The Origins of the Cold War

Question 1

What was the Cold War?

Answer 1

.

Question 2

Which leaders met at the Yalta Conference, Feb 1945?

Answer 2

⋆Roosevelt (USA)
⋆Churchill(GB
⋆Stalin(USSR).

Question 3

When was the Yalta Conference?

Answer 3

Feb 1945.

Question 4

What was agreed at Yalta?

Answer 4

⋆Germany and Berlin would be divided into zones of occupation under control of USA, USSR, GB and FR.

⋆USSR would join the war against JAP.

⋆United Nations would be set up after WW1.

⋆Eastern European countries would hold free elections after the end of the war.

Question 5

What did the Allied leaders disagree on at Yalta?

Answer 5

Stalin wanted to move the border of Poland westwards into German territory- Roosevelt was unhappy but agreed since Stalin promised not to help communist rebels in Greece.

Question 6

How many USSR civilian and military deaths were there in WW2?

Answer 6

Over 21 Million, including over 13 million soldiers (the USA only lost 0.5 million soldiers).

Question 7

Which leaders met at the Potsdam conference?

Answer 7

⋆Truman(USA)
⋆Churchill(GB)- but he was replaced by Atlee.
⋆Stalin(USSR)

Question 8

When was the Potsdam conference?

Answer 8

July 1945.

Question 9

What was agreed on at Potsdam?

Answer 9

⋆Germany and Berlin would be divided as agreed at Yalta
⋆Poland’s eastern border would be moved west- this would give the USSR more territory.
⋆Nazi leaders to be tried as war criminals.

Question 10

What were the disagreements at Potsdam?

Answer 10

⋆Truman blocked Stalin’s demands for crippling reparations(fines) to be placed on Germany.

⋆Truman refused to allow the USSR to occupy Japan once it had been defeated.

⋆Truman and Atlee opposed Stalin’s demand that he set up a pro-Soviet government in Eastern Europe.

Question 11

Why was Potsdam less successful?

Answer 11

⋆Stalin’s troops remained in Eastern Europe- hopes of free elections seemed very distant now.

⋆Truman informed Stalin that the USA now possessed the atom bomb- Stalin feared that the USA might use this weapon in the future against the USSR.

⋆Truman had adopted a far more hardline approach to Stalin than Roosevelt had.

⋆GB and USA were suspicious of Stalin who had now set up a pro-communist government in Poland.

⋆Stalin was suspicious as to why USA wanted Germany to ‘recover’ economically.

Question 12

Why did Stalin ensure that every government in Eastern Europe was pro-communist?

Answer 12

Stalin wanted to create a buffer zone between east and west. The USSR had suffered two invasions in the last 30 years- if Eastern Europe was under his control, this would make any future invasion less likely.

Question 13

What does pro-communist mean?

Answer 13

a member of the Communist Party or movement.

Question 14

How did the USA interpret Stalin’s move of making sure that every government in Eastern Europe was pro-communist?

Answer 14

The USA believed that this was part of Stalin’s aim to spread communism throughout the world- in particular they thought countries in Western Europe were under threat.

Question 15

How did Stalin set up pro-communist governments? Give at least two specific examples of countries and how Stalin gained control over them.

Answer 15

Although Stalin did hold elections, these were rigged to ensure Communists won. Politicians from other parties were beaten , intimidated or even murdered. (E.g. Jan Masaryk). Even after the war, 6 million Soviet troops remained in Eastern Europe to stamp out opposition.

Question 16

What was the Iron Curtain speech?

Answer 16

In March 1946, Churchill visited the USA, where he made a speech in which he declared that Europe was being divided by Soviet policy. In the west were free and democratic states, bu in the East, countries were living under the domination of communism and the USSR- an ‘Iron curtain’ separated the two.

Question 17

When was the Iron Curtain speech?

Answer 17

March 1946.

Question 18

How did Stalin ensure these states relied on the USSR?

Answer 18

He set up COMINFORM in 1947, an alliance of communist countries, which restricted their contact with the West. This was done in response to the Marshall Plan. Later on he set up COMECON to coordinate trade between these countries.

Question 19

What happened in Greece? Why did the events that happened in Greece change US policy?

Answer 19

⋆Truman was informed in 1947 that GB could no longer afford to keep troops in Greece and Turkey. If GB withdrew, these countries could well come under the influence of Stalin.

⋆Therefore, Truman paid for the troops to be kept there and gave financial backing to the two countries. This was the beginning of the US policy of containment.

Question 20

What was the Truman Doctrine?

Answer 20

Truman announced this charge of policy to the world in a speech in March 1947. He made it clear that the USA was prepared to assist any country under the threat of communism. The Cold War had begun!

Question 21

When did Truman announce the Truman Doctrine?

Answer 21

March 1947.

Question 22

What was Marshall Aid?

Answer 22

Truman believed poverty and hardship were the breeding grounds for communism, and he therefore provided billions of dollars for the wrecked economies of Europe. He also wanted these economies to recover so that they could provide a market for US produced goods.

Question 23

Was Marshall aid accepted?

Answer 23

This aid was accepted by Western Europe governments, but those in eastern Europe were banned from accepting it on strict orders of Stalin.

Question 24

When and what was the Berlin Blockade?

Answer 24

It one of the first major international crises of the Cold War.
During the multinational occupation of post–World War II Germany, the Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies’ railway, road, and canal access to the sectors of Berlin under Western control.

Question 25

Why did Stalin blockade West Berlin?

Answer 25

By blockading road and sail links from West Germany into West Berlin , Stalin hoped to test the strength of the USA and to force them into surrendering West Berlin where two million people lived free from Soviet rule.

Question 26

How did the USA’s actions help to cause this crisis?

Answer 26

⋆West Germany(and West Berlin) were benefiting from Marshall Aid.
⋆GB and USA had combined their parts of West Germany to form Bizonia
⋆They introduced a new currency called the Deutschmark.

Question 27

How did Stalin interpret the USA’s actions in the Berlin Blockade?

Answer 27

The USSR believed that this was part of the USA’s plan to rebuild Germany into a strong nation once more- this could result in the USSR being invaded once more.

Question 28

What was the Berlin Airlift?

Answer 28

The crisis started on June 24, 1948, when Soviet forces blockaded rail, road, and water access to Allied-controlled areas of Berlin. The United States and United Kingdom responded by airlifting food and fuel to Berlin from Allied airbases in western Germany. The crisis ended on May 12, 1949, when Soviet forces lifted the blockade on land access to western Berlin.