the origins of the cold war-> long term origins

Question 1

history of communism: the Industrial Revolution

Answer 1

• Late 18th and early 19th century - the Industrial Revolution spread across Europe and America
• Developments in technology and business led to new methods of industrial manufacture e.g steam powered machines
• New era of capitalism - improved many people’s standard of living and widened the range of consumer goods
• Liberalism - new economic changes, new social and political order led to democratic ideas of individual rights and freedom

Question 2

history of communism: demographic changes

Answer 2

• The mass of the poor working population lived in overcrowded unsanitary cities
• Millions lived in slums and had poor health
• In factories, the work was long, dangerous and poorly paid

Question 3

history of communism: Karl Marx

Answer 3

• Mid 19th century - political activists studied new system and protested against it
• Karl Marx was one of the most influential figures in the movement
• Marx worked in London and analysed the workings of capitalism
• Marx developed ideas that suggested that capitalism should be destroyed and be replaced by a fairer system: communism
• In 1917, the Russian Revolution began and was inspired by Marxist ideas
• The new USSR was set about spreading communism and destroying capitalism

Question 4

beginning of ww2

Answer 4

• 23 August 1939 - Hitler and Stalin signed the ‘Nazi-Soviet Pact’, ww2 starts at the expense of the Poles and W.E
• Promised to not go to war with each other
• Secretly promised to invade Poland and split it between them (Stalin aided Hitler’s conquest against Poles + EE)
• 22 June 1941 - Hitler invades the Soviet Union