Mocks- Who was to blame for the Cold War Flashcards
Why did the US-Soviet alliance begin to break down in 1945
The USSR And USA were both rich and powerful countries. However they were clearly contrasted by their different beliefs.
In 1919, USA, Britain, and France had invaded the Soviet union to destroy communism
The allies did not trust Stalin and wanted to prevent Stalin from imposing communism on his taken territories from WW2 in Eastern Europe
Stalin planned for a communist takeover of the world and a takeover of Eastern Europe was the first step of this plan.
The USA wanted to control its area of influence and didnt want the USSR to spread communism.
Communism vs Capitalism
USA:
Capitalist
Democratic elections
Extremes of wealth
Being free is more important than being equal
Other countries should be run like America
Hated Communism
USSR:
Communist
One-party state- No elections
Less wealthy but more equal
Individual freedom less important than whats good for society
Other countries should be run like the USSR
Hated Capitalism
What were the Terms of the Yalta Conference
A declaration on liberated Europe- each liberated country would be given an emergency, democratic, government with free elections
The Polish Borders to be moved to the west
Free elections in Poland
Germany prisoners of war from soviet territory were sent back to the USSR
Germany should be divided into four occupied zones.
The USSR agreed to help with the war agaisnt Japan and in return gained control of the island territories north of Japan
The United Nations was setup
Successes of the Yalta conference
Stalin agreed to include non-communists in the government and accepted free elections
The USSR agreed to help with the war in Japan
The United Nations was setup
Failures of the Yalta conference
The Americans and Soviets interpreted democracy differently- for America, this meant the American system of free speech. For Stalin, he meant a communist version where one communist party represented the people and no opposition was allowed.
It raised false expectations in the USA- They were disappointed when Stalin didn’t allow Western governments to be setup in Europe
Compromise over poland turned out to be impossible as it was either democratic or friendly towards the USSR
What were the terms of the Potsdam conference
German reparations were agreed
The details of the GErman-Polish borders on the rivers Oder and Neisse were finally agreed. The Americans and the British disliked them but couldnt do anything about it
It was agreed that the nazi party should be destroyed in Germany
The Soviets wanted to have some control over the running of the rich German industrial areas. The USA rejected this idea
The soviet union wanted to share in the occupation of Japan. Truman rejected this idea
The USA and Britain asked for a greater say in what went on in Eastern Europe. Stalin rejected this idea
How did the USSR gain control over Eastern Europe by 1948
Rigged elections were held in Poland in 1947, Romania and Bulgaria in 1946, and Hungary in 1947
They took control of the security forces in Romania
They abolished the monarchies in Romania in 1947, and in Bulgaria in 1946
They used secret police to arrest and imprison opposition politicians in Hungary and eventually banned non-communist parties.
They allowed fair elections in Czechoslovakia in 1946 and the communists won 38% of the vote. However, after an economic crisis in 1947, the communists took control by force as they feared they would do badly in the elections in 1948.
How did the United States react to the soviet expansionism
Conditions in Europe was especially bad in 1947. At the beginning of the year there was an economic crisis in Western Europe. This meant many began to turn to communism and the USA realised that unless conditions improved there was a real possibility that the communists could come to power. In 1947 there was a civil war in greece and the soviet backed communists were fighting the british backed king. However the British couldnt afford to keep their troops in Greece.
America decided to pay for British troops to remain in Greece to prevent a communist takeover. By 1950, the royalists had managed to secure control.
The truman doctrine had been announced in 1947 and now became known as containment, where the USA would send money, equipment and advice to any country which were under threat from communist takeover.
What was the Berlin Airlift
On 24th June 1948, Stalin blockaded West Berlin and cut off all road and rail access. America said that Stalin was trying to force them out of Berlin. The American army wanted to force its way into Berlin to break the blockade. Instead Truman decided to supply Berlin by air.
During the blockade 270,000 planes transported 1,5 Million tonnes of goods.
On the 12th May 1949, after 348 days, Stalin lifted the blockade.
What were the consequences of the Berlin Blockade
The Western Allies set up a military alliance called NATO which was a defensive alliance between the USA and Western European countries
The airlift showed that the West was committed to Berlin
West Germany and East Germany were formed
It heightened distrust of the soviet union in the West
Both sides begain increasing their stocks of nuclear weapons.
Who was more to Blame for starting the Cold war: the United States or the USSR
USSR:
To counter the Marshall Plan, Stalin set up Cominform to strengthen cooperation between communists and Comecon to develop economic cooperation between communist countries.
Stalin started working to produce nukes, which caused the USA to become threatened which started the arms race.
Following Yalta, it was expected that there would be free elections in eastern European countries, however, the Red Army made sure their new governments were communist-controlled through fixed elections.
The USA interpreted the soviet takeover of Eastern Europe as the start of spreading communism around the world and responded with the Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan.
USA:
The USSR created the Warsaw Pact in response to European countries setting up NATO
The USA had now informed Stalin of the use of the atomic bomb in Japan
Stalin refused to allow Soviet-controlled countries to accept aid as he thought the real purpose was for the USA to develop relationships with the soviet controlled European countries
Truman was more anti-communist than Roosevelt and didn’t get along with Stalin like Roosevelt had.
The creation of a new currency in Western Germany was a clear breech of the Potsdam conference.
Neither:
The USSR and USA had very different ideologies of capitalism vs communism which would always lead to disagreements
Politicians such as Churchill had made speeches such a sthe iron curtain speech which created bad relations with Stalin.
The western Allies wanted Germany to recover as fast as possible as they saw Germany as a usefull barrier against communism in the future, However the USSR had taken huge losses in land and men from WWII so was anxious to help Germany recover to power.
