Topic 6 Cold War Rivalry Flashcards
What was the Cold War?
State of hostility between USA and USSR
What were the 2 conferences where the allies and USSR agreed what to do after ww2?
Yalta
Potsdam
What did the allies agree on at the yalta conference?
Germany and Berlin would be split into 4 zones of occupation, allies and USSR controlling each zone
How did Truman show his distrust and dislike for Stalin?
Only informed him about development of atomic bomb eleven days before dropped
What did Stalin want after occupying large parts of Eastern Europe after ww2?
Impose communist style governments upon six satellite states (including Poland)
What was Stalin showing no signs of allowing in the Potsdam conference?
Free elections in his zones
What were satellite states?
Countries under domination of foreign power
What was the policy of containment?
Using us influence and military resources to prevent expansion of communism into non-communist countries
What was Marshall Aid?
US programme of financial and economic aid given to Europe after end of ww2
Why did Truman use Marshall aid?
Believed countries with strong economy could repel communism
What was the domino theory?
Belief that if one country fell to communism other countries would follow
What was the Truman Doctrine?
What was trizonia?
American, British and French zones merged to form West Germany
What 2 things did the Western allies decide in 1948?
Set up West German Assembly and West German Constitution
Introduce new currency of West Germany
Why was Stalin worried about West Berlin?
would become wealthy capitalist base within communist Eastern Europe
What was the Berlin blockade?
Soviet troops cut off all links (road, rail, canal) between West Berlin and West Germany
What did Stalin hope would happen as a result of the Berlin blockade?
West Germany forced to give control of West Berlin to USSR
What were flashpoints?
Highest points of tension between USSR and America in Cold War
What was the Berlin airlift?
West organised airlift to fly in supplies to West Berlin
How long did the Berlin airlift last?
10 months
Why was the Berlin blockade/airlift a successful flashpoint for the USA?
Stalin gave in and re opened all routes to West Berlin, showed USA committed to policy of containment
What was NATO 1949?
North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, military alliance against communism
Who were members of NATO?
USA and other western powers
What was the Warsaw pact 1955?
Military alliance against NATO set up by USSR
Who was the US backed Cuban dictator Batista overthrown by in 1959?
Fidel Castro
What did Fidel Castro do in Cuba?
Set up new communist gov, ejected all us businesses and investment
How did the USA retaliate to Fidel Castro ejecting all us businesses?
Refused to buy Cubas biggest export- sugar
Who offered to buy Cubas sugar when the USA refused?
USSR, strengthened relations with Cuba
What did President Kennedy agree to in April 1961?
US secret invasion of Cuba at bay of pigs
Why was the bay of pigs a great humiliation for JFK?
Disaster
What did Soviet leader Khrushchev want to establish in Cuba as he was concerned about US missile bases in Italy and Turkey?
Soviet missile bases in Cuba
Who did Fidel Castro and Cuba become an ally of?
Khrushchev and USSR
In what 2 countries where US missile bases located?
Italy and Turkey
What did an American U2 spy plane do on 14 October 1962?
Took photos of missile launch sites being constructed on Cuba
What happened on the 20 October in the Cuban Missile Crisis?
Kennedy imposed naval blockade around Cuba
What happened on 25 October in the Cuban Missile Crisis?
Kennedy wrote to Khrushchev ask him to withdraw soviet missiles from Cuba
What happened on 26 October in the Cuban Missile crisis?
Khrushchev replied saying he’d remove missiles if USA withdrew missiles from Turkey and didn’t invade Cuba
What happened on 27 October in Cuban Missile Crisis?
USA agreed to withdraw missiles from Turkey if deal kept secret
What happened on 28 October in Cuban Missile crisis?
Khrushchev agreed to remove Soviet missiles from Cuba
What were 4 consequences of the Cuban Missile Crisis?
Kennedy technically won
Brinkmanship
Telephone hotline installed between gov headquarters
Test ban treaty
What was the test ban treaty?
Banned nuclear weapons testing
What was brinkmanship?
Pushing world to brink of nuclear war
Who was Ho Chi Minh?
Leader of communists in north Vietnam
Who was Diem?
non-communist Leader of south Vietnam
What did the USA fear would happen to south Vietnam?
Communism take over, domino theory- spread to Laos and Cambodia
What were the 3 reasons the USA got involved in Vietnam?
Contain communism
Defend democracy
Extend US influence in Asia
Who did Diem have support from?
USA
Who were the USA and Diems army fighting against?
Vietcong
Who were the Vietcong?
Communist guerrilla force attempted to overthrow south Vietnamese gov
What were 3 US tactics in Vietnam?
Operation rolling thunder
Chemical warfare
’Search and destroy’
What was operation rolling thunder?
Intense bombing campaign of North Vietnam with aim of destroying Vietcong supply routes to south
How long did operation rolling thunder last?
3.5 years
What were 2 types of chemical warfare used in Vietnam?
Napalm
Agent orange
What was agent orange?
Chemical defoliant used to destroy jungle, burns skin
What was napalm?
Burning jelly, sticks to skin, could burn to bone
What was ’search and destroy’?
USA used helicopters to drop troops near villages suspected of assisting Vietcong
Why did search and destroy make US forces unpopular?
Search villages then set alight, innocent villages often destroyed
What were 3 weaknesses of the USA in Vietnam?
Inexperienced US troops
Growing opposition at home
Tet Offensive
Why was there growing opposition at home (USA) in Vietnam?
High death rates, TV coverage, war atrocities
What was the Tet Offensive?
Vietcong attacked 100 cities/towns across south Vietnam, turning point- USA losing
What were 3 strengths of the Vietcong?
Effective guerrilla tactics
Fighting for cause
Supplied weapons from USSR and china
What were 2 guerrilla tactics?
Sabotage/ambush
Network of underground tunnels
What was vietnamisation?
Process of withdrawing US troops from Vietnam
Who ordered the policy of Vietnamisation?
Nixon
