US - Truman

Question 1

Truman’s Presidential Term

Answer 1

1945 to 1952

Question 2

Yalta (Date)

Answer 2

February 1945

Question 3

Yalta (Why did the Grand Alliance break down?)

Answer 3

Stalin agreed to help the US against Japan and to stop the Chinese civil war.
Soviets wanted reparations (weakened Germany and land in Asia).
Divide up Germany and have “spheres of influence”.
Yalta was seen as a success.
Soviet involvement with Poland weakened the alliance.

Question 4

Soviet involvement with Poland 1944

Answer 4

The Polish rose up against Germany expecting the Soviet’s help, but they didn’t and thousands died. At Yalta, he promised to allow free elections for the Poles, but this was doubtful.

Question 5

When did Roosevelt die?

Answer 5

12 April, he did not see the end of WW2.

Question 6

How did the GA change in 1945?

Answer 6

Truman was now President and Attlee became PM.

Question 7

Clement Attlee

Answer 7

Labour Party Leader and PM from 1945 to 1951

Question 8

Stalin

Answer 8

Premier of the Soviet Union (1927 to 1953)

Question 9

Potsdam

Answer 9

July/August 1945

Question 10

Potsdam discussions

Answer 10

Divison of Germany, Japan and the borders of Poland, Stalin wanted Poland to be in his sphere.
German demilitarisation was agreed, as well as denazification and the punishment of war criminals.

Question 11

Potsdam (Why did the GA break down?)

Answer 11

Disagreements about reparations, Poland’s border, the powers of the Allied Control Council and atomic bomb testing.
The US was planning to use the bomb on Japan, didn’t tell Stalin.

Question 12

Churchill’s Iron Curtain Speech

Answer 12

March 1946, Missouri

Question 13

Other causes that lead to the breakdown of the GA

Truman

Answer 13

Truman was ignorant of the happenings of WW2 and to European history.
Ended the land-lease programme providing supplies to allies in the War, set up by Roosevelt.
Criticised the involvement of the Soviets in Poland and of their ideologies.
Kennan’s memorandum.

Question 14

Other causes that lead to the breakdown of the GA

Stalin

Answer 14

Distrust of the west.

Doesn’t trust Churchill because he supported the White Army during the Russian civil war.

Question 15

George Kennan

Answer 15

US ambassador in Moscow who sent a long telegram/memorandum advising containment. Said he exaggerated years later

Question 16

Stalin’s Speech

Answer 16

Oct 1946 - “capitalism makes war inevitable”

Question 17

Economic reasons for the breakdown of the GA

Answer 17

Truman believed communists would be closed to US trade.
Feared a repeat of the Great Depression of the 1930 so trade with Europe was essential.
The US lost 405,400 men, Soviets lost 25 million people and 25% of their property.
The US gave Poland a loan of $3.7 million but nothing to the Soviets.

Question 18

Truman Doctrine

Answer 18

An agreement that the US would help countries suffering any communist threat, such as Greece who were in a civil war (believed to be backed by the USSR)

Question 19

Truman’s Speech

Answer 19

March 1947 - pledged the containment of communism in Europe.

Question 20

Marshall Plan

Answer 20

Set up by George Marshall as a way of providing European countries financial aid if they are not communist.

Question 21

George C. Marshall

Answer 21

Secretary of State (1947 to 1949)

Question 22

Tensions because of the Marshall Plan

Answer 22

Russia accuses the US of Economic Imperialism and set up their version called comniform (despite having no money).
Meet in Paris cancelled.
Czechoslovakian communists overthrow the democratic government.
Italy asks for aid, in exchange they don’t vote communist in their election.

Question 23

Why was Marshal Aid important?

Answer 23

Re-inforced the idea of containment and helped to show which countries had which ideology.
16 countries accepted the aid of $13 billion.
In April 1949 NATO was established.

Question 24

Allied Control Council

Answer 24

US, Britain, USSR and France; the governing body of ally Germany.

Question 25

NATO

Answer 25

North Atlantic Treaty Organisation:
Set up between the US, Canada and western European countries to agree that an attack on one was an attack on all so they should provide collective support against the USSR

Question 26

NSC-68

Answer 26

National Security Council - paper no. 68
Defense Department, the State Department, the CIA, and other agencies; formed the basis for Cold War policy for the next two decades.

Question 27

What did the NSC-68 say?

Answer 27

Noted that WW2 had devastated Germany and Japan and caused GB and France great losses.
Stated that the USSR and US were the only large powers left to help them.
The USSR posed a threat to U.S. power and wanted “absolute authority over the rest of the world.”
Clashes with the United States were inevitable.
The development of nuclear weapons meant “the ever-present possibility of annihilation.”

Question 28

What did the NSC-68 propose?

Answer 28

Containment, military expansion (forces, nuclear arsenal, hydrogen bomb), increase military aid, use “covert” means. Cost $50b.

Truman hesitated to support it (heavy tax increase in time of peace).
Korean War in June 1950 prompted action and Truman signed NSC-68 into policy in Sept.

Question 29

How far was Truman responsible for the development of the Cold War?

Answer 29

Containment: Fear of Soviet expansion, Red Army was the largest in the world, Stalin was seen as the next Hitler. Communism was seen as a large threat, propaganda, republican pressures, Truman Doctrine, Dean Acheson.

American Ignorance: Truman did not try to understand the history of Europe and what happened during the wars. Blamed all communist activity on the Soviets.

Question 30

Dean Acheson

Answer 30

Secretary of State (1949 to 1953), exploited the Soviet threat by helping with the Truman Doctrine, supporting NATO and support for Nationalist China.

Question 31

How far was Stalin responsible for the development of the Cold War?

Answer 31

Ignorance to US politics: failed to understand that the US is a democracy and how his behaviour troubled the West, worry over US invasion.
Nazi-Soviet Pact 1939: made the USSR’s position in the war up for debate, despite working together.

Question 32

How far was Truman responsible for the development of the Cold War? Ideology

Answer 32

Differing ideologies: Truman saw communism as totalitarian, (not allowing criticism/opposition/the vote/censored/controlled), like Nazi Germany. H, this could be because they supported the White Army in the Russian Civil War.

Question 33

Russian Civil War

Answer 33

1916 to 1922 White Army v Red Army

Question 34

Henry Morgenthau

Answer 34

Treasury Secretary (1934 to 1945), proposed the Morgenthau Plan which was to remove industrial facilities and reduce Germany to a purely agricultural economy. Was accepted and then rejected by Truman.

Question 35

What was the final agreement about Germany?

Answer 35

It would be divided into 4 zones for each member of the GA and France, the same for Berlin. All decisions should be made jointly and reparations could be taken from their zone. The country was to be denazified and an ACC should be set up to administer German affairs.

Question 36

Was the final agreement regarding Germany successful?

Answer 36

It allowed the punishment of Germany.
Decisions about aid were made unilaterally by the US and Byrnes announced this in Stuttgart.
1948 - aid was given to the western zones and the allies were having secret meetings.
The US was scared that Germany could be taken over by the communists and that it could be used as a barrier to prevent communism from spreading.

Question 37

James Byrnes

Answer 37

Secretary of State (1945 to 1947)

Question 38

The Berlin Blockade - How did it start?

Answer 38

June 1948 - allies joined their zones together and introduced the Deutschmark, planned to introduce a democratically elected council to the west of the city. This created more tensions with Stalin.

Question 39

The Berlin Blockade

Answer 39

June 1948 - in retaliation to being left out of meetings, Stalin blocked all access from western Germany to Berlin, closing all roads and railways. This was in hopes of pushing the allies out of Berlin.

Question 40

The Berlin Blockade - Why did it fail?

Answer 40

Truman felt the US could not abandon Berlin because this would allow Germany to fall to communism because of Russian propaganda and containment would fail.
Cemented because the same year Stalin had forced a communist government on Czechoslovakia, and the communists were on the verge of winning in China.

Question 41

The Berlin Blockade - US response?

Answer 41

General Clay, commander of the US military in Berlin said that if Berlin falls so will the rest of Germany and Europe will follow. Clay wanted to fight his way into Germany, Truman and the British disagreed, instead the Berlin Airlift was initiated.

Question 42

Berlin Airlift

Answer 42

June 1948 to May 1949 - British and American planes set off to Berlin every 3 minutes carrying 2,000 tons of supplies and rising to 10,000 tons, feeding 2 million Berliners for 11 months.

Question 43

Berlin Blockade - When did it end and its consequences?

Answer 43

May 1949.
The allies joined their zones to create the Federal Republic of Germany (FDR), the Soviets responded by creating the German Democratic Republic (DDR). The country was divided into two separate countries for the next 40 years.

Question 44

Had containment worked by 1949?

Answer 44

Yes, containment had successfully worked, however, Truman still provoked a war with Russia. He had stationed B-29 bombers in Britain. America had strengthened its military position, further established by the creation of NATO.

Question 45

NATO countries

Answer 45

Canada, US, UK, France, Norway, Iceland, Portugal, Italy, Greece, Turkey, West Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium, Netherlands, Denmark.