The Cold War And Rise Of The Superpowers Flashcards
What policy did the USA use against the spread of communism.
Containment
What was the iron curtain
The imaginary line splitting Europe into the communist east and capitalist west
What were the McCarty trials
Trials to find communists in the USA
Why was the Berlin Wall built
To prevent the educated people from East Germany from moving to the more prosperous West Germany.
What was détente
The ‘thaw’ of the Cold War, after the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Explain Superpowers
The USA and USSR as they were more powerful than other countries
Explain Cold War
Period of Hostility between the USA and USSR which began after WW2
Name three causes of the cold war
Political differences between USA and USSR
Iron Curtain in Europe
Truman Doctrine
Describe how Political differences between USA and USSR triggered the Cold war
Usa believed in democracy and capitalism while The Soviet Union believed in dictatorship and communism
What was the truman doctrine?
President Truman promised military aid to any country resisting communism, became the basis of containment
How was Germany split after WW2
Into four zones controlled by USA, France, Britain and the Soviet Union.
How was East Germany’s economy dealt with and how was it governed
Soviet Union took reparations from their part of Germany and it was harshly governed. The economy struggled after the war.
Explain why Stalin introduced the Berlin blockade
Ordered a blockade, cutting off road,rail and canal links to the west Berlin to drive the Allies out of Berlin.
Explain Berlin Airlift
USA and it’s Allies flew supplies into West Berlin
What two events worried the USA in 1949
Soviets tested their first atomic bomb developing an arms race
China became communist under Mao Tse Tung
How was Korea divided after Japan was defeated in WW2
Divided along the 38th parallel
North Korea controlled by the USSR
South Korea controlled by the USA
No agreement could be reached on reuniting the two parts.
Describe invasion of South Korea 1950
Pressure was put on Stalin to approve the attack which he did.
North Korea invaded the south taking control of the country except for city of Pusan
How did the USA fight back in South Korea
Containment still strong in US
UN armies from multiple countries and America helped the South Koreans and pushed the North Koreans back while led by Douglas MacArthur
Explain how China began to fight in Korean war
Joined when American troops took over North Korea and approached border with China. Troops attacked driving UN forces back
Why was Mac Arthur fired during the Korean War
He wanted to attack communist China and proposed using an atomic bomb
What year did the Korean War end
1953
Describe how a ceasefire was agreed
War dragged on both sides not advancing.
Stalin wanted to continue war to drain American resources
Khrushchev replaced Stalin as President and agreed a ceasefire was agreed with American president Truman.
Describe the development of the arms race in the 1950s
Both sides developed long range missiles
Explain how the berlin wall came about
1961 Khrushchev and J. F. kennedy had a bad meeting
Khrushchev wanted to unite berlin and force Allies out
Soviets then built the wall when J. F. Kennedy refused to stop migration from east to west
Explain how Cuba became communist
Fidel Castro came to power. The USA invaded (Bay of Pigs invasion) but failed to overthrow Castro
Explain how Cuba and The Soviet Union made good relations in trade
Soviet Union bought Cuban sugar after USA banned trade with the communist country
Explain the placing of missiles on Cuba
Khrushchev wanted to protect ally close to the USA from attack
Installed secret missiles on Cuba to even arms race
Soviet propaganda boasted that there were hundreds of long range missiles in Cuba but this was not true
How did the USA find the secret missiles
U2 spy planes spotted missile bases on cuba and nearly all american cities were in range of these missiles
What was J. F. Kennedy’s reaction to the missiles and explain his decisions
He did not want to alert the USSR he knew about the missiles
Called a committee meeting where he was advised to invade Cuba
Decided to blockade Cuba to prevent war
22nd October publicly announced quarantine on Cuba and threatened USSR with war if missiles were fired
How was the agreement negotiated after Kennedy announced the blockade of Cuba
Both sides wanted to avoid war
Kennedy’s brother Robert negotiated with USSR
Agreement reached between the two countries preventing war
What did the agreement ending the Cuban Missile crisis state
Agreed to withdraw missiles from Cuba if the USA did not invade Cuba
USA also agreed to withdraw missiles from turkey
What were the effects of the Cuban missiles crisis
Both sides agreed to cooperate to prevent nuclear war
A hotline was set up from USA and USSR to improve communication
Both countries signed the Nuclear test ban treaty
When was berlin wall brought down
1989
