dominate europe and boost us economy
   - prevented eastern countries getting involved and didnt want to show ussr’s economic weakness
   - weakened relations
4. led to the formation of comecon

Question 24

what was the berlin blockain and airlift

Answer 24

1948 stalin blockaded all routes by land and rail into west berlin

-first major crisis of the cold war

Question 25

what were the long term causes for the berlin blockade and airlift 1948

Answer 25

1. arguments between germany’s four zones of occupation
2. ussr failed to make berlin city council communist
3. ussr wanted to keep germany week but west wanted it strong
4. stalin didnt want allies in berlin as it was in soviet zone but allies wanted to observe ussr activities over the iron curtain

Question 26

what were the short term causes for the berlin blockade and airlift 1948

Answer 26

1. western allies provided their zones with lots of marshall aid so zones could recover
   - and set up more elections = democracy
2. this contrasted with stalin who thought western ideas would spread to soviet zone and undermine the control of east berlin
3. series of disagreements in 1948

Question 27

what were the series of disagreements in 1948 that contributed to the berlin blockade

Answer 27

1. january- british and us zones in germany merged into one economic unit, bizonia
2. march- soviet representatives walked out allied control commission drying western attitudes make it unworkable
3. soviet troops began to hold up and rail traffic entering west berlin
4. june- western power announce they want to create a west germany state and introduce a new currency for their zones and west berlin (deutschmark)
   - soviet union related and released their own currency in soviet zone and east berlin (Ostmark)
5. 24th june -stalin accused west of interfering in the soviet zone so cut off all transport between the zones
   - trying to force allies to pull out of their german sectors

Question 28

what were the key features of the berlin blockade

Answer 28

1. truman wanted berlin to be a symbol of freedom behind the iron curtain
   - Airlift- allies airlifted supplies from their bases in west germany to berlin
   - named Operation Planefare, 28th June 1948
2. truman warned ussr by sending B-29 bombers to britain so soviet was within their range
3. soviet tried to persuade people to move from east to west berlin and 3% did
4. peak of airlifts= 16-17th april, 1398 flights landed and nearly 13,000 tonnes of supplies in 24 hours
5. west berliners- supplies with food, clothing, oil, building materials
   - but there were still shortages so many left so had to ration, there was no heating and subway closed down

12TH MAY 1949 STALIN CALLS OFF BLOCKADE
-gave him bad image and made usa look good

Question 29

what were the results of the berlin blockade

Answer 29

1. led to the creation of NATO ( Northern Atlantic Treaty organisation),
   - main focus to prevent soviet expansion
   - in response to this aggressive alliance, the warsaw pact was formed in 1955, after west germany joined nato
2. increased east-west rivalry internationally e.g. korea and vietnam
   - (even though stalin lost he portrayed it as a win)

Question 30

how did developments in 1945-55 increase east west rivalry

Answer 30

1. 1949 chinese communist party led by mao sized power
   - usa developed the domino theory which was confirmed by korean war in 1950-1955 when communist north invaded south
2. anti-communist hysteria emerged in usa , many us officials in high places accused of being communist
   - guilty of passing on secrets about atomic bomb
3. nuclear arms race- russia got atomic bomb in summer 1949
   - 1953 both russia and america get the hydrogen bomb
4. stalin died in 1953, Khrushchev took over and began a policy of ‘peaceful co-exsistance’ with the west

Question 31

What caused the hungarian uprising in 1956

Answer 31

1P ERASERS

P- poland had an uprising against the communists and gained freedom so it influenced the Hungarians

E- education, soviets controlled it so children were taught communist version of history that ignored hungarian links with western europe

A- Avo, the hated secret police that used terror and tourture to suppress criticism of gov and communism

S- secret speech, february 1956, khrushchev attacked crimes of stalin and his closest associates, green light for hungarians

E- economic reasons, workers poorly paid, food shortages blamed on collective farming and many goods shipped off to ussr

R- rakozi (hungarian leader) treated people terribly and modelled himself on stalin

S- soviet troops- hungarians objected to continued presence of soviet troops and it was a remainder of their control

1. religion, hungarians strongly christian but communists discouraged religious beliefs and its leader Cardinal Minszenty was imprisioned
2. censorship- there was no freedom of expression, gov controlled everything

Question 32

what happened during the hungarian uprising in october 1956

Answer 32

1. hungarians start protesting and demonstrating
2. burn pictures of stalin and communist principals e.g. books and propaganda
   - smash statue of stalin
3. Avo turned it not peaceful, shot demonstrators and the demonstrators fought back
4. soviets responded by sending tanks in to help the avo

IMRE NAGY becomes leader

Question 33

what happened during the hungarian uprising in october 1956 AFTER nagy becomes leader

Answer 33

1. despite being communist he sided with demonstrators and made a series of popular reforms
   - hungarian people felt free, released people from prison
2. soviet tanks started to withdraw
3. nagy promises elections, freedom and to leave the warsaw pact
   - Khrushchev doesn’t allow!!!!
4. November 1st soviet soldiers and tanks return to hungary
5. nagy keeps demnading, so khrushchev orders 200,000 troops to destroy freedom fighters on 4th november- very brutal

Question 34

what were the consequences of the hungarian uprising

Answer 34

1. soviet union ended uprising and reimposed communism in hungary
2. 200,000 fled the country and 20,000 died
3. Nagy is replaced and arrested by Kadar, who is very strict

4,. sends the message out to eastern europe

5. makes relations worse between emericans and soviet union
   - reveals khrushchevs character
   - america didnt want to get involved to prevent nuclear war