Why The Cold War Started Flashcards
When was the Yalta conference
Month/Year
February 1945
When did WWII end?
Day/Month/Year
8th May 1945
When was the Potsdam conference?
Lasted just over 2 weeks
17th July - 2nd August 1945
When was the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima?
Day/Month/Year
6th August 1945
When did the war against Japan end?
Day/Month/Year
2nd September 1945
When was Churchill’s ‘Iron Curtain’ speech at Fulton, Missouri?
(Day/Month/Year)
5th March 1946
When did the Greek Civil War Start?
Day/Month/Year
10th September 1946
When was the Truman Doctrine launched?
Month/Year
March 1947
When was Marshall Aid established?
Month/Year
June 1947
When was the communist coup in Czechoslovakia?
Month/Year
February 1948
When did the Berlin Blockade begin?
Month/Year
June 1948
When was NATO established?
Month/Year
April 1949
When was the Berlin Blockade lifted?
Month/Year
May 1949
What dates was the Berlin Blockade begin and end?
2 x (Month/Year)
June 1948 - May 1949
What 2 things were established in1947
Truman Doctrine (March) and Marshall Aid (June)
4 factors for why the Cold War and what schools of history to they correspond to?
USSR’s fault (traditionalist)
USA’s fault (Revisionist)
Product of early environment (Post-Revisionist)
Misunderstandings and Misconceptions
What is the traditionalist view to how the Cold War started?
USSR’s fault
What is the Revisionist view to how the Cold War started?
USA’s fault
What is the post-revisionist view to how the Cold War started?
Product of its early environment
Describe the point for USSRs Fault in starting the Cold War? (4 points) - SGSpN
- Salami Tactics
- Failing to unify Germany
- Stalin’s policies
- Nuclear bomb developed in 1949
Describe the point for USSRs Fault in starting the Cold War? (4 points)
- Salami Tactics
- Failing to unify Germany
- Stalin’s policies
- Nuclear bomb developed in 1949
Describe the point for USSRs Fault in starting the Cold War?
- Salami Tactics
- Failing to unify Germany
- Stalin’s policies
- Nuclear bomb developed in 1949
Describe the point for the USAs fault in starting the Cold War? (4/5 points) - PRTM (Mc)
- Potsdam deceptions, 1945
- WWII fears of economic recession
- Truman Doctrine, 1947
- Marshall Aid, 1947
(5. McCarthyism)
Describe the point for the USAs fault in starting the Cold War? (4/5 points)
- Potsdam deceptions, 1945
- WWII fears of economic recession
- Truman Doctrine, 1947
- Marshall Aid, 1947
(5. McCarthyism)
Describe the point for the USAs fault in starting the Cold War?
- Potsdam deceptions, 1945
- WWII fears of economic recession
- Truman Doctrine, 1947
- Marshall Aid, 1947
(5. McCarthyism)
Describe the point for the Cold War starting as a product of its early environment? (3 points) 3LA
- The Big Three - Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill
- The legacy of WWII - economic position
- Attitudes in 1945 - USSR vs. GBR+USA
Describe the point for the Cold War starting as a product of its early environment? (3 points)
- The Big Three - Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill
- The legacy of WWII - economic position
- Attitudes in 1945 - USSR vs. GBR+USA
Describe the point for the Cold War starting as a product of its early environment?
- The Big Three - Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill
- The legacy of WWII - economic position
- Attitudes in 1945 - USSR vs. GBR+USA
Explain the point that the Cold War started as a result of misunderstandings and misconceptions? (4 points) BKID
- Buffer Zone vs. Soviet Expansionism argument
- Keenan’s long Telegram, Feb, 1946
- Iron Curtain Speech, 1946
- Direct result = McCarthyism
Explain the point that the Cold War started as a result of misunderstandings and misconceptions? (4 points)
- Buffer Zone vs. Soviet Expansionism argument
- Keenan’s long Telegram, Feb, 1946
- Iron Curtain Speech, 1946
- Direct result = McCarthyism
Explain the point that the Cold War started as a result of misunderstandings and misconceptions?
- Buffer Zone vs. Soviet Expansionism argument
- Keenan’s long Telegram, Feb, 1946
- Iron Curtain Speech, 1946
- Direct result = McCarthyism
What was the quote from Keenan’s Long Telegram?
‘hostile world outside his borders’
What was Keenan’s argument that contributed to the policy of ‘containment’
Logic of Force
What US policy did Keenan’s logic of force argument contribute too?
Containment
What could be used as a direct result of misunderstandings and misconceptions?
McCarthyism
What was Soviet attitudes in 1945? (part of product of environment)
Foreign policy was based around taking advantage of the military situation in Europe to strengthen Soviet influence and prevent anther attack from the West.
What year did Roosevelt die and who succeeded him?
1945, Truman
When was containment achieved by the US?
by the end of 1946
What happened to the US economy as a result of WWII?
GDP doubled by 1944
Who deceived who at Potsdam, 1945?
Truman failed to tell Stalin about the dropping of the bomb on Hiroshima
What did the Truman Doctrine do?
USA would aid any country under attack from armed minorities - aimed at preventing the spread of communism.
What was the Marshall Plan?
Provide financial support for all war torn countries - conditions made it almost impossible for communist countries to apply.
When did the USSR develop their nuclear bomb?
1949
What were Stalin’s policies, making the Cold War more the USSR’s fault?
Dollar Imperialism, Cominform and Comecon
What was the USSR’s response to Marshall Aid?
Comecon
As part of Salami tactics, name some countries where they overthrew the political systems…
Poland, Czechoslovakia (1948), and Romania
Describe the USSR’s fault factor
- Salami tactics- between 1946-1947, established a broad alliance of anti-fascists until a communist core remained- overthrew political systems in Poland, Romania and Czechoslovakia to name a few
- Failure to unify Germany (Berlin blockade in 1948) kept it as a point of tension)
- Stalin’s policies - Dollar imperialism, Cominform and Comecon (response to Marshall aid, a believed attack on communism). Rather than compromise/accept economic help they needed, they resisted it.
- 1949 they developed the nuclear bomb, proving their commitment to anti-western attitudes
Describe the USA’s fault factor
- Potsdam Conference- Trumam failed to tell Stalin their plans to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan (1945)
- WWII- fears of economic recession - made the U.S. industrialists keen to protect this potential market from being closed off by the spread of communism
- Truman Doctrine, 1947= USA would aid any country under attack from armed minorities- aimed at preventing the spread of communism
- Marshall Aid, 1947 = provide financial support for all war-torn countries: conditions made it almost impossible for communist countries to apply
Describe the ‘product of its early environment’ factor
- ‘The Big Three’ emerged post WWII (Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill) and began controlling international affairs, e.g. Tehran, 1943
- Legacy of WWII - USA wanted to maintain their war economy; GDP doubled by 1944 due to war production.
USSR’s economy suffered- 1,700 towns, 31,000 factories and 100,000 farms destroyed - clearly showing the USA’s stronger socio-economic position; however they relied on the continuation of war. - Attitudes in 1945: USSR = foreign policy was based on taking advantage of military situation in Europe to strengthen Soviet influence and prevent another attack from the West.
GBR = hostile towards USSR- more suspicious than US.
U.S. = Roosevelt was fighting for the 4 freedoms but died in April 1945 - succeeded by Truman who was inexperienced and ill-prepared -> Keenan = deputy chief of mission @ US embassy in Moscow ->
Telegram, 1946 = Soviet action was suspicious and recommended action from the U.S.- by the end of 1946 = containment
> UK and US = fearful of expansionism: by 1946 had united foreign policy against the USSR and the spread of communism
‘Product of its early environment’
What were the 3 statistics for devastation in the USSR?
1,700 towns
31,009 factories
100,000 farms
All destroyed
Describe the Misunderstandings and Misconceptions factor
- Argument of ‘Buffer Zone’ vs. expansionism
- Keenan’s Long Telegram, in 1946, about nature of Soviet conduct - key idea: Soviet system = threat of a ‘hostile world outside his borders.’ Keenan’s ‘logic of force’ argument helped to harden US attitudes and was to play a key role in the development of ‘containment.’
- Iron Curtain Speech, 1946, acknowledged Soviet expansionism -> stepped up intensity of propaganda
- Soviet reaction = Stalin compared Churchill to Hitler and withdrew from the IMF (international Monetary Fund) - Direct result = McCarthyism: his accusations of conspiracy against the USSR led to purges and show trials of any ‘un-American behaviour’ - mirroring Stalin’s purges in the 30s
