Origins of the Cold War 1917-45 Flashcards
What form of government does capitalism work well with?
2 details why
Parliamentary democracy
With freedom of speech and civil liberties
What was the socialist economy used by the Soviets known as?
A command economy - centrally planned by the government, top down approach
What did Marxist-Leninists believe determines reality, as opposed to..?
Economic/ material factors
NOT religion
Name the three ‘enemies’ of Marxism-Leninism
- Capitalism
- Liberal Democracy
- Religion
(& Fascism)
How did the future visions of Woodrow Wilson and Lenin diametrically oppose each other?
- Wilson: free, democratic world with free trade and cooperation between nations
- Lenin: World Communist revolution
What were the Riga Axioms?
Calls for US gov. by US ambassadors/nobility to prevent spread of communism
What pre-WW2 event created lasting Soviet distrust for the West?
The backing of the ‘Whites’ in the Russian Civil War from 1919-20 by the West
What event in 1920 determined Soviet foreign policy and aims for post-war Europe settlements?
Poland defeating Russia in a war and extending their border into Russia past the Curzon Line
What might have suggested to the West that Soviet foreign policy was focused on aggressive expansion/ world revolution?
The Comintern encouraging Communist groups in other countries and supporting subversive activities
How and why did US-Soviet links improve in the 1930s?
The Great Depression hit America, and many disillusioned business men and workers saw the great industrialisation of Russia as an opportunity
When did President Roosevelt acknowledge the existence of the USSR for the first time?
1933
What caused a reversal in the sympathetic feeling towards the Soviets from the Americans in the early 1930s?
Stalin’s purges 1934-38
Many Americans forced to leave
What made Stalin start to take a more active role in the West in the 1930s?
Hitler came to power - fascist government swore Communist Russia as enemy and committed to a future invasion
How did Stlain start to take a more active role in the West during the 1930s?
- 1934 - Joined the League of Nations
- 1935 - Signed a pact with France and Czechoslovakia
- 1936 - Intervened in the Spanish Civil War to assist the Republican government against the Nationalists
What did Stalin hope to gain from signing a pact with France and Czechoslovakia in 1935?
Was this achieved?
Hoped it would lead to close military cooperation against Germany
French suspicions of Soviet Communism prevented this
What was Stalin’s view of Britain and France’s appeasement of Hitler’s demands for part of Czechoslovakia in the 1938 Munich Agreement?
Feared they were setting up the Nazis to destroy Communism, especially as he was not invited to attend the conference
Why did Stalin sign the Nazi-Soviet Pact in August 1939?
To buy himself time to get ready to fight Hitler
What did the Nazi-Soviet Pact allow to happen?
The Nazi invasion of Poland in September and WW2
How did Stalin benefit from the Nazi invasion of Poland?
Took back the land they had lost from Poland in 1920, as agreed on with the Nazis
By 1941, where areas other than Poland did the USSR expand into?
- The Baltic states
- Parts of Finland
What triggered the USSR being brought into WW2?
The Nazi invasion of June 1941
What triggered the US’s entry into WW2?
The attack by Japan on Pearl Harbour in December 1941