Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM


Top Flashcards (Certified)
All Flashcards

Cold War > Origins of the Cold War to 1945 > Flashcards

Origins of the Cold War to 1945 Flashcards

1
Q

What is the basis of Communism?

A

Marxism

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

Describe the step-by-step beliefs of Marxist-Lenninists

A
  1. The bourgeoisie who owned industry would be overthrown by the proletariat in revolution
  2. There would be a dictatorship of the proletariat
  3. This would ‘wither away’ and so would class boundaries
  4. A perfect and equal society would emerge with no greed, hatred, etc.
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

Briefly define capitalism

A

Where the production of goods are based on making a profit

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

What do capitalists believe?

A

That people should earn what they deserve based on hard work

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

What form of government does capitalism work well with?

2 details why

A

Parliamentary democracy

With freedom of speech and civil liberties

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

When did the Bolsheviks seize power?

A

October 1917

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

What was the socialist economy used by the Soviets known as?

A

A command economy - centrally planned by the government, top down approach

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

What did Marxist-Leninists believe determines reality, as opposed to..?

A

Economic/ material factors

NOT religion (‘opium of the masses’)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

Why does Marxism-Leninism perceive capitalism to be immoral?

A

As it exploits labour

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

Name the three ‘enemies’ of Marxism-Leninism

A
  1. Capitalism
  2. Liberal Democracy
  3. Religion

(& Fascism)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

What do capitalists believe in?

A

Private ownership of land and business

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

How did the future visions of Woodrow Wilson and Lenin diametrically oppose each other?

A
  • Wilson: free, democratic world with free trade and cooperation between nations
  • Lenin: World Communist revolution
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

What was the reaction of the US officials who had been working with the Tsars to the Bolshevik revolution?

Why?

A

Horrified - fled to Riga in Latvia

Because they saw the brutal treatment of the Tsars by theBolsheviks - those were people they knew

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

Who did the US officials who fled to Riga become known as?

How were they significant?

A

The Riga Axioms

They heavily influenced US policy towards the Soviets, and their personal bias against them meant policy was focused on stopping Soviet expansionism

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

What pre-WW2 event created lasting Soviet distrust for the West?

A

The backing of the Tsarist ‘Whites’ against the Communist ‘Reds’ in the Russian Civil War from 1919-20 by the US, Britain, and France (and Japan until the end in 1922)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

What event in 1920 determined Soviet foreign policy and aims for post-war Europe settlements?

A

Poland defeating Russia in a war and extending their border into Russia past the Curzon Line

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

Was Soviet foreign policy from 1944 onwards predominantly focused on security or world revolution?

A

Security

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

What might have suggested to the West that Soviet foreign policy was focused on aggressive expansion/ world revolution?

A

The Comintern encouraging Communist groups in other countries and supporting subversive activities

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

How and why did US-Soviet links improve in the 1930s?

A

The Great Depression hit America, and many disillusioned business men and workers saw the great industrialisation of Russia as an opportunity, and links were made

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

When did President Roosevelt acknowledge the existence of the USSR for the first time?

A

1933

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

What caused a reversal in the sympathetic feeling towards the Soviets from the Americans in the early 1930s?

A

Stalin’s purges 1934-38

Many Americans forced to leave, horrified

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
22
Q

What made Stalin start to take a more active role in the West in the 1930s?

A

Hitler came to power - fascist government swore Communist Russia as enemy and committed to a future invasion

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
23
Q

How did Stlain start to take a more active role in the West during the 1930s?

(3)

A
  1. 1934 - Joined the League of Nations
  2. 1935 - Signed a pact with France and Czechoslovakia
  3. 1936 - Intervened in the Spanish Civil War to assist the Republican government against the Nationalists
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
24
Q

What did Stalin hope to gain from signing a pact with France and Czechoslovakia in 1935?

Was this achieved and why?

A

Hoped it would lead to close military cooperation against Germany

French suspicions of Soviet Communism prevented this

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
25
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
26
Why did Stalin sign the Nazi-Soviet Pact in August 1939?
To buy himself **time** to get ready to **fight** Hitler
27
How did the rest of the world view the Nazi-Soviet Pact?
Shocked
28
What did the Nazi-Soviet Pact allow to happen?
The Nazi **invasion of Poland** in September and **WW2**
29
How did Stalin benefit from the Nazi invasion of Poland?
Agreed with Nazis that they would take back the land they had lost from Poland in 1920, as well as: * Finland * The Baltics * Besserabia
30
By 1941, where else other than Poland did the USSR expand into? (2)
1. The Baltic states 2. Parts of Finland
31
What triggered the USSR being brought into WW2?
The Nazi invasion of June 1941
32
What triggered the US's entry into WW2?
The attack by Japan on Pearl Harbour in December 1941
33
Who was the 'Grand Alliance'?
1. Britain 2. USSR 3. USA
34
Who were the Axis powers? | (3)
1. Germany 2. Italy 3. Japan
35
What were the USSR's aims for the war? | (3)
1. The complete **defeat of Germany** 2. An area of direct **Soviet control** in Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, and Soviet occupied Germany 3. An 'intermediate zone' of nations with **Communist-friendly governments** such as Austria, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia
36
What did democracy mean for Marxist-Leninists? (2)
1. Economic equality 2. Where there were no extreme class-divides
37
What did democracy mean to the Western European states and the USA? (4)
1. The **liberty** of the individual 2. Equality before the **law** 3. Freedom of **speech** 4. A parliament elected by the **people** to whom the government is ultimately **responsible**
38
What were the USA's aims for the war? (3) What were many of these reminiscent of?
1. Global free trade 2. A United Nations 3. Security in the seas against attacks like Pearl Harbour ## Footnote **Wilsonianism**
39
What were Britain's aims for the war? | (3)
1. To retain its empire 2. Be on friendly terms with the USA and USSR 3. To prevent the advance of Communism towards the Suez Canal and the Middle East
40
Why did Britain want to prevent the advance of Communism towards the Suez Canal and the Middle East?
Because Communism would most likely **damage British economic interests** there
41
When was the Atlantic Charter signed?
1941
42
What was the Atlantic Charter? (2 agreements) Why might it have looked suspiciously like the West ganging up together?
Committed _Britain and America_ to 1. The complete defeat of Germany 2. The setting up of a democratic order Stalin and the USSR were **not present**
43
When was the Tehran Conference?
Novermber - December **1943**
44
What happened at the Tehran Conference? | (2)
Plans drawn up that: 1. Allowed the USSR to invade **eastern and south-eastern** Europe alone and create a **sphere of influence** there 2. British, French, Commonwealth and US troops would invade from the **Frence **(Operation Overlord)
45
What event and consequent actions by Britain and the US gave Stalin an excuse to **exclude** the Western allies from Eastern Europe? When?
Britain and the USA **rejected** the USSR's requests to be involved in the organisation of the **first signing of an armistice** with an Axis power, **Italy** _1943_
46
How did the **delay** of the Normandy landings to 1944 feed Stalin's paranoia?
Suspicious that it was an attempt to **weaken** the Soviet Union which had been **fighting longer**
47
What were ACCs (Allied Control Commissions)?
The **occupying** forces' means of setting up **order** in **annexed states**
48
How did US and British ACCs differ to the USSRs'?
* **Western ACCs**: generally allowed new governments to form * **USSR ACCs**: used them to enhance Communism
49
What controversial event happened in 1944 in Poland? Why?
The Red Army did **not** come to the **aid** of the Polish **National Front** in the _Warsaw Uprising_, allowing the rebels to be **crushed** Would make it **easier** for the USSR to take **control** once Germany defeated
50
What was the response from the West to the lack of Soviet intervention in the Warsaw Uprising?
Disgust
51
Which Eastern European states fell quickly to Communism? (5)
1. Romania 2. Bulgaria 3. Yugoslavia 4. Austria 5. Hungary
52
Which Eastern European states' Communist parties were made to cooperate with other democratic groups, forming coalition governments? Why did the Soviets do this?
1. Czechoslovakia 2. Hungary To keep the Allies onside
53
Who did Stalin have trouble controlling?
The Yugoslavian leader Tito
54
What trouble did Tito initially cause Stalin?
Established Communist governments inYugoslavia **and Albania** on the eve of the Yalta Conference 1945
55
The governments of which Western-liberated countries set up links with the USSR? Why?
**France and Italy** The Communists had been intrumental in fighting the **German occupation**, and Stalin was careful to pursue **friendly policies** in this countries i.e. setting up **coalition** governments with other left-wing parties
56
When was the Yalta Confernce?
4 - 11th February **1945**
57
Name the 3 things 'agreed' upon at the Yalta conference
1. **Polish borders** 2. Need for **reparations** (USSR) 3. Democratic elections across Europe - **'Declaration on Liberated Europe'**
58
What was the problem with the Yalta Conference agreements?
They were **vague** (e.g. didn't define 'free democracy') and thus easy for Stalin to **manipulate** to a Communist agenda
59
Which American President came to power in **April 1945** and how did this change things?
_Truman_ He was more **hostile** towards Communism
60
Who replced Churchill in **1945**? How did this change things?
_Clement Atlee_ Stalin had gotten on **well** with Churchill, so naturally negotiations became **harder** without him
61
What was the mood of the Potsdam Agreement? Give specific examples
_Bad tempered_ US: accusing Stalin of not sticking to **democratic** element of Yalta Agreement and **expanding** into Eastern Europe
62
The Potsdam Agreement was a ____ **not** a \_\_\_\_ What impact did this have?
_The Potsdam Agreement was a **protocol** not a **treaty**_ **Weakened** the agreements as meant they were **not legally binding**
63
What was agreed at Potsdam?
1. Germany to be **divided** into 4 zones (French, US, British, USSR) 2. Germany to be ruled by **four High Commissioners** from each power 3. **Reparations** should be taken, and USSR to get **25%** from other occupied zones as they had been most damaged 4. Set up a **Council of Ministers** to deal with **treaties** for other defeated powres like Italy
64
How many casualities were suffered in WWII by: 1. USSR 2. USA
USSR: * **27 million** * **66%** civilians USA: * Only **400,000** soldiers * **No** civilians
65
What was **not** properly decided on at Potsam? (2) What was the general agreement?
1. _The question of **Polish borders**_ Accepted that the **Soviets were in control** and there was little the West could do 2. How much **control** the **ACC** would have on the whole of **Germany**
66
How did Truman try to threaten Stalin a Potsdam? Result and explain why
_Alluded to a 'new weapon' (**atomic bomb**)_ Stalin a) **already knew** about the A-Bomb thanks to his spy network in the US and b) this only fed into his **suspicion** towards the West Only served to make Truman **less likely** to get his demands
67
What was the Soviet response to the Americans dropping the A-Bomb on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945? (2)
1. Made them **determined** to make one of **its own** 2. Added to Stalin's **distrust** of the West

Cold War (26 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2025 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions