the development of the cold war 1946-1955

Question 1

churchills iron curtain speech

Answer 1

made in fulton missouri
March 1946
called for an alliance between britain and america
not affiliated with Attlee, Truman had read the speech before and it was essentially getting him to do his job for him because he couldnt speak out against USSR because of Congress.
caused bad relations as it angered stalin

Question 2

what was trumans iron fist approach

Answer 2

tougher approach to the USSR, first adopted by roosevelt

Question 3

the Truman doctrine

Answer 3

march 1947
Truman condemned Communism and advocated Capitalism and he said that they would provide aid to anyone who needed it in Europe. Partly due to the fact that Britain couldn’t afford to provide aid anymore (couldn’t provide aid to Greece or Turkey)
civil war in Greece began in 1946

Made a speech noting the two different ways of life ‘will of majority’ against ‘will of a minority’

doctrine of containment established which countries where in the usa/uk sphere and which were in the soviet

Question 4

Marshall Aid

Answer 4

poor harvest in 1946-7 and a harsh winter- lack of coal
since 1945 American had been giving money to westerner europe to prevent famine and economic collapse. negotiations began including turkey and Greece. the eastern states were invited but stopped from going by Stalin.

Question 5

comecon

Answer 5

council for mutual economic assistance, founded in 1949 by USRR, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, poland, Romania and joined by the GDR in 1950.
agriculture collectivised, central economies established, five year plans for industrialisation, and development of heavy industry.

Question 6

Poland Soviet take over

Answer 6

1945: border moved, partisans (Lublin poles) wanted a pro Soviet agreement and Poland communists. London poles wanted a free/democratic Poland
provisional government of national unity set up to compromise and create the impression of peace
communists created an electoral bloc and Mikolajczyk former PM resigned
western states refused to intervene or send election monitors
1947: rigged elections 80% communists many London poles fled
Gomulka leader of communist party became leader

Question 7

Hungary Soviet takeover

Answer 7

free elections of 1945 communists only get 17%
hungary remained relatively free for another two years
1947 anti communists forces were weakened/arrested notably the smallholders party
1947 - communists still didnt have a majority in the election showing a more hardline approach was needed
1948 - communist/social parties were forced to merge
1949 - rigged elections and Rakoski became hard line, he was supported by the ruthless secret police, only communist/hungarian peoples independance front were allowed to stand

pressure and arrests - no direct violence

Question 8

czechoslovakia

Answer 8

revolution after war by socialists and communists, president BENES
1946 - communists won 38% of vote
1947 run by coalition of communists and non (communist leader was GOTTWALD)
turning point was marshall aid/ paris negotiations as Czechoslovakia was not allowed to go but they wanted to (caused some opposition)
1948 there was a communist coup before the election.

Question 9

Romania and Bulgaria Soviet takeover

Answer 9

priority after Poland, coalition governments set up dominated by communists. red army came in late 1944.
Romania
USSR appointed the PM , national peasent party banned and socialists pressured. monarchy abolished and king Michael abdicated. rigged elections new people’s republic ensured final takeover.

Bulgaria
originally opposition gained a third of the vote
Stalin took a more moderate approach and tried to create the impression of freedom - suggested that communist party turn into labour party
short term coalition but communists soon took over
rigged elections
Bulgaria essentially ignore by western states due to Greek civil war and soon a one party state was created

Question 10

Yugoslavia

Answer 10

expelled from Warsaw pact / cominform

Tito employed his own form of communism and acted as an opponent to Stalin (eg. attempted to form a block/governments with Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and Greece, had a more effective army)

the peoples front came into power
tried to expand yugoslavia eg. adriatic

proved that Stalin didn’t have absolutist control over Eastern Europe

Question 11

what was salami tactics

Answer 11

government in coalition, marginalisation and then outright opression of other parties, rigged elections. some things planned some organic.

Question 12

paris negotiations

Answer 12

between us, and 16 other European states
Molotov Russian minister attended but did not take aid as he thought it would undermine Soviet power and trade. Eastern states not allowed to attend

marked the beginning of a western bloc and provoked the beginning of cominform

negotiations did not go extremely well as Americans had planned due to lots of individual needs from states which differed to american economic plan and they couldn’t afford to give that much money

Question 13

france

Answer 13

general de gaulle
some communist support but was always going to join the western allies and bloc
1946 - socialist party came into power but not extreme (eg.accepted marshal aid and free trade

Question 14

berlin blockade and airlift

Answer 14

Jun 1948 – May 1949
USSR blocks all access into West Berlin
USA/UK provided around 2000 tonnes of food and supplies every day
lasted a year
showed USA’s commitment to the west/capitalism and rebuilding Germany
stalin not prepared to go to war - whole blockade had little positive effect on USSR

Question 15

creation of east and west germany / berlin

Answer 15

USSR wanted a centralised 4 power government and heavy reparations from Germany
West wanted economic unity (capitalism) and then political unity

split into 4 zones divided between USSR, Britain, France and USA
SPD very unpopular in West meaning USSR wouldn’t be able to gain democratic support

reparations owed

1946 -bizonia created between US and UK due to UK not being able to pay reparations, followed by Moscow conference which USSR rejected allowing US to build up Bizonia and create a west German state (disagreement over reparations)

conferences
1947 - moscow conference (reparations/bizonia)
1947 - london conference of foreign ministers, clear division of governments and turning point
1947 - introduction of deutschmark/Ostmark, and measures to stop an aggressive germany emerging
1948 - 49 berlin blockade
1949 September - FRG (adenauer) and GDR created

Question 16

ways in which the USSR attempted to stop the division of Germany

Answer 16

march 1948 - SED set up German’s people council and creation of a constitution
1948 -49 berlin blockade
KPD ran in West German elections

Question 17

NATO

Answer 17

August 1949
reaction to berlin blockade and prague coup
‘continuous and effective self help and mutual aid’
US, UK, France, Canada, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Italy, Portugal

Question 18

ways in which the USSR attempted to stop the division of Germany

Answer 18

march 1948 - SED set up German’s people council and creation of a constitution
1948 -49 berlin blockade
KPD ran in West German elections
Comecon / Warsaw pact
1949 - the world peace movement (failed)
1952 - stalin proposed free elections in Germany and a non-aligned Germany (Nato/EDC)

Question 19

NATO

Answer 19

August 1949
reaction to berlin blockade and prague coup
‘continuous and effective self help and mutual aid’
US, UK, France, Canada, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Italy, Portugal
defence spending increased from 4.4$ billion in 1949 to 8$ billion in 1951

Question 20

German rearmament

Answer 20

some attempts to create a supranational army (EDC, European Defence Committee) with control over German troops - unpopular, especially with France
1952 - signing of The General Treaty

Question 21

Greece

Answer 21

USSR, Yugoslavia (Tito), and Britain all interested in controlling/helping Greece

ELAS - Communist forces threatened to take over
Stalin adopted a moderatist approach and did not intervene in stopping the civil war, however later in 1946 when more fighting broke out he used eastern europe troops to try and stop the fighting

Britain could not afford to keep troops in Greece to stop communist uprising which partly caused the Truman doctrine, Truman directly helped British troops by providing aid through Marshall plan

Question 22

warsaw pact

Answer 22

1955

defensive treaty stating all countries would defend each other in case of attack. Created in response to GDR joining NATO, Stalin accepting that a united Germany probably wasn’t going to happen

GDR joined in 1956

Question 23

To what extent was Europe divided into two mutually hostile blocs by 1950?

Answer 23

Defensively both sides had already placed nuclear weapons in Europe and established clear spheres of interest, they wanted to establish safety for their countries which inevitably turned into two mutually hostile blocs

Stalin adopted a more attacking / salami tactic approach to Europe which meant that the West had to respond defensively creating mutually hostile blocs – the west promoted free trade/capitalism aka not hostile

Relationships between actual countries were not hostile and it was merely centralist control from USSR therefore it cannot said to be mutually hostile blocs

Question 24

The policies of the Soviet Union were the most important in the division of Germany, HFDYA?

Answer 24

USSR too focused on economical measures which the West exploited to their advantage in dividing Germany, therefore it was the West’s policies which caused the division as they were more offensive

USSR/Stalin did not want to divide Germany as he wanted a four power government and unification of Germany

On the other hand, they did succumb to some of the measures instigated by the West and took defensive measures in response which did help the division between the west/east

Question 25

conferences post war

Answer 25

moscow conference of foreign ministers, 1945, debating mutual control of nuclear weapons, soviets tried to destroy bizonia

paris peace treaties with italy and minor axis powers 1945-7 - lasted a year. peace treaties and ACCs

paris negotiations after announcement of marshall aid, 1947, uk, france, ussr

london conference of foreign ministers 1947, debating germany and four power control - failed