Origins of the Cold War 1941-1958 Flashcards
What is the grand alliance ?
Alliance of the Soviet Union , USA and Britain during Second World War
When was the Tehran conference and who attended it ?
1943
The big three - Stalin (USSR) , Roosevelt (USA) and Churchill (UK)
What was agreed at the Tehran conference ?
Nothing was formally agreed but ..
~ A second front would be opened in France in May 1914
~ USSR would enter into the war against Japan after Germany’s defeat
~ United Nations would be set up after the war
~ Poland borders would change
When was the Yalta conference ?
February 1945
What were the Agreements of the Yalta conference ?
~ the Soviet Union would enter the war against Japan
~ divide Germany and Berlin into four zones
~ put nazi war criminals put on trial
~ allow free elections in countries that use to be under Germany’s control
~ United Nations set up
What are the disagreements at the Yalta conference ?
~ Stalin wanted more reparations than Roosevelt and Churchill
~ Stalin wanted the Poland border further west
What year did Roosevelt die and who was he replaced with ?
1945 & Harry Truman
What are trumans attitudes toward Stalin when he first become president ?
- Doesn’t trust him
- Convinced that Stalin wanted to take over Europe
When was the Potsdam conference ?
July 1945
What was agreed at the Potsdam conference ?
Divide Germany&Berlin into four zones
Germany pay reparations in equipment and material
Nazi party banned , Nazi leader put on trail for war crimes (denazification)
Move the Poland border west
Full participation in the United Nations
What happen mid way through the Potsdam conference ?
Churchill lost the election and was replaced by clement Attlee
What was the Potsdam conference delayed by one day?
Try,an wanted to test the atomic bomb
Which disagreement at Potsdam made tensions increase ?
The disagreement over Stalin/USSR having a buffer zone
When did America drop two atomic bombs on Japan ?
When and where was the first one dropped ?
When and where was the second one dropped ?
August 1945
Hiroshima - 6th August
Nagasaki - 9th August
By dropping the two atomic bombs in Japan what did Truman feel it would do ?
Make it easier to persuade Stalin to allow Eastern Europe countries more freedom . However it made Stalin’s aims more confident for the buffer zone in order to protect the Soviet Union
When did the Soviet Union successfully test their atomic bombs by ?
August 1949
By what time did Britain , France and China have nuclear weapons ?
1960’s
When was the nuclear arms race ?
1949-1953
When was the long telegram sent and between who ?
Feb 1946
Sent by George Kennan ( the us ambassador in the USSR)
What did the long telegram say ?
Stalin wanted to destroy capitalism
Felt that the USSR was under threat because the world wanted to destroy communism
USSR was no suicidal .
What was the follow up response to the long telegram ?
Followed it up with a policy to stop communism spreading called containment
When was the no ikon telegram sent and who was it sent by ?
Nikolai Novikov
1946
What did the Novikov telegram say ?
Accused the USA of trying to achieve world dominance
When was the iron curtain speech ?
1946 given by Winston Churchill
What did the iron curtain speech say ?
To have an iron curtain dividing communist east from the capitalist west ?
When was the Truman doctrine ?
1947
What is the Truman doctrine ?
Truman hoped that the wealthier countries would help to rebuild and improve shattered Europe and that communism had to be contained
What and when is the Greek civil war ?
The British troops stayed in Greece to rebuild it economy and prevent any communist uprisings
What happen when British troops had to come out of Greece ?
Truman then stepped in and gave the British funds they needed to keep troops in Greece
At first why were people against the Truman doctrine ?
People wanted the USA to remain out of other countries affairs - isolationism .
Why did attitudes change towards the Truman doctrine in February 1948?
Communist takeover in Czechoslovakia .
What did the initiation of the Truman doctrine make the USA become ?
Leader against communism
What were the consequences of the Truman doctrine ?
Greek government draft communists
Rivalry between USA and USSR made the divide confirmed the divide between the two
USA became committed towards the policy of containment
What was the Marshall aid plan introduced and what was the plan about ?
1947the USA will provide economic aid to countries ruined by WW2 to rebuild their economy and reduce the chance of them going to communism
When was the Marshall plan passed and what changed congresses mind ?
1948
Someone fell out the window
What were the impacts of the Marshall plan?
The USA had provided over $17 billion dollars to help rebuild economies
The divide became more firm - more intense rivalry
Grand alliance was now gone
Tied the Europe into supporting the USA - made Stalin set up Comecon
When was cominform set up and what was it ?
1947
Members are : USSR and satellite states
Yugoslavia expelled in June 1948
It allowed Stalin to control the governments of those states
Trade between these states was encourage however trade between non communist states was discouraged
What is Comecon and when was it set up ?
1949
Direct competition to the Marshall plan
Increased tensions
It played an important role in the USA and its allies creating the military alliance - NATO (1949)
What was Trizonia and when was it formed ?
With the USSR not co-operating , USA Britain and France decided o bring their zones together in order to help run and rebuild them
In 1948 what was Trizonia given ?
New currency - the Deutschmark
The Deutschmark in trizonia made Soviet angry because …
And how did Stalin see this as a threat ?
Trizonia was now a separate economic unit from the east
It acknowledge that there was two Germany’s
The west were ganging up the USSR , saw the Deutschmark as a deliberate push the Soviet zone towards poverty
What happened in June 1948 ?
the Berlin blockade , Stalin blocked all land routes through the Soviet zones into West Berlin
What was the aim of the Berlin blockade in 1948 and what was the aim for it to do ?
West Berlin became isolated
Starved citizens of West Berlin of food , fuel , clothing
Berlin to become under soviet control
What were the options for Truman with the Berlin blockade ?
Go straight through the wall - would be seen as an act of war
Supplies could be flown along the agreed air corridors - if the planes were shot down then the USSR would be the aggressor
What is the Berlin airlift ?
When trizonia flew in all the food , coal and nessecities into West Berlin
Flew in tempelhof airport and a new airport was built at tegel so that more planes can land
What happened on the 9th May ?
The soviet states lifted the blockade when it became clear that the allied were capable of flying their supplies into West Berlin
What was the concequence of the blockade ?
It was official that there was 2 separate countries
The west became known as Federal Republic of Germany
The Soviet zone became known as German Democratic Republic
In 1949 what as set up ?
NATO
North Atlantic treaty organisation
The western countries created this
What was the reason NATO was set up and what was its aim ?
To protect themselves as they felt they
Consequences of setting up NATO ?
Europe was now in a state of permanent hostility between superpowers
Made the USSR set up the Warsaw Pact within 6 years
What year was the Warsaw Pact made ?
1955
What is the Warsaw Pact ?
A military alliance of eight nations and was designed to counter the threat of NATO
What were the consequences of NATO ?
Increased rivalry
Intensified the arms race
When was the Hungarian uprising ?
1956
What are the causes/ key events leading up to the Hungarian uprising?
- Eisenhower was elected as president of the USA in 1952 he was strongly anti-communist
- Stalin died in 1953 and Khrushchev came to power - he criticised statins policies and worked to ‘de-stalinise’ the Soviet Union
- Khrushchev decided to replace Rakosi with Imre Nagy
On the 1st November what did Nagy announce ?
That they wanted to leave the Warsaw Pact
Khrushchev said no as it would encourage others to do the same
What happened at the Hungarian uprising ?
- 4th November Khrushchev and 1,000 tanks rolled into Budapest
- over 20,000 Hungarians died
- Soviet established control
- A new pro-communist government was set up under Janos Kadar
What are the consequences of the Hungarian uprising ?
July 1958 the Hungarian government announced that Nagy was tried and executed - it was a ‘ lesson to the leaders of socialist countries ‘
The USA looked weak as Eisenhower said that he wanted to roll back communism but didn’t do anything to help
Made Khrushchev’s position more secure in the Warsaw Pact and the Soviet Union
Khrushchev became more confident in dealing with the USA
Key people in the Hungarian uprising
Eisenhower Khrushchev Nagy Kadar Roski
