The Emergence of a 'Superpower' Flashcards
what was the aim of Stalin before 1941
he had not wanted the USSR to be a superpower, Stalin’s main ambition was for the Soviet Union to be left alone, allowing for the transformation of the Soviet Economy to be completed
what was built up during the war
avast new military-industrial war machine was built up
what happened to the military of the USSR during the war
by May 1945, the armed forces of the USSR consisted of 7.5 million well-equipped troops and the USSR had increased its territory, by absorbing the Baltic States and large areas of eastern Poland.
what did the red army retain control of
many of the states in east-central Europe it had liberated (such as Romania, Hungary and Poland)
who was the USSR poised to dominate the post-war world alongside
the American superpower
where was the soviet superpower reflected
in the diplomacy of the grand alliance between the USSR, Britain and the US
where was the first summit of the grand alliance
in Tehran in November 1943
who met Stalin in Moscow in October 1944
Churchill
when did the big three meet and where
at Yalta in February 1945
where did the big three meet in July 1945
Potsdam, after Germany, had been defeated but while the war in the far East was still continuing. By this stage, it was becoming clear that Britain, exhausted and bankrupted by the war, was an empire in decline and would be overshadowed by the superpowers
what did the US do in 1945
it revealed it had developed an atomic bomb, and this was used to end the war against Japan.
what was the issue with the US developing the atomic bomb
it was an obvious disadvantage in the power stakes and Stalin placed Beria in charge of accelerating the development of a Soviet atomic bomb.
what did Beria do to the atomic bomb project
he committed huge resources to the project and the first successful test was in August 1949
what did possession of nuclear weapons do for the Soviet Union
it finally confirmed the Soviet Union’s superpower status.
what did the Soviet Union become in 1945
one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council
