Cold War

• The Korean War, which lasted from 1950 to 1953, was a major conflict between the United States and its allies and the Soviet Union and its allies.
• The big 3 met in Yalta, 1945, to settle the agreements on Germanys divison. Reflecting their good relations as they also created the United Nations.
• Stalin was concerned about poland being used as a corridor by Germany again, so in 1939 thee Nazi soviet pact is proof he wanted poland as a buffer.
• Trumans Doctrine (1947) promised military aid to any country threatened by communism, while Marshall Aid (1948) provided economic assistance to rebuild Europe's war-torn economies.
• Truman delayed the meeting in Potsdam (july 1945) in order to go into the meeting with Nuclear capability (atomic leverage). Stalin was aware of this due to spies, but the news gave stalin strong distrust of the US.
• America has ”atomic superiority“ over the USSR, meaning that the USA has the ability to destroy the USSR with nuclear weapons, stalin felt threatened
• August 1945, two bombs are dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japan and Russia were very close, fuelling stalins suspicions.
• In 1946, Churchill delivered the “iron curtain” speech with Truman sat behind him. This told Stalin that the truce had ended.
• Americas fear of communist expansion meant that Truman sent out A “Truman doctrine“
• Stalin sees americas actions as “economic imperialism“ as he would buy soldiers and allies.
• America came up with the “Marshall Plan” (loan) for Britain who built the NHS. Anyone could sign up BUT they had to buy American goods.
• The Marshall plan was rejected by the Soviet Union because it wanted to spread its own influence into Eastern Europe.
• Britain joined NATO in April 1949, this made Stalin feel more isolated from the West.
• 1947, signs of hostility and the start of the Cold War.
• The “grand alliance” between Russia and America was formed in 1941, it brought their political / economic ideologies together. However these changed when Truman came to power.
• The USSR was formed 1918.
• Com-inform (1947), was to co-ordinate communist parties in Europe. America saw this as monolithic communism.
• economic control was established by the creation of Comecon in 1949
• Warsaw pact (1955) allowed the USSR to assert military control across Europe. Their main territories were, Hungary, Romania and Czechoslovakia.
• The Berlin blockade was a 44 day period in 1948.
• Sputnik launched on 4th Oct 1957.
• Khrushchev's secret speech at the 20th party congress in Feb 1956 criticised Stalin's regime.
• Hungarian uprising occurred in October 1956 when Kadar took over from Nagy who had been executed.
• Czechoslovakian crisis happened in August 1968 where Dubcek became leader but he wanted reform not revolution so Soviet tanks invaded Prague.
• In 1953 East Germany built the wall to prevent people escaping from east to west.
• Cuban missile crisis occurred in 1962 where the US discovered that Cuba had been given nuclear weapons by the USSR. This led to a standoff between both superpowers.
• East Germany built the wall because they were losing skilled workers, there was an increase in defections and it would stop West German influence.
• The Cuban Missile Crisis was in 1962 when Kennedy discovered missiles in Cuba which could reach America.
• NATO was formed in April 1949 with the aim of protecting Western Europe against communism.
• The Cuban Missile Crisis ended on 28th Oct 1962
• Kennedy demanded removal of missiles and blockade on Cuba. The USSR agreed to remove them if USA removed their missiles from Turkey.
• Soviet Union's economy was weak due to Stalin's policies such as collectivisation and industrialisation. There was also a lack of consumer goods and shortages of food.
• The Berlin blockade ended in May 1949
• Stalin died in March 1953
• In 1953, Khrushchev became leader of Soviet Union and he wanted to improve living standards by decentralising power and allowing people more freedom.
• In June 1950, North Korea invaded South Korea
• Americas major aims in japan were to, establish a peaceful and responsible democratic government, restore Japanese security and peace, protect pacific economic and military interests, disarm and demilitarise and strengthen the economy in order to contain communism.
• In August 1945, Korea was liberated from japan, creating a power vacuum. In response they created a temporary 38th parallel due to the soviet and American troops occupying the area.
• Korea had been divided into two zones since 1945 with north korea being under control of the USSR and south korea being controlled by America.
• Truman ordered an air strike against North Korean forces which led to China entering the war as they feared that if the US won then it would be too close to their border.