Origins of the Cold War

Question 1

When was the Potsdam conference?

Answer 1

July 1945

Question 2

Which leaders were at the Yalta conference?

Answer 2

Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill

Question 3

Which leaders were at Potsdam?

Answer 3

Roosevelt had died and Churchill had lost the 1945 election,

So Truman, Attlee and Stalin were the leaders at the meeting

Question 4

What was agreed on at Yalta?

Answer 4

Germany will be split into 4 zones of occupation,
Germany will pay reparations,
Free elections were to be held in Eastern Europe,
Russia would help against Japan

Question 5

What was disagreed at the Potsdam conference?

Answer 5

Arguments about the details of the zones boundaries,

How much reparations to take from Germany

Question 6

What were Truman and Attlee annoyed about following the Potsdam conference?

Answer 6

That Stalin had arrested the non-communist leader of Poland and put in place measures to remove other non-communists,
That in Eastern European countries communists were coming to power

Question 7

What was Stalin annoyed about following the Potsdam conference?

Answer 7

That Truman had dropped the atomic bomb in Japan before the Russians even got involved,
That America had tested and dropped an atomic bomb in July 1945 but he had not been told

Question 8

Why were there disagreements on how much to take as reparations from Germany?

Answer 8

Russia could take however much they wanted from their zone and 10% of the rest of the zones, Truman thought this was too much and that it was the crippling reparations of WWI that led to WWII, however Stalin was keen to make sure Germany couldn’t invade Russia for the third time

Question 9

What were the differing aims for Germany of the Americans and Soviets that caused conflict between the two?

Answer 9

America wanted to restore Germany as it was a strong trading ally.
The Soviets however wanted to cripple Germany so it could not attack them again and so they could have a buffer zone of friendly states around them

Question 10

When and where did Churchill give his Iron Curtain speech?

Answer 10

In 5th March 1946 in a speech in Fulton in the USA Churchill declared an Iron Curtain had fallen on Europe

Question 11

Between 1945 and 1948 what countries had become communist under Stalin’s regimes?

Answer 11

Albania, Bulgaria and East Germany in 1945
Romania, Poland and Hungary in 1947
Czechoslovakia in 1948

Question 12

What different methods did Stalin and communists use to take control of Eastern European countries?

Answer 12

In some countries coalition governments were set up and then the communists executed the non-communists.
In some countries communist leaders took over the police and forced their control of the government.
Some elections were rigged.

Question 13

What did Truman tell congress in March 1947? What was this known as?

Answer 13

He told congress that it was America’s job to stop communism growing, this became known as the Truman Doctrine

Question 14

How did the situation in Greece prompt the Truman Doctrine?

Answer 14

Greece was a one of few countries in Eastern Europe not communist and only because of the British troops there, when Britain told Truman they couldn’t afford to keep their troops their Truman stepped in and offered to help fund them

Question 15

After visiting Europe what did George Marshall find and decide needed to be done?

Answer 15

He saw that Europe was so poor that the whole of Europe was about to turn communist.
Marshall and Truman asked Congress to fund a recovery program nicknamed the Marshall Plan

Question 16

How much money did Congress give the Marshall Plan and what was it spent on?

Answer 16

$17 billion, 70% was spent on buying US commodities like raw materials, food, fertiliser, machinery and fuel

Question 17

What was Cominform and when was it set up?

Answer 17

In September 1947 it was set up by Stalin for European Communist parties, he did this in the hope of making them not just communist but Russian-Style Communist.
It industrialised & collectivised East Europe and states were expected to trade only with Cominform states

Question 18

In 1949 what was introduced into Cominform to help its states?

Answer 18

Comecon was set up to coordinate economic policies within the Cominform states and distributed aid around the countries in most need of financial support

Question 19

In June 1948 what did Britain, France and America decide to do?

Answer 19

They decided to combine their zones of Germany into a new county: West Germany.
On the 23rd of June they introduced a new joint currency for trade purposes

Question 20

On what day did Stalin impose the Berlin Blockade?

Answer 20

24th June 1948

Question 21

What did blockading Berlin involve and why did Stalin do it?

Answer 21

He cut off all rail and road links to west Berlin, it was an attempt to starve Berlin into surrender

Question 22

How did they get round the blockade and why?

Answer 22

Breaching the blockade would be an act of war so rather than entering by land they flew over the blockade and brought supplies into Berlin by plane.
Shooting down the planes would also be an act of war, neither wanted to start a proper war

Question 23

How long did the Berlin Blockade last?

Answer 23

318 days

Question 24

How many supplies did planes drop into Berlin during the blockade?

Answer 24

275,000 planes transported 1.5 million tons of supplies, a plane landed every three minutes at Berlin’s Templehof airport

Question 25

When did Stalin abandon the Berlin Blockade?

Answer 25

On the 12th of May 1949

Question 26

How did Stalin react to the USA’s Marshall Aid?

Answer 26

He forbade Cominform countries to take part or accept any aid from America

Question 27

As a result of the beginning of the arms race what was formed in 1949?

Answer 27

NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) as a military alliance to resist Soviet Russia

Question 28

When was the Yalta conference?

Answer 28

February 1945