The Origins of the Cold War (1941-1958) Flashcards
Which countries were in the Grand Alliance?
The USA, USSR (Soviet Union) and the UK
They were known as the big three
Who were the leaders of the big three at the Tehran and Yalta Conferences?
Joseph Stalin (USSR) Franklin Roosevelt (USA) Winston Churchill (UK)
Who were the leaders of the big three at the Potsdam Conference?
Joseph Stalin (USSR) Harry Truman (USA) Clement Attlee (UK)
What date was the Tehran conference?
1943
What was agreed on at the Tehran conference?
The USSR would join the war against Japan when Germany was defeated.
That Germany needed to defeated and weakened after the war.
That Poland would receive land from Germany
That an international body would be set up after the war
What was disagreed about at the Tehran conference?
The location of the second front. Churchill wanted to invade the Balkans to protect Eastern Europe from the USSR after the war. Stalin and Roosevelt wanted to attack through France.
When was the Yalta conference?
February 1945
What was agreed on at the Yalta conference?
To divide Berlin and Germany into 4 zones
To punish Nazi war criminals
To allow free elections in countries liberated from Nazi control
To set up the United Nations
What was disagreed on at Yalta?
Stalin wanted a much higher amount of reparations from Germany
Stalin wanted the Polish border to be further West and to be able to put a friendly government in charge (one he could control)
When was the Potsdam conference?
May 1945 (after Germany had surrendered)
What was agreed on at Potsdam?
That Germany would pay reparations with equipment and materials
That the Polish border would be moved further West
That Germany and Berlin would be split into 4 zones
That Germany would be ‘De-Nazified’
What was disagreed on at Potsdam?
Stalin wanted to weaken Germany through high reparations, Truman (USA) wanted a strong Germany to help defend Europe from the USSR.
The UK and USA wanted free elections in all Eastern European countries occupied by the USSR, the Soviet Union did not.
What caused tension between the USA and USSR between Yalta and Potsdam?
Truman replaced Roosevelt and was far more anti-communist.
The USA had tested the Atomic Bomb which Stalin thought had been done to try and threaten the USSR.
What was the name of the speech made by Winston Churchill in 1946?
The Iron Curtain speech
What was the message of the Iron Curtain speech?
That Europe had been divided in two by the actions of the Soviet Union
How did Stalin react to the Iron Curtain speech?
He believed it was a declaration war and the start of a struggle between communism and capitalism
What was the name of the countries whose governments were controlled by the USSR?
The satellite states
What was the Truman Doctrine?
The policy of ‘containment’ where the USA would provide countries threatened by communism with aid.
This could be money, weapons or soldiers.
What was the Marshal Plan?
$15 billion in loans given to rebuild Europe after WW2.
The USA believed that poorer countries were more likely to become communist.
How did Stalin react to the Marshal Plan?
He felt threatened and called it dollar imperialism. He ordered the satellite states not to accept any of the money.
What was COMECON?
Council for Mutual Economic Assistance
An organisation that helped to organise trade and economic cooperation in Eastern Europe and the USSR
What was COMINFORM?
The Information Bureau of the Communist and Workers’ Parties
A organisation that coordinated the Communist Parties across Europe. It helped to control the satellite states and Stalin hoped it would cause disruption in Western Europe.
What caused the first Berlin crisis (1948)?
Stalin blocked road and rail access to Berlin stopping supplies from reaching the city, he hoped this would force the USA to leave. This was called the Berlin Blockade.
How did the USA solve the Berlin blockade?
By flying supplies into Berlin in what became known as the Berlin Airlift. By 1949 they were transporting 12,000 tonnes of supplies into Berlin 3 times more than Berlin needed.
What was the result of the Berlin crisis?
By 1949 Stalin lifted the blockade as he realised he was unable to starve the city into submission.
The USA looked strong because it had protected Berlin.
Why could the USSR not shoot down the planes taking supplies into Berlin?
Because it could start a war and they did not have an atomic bomb.
Truman moved B25 bombers (that could carry an atomic bomb) to Britain to threaten the USSR.
What was the arms race?
Competition between the USA and USSR to build the most powerful weapons.
This included atomic, hydrogen and later nuclear bombs and missiles
What does MAD stand for and mean?
Mutually Assured Destruction
The idea that both sides during the Cold War had the ability to destroy each other in the event of a nuclear war.
What was NATO?
The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation
A military alliance created to defend Europe from the USSR
What was the Warsaw Pact?
A military alliance between the USSR and Eastern Europe to defend themselves from NATO.
When was the Hungarian Uprising?
1956
Why was the USSR and communism unpopular in Hungary?
They had been forced to pay $300 million in reparations
In 1947 any opposition politicians had been arrested
The communist leader Rakosi used terror and brutality to control the country (1948-53 2,000 people were killed and 200,000 put in prison)
Who was Imre Nagy?
A moderate politician who replaced Rakosi in 1953. Khrushchev ordered Rakosi to replace him in 1955
What happened in the Hungarian Uprising?
Hungarians began to protest about their lack of political freedom, food shortages and fuel shortages.
There were riots in Budapest
Stalins statue was pulled down and dragged through the streets.
How did Khrushchev respond to the rioting in 1956?
He ordered Nagy be reinstated as leader of Hungary
What did Nagy want to change in Hungary when he was reappointed as leader?
Free trade with Western Europe
Freedom of speech
Hungary to leave the Warsaw Pact
How did Khrushchev react to the changes proposed by Nagy?
He sent 200,000 troops and 600 tanks into Hungary to crush the uprising.
Fighting lasted until 1947 and 20,000 Hungarians were killed in the fighting.
What were the consequences of the Hungarian Uprising?
Nagy was executed.
200,000 people fled as political refugees
Other satellite states would be intimidated and remain in the Warsaw Pact and under Soviet control
How did the USA appear because of the Hungarian Uprising?
Weak because they failed to help Hungary to resist against the attack by the USSR.
