Soviet's International Position

Question 1

By 1945 what did the armed forces of the USSR consist of in men?

Answer 1

7.5 Million

Question 2

How had the USSR increased its territory?

Answer 2

through absorbing the Baltic States and large areas of eastern Poland

Question 3

Where did the Red Army remain in control of?

Answer 3

of the nation states in east central Europe

Question 4

In 1943 when it was let that the war would eventually be won, a series of war time summit meetings took place to decide what would happen when war was won. When was the first summit which included Stalin in Tehran?

Answer 4

November 1943

Question 5

When was the Yalta Conference?

Answer 5

February 1945

Question 6

Who met at the Yalta Conference of February 1945?

Answer 6

The Big Three

Question 7

How was it clear that Britain was an empire in decline aftter the war was won and that it would be overshadowed by the two superpowers?

Answer 7

as it was exhausted and bankrupted after the war

Question 8

What was used to end the war with japan?

Answer 8

the US atomic bomb

Question 9

The US development of the atomic bomb resulted in Beria leading the charge in Russia for a Soviet atomic bomb. Huge resources were committed to the project, when was the first successful test?

Answer 9

1949

Question 10

What effectively confirmed the Soviet Union as a superpower?

Answer 10

their successful developed of a soviet atomic bomb in 1949

Question 11

The status of the USSR was reflected in the United Nations formed in 1945 which hoped to be more effective than the League of Nations had proved in 1919. The USSR was one of how many permanent members of the UN Security Council?

Answer 11

5

Question 12

The outcome of WW2 led to Soviet military domination of eastern and central Europe. This led to the formation of what?

Answer 12

a Soviet bloc

Question 13

By what year had the countries under the Soviet bloc become satellite states closely linked to the USSR?

Answer 13

1948

Question 14

What was a satellite state?

Answer 14

countries that retained their national identity but had pro-Soviet governments which from 1949 onwards became increasingly under Soviet control

Question 15

Why did Stalin desire a zone of buffer states?

Answer 15

as he hoped that this would protect the USSR against future invasion from the west

Question 16

In what year under the terms of the Nazi Soviet Pact did the USSR invade and occupy eastern Poland.

Answer 16

1939

Question 17

IN what year, under the secret protocols of the Nazi Soviet Pact did the Soviet forces occupy the Baltic States?

Answer 17

1940

Question 18

Between what months in 1940 were 22,000 Polish army officers captured and killed by the NKVD in the Katyn Forest Massacre in order to eliminate Polish nationalist elements who might oppose communism?

Answer 18

April-May

Question 19

In what massacre were 22,000 Polish army officers captured and killed by the KKVD between april-may 1940?

Answer 19

Katyn Forest Massacre

Question 20

What was the Katyn Forest Massacre of 1939-40?

Answer 20

Beria was responsible for about 40,000 Polish prisoners, killing 20,000 between April-Mary 1940 in order to eliminate nationalist counter-revolutionaries. In 1943 the mass graves were found and blamed on the Nazi’s. It remained a secret until the 1980s

Question 21

From what decade were exiled Communist party groups from European countries trained in Moscow ready to infiltrate post war governments after liberation?

Answer 21

1930s

Question 22

As soon as the Red Army entered Poland, where was a provisional government set up which was dominated by pro-Moscow communists?

Answer 22

Lublin

Question 23

Extending the Soviet bloc in east central Europe took longer. In counties where democratic national governments were elected, how were communist parties instructed?

Answer 23

they were told to join with non-communists such as socialists and bourgoises liberals in order to gain a political foothold that could be built upon

Question 24

What type of tactics enabled the pro-Soviet governments to gain power in Hungary in 1947?

Answer 24

Salami Tactics

Question 25

What year did the pro-Soviet governments gain power in Hungary and Cesxhoslovakia?

Answer 25

1947

1948

Question 26

What were Salami Tactics/

Answer 26

Named after the Hungarian leader to explain the subverting ‘bourgeois’ parties to gain power from within. Such as by quiet infiltration or targeting individuals.

Question 27

Why in particular was Stalin very critical of Britain and the US during the war?

Answer 27

as they did not open a Second front to alleieve pressure on the Red Army

Question 28

When was the Yalta Conference?

Answer 28

February 1945

Question 29

What dominated the Yalata Conference?

Answer 29

disputes over the post-war borders of Germany and Poland

Question 30

At what conference was there no final peace agreement and the differences which had been papered over in the yalta conference reemerged and become more urgent?

Answer 30

Potsdam conferences of July/August

Question 31

How did Stalin become the ‘senior partner’ in the Big Three?

Answer 31

Church was voted out of government in 1945 and Rooselvent died in 1945

Question 32

Between what years had conflict between the USSR and the capitalist West hardened into Cold War confrontation?

Answer 32

1946-1949

Question 33

What was the Long Telegram of 1946?

Answer 33

this was a report sent to Washington from Moscow by an American diplomat urging the US to take action to contain the spread of communism in Europe.

Question 34

What year was the Long Telegram?
this was a report sent to Washington from Moscow by an American diplomat urging the US to take action to contain the spread of communism in Europe.

Answer 34

1946

Question 35

When was Churchill’s speech about the Iron Curtain?

Answer 35

1946

Question 36

When was the Truman Doctrine which had committed the US to a policy of containment?

Answer 36

1947

Question 37

The USR fear of Soviet expansionism was exacerbated by a telegram sent to Washington from Moscow by an American Diplomat in 1946. What did it say about communism?

Answer 37

that the USSR looked at international Marxism

Question 38

When did ex-british primeminster Winston Churchill speak of an iron curtain across Europe?

Answer 38

1946 March

Question 39

How does Stalin respond to Churchill’s speech of the iron curtain in March 1946 to the Pravada?

Answer 39

that the European states have “good-neighbourly relations with the Soviet Union” that had grown because of the dark days of Nazi Fascism

Question 40

By what year was Western Europe in crisis from fears of complete economic collapse and political instability especially in Italy and France where communist parties were strong and Greece where there was a civil war?

Answer 40

early 1947

Question 41

When did the Truman Doctrine assert that the new US policy of containment and rolling back communism come about?

Answer 41

March 1947

Question 42

What came out in March 1947?

Answer 42

the Truman Doctrine which asserted that the new US policy of containment and rolling back communism had begun

Question 43

when did the US put forward the Marshal Plan?

Answer 43

June 1947

Question 44

What was the Marshal Plan of June 1947?

Answer 44

this was a massive injection of aid to rebuild Europe with generous offers to assist all European countries, East and West. Many historians believe this was a political weapon deliberately designed to extend American influence

Question 45

What did Stalin believe about the June 1947 Marshal Plan?

Answer 45

that it was a fundamentally hostile plan aimed to US economic and political dominance

Question 46

Soviet Bloc countries were pressed to reject Marshal Aid. In February 1948, leader of the Czechoslovakian communist party took full control of the government. What did the west regard these events as?

Answer 46

as a communist coup backed by the USSR

Question 47

In February 1948, leader of the Czechoslovakian communist party took full control of the government. What did Stalin and the Czech call this?

Answer 47

the Victorious February

Question 48

What was the effect of “Victorious February” where In February 1948, leader of the Czechoslovakian communist party took full control of the government?

Answer 48

this intensified splits between East and West over the Marshal Plan of June 1947

Question 49

Who was the Soviet deputy foreign minister in 1947?

Answer 49

Vyshinsky

Question 50

What did the Soviet deputy foreign minister of 1947 declare about the Marshal Plan of June 1947 and Truman Doctrine of March 1917?

Answer 50

that they were mechanisms by which the US were imposing upon independent states for influence (ironic), manipulating the devastation of war to place political pressure upon their governments.

Question 51

What set the context for the Berlin crisis of 1948?

Answer 51

the communist takeover in Czechoslovakia

Question 52

There was a clear separation between the Soviet Zone and the British-American French zones in the West. Why was Stalin frustrated with the problem of Berlin?

Answer 52

as Soviet power over Berlin had slipped since 1945

Question 53

What surprised Stalin about the Western zones of Berlin in June 1948?

Answer 53

that the West had established a seperate currency in these zones

Question 54

In what month and year did Stalin find that the Western zones of Berlin had established a seperate currency?

Answer 54

June 1948

Question 55

When did Stalin launch the Berlin blockade which cut off all road and rail links between Berlin and the West?

Answer 55

June 1948

Question 56

Why did Stalin launch the Berlin blockade which cut off all road and rail links between Berlin and the West in June 1948?

Answer 56

as he found in this month that the West had established a separate currency in the Western zones