The Cold war Flashcards
What happened at the Yalta conference? (Feb 1945)
Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill split Germany into four zones of occupation, and allowed free elections in Eastern European countries, Russia promised to join the united nations, and Russia promised to join the war against Japan when Germany was defeated
What happened at the Potsdam conference? (July 1945)
Germany was defeated, Roosevelt had died and Churchill had lost the 1945 election, so there were open disagreements. Truman was angry about the size of reparations and the fact that a communist government was being set up in Poland.
describe communism
- Totalitarian
- Property owned by state
- Classless
- Focus on the community as a whole
describe capitalism
- Democratic
- Property privately owned
- Wealth distributed unevenly
- class distinction
- focus on the individual
Describe the USSR under communism
- Russia’s economy was primarily agricultural
- Under leadership of Lenin and then Josef Stalin
- Opposed to religion
- Capitalism immoral as it exploits labour
Describe the USA under capitalism
- In the West there was a deep mistrust of communism
- catholic dominated political parties played a key role in opposing communism
- liberal democracy
- belief in private ownership of land and businesses
- ultimately God not economic factors determines the fate of human kind
What is the iron curtain?
The line that divides the communist east from the capitalism West of Europe (used by Winston Churchill in 1946 as there was large Soviet expansion across Eastern Europe)
Why did Britain and the USA not intervene in Poland to stop the communists from taking control? (1945) (iron curtain)
- Stalin had set up a gov. of national unity in June 1945
- He could not risk free elections as the communist party was unpopular and would inevitably suffer defeat
- The new doctrine of containment being worked by Truman accepted unofficially that Poland was in the USSR’s sphere of influence- the leader of the Polish communist party was dependant on Soviet assistance.
How was Romania put under communist domination? (iron curtain) (1946)
- after the Potsdam conference (when it was recognised that peace treaties could only be signed when governments recognised by wartime allies had been established, Romania’s King Michael called on Britain and the USA not to recognise the new government as it had been imposed by the Soviet union in 1945
- In November 1946 the communist dominated front went to the polls.
- The front won more than 80% of the vote
- Romania refused Marshall aid under Soviet pressure.
How was Bulgaria put under communist domination? (iron curtain (1945)
- In December 1945 Stalin forced the communist dominated Bulgarian government to include two members of the opposition
- In October elections took place for a national assembly. The opposition parties won one-third of the total votes
- Increasing US involvement in Greece meant that Bulgaria became a front line state in the defence of communism
- the Bulgarian communist party also took the creation of Cominform as a cue for pressing on with its radical programme for nationalising industry, collecting agriculture and creating a one party state
What was Yugoslavia’s position during in 1945 during the iron curtain?
- Yugoslavia occupied a unique position among the soviet- dominated states
- The communist party had effectively won power independently of the Soviet forces
- In Southern Europe Tito (yugoslav. leader) had ambitious aims which clashed with the British and US policy.
- Yugoslavia assisted Greek communists in their attempts to seize power in Greece.
- The USSR sympathised with Tito
Why was the Truman doctrine introduced?
- as events in Greece in 1947 had confirmed their worst fears
- since 1944 there had been a civil war in Greece between the monarchists and the communists
- Stalin kept his agreement with Churchill that Greece was an area of British influence and did nothing to help the Greek communists-the West believed that this was a sign of Soviet expansion
- the second world war started to make an impact- the British government owed £3000 million in debts in the war against Germany
- Britain warned the USA that they could not maintain troops in Greece
- The USA was worried that this would lead to a communist takeover.
Why was the Marshall plan introduced?
- when George Marshall was shocked when he travelled through Europe and noticed the economic devastation that he witnessed
- it would act as a barrier to the spread of communism and maybe even pull Eastern countries to the Western block
- It would boost the US economy
In the Marshall plan how much did Western Europe request?
£29 billion, far more than the US was prepared to give
When was Cominform set up?
September 1947
Why did Stalin set up cominform?
To coordinate policies of Eastern European states and made it clear that they could no longer cooperate
Give the two possibilities?-how did the news of the atomic bomb affect super power relations
Possibility 1: The atomic bomb changed Stalins attitude
Possibility 2: the atomic bomb changed Truman’s attitude
Describe how the atomic bomb ‘changed Stalins attitude’
- Stalin was angry because Truman did not tell him about the Atomic bomb. Truman was deliberately vague when he mentioned the bomb to Stalin on 24th July- he just quickly mentioned that the USA had a ‘weapon of destructive force’. He did not mention he was going to use it against Japan (people say Stalin had not realised the implications)
- It is however, almost certain that this is not true in such a simplistic way (evidence shows that Stalin knew
- Soviet sources suggest HOWEVER that straight after Truman told him about the ‘new weapon’ Stalin gave orders for Soviet scientists to develop their own nuclear weapon- news of the weapon DID provoke a nuclear arms race
- Stalin saw the dropping of the bomb as directed more at Russia than Japan ‘they were killing the Japanese and intimidating us’
Describe how the atomic bomb ‘changed Truman’s attitude’
‘Encouraged Truman to seek confrontation’
When Truman knew that he had the bomb:
-His attitude at the conference became more aggressive
-He switched from pro soviet advisers (e.g Davies) to anti-communist advisors such as Stimson and Byrnes
-He dropped the Bomb on Hiroshima to get the Japanese to surrender quickly, before Stalin had a chance to enter the war in the Pacific
-He developed an attitude of confrontation . “I’m sick of babying the Soviets”
Political/economic- which matches to Cominform and Comecon?
Cominform- political support
Comecon-Economic support
How was the Grand alliance strained 1941-45?-aims of the USA
- access to raw materials and the freedom to trade and export throughout the world
- the creation of a United Nations
- continue into the post-war period with an alliance with the USSR and Britain
- decolonisation of European colonies
How was the Grand alliance strained 1941-45?- aims of Britain
- preservation of British empire
- remain on friendly terms with the USA and USSR
- Block soviet expansion in central and South Eastern Europe and the Middle East
- Creation of an independant Poland with a democratic government
How was the Grand alliance strained 1941-35?-aims of the USSR
- security from further attack
- reparations from Germany
- territorial gains from Poland, Finland and Romania
- creation of friendly pro-soviet regimes in Eastern Europe
Aims of the big three: Stalin
- )To get a second front opened in the West as soon as possible
- )To gain security from future invasion and protect nation from further attack
- )To gain reparations from Germany to pay for the vast physical and human damage done to the country (25 million dead)
- )Insist on Communist governments in Poland and Romania
- )To survive as a great power still in possession of its empire
- )To reintegrate the Baltic states into its empire