KT1- Early tensions Flashcards
when was the grand alliance created
1941
the grand alliance
created in 1941 , a marriage of convenience between the soviet union usa and britain to end ww2 and stop the nazis but the alliance partners did not share common political aims and did not always agree
communism
the belief that all property should belong to the state to ensure everyone has a fair share inspired by the writings of karl marx
3 communist ideologies
- a controlled economy
- only one party of government
- no individual allowed to profit from the work of other citizens
capitalism
the belief that everybody should be able to own properties , business and make money
3 capitalist ideologies
- a free economy
- true democratic system with many parties
- anybody is free to start a business and employ people
4 main differences in ideology between usa and ussr
ussr
- single party system
- everyone equal
- nationalism (all property owned by the state not individuales)
- wanted to spread communism into eastern europ and eventually the world
usa
- free elections , choice of multiple parties
- some people have more than others (but as reward for hard work)
- private ownership and competitive workplace
- believed in democratic capitalism and wanted to stop spread of communism
roosevelt’s personal beliefs going i to ghd conferences
- suspicious of stalin
- believed strongly in democracy and wanted to safeguard it from communism
- willing to compromise with comunists to maintain superpower relations
churchill’s personal beliefs
- suspicious of stalin
- despised communisms
- traditional values and believed in the british empire
- saw his role as trying to stop soviet expansion
stalins personal beliefs
- suspicious of western powers
- was convinced the west was trying to destroy communism
- wanted to expand communism the rest of europe and then the world
what was the new world order
- ww2 caused big shift in world politics
- old powers (britain and france ) were less important than they were during the time of empire
- usa and ussr were now superpowers with big economies armies and power
when was the tehran conference
november - december 1943 - two years before the war ended
causes of tehran conference
- needed a military plan to defeat hitler (needed to work together)
- to discuss opening a second front
- they were hopeful of winning and discussed potential future of post war germany and eastern europ but nothing was finalized
events of tehran conference 1943
-
agreed to open a second front in france ( to split german defences and relieve pressure off the ussr )
~ disagreements about if it should be in france or ussr - agreed the ussr would declare war on japan once germany was defeated after events of pearl harbor in
- discussed the future of eastern europe and germany and unofficially agreed to change polish borders and hold free elections in eastern europe
consequences of tehran conference
- second front opened in france ( operation overlord) in 1944
- ussr committed to declaring war on japan 3 months after germany was defeated
- cracks in relations as stalin was still uncertain of usa and britain
disagreements at tehran
- second front disputes
- britain and usa wanted to open second front closer to the ussr but stalin refused as he was convinced the west would use this as a launch pad to then invade the ussr and destroy communism
What caused the russian revolution
extreme poverty
the main aim of communism
To create an equal, classless society
how many people did stalin kill during the purge
Up to 1.2 million people
why did stalin want parts of poland
He claimed that it had been taken from Russia in the post WW1 treaties.
why did stalin and churchill have a bad relationship
- churchill was the minister of war during ww1 and had given troops and weapons to the white army ( who had been fighting against the communists in ussr
- churchill also hated the communists and said the soviet union should have been “strangled at birth”
why were the usa and britain weary of stalin
- worried of the idea of communism spreading to the working classes of their own countries
- horrified at the atrocities carried out by stalin
when was the yalta conference
- february 1945 - before the defeat of germany
causes for yalta
- by beginning of 1945 it became clear the nazis were losing the war
- they needed to decide
- the future of germany after defeat
- the future of poland’s borders
- when the ussr would declare war on japan
events of yalta conference 1945 ( in depth) (5 agreements)
- decided that when germany was defeated they would …
- be demilitarised
- pay 20bn in reparations (1/2 of which would go
to ussr) tho no monetary - started planing for germany to be split into four zones
- nazi party banned and war criminals on trial
- eastern european countries would have free elections
- usa and brits pushed hard for democratic elections in all of eastern europe but stalin disagreed so as a compromise poland could live in a soviet sphere of influence
- an international peacekeeping organization ( the un ) would be set up
- ussr would declare war on japan 3 months after defeating germany and would gain land invaded by japan
- polish boarders would return to how they were in 1921
consequences of yalta
- successful relations on the surface , show of unity - due to good relations between stalin and roosevelt (agreed on un etc)
- splits growing - undecided how to manage poland
disagreements at yalta
disputes over how to deal with poland - britain wanted to protect their independance - us wanted to stop the spread of communism - ussr wanted to use poland as a buffer state ( had been invaded 3x by the west)
the polish issue was left unofficial and unclear causing issues in the future
big 3 at potsdam
- usa- truman (more reluctant to compromise with ussr)
- gb - churchill–> atlee
- ussr stalin
causes for potsdam
- germany surrendered in may
- needed to decide future of germany and the rest of europe
events of potsdam conference
- divided germany - germany and berlin split into 4 zones (usa, france, britain and ussr) - ussr given 25% of industrial equipment from other zones
- german army reduced
- nazi party banned
- each ally would take reparations from their own zones
consequences of potsdam
- ended with a show of unity but the relations were greatly damaged (grand alliance was breaking down)
- beginning of arms race (us had atomic bombs and the ussr wanted to catch up
- ussr expands buffer zones of satellite states / defensiveness
Why did the grand alliance begin to break down after potsdam
- soured relationships due to - change in us president and brit pm - trumans arrogance over atomic bomb and stalins behaviour over poland
When were the creations of the satalite states
1945-48
attitudes after the 1943 tehran conference
- for stalin it was a success - he gained more land
- churchill was less pleased
when was potsdam
july - august 1945
disagreements at potsdam
- west considered stalin’s installation of an entirely pro communist government in poland a violation of the yalta agreement
- truman was unhappy about situation in ee
when did the us drop atomic bombs
6 of august 1945 - hiroshima and 9 of august 1945 nagasaki
when did the soviets develop their atomic bomb
Agreements at yalta
- eastern european countries would have free elections
- an international peacekeeping organization ( the un ) would be set up
- ussr would declare war on japan 3 months after defeating germany and would gain land invaded by japan
- polish boarders would return to how they were in 1921
- poland i. Soviet sphere of influence)
When was the trumin doctrine w/ month
March 1947
Truman doctrine 1949
- gave speech outlining concerns that effects of ww2 would lead to communism
- many ee countries were liberated from the nazis by ussr and some ( inc poland) were gorced to take on communist gov.
- worried this would spread and cause a domino effect
When was the marshall plan
1948
1948 marshall plan
- provided 17bn in aid to help rebuild Europe
- given to 16 countries
Consequences of narshall plan
- successfully prevented greece from becoming communist
- showed usas commitment to containing communism
- increased tension
- stslin accused truman of using money to gain control over Europe ( dollar imperialism)
What did stalin set up in response to marshall plan
Comecon and cominform
What was cominform
- organised all vommunist parties in europe
- main aim was to remove opposition in communist countries
- nade sure ss govs took orders from ussr
Comecon
- aimed to provide financial aid to prevent ss from joining marshall plan
- soviet countries did not have much money yo support eachother
Consequences of cominform and comecon
- increased tension
- europ fivided in two spheres of influence
Why did stalin go back on his word from yalta
- agreed theyd have free fair elections in all ee countries
- stalin thought theyd elect in communism when it became clear they wouldn’t he used salami tactics to fix elections and remove opposition
Preach buffer zone countries
- poland
- romania
- east germany
- albania
- czechoslovakia
- hungary
How did poland become a satellite state
- was occupied by nazis
- ussr promised to help in warsaw uprising however they waited until defeat and yhen occipied
- first election in 1945 was fair
- however in 1947 ussr forced london poles to flee or face imprisonment
Example of countries in buffer zone that werent ss
- albania
- not occupied by red army and not satellite state
- however relied on communist aid
- had communist government since 1944
How did hungary become ss
- 1945 election had coalition government
- in 1947 elections voters intimidated
- by 1949 it became a one party state
Consequences of satellite states
- confirmed division between east and west
- iron curtain speech in. 1946
- truman saw as evidence of soviet plan to spread communism worldwide
Whst xaused the truman doctrine and marshsll plan
- Britain coulc not afford to kero ttoops in greece and turkey
- alarmed truman as they were likely to become communist
What lead to nato creation
- berlin blockade snd takeover of czechoslovakia left western countries concerned
- believed they needed to protect themselves from soviet expansion
Nato 1949
- agreement between 12 countries that if one was attacked the others would intervene
- basically placed nato members under us protection
Arms race
- us first nuclear weapon 1945 - killed 78,000 ppl instantly
- infuriated stalin as he did not know
- ussr successfully tested their first one in 1949
- us developed hydrogen bomb in __ to keep advantage ( 1000x stronger than hiroshima)
- ussr had h bomb one year later
- us 1957 developed first icbm which could hit tatget 4.5 thousand km away
- ussr had them later the same year
When did the us and ussr respectively develop atomic bombs
- us first nuclear weapon 1945
- infuriated stalin as he did not know
- ussr successfully tested their first one in 1949
When did us and ussr get hydrogen bombs
- us developed hydrogen bomb in 1952 to keep advantage ( 1000x stronger than hiroshima)
- ussr had h bomb one year later
When did us and ussr get icbms
- us 1957 developed first icbm which could hit tatget 4.5 thousand km away
- ussr had them later the same year
Consequences of arms race
- both side spent karge sums on military power
- made war less likely due to mutually assured destruction
- increased tension
What happens after stalin died
- 1953 - power vacuum
- 1956 khruschev takes power
Whi was president in us after 1952
- Eisenhower
- elected on anticomunist platform
- but willing to improve relations
hungarian uprising causes
- ppl protested about food shartages and soviet control
- secret police
- living standards
- brutal tule of rakosi
- destalinisation gave confidence to protest
Events of hungarian uprising
- khruschev replaced rakosi with nagy who he hoped would cal tgem
- nagy introduces
-other political parties- freedom of speech
- removed secret police
- khruschev yolerates these until nagy decided to leave warsaw pact
- khruschev sebt troops november 1956
Consequences of hungarian uprising
- hungary remained in warsaw pact
- demonstratws ussr willing to use force to keep warsaw pact together
- showed west was weak for not getting involved( nagy asked for help - emphasised by radio free europe and truman doctrine and marshall plan)
Importance of Hungarian uprising
Signified a change in the cold war as both sides realised how far the other was willing to go
Casualties of Hungarian uprising
20,000 civilians killed
What fid khruschev send into Hungary
1000 tanks
200,000 soldiers
