Superpower relations and the Cold War 1941-91

Question 1

What happened at the Tehran Conference (November-December 1943)?

Answer 1

-USA and Britain agreed to open up a second front by invading nazi-occupied Europe
-Soviet Union declare war on Japan once Germany defeated
-Boundaries of Poland moved westwards; Poland gain territory from Germany and lose it to Soviet Union
-International body to be set up to settle future disputes, set foundations for establishment of United Nations

Question 2

What happened at the Yalta Conference (February 1945)?

Answer 2

-Germany,when defeated, would be reduced in size, divided into sections, demilitarised, pay reparations
-The United Nations would be set up
-Soviet Union declare war on Japan when Germany defeated

Question 3

What happened at the Potsdam Conference (July-August 1945)?

Answer 3

-A council of foreign ministers was set up to organise rebuilding of Europe
-Nazi party banned and war criminals to be prosecuted
-Germany and Berlin to be reduced in size and divided into 4 zones run by Britain, USA, France, Soviet Union
-Soviet Union to receive 25% of the output from the other three occupied zones

Question 4

What caused the end of the Grand Alliance?

Answer 4

-USA dropped atomic bombs on Japan in August 1945, gave them huge military advantage over other countries
-Roosevelt died in April 1945 and was replaced by Truman
-Truman didn’t trust Stalin as he had broken the promises he made over Poland at Yalta
-Thanks to the Atomic Bomb Truman felt he could push Stalin around at the Potsdam Conference
-Stalin disliked the way Truman tried to push him around
-Tensions increased

Question 5

The Long Telegram (1946)

Answer 5

A secret report from US ambassador Kennan in Moscow to President Truman said:
-Soviet Union saw Capitalism as a threat to communism that had to be destroyed
-Soviet Union was building its military power
-Peace between USA and Soviet Union not possible

Question 6

Novikov’s Telegram (1946)

Answer 6

A report from Novikov, Soviet ambassador in the USA, told Stalin that:
-USA wanted world domination and was building up its military strength
-Soviet Union only country left after war that could stand up to USA
-USA preparing its people for war with Soviet Union

Question 7

How did Bulgaria become communist?

Answer 7

A communist government was elected in 1945, and all elected non-communists were executed

Question 8

How did Romania become communist?

Answer 8

A communist-led coalition took power. However, by 1947 the communists had taken over and Romania became a one-party state

Question 9

How did Poland become communist?

Answer 9

At Yalta Stalin promised to set up a joint communist/non-communist government. He then invited 16 non-communist leaders to Moscow and arrested them. Thousands of non-communists were arrested. The communists then ‘won’ the 1947 election.

Question 10

How did Hungary become communist?

Answer 10

The communists lost the 1945 election but the communist leader Rakosi took control of the secret police, executed and imprisoned his opponents and turned Hungary into a communist state

Question 11

How did Czechoslovakia become communist?

Answer 11

Edward Benes set up a coalition government. However, the communists retained control of the army, the radio and the secret police. In 1948 they seized power completely, turning the country into a communist state

Question 12

How did East Germany become communist?

Answer 12

The original Soviet zone of occupation in Germany, it became a communist state in October 1949

Question 13

How did the growing Soviet influence in Eastern Europe impact superpower relations?

Answer 13

-USA saw Soviet takeover as betrayal of Yalta agreement
-USA determined to contain communism through Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan

Question 14

The Truman Doctrine (1947)

Answer 14

Truman’s speech stated:
-Countries faced a choice between either capitalism or communism
-Communism was bad because it meant people could not be free
-USA must try to contain this spread of communism
-USA should provide money and troops to help free governments and combat communist takeovers

Question 15

The Marshall Plan (1947)

Answer 15

-Around $13 billion from USA to help rebuild Europe
-Countries must trade with USA to get the money
-16 western countries took the money including Britain, France, West Germany
-Soviet Union saw Marshall Plan as attack on them as it threatened their control in Eastern Europe

Question 16

Cominform (1947)

Answer 16

-Set up by Stalin in 1947 to organise all communist parties in Europe
-Got rid of any opposition to the Soviet Union’s control in satelite states
-Encouraged communist parties in western countries to block marshall plan assistance

Question 17

Comecon (1949)

Answer 17

-Set up by Stalin in 1949 and was Soviet Union’s alternative to Marshall Plan
-Built up trade links between comecon countries
-Prevent comecon countries signing up to the marshall plan
-Included Soviet Union, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Albania, East Germany

Question 18

Nato (1949)

Answer 18

-Military alliance made up of USA, Britain, Canada, Holland, Belgium, France, Denmark, Norway, West Germany
-If one country was attacked the other countries had to assist it
-Directed against a possible military attack from the Soviet Union on Western Europe

Question 19

Bizonia and Western Germany

Answer 19

-Britain and USA joined zones to create Bizonia, the French zone was then added to create Western Germany
-Stalin felt Bizonia went against the agreements made at Potsdam

Question 20

East Germany and the Berlin Blockade

Answer 20

-Berlin was deep in Soviet controlled Germany and depended on Eastern Germany for resources
-In June 1948 Soviet Union closed all road, rail and canal links into West Berlin to force the British, French, US troops to leave
-Soviet Union blocked all supplies into West Berlin in an attempt to stop a divided Germany

Question 21

The Berlin Airlift

Answer 21

-Between June 1948 and September 1949 Western powers had flown supplies into Berlin daily as West Berlin couldn’t last for many days without supplies
-Soviet Union could not prevent these airlifts as this could lead to war

Question 22

Arms Race

Answer 22

-1945 USA drops two atomic bombs on Japanese cities
-1949 Soviet Union tests its first atomic bomb
-1952 USA develops hydrogen bomb
-1953 Soviet Union develops hydrogen bomb
-Any nuclear war would destroy both sides resulting in mutually assured destruction

Question 23

Warsaw Pact (May 1955)

Answer 23

-Collective defence treaty involving Soviet Union, Poland, Hungary, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Albania, Bulgaria
-Gave Soviet Union direct control over the armed forces of its satellites states

Question 24

Destalinisation

Answer 24

-When Stalin died, Krushchev took over as Soviet leader
-In 1956 in his “secret speech”, Krushchev hinted that Soviet control would relax
-October 1956, poor harvests and bread shortages meant that Hungarians started acting against communist control with statues of Stalin being pulled down and local communists attacked
-Krushchev appointed a more liberal Prime Minister Imre Nagy in hope that the situation would calm down

Question 25

Nagy as prime minister

Answer 25

-Wanted to leave Warsaw Pact and become neutral country
-Wanted to hold free elections leading to no more single-party communist governments
-Wanted United Nations protection from Soviet Union
-If Nagy succeeded other countries in Eastern Europe would follow and the Warsaw Pact would collapse

Question 26

The Cuban Revolution

Answer 26

-Before 1959, the USA was closely linked to Cuba eg. there were lots of US owned businesses
-Cuba had a socialist revolution in 1959 and the USA refused to deal with the new government.
-Cuba started to build economic links with the Soviet Union
-Relationship between Cuba and USA deteriorated

Question 27

Castro assassination attempt

Answer 27

-USA did not want a socialist country in their sphere of influence
-CIA attempted to assassinate Cuban leader Castro with no success
-CIA convinced US president Kennedy that as US backed invasion of Cuba to overthrow Castro could solve the problem

Question 28

The Bay of Pigs incident (17th April 1961)

Answer 28

-CIA told Kennedy: old US planes had been disguised as cuban, Castro’s control of Cuba is very weak, most cuban’s hate Castro
-In reality: the planes were recognised as US planes and were photographed and published so the world knew USA had backed the invasion, Castro knew of the invasion in advance so 1400 US backed troops met 20,000 cuban troops and were forced to surrender, most cubans were fond of Castro
-This led to destroyed US and Cuban relations, Castro another was communist, Cuban and Soviet relations strengthened

Question 29

Dubček’s reforms

Answer 29

-Dubček became the Czechoslovakian leader in 1968
-He was communist but wanted to make communism better and easier to live under
-More democracy allowed other parties alongside the communist party so more power was given to the Czechoslovakian parliament and Soviet control was reduced
-The economy was also reformed with market socialism allowing for the introduction of some capitalist elements

Question 30

Prague Spring (1968)

Answer 30

-Dubček’s reforms led to a period of political freedom
-This concerned other communist countries and older Czechoslovakian communities as they felt it would lead to the collapse of communism in Czechoslovakia and threaten communist control in Eastern Europe

Question 31

Building the Berlin Wall (August 1961)

Answer 31

-Soviet Union needed to solve the refugee problem in Berlin whilst avoiding nuclear war with USA
-This led to the Berlin Wall in August 1961 to prevent East Berliners travelling to West Berlin
-East German troops erected a barbed wire fence around West Berlin which eventually became a heavily guarded wall
-By October 1961 West Berlin was completely cut off from East Germany

Question 32

Why was the Berlin wall built?

Answer 32

-Soviet Union knew they couldn’t win a nuclear war against USA
-Western powers stayed in Berlin
-The wall meant Soviet Union avoided war with USA whilst still looking strong

Question 33

Cuban missile sites

Answer 33

-USA had missiles near Soviet Union eg in UK so Soviet Union needed missiles near USA such as in Cuba
-Cuba saw Soviet missiles as a great way to prevent USA from invading Cuba again
-September 1962 Soviet ships carried nuclear warheads and missiles to Cuba
-October 1962 US spy planes photographed and published the Cuban missile sites
-US public began to panic

Question 34

Soviet response to Dubček’s reforms

Answer 34

-August 1986 Soviet Union sent tanks to Prague and Dubček was arrested
-a Czechoslovakia returned to strict Soviet control

Question 35

Brezhnev Doctrine (1968)

Answer 35

-Soviet Union declared the right to invade any Eastern bloc country that was threatening the security of the Eastern bloc as a whole
-USA condemned the invasion but didn’t stop it due to fear of war
-Western European communist parties were horrified and declared themselves independent from the Soviet Communist Party
-Yugoslavia and Romania backed off from the Soviet Union weakening the Soviet control in Eastern Europe

Question 36

Importance of Soviet Invasion of Czechoslovakia

Answer 36

-Brezhnev doctrine meant Soviet Union reserved the right to invade any country that threatened the security of the Eastern Bloc
-Other East European such as Poland or Hungary, were required to rigidly stick to Soviet-style communism or risk invasion themselves

Question 37

Impact of Berlin Wall

Answer 37

-Western troops remained in Berlin
-Solved refugee problem
-Number of military alerts in Berlin declined
-Propaganda win for the west as it suggested East Germans enjoyed living in capitalist West Germany and had to be forced to stay in communist East Germany

Question 38

Kennedy’s Berlin speech (26th June 1963)

Answer 38

-An expression of solidarity with the people of West Berlin as it demonstrated that the US and NATO were prepared to defend West Berlin from communist attack

Question 39

Short term consequences of Cuban Missile Crisis

Answer 39

-Communist Cuba survived as Kennedy gave assurances the USA would not invade Cuba again
-Soviet Union looked weak as the world didn’t know that the USA had removed the missiles from Turkey

Question 40

Long term consequences of Cuban Missile Crisis

Answer 40

-US and Soviet relations improved due to desire to avoid war
-Hotline Agreement created a direct communication link between Washington and Moscow
-Limited Test Ban Treaty in 1963 meant both sides agreed to ban all nuclear weapon testing expect for underground tests

Question 41

What is détente?

Answer 41

General easing of relations between the Soviet Union and the United States in the 1970s

Question 42

Prague Spring Impact on Western powers

Answer 42

-US and West Germany offered no military support to Czechoslovakia as they didn’t want to provoke an international crisis
-Communist leaders were appalled by the invasion and began to end their links with Soviet Union

Question 43

Prague Impact on Eastern powers

Answer 43

-Strengthened Soviet control over Eastern bloc as they could use military force to ensure their dominance
-Soviet influence in the West declined as Western communist leaders developed a form of communism different to that in the Soviet Union

Question 44

SALT 1 (1972)

Answer 44

-Superpowers agreed to limit number of nuclear weapons they had
-No further increase in strategic and intercontinental ballistic weapons
-Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty limited both sides to two Anti-Ballistic Missile deployment areas

Question 45

How effective was SALT 1?

Answer 45

-Slowed down the arms race
-Led to SALT 2
-Ensured neither side had advantage in strategic nuclear weapons
-Did not cover intermediate nuclear weapons which both sides continued to deploy in Europe in the late 1970s

Question 46

Helsinki Conference (1975)

Answer 46

-East and West Germany accepted each other officially
-All disputes settled peacefully through UN if necessary
-No country to interfere in internal affairs of another country
-Helped USA and Soviet Union form a stable relationship
-Soviet Union continued to focus on Eastern bloc countries
-USA continued to prioritise its interests in countries it could influence such as Chile

Question 47

SALT 2 (1979)

Answer 47

-Each superpower limited to 2250 warheads
-Imposed limits on new launch systems including multi-warhead missiles
-Failed as West German politicians feared it weakened the defence of West Germany and US politicians thought the treaty made too many concessions to the Soviet Union

Question 48

Regan’s change of Heart

Answer 48

-US president Regan kick started the arms race again but public opinion was against the arms race and Regan liked Soviet leader Gorbachev so was willing to work with him to improve US-Soviet relations
-Led to greater cooperation between USA and Soviet Union
-Lead to arms control agreements such as INF treaty and START 1

Question 49

INF Treaty (1987)

Answer 49

-Got rid of all 500-5500km nuclear missiles each superpower had
-Largely applied in Europe

Question 50

Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan (1979)

Answer 50

-Soviet Union felt its influence in Afghanistan was threatened due to Amin coming to power in Afghanistan
-Soviet troops invaded Afghanistan, Karmal was made president and Amin and many of his supporters were killed
-US president Carter didn’t approve the invasion and was worried the Soviet Union would get more control in the Middle East, Middle East oil was essential to the USA

Question 51

The Carter Doctrine (1980)

Answer 51

-Threatened to use force if the Soviet Union attempted to take control of the Persian Gulf
-USA imposed economic sanctions such as no trade with Soviet Union
-USA and its allies were directly backing a war against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan

Question 52

SDI/Star Wars (1983)

Answer 52

-A plan to have satellites, lasers and mirrors in space that would destroy Soviet intercontinental nuclear missiles before they reached the USA
-Damaged east-west relations as the Soviet Union argued this broke the Outer Space Treaty 1967

Question 53

End of Brezhnev Doctrine (1988)

Answer 53

-Soviet economy was rapidly declining so they had to improve trade relations with the West which meant repression must be reduced
-This led to communist governments falling in Eastern bloc countries

Question 54

Fall of the Berlin Wall (1989)

Answer 54

-East German government announced East Germans could now travel to West Germany
-Crowds of East and West Germans began to chip away at the wall leading to its collapse
-East Germany became part of a untied Germany in 1990
-End of Warsaw Pact in 1991
-At START 1991 USA and Soviet Union agreed to reduce nuclear warheads by about a third