Origins Of The Cold War Pt.2 Flashcards
When was the Truman Doctrine?
March 1947
What was the Truman Doctrine?
The US would provide 400 million dollars and military personnel in aid to Greece and Turkey.
What was the significance of the Truman Doctrine?
It showed the US officially moving away from a policy of isolationism to containment.
When was the Marshall plan introduced?
1948
What was the Marshall plan?
Provided 12.7 billion dollars of aid to western Europe. Eastern Europe did not benefit.
What impact did the Truman Doctrine and Marshall plan have on US-USSR relations?
Increased tension between the two. Annoyed the USSR as the US were creating allegiances with countries that the USSR could have potentially taken over (spread communism to).
Stalin’s supicions of the West were reinforced
Any lingering belief that there was still a Grand alliance was gone
What was the reason for the financial aid in the Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan?
It enabled the US to create allegiances with european countries. This also meant that they were financially secure and therefore less likely that they would fall to communism.
What alliance did the Truman Doctrine end?
The Grand Alliance
What was ‘Dollar imperialism’?
Stalin believed that the Truman Doctrine and Marshall plan undermined the international role of the UN (United Nations) by suggesting it was America’s job to protect the world. Stalin argued that the Marshall Plan was a way of using economic might to divide Europe in two and establish an American economic empire in Europe.
When was Cominform formed?
1947
What was Cominform?
The creation of a Communist political organisation. This new body gave Stalin a way of directing and controlling the governments of the Satellite states.
When was Comecon formed?
1949
What was Comecon?
Comecon provided financial aid to countries in Eastern Europe and inhibited Satellite states from accepting Marshall aid.
Why did Stalin create Cominform and Comecon?
In response to the threat he believed the Marshall Plan posed to the Soviet Union.
Consequence of the Marshall plan
The Creation of Cominform and Comecon
Divided Eastern and Western Europe
Effect of Cominform and Comecon on International relations
Increased tension and played a significant part in the USA and Western European countries creating a new military alliance, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), in April 1949.
Uniting the Western Zones (Germany)
USA, Britain and France united their three zones to form Trizonia in June 1948.
When was Trizonia formed?
1948
What was the currency in Trizonia?
The Deutschmark
Why were the USSR furious about the creation of Trizonia?
• The new single currency in Trizonia created a separate economic unit from the East.
• It acknowledged that there were in effect two Germanys: West and East.
. Stalin believed that it was the West ‘ganging up’ on the soviet union as it was deliberately forcing the Soviet zone into poverty.
What was the Berlin Blockade?
In June 1948, Stalin decided to shut off the land routes across Soviet-controlled Germany into Berlin. He intended to prevent food and supplies from being able to get into West Berlin.
When was the Berlin Blockade?
June 1948
Why did Stalin Blockade Berlin?
. He wanted to show that a divided Germany could not work
. If the blockade was successful, Stalin would win a huge propaganda success at the expense of the West.
. It might also mean that the Western powers would give up control of their zones in Berlin
Why did the West not attempt to use the land routes to get supplies into West Berlin?
The West knew that an attempt to force supplies to Berlin along the closed land routes would be seen as a potential act of war and might lead to direct military confrontation. However, if they flew supplies into their zones in Berlin, the only way they could be stopped was if Stalin had the planes shot down which would have been an act of war.
How did the Western Allies fight back to the Berlin Blockade?
The Berlin Airlift (Operation Vittles) where they sent food, coal and other supplies along the air corridors to West Berlin.
What was the Western response to the Berlin Blockade known as?
The Berlin Airlift (Operation Vittles)
How did the people in Berlin contribute to the Berlin Airlift?
The people of West Berlin and Western troops in the city joined forces to build a new runway at the old airport Berlin-Tempelhof, and a whole new airport at Berlin-Tegel, so that supplies could be landed in the Western zones. Ordinary citizens helped to unload the planes and hand out the essential supplies to all who needed them.
How many tonnes of supplies were flown into the Berlin in the Berlin Airlift in its peak month (Jan 1949)?
170,000 tonnes
When did the Soviets lift the blockade?
9th of May 1949
Immediate reaction to the failure of the Berlin Blockade
Stalin’s attempt to win apropaganda victory over Britain, France and the USA had backfired. The West had responded in a peaceful way to what now looked like an unwise and aggressive act by Stalin.
Consequences of the Berlin Blockade
The Formation of the FRG (West Germany) and the GDR (East Germany)
The creation of Nato and the Warsaw pact
Who were the FRG?
The Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) was created in May 1949. In this new country there was a parliament and a chancellor. There was a new capital called Bonn.
Who were the GDR?
Stalin the responded to creation of the FRG by creating the German Democratic Republic in 1949. West Germany refused to recognise it as a nation.
Who recognised the GDR as a nation?
Only the communist countries in the Eastern Bloc acknowledged it as a real country.
When was NATO formed?
April 1949
The Formation of NATO
The USA, Britain, France and nine other Western countries joined together in the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.The members of NATO agreed that, if any member was attacked, all members of NATO would come to its assistance.
Why was NATO created?
Due to the Soviets incredible military power the western allies decided to create a military alliance as a precaution for if they were attacked.
When was the Warsaw Pact formed?
1955
The Creation of the Warsaw Pact
The Soviet Union formed a communist military alliance. Its members were the Soviet Union, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Albania and the German Democratic Republic. The leadership of the Warsaw Pact was the Soviet Union.
What was the Warsaw Pact created in response to?
The FRG (West Germany) being allowed to join NATO in may 1955. Now there was a real danger of an armed and powerful West Germany on the borders of Soviet-controlled Eastern Europe.
What were the members of the Warsaw Pact also known as?
The Eastern Bloc
