Steps the Cold War (Berlin Blockade) Flashcards
What was the Marshall plan?
When? Why? Who was he?
- made huge amounts of american money available to European countries
- June 1947: speech made at Havard
- to end economic crisis in Europe
- General George Marshall (american secretary of state) organised it
What were the results of the Marshall plan?
Very successful as the US created wealthy trade partners.
West recovering well by 1952, communist east did not accept money (made them divided)
What was the response to the marshal plan?
Cominform- a political organisation
- all communists in east Europe
- controlled by soviets
Who was the Soviet leader at the time of the Marshall plan?
What did he think?
Zhdanov thought that it was ‘part of an American plan to enslave Europe’
What was the comunists’ economic organisation? When was it set up?
Comecon - the Council for Mutual Economic Aid
Set up in January 1949
To boost/encourage trade and economy
Why did the US turn interventionist?
Economic dominance gave them power and believed that American-style free trade was the way forward for other countries
Military innovation- the 1945 nuclear bomb gave them more power
Memories of the 1930s - clearly their isolationalist policy did not work
How did Berlin become the centre of controversy?
- The US, UK and Fr looked to rebuild their sections; the USSR refused to trade with them and kept their section weak
- Berlin was surrounded by a USSR sponsored system
- In January 1947 the British and American zones merged into Bizonia
- New, separate currencies were created
- Soviet representatives walked out of the Control Commission, which was responsible for regulating the divided country
What was the new currency in the west? What was the soviet response?
The Western Deutschmark was announced in June 1948
The Soviets then introduced the Ostmark
Explain the Berlin blockade
June 1948: Stalin cut off Berlin so that the Allied forces could not access it; he wanted to force them out the capital
Truman supplied the city by air, regardless of cost, so Stalin decided to allow him to fund this expensive airlift.
Details of the Berlin Airlift?
28 June 1948
200,000 flights
1.5 million tons of supplies
Ended 12 May 1949
Major effects of the Berlin airlift?
- West of Germany became the Federal German Republic and Soviet part was renamed the German Democratic Republic
- USAF heavy bombers moved in range of USSR
- In April 1949 the Western powers signed an agreement to work together: North Atlantic Treaty Organisation formed with a standing army based in West Germany
- In response, The Warsaw Pact (8 countries) was created in 1955
How did the Arms race emerge?
- USA set up missile bases in Europe
- Stalin prioritised the Soviet Atomic Research Programme and tested a nuclear bomb in 1949
- US govn poured funding into fundind its new H-bomb project
- In 1953 both countries successfully tested H-bombs.
Who was to blame for the Cold War?
USA
- changed to interventionist
- New president Truman caused distrust
- Marshal aid made communism look bad
- NATO divided the world in two and was anti-Stalin
- First tested nuclear bomb in 1945
USSR
- Stalin had an aggressive way of spreading communism
- Warsaw Uprising/Katyn massacre damaged relations
- Berlin Blockade was aggressive
- Warsaw Pact countered NATO
NOBODY
- Communist vs Capitalist - v. different ideologies
- WW2 meant that USA and USSR disagreed at conferences
- both sides simply spread their own ideologies
