The development of the Cold War

Question 1

Why did the Soviets want to expand

Answer 1

1. Memory of what happened 1918-39- most eastern European countries had been hostile to the Soviet Union. Poland had signed a non-aggression pact with France and, during the Second World War, Hungary and Romania fought on the side of Germany, against the Soviet Union.
2. Strategic importance of Poland
3. Percentages agreement- Stalin believed that Churchill was accepting the influence of the Soviet Union in eastern Europe.
4. The Soviet Union had been invaded from the west by
   Germany on two occasions, in 1914 and 1941, and had
   suffered huge casualties during the ensuing world wars. - wanted to create buffer zones

Question 2

Describe the process of salami slicing

Answer 2

1. Coalition governments were set up in which the
   communists shared power with other political parties.
2. Backed by Stalin, the communists took over the civil
   service, media, security and defence.
3. Opposition leaders were arrested or forced to flee.
4. Elections were held, but were fixed to ensure support for the communists.e.g 80% of vote in Poland in 1947 went to CP. 98% of vote in Romania in 1948
   But in Hungary- CP won only 17%- not planned
5. ‘People’s democracies’ were set up.

Question 3

Give 3 examples of where Soviets took control of European countries

Answer 3

1. Poland (1947)- A coalition government was set up in 1945, but Stalin arrested all the non-Communist leaders in 1945 and other non-communists were forced into exile. Became communist country in 1947
2. Czechoslovakia (1945-48)- A left-wing coalition elected in 1945. In 1948 the communists banned all other parties and killed their leaders.
3. Romania (1945-47)- A left-wing coalition was elected in 1945, communists gradually took over control

Question 4

Stalin’s takeover of Eastern Europe was planned Expansionist and due to a desire to spread communist ideology. HFDYA

Answer 4

For:
1. Rigged elections- 98% of vote in Romania for CP in 1948
2. Salami tactics- were seen many times in the same pattern
Against:
1. In Hungary free elections took place CP only gained 17% of vote
2. Not trying to spread communist ideology- just wanted to create sphere of influence for security and so he could access food- Romania and Bulgaria gave access to the sea
3. Still concerned about relations with West- stopped Tito in Yugoslavia despite being communist

Question 5

Impact of Soviet expansionsism on Cold War tensions

Answer 5

1. Britain and the USA were alarmed by Stalin’s actions in eastern Europe.
2. Roosevelt and Churchill had agreed that eastern Europe should be a ‘Soviet sphere of influence’ and that Stalin would heavily influence the region- BUT thought democratically elected governments which would have also remained friendly to the Soviet Union could have been set up
3. US President Truman saw this as a blatant attempt by Stalin to spread communism throughout Europe.

Question 6

What was Churchill’s iron curtain speech and it’s effects

Answer 6

1. March 1946
2. Churchill- no longer Prime Minister- made speech in a small town (Fulton) in USA.
3. Churchill suggested an alliance between the USA and Britain to prevent further Soviet expansion and called for firmer action against the threat of communism.
4. The speech further worsened relations between the two sides in the Cold War with Stalin seeing it as deliberately provocative.

Question 7

What was Kennan’s Long Telegram and it’s effects

Answer 7

1. Feb 1946
2. Kennan was deputy head of the mission in Moscow for USA
3. He sent a long telegram to secretary of state outlining a new strategy for diplomatic relations
4. It said that Russia will do anything to keep the Soviet Union secure. They won’t feel safe until the the Western powers have been destroyed.
5. He believed Soviet expansionism needed to be contained through a policy of “strong resistance”
6. Led to policy of containment and solidified Truman’s hatred for communism

Question 8

What was the Truman Doctrine

Answer 8

1. 1947
2. In response to the withdrawal of financial aid to Greece and Turkey by Britain
3. Truman began a US policy of containment to stop the spread of communism
4. Truman would support any anti-communist government.
5. USA had rejected isolationism and announced it would play a leading role in world politics.

Question 9

What was Marshall Aid

Answer 9

1. 1947 to back up Truman Doctrine
2. Give money to Europe to provide them with their own resources to defend themselves.
   Aims were to:
3. Raise living standards in the west to reduce the appeal of communism.
4. To rebuild Germany
5. To weaken Soviet control over Eastern Europe
6. To help the US economy by increasing US exports to Europe.
7. By 1953 the USA had provided $17 billion to Europe to help rebuild their economies- quite successful- Between 1948-1952 industrial production in Western Europe increased by 25%.

Question 10

What was the effect of Marshall Aid and the Truman Doctrine

Answer 10

1. Stalin though it was ‘Dollar Imperialism’
2. He saw it as an attempt of Americanisation in Europe
3. He refused to accept any economic aid and stopped any Eastern bloc country applying for it.
4. Resulted in Cominform and Comecon being set up by Soviet Union

Question 11

What was Cominform

Answer 11

1. 1947
2. It was a organisation set up to represent Communist Parties all across Europe and bring them under the direction of the USSR.
3. Cominform consolidated the power of the USSR through Eastern Europe by stamping out the opposition.

Question 12

What was Comecon

Answer 12

1. Jan 1949
2. An organisation established to facilitate and coordinate the economic development of the eastern European countries belonging to the Soviet bloc- An economic bloc of countries in Eastern Europe.
3. In response to Marshall Aid but not as successful.

Question 13

What was impact of comecon and cominform

Answer 13

1. Increase in tensions
2. Clearer divisions
3. Two opposing sides

Question 14

What caused the Berlin Blockade

Answer 14

1. 1947 Britain and American zones merged to form Bizonia- Stalin believed this was the start of the creation of a new west German state.- It contained 75% of Germany’s population and most of its industry, whereas the Russian zone was more agricultural.
2. Marshall Aid
3. In June 1948 , America and Britain announced that they wanted to create the new country of West Germany; and then introduced a new currency without consulting USSR

Question 15

Describe the events of the Berlin Blockade

Answer 15

1. Lasted 11 months from 1948-49
2. Stalin cut off all transport links to West Berlin
3. The West responded with a massive airlift- food, fuel and supplies were flown into Berlin.
4. Stalin wouldn’t shoot down any planes - it would be an act of war
5. Stalin called of the blockade in spring 1949

Question 16

What were the results of the Berlin Blockade

Answer 16

1. The Berlin blockade resulted in the division of Germany
2. Also resulted in the formation of NATO
3. Increased tensions and suspicions of Russia by the West- shows extent Russia would go to

Question 17

Describe the creation of West Germany

Answer 17

1. May 1949
2. The three western zones including West Berlin, became the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany), with its own democratically elected government.

Question 18

Describe the creation of East Germany

Answer 18

1. October 1949
2. The USSR responded to the formation of the FRG by turning its zone into the German Democratic Republic (East Germany), which had a communist government.

Question 19

Describe the formation of NATO

Answer 19

1. April 1949
2. The Western allies formed the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation
3. NATO members: USA, Canada, Britain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Iceland, Luxembourg, Italy, Norway, Denmark and Portugal
4. All NATO members agreed to go to war if any one of them was attacked.
5. In 1952 Greece and Turkey joined and in 1955 West Germany joined.

Question 20

Describe the impact of NATO

Answer 20

1. The alliance was supported with large numbers of troops on the ground- permanent presence of American forces in Europe. In particular there were large numbers of NATO forces in West Germany.
2. The Soviet Union felt threatened by this, which
   increased when West Germany joined NATO in 1955.
3. It resulted in the formation of the Warsaw pact

Question 21

Describe the Warsaw pact

Answer 21

1. May 1955
2. In response FRG joining NATO and the rearmament of West Germany
3. Eight nations and their military headed by the Soviet Union.
4. Agreement that they would help each other if one was invaded
5. Europe was now divided economically, politically and militarily into two armed gangs of hostile opponents.

Question 22

Describe events of Berlin uprising

Answer 22

1. 1953
2. Workers uprising in East Germany, where workers protested against increasing work quotas and a decrease in the standard of living
3. Showed discontent of people living there- not as much of an impact on global level of Cold war
4. Other similar events in Poland and Hungary held more significance- threatened Soviet power more directly- Poland gained concessions because of this

Question 23

Describe the impact of Stalin’s death

Answer 23

1. Khrushchev moves towards peaceful co-existence and de-stalinisation
2. Better relations with West
3. Eisenhower’s New Look policy

Question 24

What is Eisenhower’s New Look policy

Answer 24

1. New Look at foreign policy proposed the use of nuclear weapons and new technology rather than ground troops and conventional bombs, all in an effort to threaten “massive retaliation” against the USSR for Communist advances abroad.
2. This was cheaper and a detterent- MAD

Question 25

State events in arms race from 1945-1957

Answer 25

1. 1945- USA tests and drops 1st A bomb
2. 1949- USSR tests A bomb
3. 1952- USA tests H bomb
4. 1953- USSR tests L bomb
5. 1954- USA tests L bomb
6. 1957- CIA Gaither Report confirms USSR had more advances military tech than USA- missile gap

Question 26

Describe impact of arms race

Answer 26

1. This is what the Cold War centralises around and what changes it from any other political dispute.
2. Increased tensions- scared of nuclear war

Question 27

What was the Barach Plan

Answer 27

1. 1946

2. UN to control nuclear weapons- but it failed