THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE SOVIET UNION'S INTERNATIONAL POSITION Flashcards
During the war what was built up?
a vast new military-industrial war machine
By May 1945, the armed forces of USSR consisted of how many people?
7.5 million well equipped troops
How did the USSR increase its territory?
by absorbing the Baltic states and large areas of Eastern Poland
What was the USSR, Britain and the United States alliance?
The Grand Alliance
What were the major summit meetings?
Tehran, Yalta, Potsdam
When was Tehran?
November 1943
When and where did Stalin meet Churchill?
Moscow October 1944
Where and when did the Big Three meet?
Yalta February 1945
What happened at Potsdam?
The Three Allies met
by this stage it was becoming clear than Britain, exhausted and bankrupt by the war
when was Potsdam?
July 1945
When did the US reveal it had developed an atomic bomb?
in 1945
what was this bomb used for?
to end the war with Japan
Who was in charge of soviet bomb?
Beria
When was the first successful test ?
August 1949
when was the United Nations formed
1945
why was UN significant
the USSR was one of the 5 permanent members of the UN security council
How did the USSr exert military presence over neighbouring national states?
used military presence to encourage the formation of governments that were friendly to the Soviet Union
What had happened to most of these states by 1948
most had became satellite states
what were satellite states
countries which retained their national identity but had pro-soviet governments
What were buffer states?
a term used to describe the satellite states of Eastern Europe emphasising Stalin’s intention that these should provide security for the USSR’s western borders
What happened at the Katyn Forest Massacre
22,000 Polish army officers were killed by the NKVD in the forest to eliminate Polish nationalist elements who might oppose communism
when was the Katyn Forest Massacre
April –> May 1940
What happened when the Red Army entered Poland?
A provisional government was set up in Lublin
which other countries did Communist regime dominate?
Bulgaria and Romania
what were ‘salami tactics’
Tactics used to extend the soviet bloc in east Central Europe
Allowed pro-soviet governments to gain power in Hungary in 1947 and Czechoslovakia 1948