The Beginning of the Cold War Flashcards
What are the three major schools of thought on the causes of the Cold War?
Traditionalists, Revisionists, and the Post-Revisionists.
What were the ideas of the Traditionalists?
They thought that the Soviet union and the brutal dictatorship of Joseph Stalin was responsible for the development of hostilities between the East and West.
What were the ideas of the Revisionists?
They thought the the United States’ fear of a postwar economic downturn made their policy one making the world safe for American trade rather than making the world safe for democracy.
What were the ideas of the Post-Revisionists?
They thought that while the Soviet Union bore the brunt of the responsibility for the Cold War, the United States played a larger role in increasing hostilities than Traditionalists would admit.
What was the premise behind the Cold War?
It was an conflict between the Anglo-American understanding of capitalism and the Communist ideals of totalitarianism and market control.
Where did differences between the Russians and the Anglo-Americans emerge?
Differences emerged even back in the Russian Civil War when the Allies aided the White Army. Even during WWII, mistrust played a role in the relationship between the Soviet Union and its Western allies.
What was the Yalta conference?
It was the emergence of mutual antagonism between the three powers as the war died down. The Big Three (Churchill, Roosevelt, Stalin) agreed to the temporary division of Germany after the war, where it was divided into 4 zones (France, Britain, America, Soviet Union), and Berlin was divided into 4 zones. It provided the Allies each an opportunity to affect the transformation in their own zone,.
How did the Soviet Union govern its sector of Germany?
It allowed for the re-establishment of all non-rightwing parties. Walter Ulbricht, the leader of the German Communist Party (KPD), thought there would be support for his government. However, anger at the Soviets for mass rape, dismantling of factories, and the failure of land reform made the people hostile to the Soviets and the KPD, so Ulbricht merged the KPD with the SPD (Social Democratic Party) to create a one-party state.
What was the conflict over reparations after WWII?
Neither the Americans nor the British were fundamentally opposed to reparations, while the Soviets wanted part of the Allies’ money. However, the Western Allies did not want to decimate the German economy and be forced to care for the Germans. By his own initiative, American General Lucius Clay halted the collection of reparations, followed by the other Western allies, meaning that the goods stopped flowing to the Soviet Union.
How did tensions increase over Iran?
The Soviets and British jointly divided and occupied Iran and promised to leave at the end of the war. The British left, but the Soviets stayed behind and demanded oil concessions. When Truman heard that Soviet tanks were heading to Tehran, he sent warships to the Persian Gulf and Stalin removed his troops.
How did tensions rise over Turkey?
Stalin tried to intimidate Turkey into granting the Soviets naval bases. He massed troops along the Turkish border, and only withdrew his forces when he understood that the Americans would support Turkey.
What was George Kennan’s Long Telegram?
He indicated that the Western relationship with the Soviets was one of dealing with an ideological enemy. He said that the West and the Soviet Union could not coexist.
What was the American policy of containment?
It was a policy with the long term, patient but firm and vigilant containment of Russian expansive tendencies.
What was the Truman Doctrine?
It was the policy of supporting free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures.
Where was containment first tested?
A Communist insurgency in Greece fought against the Greek Government. When the British were forced to stop supporting Greece for economic reasons, America intervened in order to inhibit Soviet control over Greece.
