The Cold War Flashcards
The Cold War begins in 1949
Relationships between the USA and the USSR had deteriorated badly, leading to a war of propaganda to win diplomatic victories
The iron curtain 1948
A line of division between the capitalist west and the communist east, said to be an ‘iron curtain’ by Churchill
The Cuban missile crisis 1962
The USSR tried to station missiles in Cuba since the USA had missiles in turkey, Khrushchev took out the missiles as did Kennedy but the missiles being taken out of turkey had to remain secret
1945 Russia annexes the Baltic states
Russia invade the Baltic states fearing invasion post WWII since they had been invaded twice in the last 30 years
Yalta and Potsdam conferences 1945
Showed how difficult it was to reach an agreement since Stalin wanted Poland, but was not allowed it (He had ‘won’ it in the Warsaw Pact)
The atomic bomb dropped on Japan 1945
America has superior weapons to the Soviets so could use the a bomb as a bargaining chip at Potsdam and yalta
The Truman Doctrine 1947
It was presented in a speech made by president truman stating that America shoud support countries like greece and turkey financially to prevent them from falling to communism
The Marshall Plan 1948
The Marshall plan was put into operation for 4 years to rebuild european economies post WWII to prevent the spread of communism and links to the domino theory and the USA’s policy of containment
The Soviet Creation of the Atomic Bomb 1949
By sucsessfully creating and testing the atomic bomb the Soviets were on ‘equal footing’ with the USA in terms of the arms race
Chinease revolution 1949
The chinease revolution under Mao Zendong meant that there was a growing communist threat in the east for the Americans
Comecon formed 1949
Comecon was formed by the USSR to rival the marshal plan, however did not have the funds to assist one and other
NATO 1949 (north atlantic treaty organisation)
NATO was an alliances formed between the countries particularly from the west whereby the members all agree to defend one an other if they come under attack
The Berlin Blockade 1948-49 - Development
Starlin as worried that West Berlin may invade the east, also did not like seeing a prosperous west Berlin next to a poor east Berlin
The Berlin Blockade 1948-49 - Soviet action
Two million people lived in the soviet zone but not under soviet control, therefore Starlin had all road and rail links blockaded
The Berlin Blockade 1948-49 - Crisis
Stalin hoped the allies would abandon their zone, however they could not otherwise Starlin may make more demands and could not break through as it would be seen as an act of war
The Berlin Blockade 1948-49 - Decision
The allies dropped supplies by plane, these could not be shot down as Starlin would be seen as the agressor
The ban on commusnists from gaining a US passport 1950
Legislation was put in place to prevent communists from gaining US citizenship as they were seen as a foreign threat
The Korean War 1950-53
North korea invades South korea (Russia invades America) across the 38th parallel, Russian soldiers and chinease ‘voulonteers’ vs Americans, 30000 dead americans
UN Korean War Talks 1950
Starlin was not present after leaving the UN out of protest due to the fact china was not allowed in meaning Truman could take a stong anti-communist stand without political backlash
The USA and USSR develpment of the H-bomb in 1951 and 53
No real development can be made
The Warsaw Pact of 1955
The Warsaw Pact was very much a retaliation from eastern europe opposing NATO in the west
Cuban Revolution 1959
Castro replaces Batista (a corrupt govorner who kept American companies happy) and signed a tade agreement with the USSR swapping sugar for machinery/oil/aid, annoying the americans and causing them to break of diplomatic relations in 1961 after banning all trade in 1960
The Bay of pigs 1961
1400 Cuban exiles were trained by the CIA to cause an uprising so the USA could use a puppet dictator again but faced 20,000 soldiers and were captured or killed
Berlin Wall 1961
Built by khrushchev to divide east/west berlin and prevent people leaving the east, 5000 tried, 600 were shot while trying to do so
USSR Sends Arms to Cuba 1961
Cuba had lost all support from the USA so was pushed towards the USSR meaning they could send arms there to help Cuba and as a threat to the US since they had missiles in Turkey
My Lai 1968
About 350 unarmed civilians killed caused a growing anti-war movement in the US
Tet Offensive 1968
The Vietcong staged a major assault during an a agreed cease fire, taking many towns and important building however most were lost over the following few days
End of the vietnam war 1973
Nixon used vietnamisation and the madman theory (used in paris with talks with ho chi min) to end the war in vietnam because of the huge loss of life and the anti-war protest in the US
