Origins of the Cold War Flashcards
Who was present at the Tehran conference?
-Stalin, Roosevelt + Churchill
When did the Tehran conference take place?
-Nov 1943
what 6 areas did they focus on in the Tehran conference?
-State of war
-Germany
-Poland
-Eastern Europe
-Japan
-UN
grand alliance
-Between the US, UK + USSR
-Formed as they shared a common enemy, nazi germany
’marriage of convenience’
-Problem for the future of the alliance as they no longer shared a common enemy, meaning the alliance would eventually fall apart
Why did it break down?
-Marshall plan
-Truman doctrine
-‘Papering over the cracks’ at postdam
-politically divided
-Lack of agreement surrounding Germany
what motivated the US + USSR?
-Self-interest- US needed to establish a free market which was based on supply and demand; USSR needed to expand their sphere of influence
What was the percentages agreement?
-1944
-Secret agreement between Churchill and Stalin on how to divide E.Europe into spheres of influence
-Eastern EU would be controlled by the USSR w/o the influence of the UK
-Western EU would be controlled by the UK without the influence of the USSR
Yalta conference
-Feb 1945
-Meeting between the grand alliance
-Discuss postwar plans + Soviet entry into the war against japan towards the end of WW2
Stalins goals at yalta
-Wanted the USSR to be independent
-Guaranteed soviet security through soviet spheres of influence
-Germany to remain weak
-Reconstruction of the USSR using Germany’s reparations
Roosevelt + Churchill’s goals
-Collective security: United Nations
-Long term cooperation w the USSR
-No spheres of influence
-Germany’s reconstruction + reeducation as a democratic nation
-World economic reconstruction through creation of IMF + World bank
What was agreed on at yalta?
-Germany would be divided into 4 zones
-Berlin would be similarly divided
-UN would be formally ratified
-USSR would gain land from Poland
-Stalin got his polish border under the impression that he would hold ‘free elections’
-Germany would pay reparations of $20 billion—> USSR received half
-Declaration on liberated EU—> allowing Europeans to create democratic institutions of their choice
What did they disagree on?
-Stalin wanted Germany to remain weak whereas Roosevelt + Churchill wanted to help rebuilt Germany as a democratic nation
-Roosevelt + Churchill wanted no spheres of influence but Stalin wanted soviet security to be guaranteed through their sphere
who gained the most from the yalta conference?
-USSR as Roosevelt wanted their help as they were preparing to go to war w japan
-Believed if he gave Stalin what he wanted w/o asking for anything in return, Stalin would join in for a world of peace + democracy
When did the Potsdam conference take place?
-July 1945
Who was present at the meeting?
-Truman
-Churchill
-Stalin
Agreements made at potsdam
-Germany would be demilitarised and dismayed
-De-nazification was to be carried out, + war crimes to be judged, Nazi members removed from public office
-Freedom of speech + free press to be restored + religious tolerance
-Germany would be a single economic unit
-USSR received reparations + 25% from western zones
disagreements made at Potsdam
-Truman was unhappy about decisions made on Poland, wanted London Poles to be reinstated
-Truman used atomic bomb on japan, no longer the need for the USSR, who saw US nuclear monopoly as a threat
-Truman saw the bomb as a way to persuade Stalin to fulfil the agreements made on Europe’s future
-Truman was unhappy about the percentages agreement
