The Origins Of The Cold War Flashcards
When was the Yalta conference?
February 1945
Who were the ‘big three’ ?
.Joseph Stalin-USSR,
.Franklin D. Roosevelt-USA,
.Winston Churchill-UK.
What did the ‘big three’ discuss at Yalta?
.Eastern Europe would become the Soviets ‘sphere of influence’.
.Germany and Berlin would be divided into four zones: Uk,USA,USSR & France.
.Liberated Eastern Europe countries would hold free elections.
When was the Potsdam conference held?
July & August 1945
Who attended Potsdam?
.Joseph Stalin-USSR,
.Harry Truman-USA,
.Clement Attlee-UK.
Why was tension increased at Potsdam?
.Due to Germany surrendering,the leaders no longer had a common enemy.
.Harry Truman was more suspicious of the USSR,due to his hatred of communism.
Where and when did the US drop two atom bombs?
Hiroshima-6th August 1945
Nagasaki-9th August 1945
How many years was USA the only country to have nuclear weapons?
Four
What was the red army and what did they do?
The red army was the USSR’s army who had liberated Poland from Nazi rule causing a soviet-friendly, communist government to be set up there.
Why were increased tensions between the USA and USSR called the ‘Cold War’ ?
There was no direct fighting because,both sides were afraid of another war.
What did Churchills iron curtain speech demonstrate?
That Britain and the US now viewed the USSR as a threat not an ally.
How did the USSR become influential in Eastern Europe?
Stalin installed pro-soviet ‘puppet’ governments in countries such as Poland,Hungary,Romania,Bulgaria and Czechoslovakia.
What was the Truman doctrine?
.Where the USA pledged to support and nation threatened by a communist takeover,
.The USA believed it was there duty to help those who were facing pressure from communist forces,and that intervention was the only way to maintain both world peace and American security.
When was the Truman Doctrine announced?
March 1947
When was the Marshall plan announced?
June 1947
What was the Marshall plan?
.The Marshall plan promised $17 billion of aid to European countries to help rebuild their economies,
.Countries receiving aid were expected to co-operate with the USA and to import American goods.
What is ’Dollar imperialism’ ?
Using financial aid to gain power and influence.
(What the soviets accused the USA of doing to Europe)
What is cominform?
(Communist Information Bureau) was set up in 1947.
The organisation brought together all European communist parties and placed them under the control of the USSR.
What is Comecon?
(The council for Mutual Economic Assistance) was established in January 1949.
It placed industry and agriculture under state control.
Stalin also offered satellite states economic aid as an alternative to the Marshall plan.
How did Yugoslavia challenge Soviet domination?
It had freed itself from the nazis without the red army,so owed less loyalty to the USSR.
Yugoslavia was communist but more open to the west and its leader,Tito,often refused to obey Stalin.
What was the Berlin blockade?
Stalins decision that in June 1948,he would cut off all road,rail and canal links to West Berlin in hopes to force the west to withdraw from Berlin.
What was the Berlin airlift and how long did it last?
The Berlin airlift was the West’s response to the Berlin blockade.
It lasted for 318 days and by 1949,8000 tons of supplies were being flown in every day.
