đź“ťIDEA PARAGRAPHS - developments Of The Cold War Flashcards
Describe the event of NATO
It was formed in April 1949 and was a collective military defence system so if one member was under attack, it would be seen as an attack on all members.
Explain the event of NATO
Why was it introduced?
The reason it was introduced was because the USA needed to do more than just give Marshall aid in that there needed to be a group of countries that would work with the USA in order to secure capitalist countries. This involved Canada, Britain, Italy, Luxembourg, france, the Netherlands and turkey. It was able to stand up to communism as it had access to 50 divisions, 25 of which we’re active and by February 1952, it was agreed to dramatically increase the strength of NATO forces
Asses the significance of NATO.
Why did it worry who?
NATO worried the SU because of when west Germany was allowed to join in 1955. This is evident when the SU formed the Warsaw Pact in response to bring together governments behind the iron curtain so the SU gained a better control over them and keep them under communist influence. This is evident as all armed forces were controlled by the SU and all decisions were made in Moscow.
Describe the Warsaw Pact
Or was formed in 1955 as a response to the alliance of west Germany joining NATO so Stalin hoped the Warsaw Pact could counterbalance the power of NATO
Explain the Warsaw Pact
Why was it formed?
Stalin formed the Warsaw Pact as a counterbalance to NATO because now west Germany was involved, it had the potential to host nuclear weapons which could easily reach the SU. Also, NATO had 12 members while the Warsaw Pact only had 8 meaning Stalin had more countries to have to go up against in case of a hot war
Asses the significance of the Warsaw Pact
It was significant as if worried the USA because Stalin had a huge red army of 5.5 million personnel, he had access to 175 division as and had at least 100,000 aircraft. This was a worry because the joint command of all armed forces were controlled by the SU only and so Stalin could take action very quickly without time for the USA to negotiate a solution. This caused tension in the Cold War because both sides were now cautious of their actions in fear of more braver consequences now that new alliances had formed
Describe the arms race
It started in 1949 after the SU developed their own atomic bomb, similar to that which was dropped over Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. It was a period of tension were the USA and SU showed of their superiority by creating new nuclear weapons to outdo each other for example when the USA built the first hydrogen bomb in 1952 and in 1953 the SU did the same
Explain the arms race
The arms race occurred because with nuclear weapons, each side had the power to fight back testing the countries strengths and capabilities. This made it develop into a race because each side was trying to develop something first as a form of propaganda in making themselves look more established than other countries.
Asses the arms race
The development of theses weapons was a concern to both sides as they had begin to reach mutually assured destruction. This meant that neither side detonated their nuclear weapons in fear of retaliation. In addition, the use of brinkmanship as a policy also heightened tensions because it meant that either side would push the other to the brink of war before they became scared of consequences. This caused tension because several cases have almost lead to total nuclear destruction like in the Cuban missile crisis as a case of severe tension
Describe the U2 crisis
It happened in May 1st 1960 and was when Gary powers took off from a Pakistan air bass in a U2 spy plane in order to take pictures of the SU bases to see their development of nuclear weapons in comparison to the USA however the spy plane was shot down
Explain why America was spying on the SU
America was spying on the SU because of the bomber gap when in reality, the SU didn’t catch up until the 1970s. This caused meant the SU wasn’t really ahead of them but they thought they were and so needed to see how they could beat them in the arms race
Asses the event of the U2 crisis
Why was the SU angry?
Eisenhower responded by claiming I was a weather plane that accidentally strayed into SU territory but later did agree to the fact the U2 was a spy plane as the SU found cameras and a suicide pill. This angered Khrushchev because Eisenhower refused to apologise for the incident and didn’t claim it wouldn’t happen again leading him to cancel the Paris peace summit which was meant to take place 13 days after the U2 event. The reason the event was a cause for tension was because Khrushchev now had an even deeper mistrust for the USA and showed he no longer was interested in going straight towards peace by cancelling the summit.
Describe the events that were occurring in Asia
China, mao came to power in 1949 and gained communist control. In 1950, North Korea was ruled by Kim il sung who invaded South Korea. In Vietnam, 1960, Ho Chi Minh established communist control and went on to invade south Vietnam
Explain why the events in Asia were a concern to the USA
Because they feared communism was spreading and so were concerned about the domino effect where communism could spread all over Asia. This is due to them previously seeing communism spreading in Eastern Europe and it also threatened the Middle Eastern areas around turkey
Asses events in China: how did the USA react to Korea and Vietnam, how did this show tension, how did the SU feel tension?
The us reacted to Korea by asking the UN to solve the issue and so they tried political methods by asking North Korea to withdraw but they didn’t listen so the UN sent in tanks. For Vietnam, they sent financial assistance to diem but this didn’t work so then they sent in full military assistance. This is significant because the western world was using force to fight communism where previously, they only used financial assistance. On a world scale, this showed Stalin felt tension because he put more money into the Soviet side of the arms race as icbms developed in 1957. Also Khrushchev formed the Warsaw Pact in 1955 showing he felt tension.
