The Cold War

Question 1

What was Sovietisation?

Answer 1

Process of creating USSR-friendly governments in Eastern Europe. Stalin insisted pro-Soviet governments be formed in countries he had liberated, with Communist exiles in key ministries. Communists used their power to undermine non-Communists and establish Soviet-style governments.

Question 2

Where did Sovietisation take place?

Answer 2

• -Poland, Hungary, Romania, Czechoslovakia - puppet governments.
• -Yugoslavia, Albania - independent Communist governments.
• -Stalin: had ring of satellite states to work as buffer zone - West didn’t intercede as Eastern Europe was within Soviet sphere of influence and they didn’t want another war.

Question 3

Why did the USSR and the USA dislike each other?

Answer 3

1. Ideological differences
2. Stalin resented delay in opening up a second front in Europe
3. USA refused to share secrets of atomic bomb
4. USA felt threatened by Communist expansion in Eastern Europe
5. Stalin felt Western ideas would undermine Communism

Question 4

What was the Iron Curtain speech?

Answer 4

Churchill in America - March 1946 - ‘from Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the continent of Europe’ - Stalin accused him of ‘warmongering’ and issuing a call to arms against the Soviet Union.

Question 5

What was decided at the Potsdam Conference?

Answer 5

1. Germany divided into four zones of occupation
2. Berlin divided into four sectors (inside East Germany)
3. Russia allowed to take reparations.

Question 6

What did the USSR/USA-France-Britain think should be done with Germany?

Answer 6

USSR: Germany should be kept weak.
USA-Britain: strong Germany economy will help Europe’s economy recover. USA wanted Germany as a buffer against Communist expansion.