Part 1: Seeds of conflict 1941-8 Flashcards
What were three key IDEOLOGICAL reasons for the breakdown of the Grand alliance?
Capitalist support of the whites in the Russian rev. 1917
Disagreement over fate of Europe- particularly Poland and Germany
Ingrained hate of the other ideology
What were three key WAR reasons for the breakdown of the grand alliance?
Loss of Russian soldiers in delay over the second front
Russian liberation of eastern Europe- western mistrust
Loss of common enemy
Nuclear monopoly of the USA- only atomic bomb
What were the key LEADERSHIP reasons for the breakdown of the Grand Alliance?
Tension between Stalin and Truman (death of Roosevelt pre-Potsdam)
No pacifying member of the alliance
Stalin’s aggression, paranoia and untrustworthiness
What was the key post war AIM that aided the breakdown of the grand alliance?
Both the US and the USSR wanted to ultimately spread their ideology worldwide
What countries were in the grand alliance?
Russia, the USA and UK
What key countries did the USSR overtake in the ‘liberation’ of eastern Europe?
Romania, Bulgaria, (Yugoslavia), Greece, Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Poland
When was Churchill’s iron curtain speech? Who was it a speech to?
5th March 1946 speech made to American citizens
What was the general pattern of soviet takeover in Eastern Europe?
(Circumstances differed slightly in each country, but generally; )pressure applied by red army to allow communist politicians into key roles, communists manipulated elections, merges of parties became communist takeover of parties.
When was the Truman doctrine declared?
March 1947
What was the Truman doctrine?
Truman declared US must ‘support free peoples who are resisting subjugation by armed authorities’ (fight forced communism)
When was the Marshall plan introduced?
1947
How much money did Marshall aid provide Europe with?
$17 billion
What did the Marshall plan try to do?
Help struggling European countries
Integrate their economies with the USA’s
What did the Marshall plan demand?
Countries must agree to free trade with the US and reveal their economic spending to the US (so soviet controlled countries did not receive it)
How did the USSR view the Marshall plan?
As imperialistic and as an attack on communism
What was Britain’s view of the Marshall plan?
Was not keen on supranational organisations (multinational), instead wanted to assert ts authority, but agreed to the Marshall plan despite this
When did the Czech crisis occur?
1948
What was the situation in Czechoslovakia at the beginning of the year of the Czech crisis?
Beginning of 1948: only democratic country in eastern Europe, elections due in May and communists expected to do badly
What was the Czech crisis?
coup d’etat prior to election; police and gov. taken over by communists and purged of non-communists. President Benes forced to resign replaced by communist Gottwald. Illegal and undemocratic
How were the USSR connected to the Czech crisis?
Although no direct help from the USSR to the communists in Czechoslovakia, US saw it as proof of soviet expansion ad it was of psychological significance
When did Britain pull out of the fighting in Greece?
1947
What were three ECONOMIC reasons for the breakdown of the Grand alliance?
WW2 left Europe economically devastated and in desperate need of reconstruction
Big businesses and military industrial sector in USA sought to benefit from a war with the economic benefits
Disagreement over German reparations
How many soldiers were situated in Eastern Europe during the breakdown of the Grand alliance?
Red Army had over 11 million troops in occupied Eastern Europe, in a position to enforce its will upon large parts of the continent
Why did the defeat of Germany cause an increase in tensions between the USSR and USA?
Loss of a common enemy
Defeat of Nazi Germany also caused a power vacuum in Europe; large areas without any meaningful government or administration- arguably both USA and USSR sought to fill this vacuum
What were three key reasons for the outbreak of the Cold War (separate to breakdown of the Grand Alliance)?
The Marshall plan was seen by USSR as capitalist interference/attempt to dominate Europe
Communist regimes established through purges, rigged elections and Red Army manipulation
Truman’s policies unnecessarily provocative, as was Churchill’s iron curtain speech
What and when was the Teheran conference?
1943: The first meeting of the ‘big three’ (Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin) during WW2. They discussed how to pursue the war against Germany, Italy and Japan
What were the strains in the Grand Alliance over Poland?
Poland had been the route of three invasions into Russia in the 20th Century
Russia not prepared to see an anti-USSR government in Poland
Britain and USA wanted free elections for Poland and reinstatement of Polish gov. in exile in London
What were the strains in the Grand Alliance over the USA’s possession of the first atomic bomb?
USA appeared to be asserting its military dominance
Use of bomb in Japan (Nagasaki and Hiroshima) without USSR awareness caused suspicion in USSR that USA would use it to threaten them/USA motives
USSR felt that they had been tricked into ‘falling behind’ the USA with lack of knowledge of bomb’s development
When and where was the Yalta summit?
In the Soviet Union, February 1945- prior to the end of WW2 (but victory for grand alliance seemed inevitable)
What was agreed at the Yalta summit?
establishment of United Nations, division of Germany and Berlin into zones of occupation, PRINCIPLE of free elections in Europe, USSR agreed to join war against Japan (in return for some of its islands)
What were the issues at the Yalta summit?
Poland/future of Poland
When was the Potsdam summit?
July 1945
What occurred at Potsdam?
USA and UK annoyed with soviet actions in E. Europe
USA agreed to move western Polish border to older-western Neisse line, 5 million Germans expelled from Poland into Germany
Throughout E. Europe communist groups were being positioned in important gov. roles
Stalin informed of USA atomic bomb on day of its use
When was the first atomic bomb dropped on Japan?
Hiroshima: 4 days from the end of the Potsdam conference
Nagasaki: 9th August
As a result- USSR involvement unnecessary and Stalin denied a part in the occupation of Japan
