The Cold War Flashcards
What was the American flag called?
The Stars and Stripes
The star spangled banner
Who often represents USA in cartoons?
Uncle Sam
The Bald Eagle
What political system does the USA have?
Democracy
What is the economic system in America?
Capitalism
What is the capitalism system like?
Anyone who wants to get rich can as long as you have enough money to support your own business
What is the definition of capitalism?
The belief that nothing is wrong with people getting rich and people getting poor
Possibility for profit
Individuals can own private property
Government does not control the economy
Capitalist countries are generally democratic
Where did Uncle Sam come from?
A meat packer named Samuel Wilson
Stamped boxes with the letters “US” for United States
Became known as Uncle Sam
What does the hammer on the flag of the USSR mean?
Urban workers
What does the sickle on the flag of the USSR mean?
Rural workers
When was the Russian Revolution?
1917
What happened after the Russian Revolution?
Killed the tsar and his family
Became a communist country
Who created Marxism?
Karl Marx
Joseph Engels
What was the root of communism?
Marxism
What defines middle class?
Education
What was Marxism based on?
Government overthrown
Ruled by the people
A classless system is established
What was the problem with Communism?
People aren’t motivated to get good jobs because they all get payed the same
What is a political system?
How a country is run
What is an economic system?
How finances are run in a country
What type of system is Communism?
Political and economic
What is socialism?
A mix between capitalism and communism
What was used as the symbol of Russia?
A grizzly bear
What is the definition of a superpower?
A country that survive on its own, economically, agriculturally etc.
What is a socialist government?
A mix between communism and capitalism. Rich people can still make a profit
What are the Eastern Bloc nations?
Countries behind the Iron Curtain
What is a diplomat?
Someone who negotiates with another country
Who was in charge of Cuba at the beginning of the Cold War?
General Batista
What kind of rule did General Batista have?
Capitalist rule
He exploited Cuba
He was corrupt
He used the military strongly
Were the Cubans happy with Batista’s rule?
The rich were happy because they could get richer, but the poor were very unhappy with his system of government
How did the people of Cuba rebel against Batista?
They begin a revolution and fought a Guerrilla War
Who was the leader of the Cuban Revolution?
Fidel Castro
What is a guerrilla war?
A war where irregular fighters battle against a large regular military force
Who was Che Guevara?
He was a a,n from Argentina. He was a guerrilla fighter. He was hired to help fight in the Cuban Revolution
What was the result of the Cuban Revolution?
The guerrilla fighters overthrew Batista and Fidel Castro gained power
How did Castro change Cuba?
He started instituting Socialist reforms
What kind of reforms did Castro institute?
Land redistribution from the rich to the poor
Nationalisation (government control) of American owned businesses
Why was Cuba a place of interest to America?
America had economic interests in Cuba
America was a capitalist country
Cuba is positioned very close to America
How did Castro’s reforms influence America?
Rich Cubans moved from Cuba to America because they were unhappy with Fidel Castro
American businesses in Cuba could no longer produce profit for America, because they became government owned.
Socialism is similar to Communism
Why didn’t America like Socialism or Communism?
It is a capitalist country
Communism is almost the complete opposite of capitalism
The USSR and the USA were competing
The USSR was a communist country
Why did Che Guevara become famous?
He was good looking
He was a good speaker
He fought in the Cuban Revolution
Which main resource was exported from Cuba to America?
Cuban cigars (tobacco)
How did the poor people in Cuba feel about Fidel Castro?
They liked what he was doing
Why was Castro popular with the poor Cubans?
He gave them land
He improved the education
What was at Guantanamo Bay?
A USA Military Base
A USA Government Prison
Why was the Guantanamo Bay prison so bad?
It did not provide the basic rights of a prisoner
Prisoners were tortured there
What was the Geneva Convention?
A meeting where the basic rights of a prisoner were decided
What is an MRBM?
Medium Range Ballistic Missile
What was Cuba in terms of the Cold War?
A pawn
Why can Cuba be referred to as a pawn?
It was a limited expendable piece that got sent to the front line and was controlled by a bigger piece (country)
Who were the important men in the Cold War?
fidel Castro
Che guevara
j. f. Kennedy
nikita Khrushchev
Who was J. F. Kennedy?
The American president at the time. He was very popular
Who was Nikita Khrushchev?
He was the USSR president at the time
What was the relationship between Kennedy and Khrushchev like?
It was a good relationship
What was the capital city of Cuba?
Havana
What was the Bay of Pigs invasion?
When the USA tried to overthrow Castro
Why did the USA want to overthrow Fidel Castro?
They wanted to own businesses again
They wanted to stamp out communism in Cuba, because the USSR was communist
They were worried that Castro would ally with Khrushchev
Who invaded the Bay of Pigs?
The CIA trained exiled Cubans and sent them to invade Cuba
What was the result of the Bay of Pigs invasion?
It was a failure. It was supposed to be a secret operation, but Castro knew of the plot in advance, so he was ready for the invaders.
What happened after the Bay of Pigs invasion?
Cuba accepted help from the USSR
The USSR sent food, money, and later weapons to Cuba.
What was the Cuban missile crisis?
The USSR began building missile bases on Cuba
The USA, through espionage, found out
The USA sent their navy to form a barricade between Cuba and the USSR ships carrying the missiles
The two navies almost fired nuclear weapons at each other
What is brinkmanship?
A situation that gets very close to a catastrophic point, but stops just before it gets there
How was the Cuban missile crisis averted?
Kennedy and Khrushchev held negotiations by telegram and agreed to stop nuclear war from happening
What were the terms of the agreement that stopped the Cuban missile crisis?
USSR would move out of Cuba and turn their missiles around
The USA would move out of Turkey and agree never to invade Cuba again
Why did the USA want to have missiles in Turkey?
Turkey is close to the USSR capital, Moscow. This means that the USA ICBMs can cause mass destruction in the USSR from Turkey
Why did the USSR want to have missiles in Cuba?
Cuba is close enough to the major cities in the USA, such as Washington and New York. If ICBMs were launched from Cuba, they could cause mass destruction in the USA
How many nuclear weapons have ever been used in war?
Two
Who used these nuclear weapons?
The United States of America
Which two cities were the nuclear weapons used on?
Hiroshima
Nagasaki
Which city got bombed first?
Hiroshima
Which city got bombed second?
Nagasaki
What are the immediate effects of a nuclear explosion?
Victims directly underneath the bomb experience the full effects of the heat released
They become vaporised instantly
There are bomb blasts or shockwaves
Firestorms are created
Extremely strong winds caused buildings to collapse
How hot is a nuclear explosion?
Clothes on people 3 km away from the initial explosion caught on fire because of the extreme heat
Roof tiles melted half a kilometre away
How strong are the winds created by a nuclear explosion?
1600 km per hour
What is the definition of Communism?
The government controls the finances
No classes
All property and businesses are ruled by the government
Wealth shared equally among the people
No opportunity to make a profit
Communism is defined as a system based on the theories of Marx and Engels that emphasises common ownership of the means of production and distribution. Each member of the community should work for the common benefit according to their own capacity and would receive according to their own specific needs. Private ownership would thus be abolished
Whose theories helped to develop the nuclear bomb?
Albert Einstein
Which nuclear bomb was tested on a fake village in the desert?
The Gadget
Who was the lead scientist of the Manhattan Project?
Robert Oppenheimer
Why were Hiroshima and Nagasaki chosen to be destroyed?
They created weapons for Japan
How many people were killed in the Hiroshima bombing?
Over 90 000
How many people were killed in the Nagasaki bombing?
Over 60 000
What were the three main reasons that the USA used for dropping the bombs?
To avoid further casualties
To keep Stalin out of Japan and to frighten the USSR
To frighten the Japanese military leaders into surrendering
How did the atomic bombs prevent further casualties?
If the USA had invaded Japan instead, there would have been many deaths on both sides
Why did the USA want to frighten the USSR?
They don’t want Japan to be invaded
They didn’t want to share the victory with the USSR
Communism made them nervous
What aeroplane was used to drop the atomic bombs?
The Enola Gay
Who flew the Enola Gay?
Paul Tibbets
Why did the USA and the USSR fight a Cold War?
They wanted to spread their power in the world, but they knew that a Nuclear War would destroy the world
What was the Arms Race?
When the USA and the USSR tried to build up the most powerful weapons
Why were the poor people in Cuba unhappy with Batista’s rule?
They had few human rights
They could not find work because America owned all of the big businesses
How did Fidel Castro improve Cuba?
He decreased illiteracy
He improved health
What Socialist reforms did Castro introduce?
Land redistribution from the rich to the poor
Nationalisation of American-owned businesses
What was the Space Race?
The USSR and the USA wanted the ability to drop bombs onto each other from space
Who was more advanced in terms of space technology?
The USSR
They launched the first satellite into space
They sent the first man into space
How was the Cold War fought?
Through economic development Military power Arts Science Education Expansion Trade
What was the Cold War?
A competition between the USA and the USSR
Who was the first man in space?
Yuri Gagarin
What was the goal set by the USA for the space race?
To land the first man in the moon
Which three men made it to the moon?
Buzz Aldrin
Neil Armstrong
Collins
Who was the first person to walk on the moon?
Neil Armstrong
Describe the Cuban missile crisis
Castro now cooperates with his ally
Allows for construction of
USSR missile bases in Cuba.
US spy plane photographs missile installations.
Missiles being transported by ship.
Kennedy (US president) orders a naval blockade to stop ships from reaching Cuba.
Soviet ships reach blockade, turn back
Khrushchev prepared to negotiate (not risk war)
Agreement reached –
USSR would dismantle bases, if US lift
blockade and not invade Cuba.
USA also remove missiles bases from Turkey.
What were the long term effects of the Cuban missile crisis?
Led to better relations between Superpowers
They realised how close they had come to war.
A “ Hotline” was set up between the two leaders- direct phone link
They also decided to sign nuclear test ban treaty
