III - Peace and Conflict: Cold War Flashcards
1
Q
Early Conferences
A
- Tehran 1943: war with Germany, USSR would join war against Japan after German defeat.
- Yalta Feb 1945: post-war division of Germany and Berlin, free elections in Europe.
- Potsdam July 1945: USSR confirmed entering war against Japan, Stalin went against free elections, built communist regime in Poland, America told Stalin they had made the atomic bomb
2
Q
Cold War competitions
A
- economic competition
- arms race
- alliances
- summit diplomacy
- conflict by proxy
3
Q
Impact of Early Conferences on the Cold War
A
- breakdown of the grand alliance
- exposed ideological differences between the USA and USSR
- started a fight for influence
- tensions over Germany, caused Berlin Blockade and airlift, construction of Berlin Wall
- beginning of the arms race
4
Q
Winston Churchill’s ‘Sinews of Peace’ Speech 1946
A
- coined ‘Iron curtain’
- urged a closer relationship between the USA and Britain, condemned the Soviet expansion in Europe, addressed challenges and hopes for the future.
- ‘an iron curtain has descended across the Continent. Behind that line … in what I must call the Soviet sphere… are subject in one form or another, not only to Soviet influence but to a very high and, in many cases, increasing measure of control from Moscow.’
5
Q
Containment
A
- Containment refers to America’s aim to contain the spread of communist regimes at all costs, either by supporting anti-communist regimes, creating anti-communist alliances or intervening in conflict
- led to the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan, where the US offered financial aid to countries so that they could resist communism
- first occurred with Greece and Turkey
- thought to have failed when China became Communist 1949
6
Q
Domino Theory
A
- not only was the future of Greece and Turkey at stake but if these two key countries were to fall to the communists, all of the Middle East and perhaps India were at risk.
- Eisenhower referred to the nations of SE Asia ‘You knock over the first one, and what will happen to the last one is the certainty that it will go over very quickly.’
7
Q
The Truman Doctrine
A
- President Truman asked Congress for $400 million in military and economic aid for Greece and Turkey. The adoption of the Truman Doctrine was significant - America had acknowledged her position as a world leader and cast aside the long-standing policy of isolationism.
- March 1947 President Truman speech to Congress ‘This is no more than a frank recognition that totalitarian regimes imposed on free people, by direct or indirect aggression, undermine the foundations of international peace and hence the security of the United States.’
8
Q
The Marshall Plan
A
- Officially known as the European Recovery Program, it provided aid to war-torn Europe. Committed 12 billion US dollars.
- In return for aid, each country had to commit to free elections and free trade.
9
Q
Molotov Plan
A
- the system created by the Soviet Union in 1947 in order to provide aid to rebuild the countries in Eastern Europe that were politically and economically aligned to the Soviet Union.
10
Q
Berlin Blockade and Airlift 1948-1949
A
- Stalin blocked all roads and access points to Berlin. The USSR blocked the Western Allies’ railway, road, and canal access to the sectors of Berlin under Western control.
- 500 planes flew over Berlin, dropping supplies. Only way to stop them would have been for the USSR to shoot the planes down.
- Berlin airlift lasted for more than a year and carried more than 2.3 million tonnes of cargo into west Berlin.
11
Q
China Becomes Communist 1949
A
- Chairman of the Communist Party of China Mao Zedong led a communist revolution resulting in the proclamation of the People’s Republic of China.
- Stalin did not recognise Mao’s socialism and previously referred to him as ‘margarine Marxist’.
- US response to China was made through the National Security Paper. For the first time the foreign policy of containment moved outside Europe. Therefore, containment was failing, made worse by the idea of the domino effect.
12
Q
Sino-Soviet Treaty (1950)
A
- Treaty of Friendship, Alliance and Mutual Assistance - strengthened communist power and made USSR look more like the superpower it was becoming. Therefore, it increased the rivalry between the USA and USSR.
13
Q
Korean War 1950-1953
A
- The war began on 25 June 1950 when North Korea invaded South Korea.
- On 15 August 1945, at the end of WWII, the USSR and US liberated Korea from Japanese control and divided the country into two zones of occupation at the 38th parallel.
- In subsequent battles, Seoul changed hands four times, and the front line was close to the 38th Parallel.
- North Korea was subject to a massive US bombing campaign. The fighting ended on 27th July 1953, when the Korean Armistice Agreement was signed. The agreement created the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) to separate North and South Korea, and allowed the return of prisoners.
- However, no peace treaty was ever signed, and the two Koreas are technically still at war.
14
Q
Consequences of the Korean War
A
- South Korea becomes ‘puppet’ government of the US. Ceasefire announced in 1953.
- North and South Korea remained divided, families were broken up.
- Civilian casualties: between 3 and 4 million dead, wounded or missing. The Korean War had a larger proportional civilian death toll than WWII or the Vietnam War.
- Destroyed most of Korea’s industry.
- North Korea fell into poverty.
- US soldiers remained stationed in South Korea, putting pressure on relations between China and the US.
- The war led to massive American rearmament. 50 000 American soldiers killed.
- Increased tension between USSR and China as to who should pay for it, as well as tension related to rivalry and desire to be superior.
- Led to the 1960 Sino-Soviet split
- proxy war highlights degree US and USSR will go to protect sphere of influences
15
Q
Leadership Changes 1950s
A
- Stalin died 1953. Power struggle until 1955 when Khrushchev gained full leadership. Further power struggle until 1957 between Khrushchev and Molotov saw Khrushchev become Premier of the USSR and First Secretary of the Communist Party.
- Eisenhower (Republican) defeated Truman in 1953 under the slogan ‘Communism, Corruption, Korea’
16
Q
Peaceful Coexistence 1955-1964
A
- Based on the theory that the US and USSR divided the world into spheres of influence, thus avoiding direct military contact.
- May 1955, the Soviets met NATO’s (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) strength with the Warsaw Pact (which solidified the Communist bloc.)
- Khrushchev believed the two social systems would ‘compete by economic and political means short of war’ (Kort, 1998).
17
Q
Berlin Wall Crisis 1961
A
- Geneva summit May 1959 between US President Eisenhower and Khrushchev. no decision was reached.
- Camp David Summit in September 1959. Khrushchev withdrew his initial ultimatum about the presence of Western troops in Berlin.
- U2 Crisis: US spy plane shot down over the USSR.
- Soviets constructed the Berlin Wall
- US President John F. Kennedy ‘It’s not a very nice solution but a wall is a hell of a lot better than a war.’
18
Q
Cuban Missile Crisis 1962
A
- JFK and the Bay of Pigs Invasion April 1961, America invaded with 1 500 Cuban exiles, utter disaster, Cuba no longer trusted America, pushed closer to USSR.
- spy plane photographed construction of Soviet missile bases in Cuba.
- naval ‘quarantine’ (blockade)
- Khrushchev agreed to dismantle missile sites, Kennedy agreed to end the naval blockade, not to invade Cuba and dismantle missile sites in Turkey
19
Q
The White House and Kremlin Hotline 1963
A
a direct phone line between the US and Soviet leaders that aimed to reduce the chances of war between the two superpowers due to communication difficulties in the future.
20
Q
1963 Test Ban Treaty
A
banned the testing of nuclear weapons underwater, in space and in the atmosphere.
one of the first attempts by both superpowers to limit the development of destructive nuclear weapons.
21
Q
1967 Outer Space Treaty
A
The Cuban Missile Crisis proved just how dangerous nuclear weapons could be. This treaty made sure that nuclear weapons would never be launched from space.
22
Q
1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
A
limited nuclear weapons production and promoted cooperation in alternative uses of nuclear energy. The treaty is still active today, with over 190 signatories.
23
Q
The Prague Spring 1968
A
- Alexander Dubcek appointed leader
- tried to implement ‘Socialism with a Human Face’
- reforms included: increased trade with the West, decreased state control, freedom of the press, de-collectivisation of agriculture, the formation of non-communist parties.
- welcomed by Czech people
- started to ally with Yugoslavia and its non-aligned leader Marshal Tito
- soviets invaded Czechoslovakia
24
Q
Soviet Invasion of Czechoslovakia 1968
A
- Tanks were used to control opposition and intimidate the public.
- Czechs handed flowers to the soldiers
25
Q
Brezhnev Doctrine
A
- used the Brezhnev Doctrine to justify the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia.
- indicated that the Soviet Union had the right to intervene (militarily or otherwise) in other communist countries where it believed that communism was under threat.
- Brezhnev Doctrine 1968 ‘When internal and external forces hostile to socialism attempt to turn the development of any socialist country in the direction of the capitalist system …it becomes …a general problem, the concern of all socialist countries’
