The Cold War Flashcards
What happened at the Yalta conference?
Roosevelt, Stalin and Churchill met to redraw the map of Europe. They agreed that European countries would have free elections and the three governments would assist with facilitating them, setting up temporary governments, establishing peace and providing emergency relief
How did Soviet and Ally perspectives on post WWII Germany differ?
The allies wanted Germany unified, while the Soviets wanted it weakened
What happened at the Potsdam conference?
Harry Truman, Stalin, Churchill and Clement Attlee (Churchill’s successor) met in Potsdam to discuss the restructuring of Germany, reparations and Economic division between communist and democratic countries. Russia and The Us agreed on ideas for geopolitical stability but not ideology.
What happened between Harry S. Truman and the Japanese at the Potsdam conference?
Truman warned the Japanese to surrender or face consequences, but they did not and a week later Hiroshima and Nagasaki were bombed
What is containment?
Attempts to thwart a country’s expansionism by means other than direct warfare
What did the Truman Doctrine of 1947 call on the US to do?
‘Support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or outside forces’. It attempted to slow Soviet expansionism without causing a hot war
What was the Marshall Plan?
A plan instated after the Truman Doctrine that provided $13 million from the US to aid the economic recovery of European countries. Recipients had to submit an economic assessment and participate in a united European economy (anti-Soviet ideals)
What was the Molotov Plan?
The Soviet response to the Marshall Plan: bilateral trade agreements that helped consolidate Soviet economies and solidify Soviet presence in Europe
What happened with the Berlin wall?
In June of 1949 Stalin blocked access from East Berlin to West Berlin to prevent Western ideals from reaching the communist east. The US responded by flying in supplies to West Berlin
What happened in the Hungarian revolution of 1956?
Hungarians revolted against the Stalinist government, gained power and formed a new government. Months later the Soviets regained power and used it to suggest the irreversibility of communism
What happened in Prague, Spring of 1968?
Alexander Dubcek came to power in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic advocating democratic values. Soviets launched talks in an attempt to reach an understanding, but the talks failed and Eastern Bloc armies from the Warsaw Pact countries invaded and occupied the CSSR
What is deterrence?
When countries build up military capacity to deter countries from entering wars with them
What is M.A.D?
Mutually assured destruction
How did Canada contribute to the cold war?
It contributed military to fighting communism in North Korea, cooperated with the US in building a united air defence system on the northern Canadian border and suggested the idea of peacekeeping to the UN
What was France’s dissuasion policy during the cold war?
It was a world leader in nuclear technology prior to WWII, but was excluded from the nuclear activities of France, Britain and Canada during the cold war because the French High Commissioner for Atomic Energy was a communist. In 1966 France withdrew military participation in NATO, and in the 1950s large amounts of Uranium were found in France, allowing them to develop nuclear weapons for deterrence reasons.
What is Brinkmanship?
The attempt to push a dangerous situation as far as possible without conceding anything to your opponent
What happed in Cuba leading up to the Cuban Missile Crisis?
Fulgencio Batista was a US-supported dictator who had taken power of Cuba by a coup, hoping to create a ‘Latin Las Vegas’. Fidel Castro led a socialist movement that eventually overthrew Batista’s government, introducing agrarian reforms, breaking up landholdings and redistributing land. The US was wary of socialism in Cuba and put up trade restrictions against it.
What happened in the Bay of Pigs Invasion?
The US had received over 1 million Cuban exiles and organized 1500 of them to take back the land. The fighting only lasted 2 days before they had to retreat. It strengthened Castro’s support and distrust in the US.
What happened in the Cuban Missile Crisis?
The Soviets provided Cuba aid, trade and military strength. When Kennedy learned of Soviet-supported missile bases being built in Cuba he ordered a blockade, and both countries rapidly began building up nuclear strength, bringing them close to MAD. Eventually, Kruschev removed Cuban missiles in exchange for the US agreeing not to invade Cuba
What was the Détente period?
A period of reduced tensions from the mid-1960s-1979 in which the Soviets wanted to limit spending on the arms race and the US wanted to spend less money supporting south Vietnam as they fought Soviet-supported North Vietnam in the war. To consolidate this, the superpower leaders met multiple times and took measures to decrease tensions. Things heated up again in the Reagan years.
Who were Julius and Ethel Rosenberg?
The first Americans executed for espionage in the US. Julius was an electrical engineer for the army signal corps and was eventually recruited by the KGB (secret soviet police).
What was the 1960 U-2 incident?
A scandal in which the US had gotten permission from the Pakistani government to fly surveillance missions over Soviet territory, but the Soviets shot down the plane and captured the pilot. The US publically announced it had been a weather surveillance aircraft, but the Soviets exposed the lie
What is a red scare?
Intense fear of communism and persecution of communists
What was McCarthyism?
A movement to uncover and persecute those with perceived ties to communism. Wisconson Republican senator Joseph McCarthy had made a series of accusations regarding communism having infiltrated the government, but the accusations were found untrue and he was reprimanded
