Tricky Questions - cold war origins Flashcards
What were the outcomes of Potsdam politically?
- Growing tension between the big 3
- China, UK and USA demanded the unconditional surrender of Japan
* Note - USSR were yet to declare war, they came in too late)
What is a traditionalist approach to understanding the cold war?
Zhandov’s two camps theory
Name some traditionalists from the late 40s/50s
Schlesinger, Rostow, Kennen, Pipes –> they blamed all of cold war on soviet expansionism
What provides evidence for Stsalin expansionism and Yalta violations?
- Didn’t allow free/fair elections in Europe
- Soviet troops remained in Iran after the war was over
- Attempts to increase soviet influence in Turkey
Who are key revisionist thinkers?
They emphasise the US Marshall plan and military power bases close to Russia
- Paterson
- Leffler
After the war what did the Soviet union request from the United States? (it suggests their actions may not have been so offensive as some claim)
- They requested a loan
What was the percentages agreement and when was it?
- October 1944, Stalin agreed with Churchill that Britain would have sphere of influence in Turkey and that in return he would have influence in Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary
Where did the Soviet Union remove troops from after the war? It proves that they were not expansionist
- The soviet union removed troops from Manchria and signed a treaty with the nationalist government
Who are two post revisionist thinkers?
- Gaddis and Lundestadt
Who is the intellectual father of containment?
- George Kennen
When was the long telegram? Who wrote it, what was it?
- February 1946, explained USSR hostility to the west as product of a marxist leninist ideology. He saw the collapse of USSR as inevitable
Kennen authored which document that advocated containment policy?
- X article in 1947
Why and when did Truman release the “truman doctrine”?
1947, he was concerned with the Greek civil war
He saw it as USA to support free people resisting subjugation
How many tonnes a day were supplied in Berlin airlift?
4500
How many days did the Berlin airlift last for?
318
