Main Events Cold War Flashcards
How did Stalin prevent Marshall aid from spreading and extending to Eastern Europe
Between 1947 to 49 the USSR spread its influence in Eastern Europe and created a buffer zone of satellite states. This was done through the Soviet Union taking advnatage of a countries economy and using communism in order to appeal and convince countries to join its cause.
How did the USSR treat satellite states
Gave them little power - used strict rules and punishments e.g imprisonment
forced them to take orders about how to run their country- had to follow under Moscow’s rules used the single-party satellite state in order for this to happen
control maintained through fear- using brutal leadership and the army
ruthless police force and ensuring leaders obeyed orders from Moscow (KGB- secret police force)
What is NATO
Set up in 1949
NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) is a security alliance of 30 countries from North America and Europe.
NATO’s fundamental goal is to safeguard the ‘Allies’ freedom and security by political and military means.
Purpose of NATO
To protect themselves from communist countries such as China and USSR and to send them a message that they are against communism (USSR developed a bomb USA saw this as a threat)
Purpose of warsaw pact
To fight back against NATO if they were to attack and to send them a message that they can fight back
Why was West Germany joining NATO a threat
Powerful armed West Germany on the borders of the East (allies with Western Europe who were more armed with nuclear weapons, greater quality weaponary, thriving economy)
Arms race timeline origins 1941 - 1956
1943 Tehran conference, 1945 Yalta confefence , 1945 Potsdam conference (3 conferences)
1945 USA dops A bomb on Japam
1946 Iron curtain speech
1947 Truman doc and marshall plan and Comniform
1948 Berlin blcokade
1949 Comecon, Nato, end of blockade due to airlift.
1953 Koren war, Khrushchev power
1955 wasaw pact
1956 hungarian uprising
How would Khrushchev approach to the cold war given people hope.
What happened as a result
After Stalin died Khrushchev took over (1956).
‘Secret speeches’ against Stalin hinted to a relaxation of Soviet control.
Hungarian believed in a peaceful co-existence and possible solution to the cold war. As a result they attempted to start an uprising during the rule of Imre Nagy.
What happened during Geneva meeting 1955
Discussed about disarmament , both sides knew that reducing spending on weapons would be positive even though they are on different sides they want to stop snd reduce conflict
Causes of optimism that the war will end
Anti stalin speeches from Krushchev - shows that he is not a dictator like Stalin. This shows that there may be some hope in negotiating
End of Korean war 1953 - Soviet Union and USA no longer in confilct through joining forces with both South and North Korea
Both sides keen to spend less on weapons and Geneva meeting relatively friendly - this shows that peace can be established between the two countries and a possible attempt to end war
Soviet rule on Hungary
Rakosi used terror and brutality to keep control such as purges, imprisonment and secret police
Failure of 5 year plan- led to mistrust and poverty throughout Hungary
Living standards falling in 1952 Hungary experienced lowest ever agricultural output ever
1956 poor harves and bread shortages resulted in Hungarians to demonstrate. As a result Imre Nagy appointed as PM to resolved the situation.
Key featutes of marshall plan
Communism appealed to the poor and so USA bribed European countries to stay capitalist.
Countries have to trade to get money with the USA
USA gave $13 billion in Marshall aid to rebuild Europe.
Sixteen European countries had accepted aid
USSR criticises Marshall plan as an attack on them as it threatened Communist control
Key features of truman doctrine
Countries had a choice to pick a side communism or capitalism
Communism was bad since it meant people werent free
USA had to stop communism from spreading
USA would provide troops and money for countries in to help free governments from communist takeover
Effects of the battle between West and East Germany
Led to Berlin crisis / berlin wall
Berlin blockade and airlift
What is the berlin airlift
The Berlin airlift was a 1940s military operation that supplied West Berlin with food and other vital goods by air after the Soviet Union blockaded the city.
The operation lasted from June 1948 until September 1949. (1000 tonnes everyday for 11 months , no casualties , Berlin survived , USSR evil , USA good.)
Key features of comniform
(Communist Information Bureau)
Organised all Eastern European parties and arranged their leadership so they would do what the USSR told them
Got rid of opposition to USSR control in the satellite states
Encourages comunist parties to protest against Marshall aid
Key features of comecon
(Council for Mutual Economic Assistance)
USSR version of marshall plan
Made up of all satellite states
Built trade links between comecon countries
Prevented comecon countries receiving marshall aid
What caused the berlin blockade
USA wanted Germany to become a strong capitalist country to trade
USSR wanted Germany to be divided so it can never attack the USSR
USA,UK and France made big decisions about their zones without consulting Stalin
Stalin felt like this went against Yalta and Potsdam conferences
Stalin viewed the creation of Deustchmark and trizonia (created in 1948) as the West ganging up on the Soviets and a way to drive them into poverty
What was the Berlin blockade
June 1948 Stalin shut off land routes across Soviet-Germany to Berlin to show a divided country didn’t work. As a result this blocked all supplies into Berlin.
What did the Berlin blockade achieve and effects of Berlin blockade
Made USA look peaceful and generous
USSR made to look evil
Blockade made it so Trizonia couldn’t communciate with Berlin and also cutted off land routes so supplies couldn’t be delivered. If this worked Stalin would have gained huge propaganda success in expense of the West
Reasons for Hungary demonstrations
Declining living standards declining but the Soviet Union said positive things about them
State spending on arms and lying to public
Toppled Stalin statue caused by the Hungarian uprising represents that they are against communism
No freedom, strict rules,censorship of media
What did the death of stalin cause
Eventually replaced by Khrushchev – de-Stalinisation, criticises Stalin’s policies. Talks of “peaceful co-existence” leads to hope for better relations. Appears less hard-line than Stalin
What happened in the Korean war (1950-3) and what did it show
US sent troops to help South Korea fight against Communist north.
Shows that the US are willing to fight communism. Clear sign to USSR that capitalism dislikes them
What happened during the Hungarian revolution
Hungarian Revolution – Khrushchev feared Nagy’s reforms would encourage other satellite states to do the same.
Nov 1956- 200,000 Soviet troops enter Hungary to despose of Nagy and restore order
Causes of Hungarian uprising
Causes: 1) De-Stalinisation and Khrushchev’s ‘Secret Speech’ gave Hungarians hope that there would be reform in Hungary.
2) Matyas Rakosi was a cruel leader, imprisoning 387,000 people, killing 2000 leading to demonstration within Hungary
3) Imre Nagy appointed as PM after demonstration. He created reforms to leave the Warsaw pact
Key feature of Hungarian uprising
Key features: 1) Khrushchev made Imre Nagy Prime Minister
2) Nagy then announced he wanted to leave the Warsaw Pact
3) this led to Khrushchev sending in 35,000 troops and 1,000 tanks.
Consequences of Hungarian uprising
Consequences:
Hungary remained Communist and Nagy was executed as an example to other communist countries that they could not leave the Warsaw pact.
The USA condemned the invasion but by failing to support Nagy they showed that their commitment to Europe did not include military support. Consequently, other countries were discouraged from trying to leave Communism.
5000 Hungarians killed and 1000 Soviet troops dead - (35,000 troops and 1000 tanks invaded)
New leader Janos Kadar appointed who introduced the Fifteen Point Programme to restore communist rule. Althoug, their living standards who better than some other East European countries
What was Stalin’s motives behind the Berlin blockcade
He wanted to proove that a divided Germany didn’t work
And gambled to see if the USA would give up
If they did he woukd gain huge propaganda success in expense of the West
What is Comecon
Council for Mutual Economic Assistance aimed to co-ordinate Eastern European economies – Stalin’s answer to Marshall Plan
What did the creation of both military alliances cause
worsened relations further, increased division
What happened between the period 1980-84
The USA boycotted the 1980 Olympic Games, which were held in Moscow. 60 other countries joined the US boycott. (The Soviet Union and 14 communist countries responded by boycotting the Los Angeles Olympic Games four years later)
What did the boycott (1980-84) achieve
It made increased tension between both countries
Both countries gained less income
Moscow made to look bad on TV as there isn’t many competitors or audience from different parts if the world joining (embarrasing for Soviet Union)
Berlin Wall/Berlin Crisis: Effects
It stopped East Germans escaping to the West and ended the refugee crisis
It allowed Khrushchev to avoid war with the USA but still look strong
The wall became a powerful symbol of the division of Germany and the division of Europe.
After Kennedy’s speech in 1963, West Berlin became a symbol of freedom.
Many people in Berlin died trying to escape from the East to the West (200 died)
Berlin Wall/Berlin Crisis: Causes
The failure to come up with a long-term solution after the Berlin Blockade meant that inevitably tensions
would continue over what to do with Berlin.
USSR was losing the Arms Race so couldn’t use force to threaten USA.
Prevented East Berliners from spending money, working and viewing propaganda in the West.
Prevented the ‘Brain Drain’ of well-educated professionals from defecting to the West
Prevented people ‘spying’ on East Berlin
Khrushchev thought it would give him the ‘upper-hand’ in East-West relations.
Why did the Berlin wall fall
Schabowski on November 1989 improvised a slightly mistaken answer to a press conference question about the future of the Berlin Wall.
Leading to many East Berliners to flock towards the wall and pass through.
Many of the guards around the wall were confused but were ordered to open the gates and let them through.
It was a celebratory moment for both sides and many people celebrated ontop and around the wall.
The Berlin Wall came down on the evening of November 9, 1989
Cold war crisis 1958-68
1958 Khrush demands West tropps to leave W berlin
1959-60 Geneva, camp david and paris
1960 -kennedy President
1961 Bay od pigs and vienna and berlin wall built
1962 13 days of crisis
1963 hotline set up and assassination of Kennedy
1964 Brezhenev takenpower
1967 outer space treaty
1968 Dubcek leader , prague spring , start of Détente
Cold war end 1972-91
1972 Salt 1
1975 helsinki ,apollo- soyuz mission
1979 invasion of afghanistan
1980 Us boycott Moscow, second cold war
1981 regan president
1983 Evil empire , SDI
1984 USSR boycott LA
1985 Gornachev comes to power, Geneva
1986 Reykjavik summit
1987 INF
1989 fall of berlin wakl
1991 dissolution if communism
Why did the Britain,USA and Soviet Union work together
They were members of the grand Alliance (created 1941) which worked together to defeat Nazi Germany
When was the Tehran conference
Novemer-December 1943
When was the Yalta conference
Febuary 1945
When was the Potsdam conference
July-August 1945
Positives of the Tehran conference
USA and Britain agreed to open up a second front by invading Nazi-occupied Europe
Soviet declared war on Japan once Germany was defeated
International body was agreed to be set up (UN)
Negatives of the Tehran conference
Poland would gain territory from Germany and lose it to the Soviet Union
Positives of the yalta conference
Germany, when defeated would be reduce,divided and demilitarised and pay for reparations.
Europe rebuilt along Atlantic charter (countries would have democratic elections)
United Nations set up
Soviet would declare war on Japan after Germany was defeated
Poland would be within Soviet sphere of influence. However, have a broader democratic basis.
Negatives of the yalta conference
Britain and USA wanted Germany to recover whereas the USSR wanted Germany to be kept weak
Britain and USA feared Poland would be controlled by USSR
USSR wanted Germany to pay high reparations whereas Britain and USA disagreed
Positives of the Potsdam conference
Council of Foreign Ministers set up to organise rebuilding Europe and created peace between many countries
Nazi party banned and war criminals prosecuted
Germany split into 4 (run by Britain,France,USA and Soviet Union) - Berlin divided into zones of occupation
