The Origins Of The Cold War Flashcards
What did the USA think about the USSR?
Wanted to make the world Communist
What did the USSR think about the USA?
That they wanted to destroy Communism make every country capitalist
What was caused after World War II?
Suspicions between the USSR and the USA
Which was the first meeting?
Yalta
When was Yalta?
1945
Who attended Yalta?
Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin
What was going on during the time Yalta took place?
The war
What was agreed at Yalta?
4 things
Germany was to be divided, they would create the United Nations, the countries in Eastern Europe would hold free elections and the Nazi war criminals were to be punished
What was the second meeting?
Potsdam
When was Potsdam?
1945
Who attended Potsdam after which event occurred?
Attlee, Truman and Stalin after Hitler was defeated
Who fell out at Potsdam?
Truman and Stalin
During the time of Potsdam in 1945, what is Stalin doing and which agreement is he breaking?
He is taking over Eastern Europe breaking the Yalta agreement
What does Truman threaten Stalin with?
The atom bomb
What happens after Potsdam in 1945?
Hiroshima and Nagasaki
What is Hiroshima and Nagasaki?
The dropping of atomic bombs on Japanese cities by the USA
What does the dropping of the atomic bombs mean and do?
It ends the Second World War but it was partly to scare the USSR and Stalin
What happened in Eastern Europe between 1945 and 1948?
Soviet Expansion
How did Stalin take the countries in Eastern Europe and make them Communist?
He used his armies
What did Stalin not allow countries to do and which countries were they?
He didn’t allow them to have fair elections for example Poland and Czechoslovakia
What did Stalin do which really angered the USA?
He broke the agreement made at Yalta
How did Churchill describe the Soviet expansion which was dividing Europe?
Like an Iron Curtain
When was the Truman doctrine?
1947
Which countries does Truman help resist Communism?
Turkey and Greece
What was the Truman Doctrine?
A speech made by Truman
What does the Truman doctrine say but what does it actually mean?
It promises to help in any country threatened by outside pressure but in reality this means communism
How did the USSR see the Truman doctrine?
As a declaration of war
What came after the Truman doctrine in 1948?
The Marshall plan
When was the Marshall plan?
1948
What did the Marshall plan mean the USA gave to Europe?
$17 billion to solve Europe’s financial problems
What was the Marshall plan designed for?
To stop poverty and communism from spreading
What did Stalin think of the Marshall plan?
He called it dollar imperialism because he thought it was bribing countries to support the USA which made him angry
When was the Berlin blockade and airlift?
1948 to 1949
Why did Stalin get angry during the Berlin blockade and airlift?
He got angry with the USA helping German recovery because he wanted Germany to be weak
What did Stalin do during the Berlin blockade?
He prevented any supplies reaching Berlin by rail or road
How did the USA avoid the Berlin blockade?
They flew supplies in around the clock
How long was it before Stalin gave in during the Berlin blockade?
318 days
How did this contribute towards the cold war?
It was the first major crisis and made tensions much worse
When was NATO?
1949
What does NATO stand for?
North Atlantic Treaty Organisation
What was NATO?
Military treaty signed by 12 countries
When was NATO signed?
April 1949
Why was NATO formed?
To protect countries from communism
How did Stalin see NATO?
He saw it as an aggressive organisation set up to eventually attack the USSR
When was the Korean War?
1950 to 1953
Who led the UN?
The USE
What did the United Nations do?
It fought Communist North after they invaded the capitalist south
What was North Korea?
Communist
What was South Korea?
Capitalist
What did the success of the United Nations lead to?
China got involved
What happened after three years of fighting?
The south was saved from communism
What was the result of the Korean War?
Korea remained split in half: the Communist North and the capitalist south
What did the Korean War mean for the Cold War?
The Cold War had spread to the Far East which makes it an even bigger problem
When did Stalin die?
1953
Who became the new leader of the USSR after Stalin died?
Khrushchev
What was Khrushchev’s idea?
Peaceful coexistence
What was peaceful coexistence known as and what was it?
The Thaw: and this was when the USA and the USSR tried to extension
What happened in 1955?
The Warsaw Pact
What country joined NATO in 1955?
West Germany
Why did Khrushchev create the Warsaw Pact?
Because the USSR felt threatened and as though it needed to protect communist countries
What was the Soviet bloc?
Communist countries in Eastern Europe
What was the Warsaw Pact?
Military alliance between the Soviet bloc
When was the Hungarian Uprising?
1956
Why did the people of Hungary rebel?
They wanted to rebel against the harsh rule of Rakosi
Who is Nagy?
He was the man who wanted to make Hungary a freer place and relax Communist ideas
What did the USSR do during the Hungarian Uprising?
They got involved and eventually brutally crushed the uprising and shot Nagy
When was the nuclear arms race?
1945 to 1960
What happened to do with the nuclear arms race space during 1952?
USA tested the hydrogen bomb
When did the USSR get the hydrogen bomb?
1953
During the nuclear arms race what happened in 1957?
The USSR used a rocket to put a satellite in space it was called Sputnik 1
By 1957 how far could nuclear weapons travel?
A huge distance
What did America develop in 1957?
It’s own long-range missiles known as ICBMs standing for intercontinental ballistic missiles
Why did the nuclear arms race make the cold war worse?
It meant both sides could launch stoppable missiles if a war started
