The Cold War - Paper 1 Flashcards
When was the Tehran conference ?
Novemeber - december 1943
When was the Yalta conference
Febuary 1945
When was the potsdam conference ?
July - august 1945
What was agreed in the Tehran conference ?
- Agreed about the spheres of influence ( USSR in east europe , US and Britian in western europe
- western allies agreed to launch an attack on germany from the west (D-Day)
What was the tension increase in the Tehran conference ?
- disagreed about germanys future
- stalin wanted reparations from germany but Roosevelt and Churchill wanted to rebuild germany
What was the 4 things agreed at the yalta conference ?
- Russia would help defeat Japan with the US
- work for ‘democracy’ in europe
- set up UN
- USSR sphere of influence in eastern europe
What was the tension increase in the yalta conference ?
- They disagreed about what it was meant by ‘democracy’
- Roosevelt had a good relationship with stalin - after his death Harry Truman was less willing to compromise
What was agreed at the Postsdam conference ?
- Ban Nazi party and prosecute war criminals
- reduce the size of germany
- divide germany and berlin into 4 zones (USSR,Britian,France and US)
What was a tension increase at potsdam conference ?
- reperarions on germany
- USA had the atomic bomb
What are the 4 features of the ‘iron curtain’ speech ? 5th March 1946
- churchill mentions increase in control from moscow . Implying stalin wants to control europe
- The use of the term ‘iron curtain’ implies that stalin wants to create division between the capitalist west and the communist east
- the speech implies that stalin is a threat to much of europe , not just britian
- he wanted US support to stop communism from spreading further
When was the iron curtain speech ?
5th March 1946
What was the key features of the Truman doctrine ?
- America should help other countries resist communist takeover with economic resorces and troops if necessary
- moved away from isolationism
- displayed that the grand allience was finnished
- Truman said that they should contain communism which becomes centeral to american foreign policy in post-war years
What was the Marshall plan ?
13 billion USD to help rebuild post-war europe
What did the marshall plan hope to achieve ?
- Help europe recover
- make communism less attractive
- Help US economy as countries had to agree to trade with america
What was the impact of the marshall plan ?
- USSR was furious at US attempt to split europe
- stalin insisted for eastern european countries should refuse it
- makes the division of europe even bigger
When was cominform introduced ?
1947
What was the aims of Cominform ?
- To control communist parties and ensure loyalty of eastern european governments
- removed ‘disloyal’ government members
What was the effects of cominform ?
Consolidated the power of the USSR by stamping out opposition sometimes with violence
When was comecon introduced ?
1949
What was the aims of comecon ?
To encourage economic development of eastern europe (stalins answer to the marshall plan )
What was the effects of comecon ?
Political and economic division of europe was cemented
Why had the refugee issue in berlin become such a problem for the USSR by 1957 ?
-The berlin crisis
-the flow of refugees was humiliating for the USSR
-many were skilled workers ,important to the economy
What were the 4 summit meetings over the berlin crisis ?
Geneva 1959
Camp david 1959
Paris 1960
Vienna 1961
What was the result of geneva 1959 ?
No real agreements but arrangements made for krushcev to visit the US
What was the results of camp david 1959 ?
No solution but agreed further summit meetings
-khruschev withdraws from ultimatum (6 montsh for them to remove there troops / make it demiliteralized from west berlin )
What was the results of paris 1960 ?
A disaster. Khrushchev storms out after eisenhower refused to apologise about the u2 spy plane incident
What was the result of vienna 1961 ?
Neither side backed down , khrushcev tries to exploit kennedys inexperience and repeats 6 month ultimatum
When was the berlin wall constructed ?
During the night on 12th august 1961 the east german government surrounded berlin with barbed wire closing the border.
On 15th August 1961 the construction began
When did the berlin wall fall ?
November 1989 and during the time more than 300 people died trying to cross it
How was the berlin wall a success for khrushchev ?
- it stopped the refugee problem
- it allowed krushchev to avoid war whilst appearing strong
How was the berlin wall a failure for khrushchev ?
Khrushchev had been unable to force the west out of west berlin
- humiliating that the soviets had to build a wall to keep the people of east germany in
How was the berlin wall a success for kennedy ?
- It avoided a war
- khrushchev had admitted he was not able to force the west out of berlin
- it was a propaganda victory for the west
How was the berlin wall a failure for kennedy ?
- west berlin was now encircled by a wall which limited their freedom and america had not done anything to stop this from being bulit
What were the 5 consequences of the cuban missile crisis ?
- Hotline set up - communication between two sides made easier
- Limited test ban treaty - all overground nuclear tests banned
- Khrushchevs authority affected - eventually replaced in 1964
- USSR more determined to catch up in the arms race
- Theory of MAD widely accepted ( each power had enough arms to destroy eachother)
Brief explanation of the causes of the invasion of czechoslovakia ?
- antonin novotny was unpopular , poor living standards , secret police was feared , no political opposition
- then replaced by alexandre dubcek - he wanted to make a popular form of communism ‘socialism with a human face ‘ , opposition grew and some aspects of capitalism was allowed.
- ordered invasion of czechoslovakia
What was the Brezhnev doctrine ?
USSR will invade any eastern european country if the security of eastern bloc is threatened
What were the results of the czech invasion ?
- further evidence of unpopularity of soviet style control
- showed soviet commitment to protecting eastern bloc
- condemned by US but no military help
- condemned by other communist parties showing its lost support
What was Helsinki 1975 ?
Three baskets - agreed greater co-operation in terms of :
1. European borders - improved security of country boundaries
2. International co-operation e.g economy and trade
3. Human rights - freedom of speech , religion
Stabilised their relationship in europe
Give me a timeline of what happened in afghanistan 1979 ?
April 1978 - pro-soviet government uder taraki came to power
September 1979 - government overthrown by amin - soviets on his side but suspect hes seeking US support
December 24th 1979 - soviets invade afghanistan claiming they were ‘invited’
December 27th 1979 - Amin assassinated and replaced by karmal
Reasons of soviet invasion , december 1979 ?
- extend influence in oil -rich middle east
- USSR didnt trust amin and feared muslim groups would take over
- feared that other soviet controlled muslim states would start to become independant
3 impacts of the soviet invasion of afghanistan ?
Salt 2 : carter withdraws from this agreement
Sanctions : US imposed economic sanctions on ussr trade ban
Impact of détente : detente was completely finnished
Mujahideen : US sends them funds and weapons
Why dis communism collapse in 1989 ?
Gorbachevs reforms ( glasnost and perestrokia ) led to increase desire for more change
When was the fall of the berlin wall ?
1989 - represented the fall of communsim
What finally signalled the end of the cold war ?
Gorbachev resigned and the soviet union collapsed in december 1991
