Development of the Cold War

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Created by
Sophie Hamilton-Mills

Cards (33)

  • When did China become Communist?
    1st October 1949
    Mao Zedong became the leader of the People's Republic of China and began to support the USSR.
  • What was the Treaty of Friendship?
    A treaty signed in February 1950 by Stalin and Zedong.
    It said $ 300 million in aid would be sent to China but it would have to be repaid at a high rate of interest.
    The Soviets gained the most from this alliance.
  • How did the USA view the Communist revolution in China?
    > A failure of the Truman Doctrine and the policy of containment.
    > A victory for Stalin who had control over the most heavily populated country.
    > A threat to the rest of Asia which could also fall to Communism.
  • How did the Communist revolution in China increase Cold War tensions?
    > Tips the balance of capitalism vs. communism as the USSR have a billion more supporters to fight.
    > Increases the chances of people having to fight physically.
  • What was the state of Korea before the war?
    Divided along the 38th parallel as decided at Potsdam.
    North Korea was Communist and led by Kim Il Sung.
    South Korea was American-backed and led by Syngman Rhee who was anti-communist.
  • What is meant by domino theory?
    Countries being overtaken by communism one by one as a consequence of their bordering countries being overtaken themselves.
  • How did the Soviets help North Korea in the war?
    They provided aid and military equipment.
    They did not directly involve themselves in the fighting.
  • What are the phases of the Korean War?
    > South Korea invaded and pushed into the Pusan Pocket.
    > Asked UN for help - agreed.
    > MacArthur launched an attack and pushed North Korea back which threatened China.
    > MacArthur disobeyed Truman and wanted to use nuclear weapons.
    > This led to his dismissal and replacement by Ridgeway.
    > China sent many volunteers to help North Korea which pushed the South back again.
    > Reached a stalemate around the 38th parallel and agreed on a ceasefire.
  • What were the consequences of the Korean War?
    > Showed that the USA was willing to go to war to contain communism.
    > Showed the power the USA had within the UN.
    > First proxy war - indirect fighting between USSR and USA.
    > USA increased its defence spending.
    > MacArthur's dismissal showed that the USA did not want direct conflict with the USSR nor the use of nuclear weapons.
    > China developed a closer relationship with the USSR and gained North Korea as a buffer however suffered many casualties.
    > 1.3 million Korean casualties including a large number of civilians.
  • What was the situation in Vietnam in 1954?
    > French withdrew after losing battle.
    > Vietnam divided along 17th parallel until elections could be held.
    > North = Communist, led by Ho Chi Minh.
    > South = Capitalist, led by Ngo Dinh Diem.
  • Why did America become involved in Vietnam?
    > Vietnam was in danger of falling to communism and the USA wanted to contain this and stop domino theory.
    > The financial aid they had given to stop communism was unsuccessful.
    > Diem was assassinated and the USA took this opportunity to ensure stability and stop the communist threat.
  • What was the Vietcong?
    An opposition organisation to Diem in South Vietnam.
    They were aided and supplied by the communist North.
    They fought with guerrilla tactics against the South.
  • What guerrilla tactics did the Vietcong use against the Americans?
    > Behaved well to gain support of the South Vietnamese.
    > They blended in with non-VC people - confused Americans.
    > Tunnelling network through North and South Vietnam and Laos - the Ho Chi Minh Trail.
    > Used booby traps and explosives which were well hidden.
  • How did the USA respond to the guerrilla tactics in Vietnam?
    > Put money into improving conditions in South Vietnam to win over South Vietnamese - put more into defeating communist Vietcong.
    > Operation Rolling Thunder - concentrated bombing campaign in North, became less controlled over time.
    > Search and Destroy - if any sign of Vietcong, whole village destroyed, negatively impacted both Vietnamese and Americans.
    > Agent Orange and Napalm - destroyed growth of rainforests, caused cancer and birth defects, Napalm burned the skin.
  • Why couldn't the American win over the VC despite their technological superiority?
    Guerrilla tactics used by the VC put the American military to waste.
    The methods used by the USA were not effective as they focused on destroying the VC.
    They did not think about how the South Vietnamese and people back home would react.
  • What was NATO?
    Formed - 1949 in response to Berlin crisis.
    Membership - 12 original members, West Germany joined in 1955
    Purpose - one member attacked, seen as attack on all members
    Nuclear Weapons - held by USA, Britain and France
    Leadership - collective leadership of all members
  • What was the Warsaw Pact?
    Formed - 1955 in response to West Germany joining NATO
    Membership - 8 members all part of Soviet Expansion
    Purpose - counter-balance to NATO
    Nuclear Weapons - held by USSR
    Leadership - all decisions made in Moscow
  • What was the Arms Race like?
    > USA always one step ahead of USSR.
    > This included the first atomic bomb and H-bomb which could then be dropped from a bomber.
    > This changed when the USSR launches the first ICBM.
    > They then create Tsar Bomba which is the largest human-made explosion in history.
  • What is Mutually Assured Destruction?
    The knowledge that launching a weapon would lead to retaliation and therefore the destruction of both sides.
  • What is brinkmanship?
    When tension is increased so much that each side would push the other to the brink of using a weapon knowing they would eventually back down due to MAD.
  • What were the impacts of the Arms Race?
    > Preparations and campaigns for nuclear attack such as "duck and cover".
    > 'Ban the bomb' movements across the world.
    > Inspiration in media which investigates what could happen and highlights the danger of having nuclear weapons.
  • What was the Space Race like?
    > 1957 - USSR launch first satellite (Sputnik 1) followed by Sputnik 2 which carried the first animal - a dog called Laika.
    > 1958 - USA launch their first satellite (Explorer 1).
    > 1961 - USSR send up first human (Gagarin) who completes one orbit of the Earth.
    > USA send up the second person (Shepard) who did not orbit the Earth.
    > 1969 - USA takes Apollo 11 to the Moon - Armstrong and Aldrin first to walk on Moon.
  • What were 2 consequences of the Space Race?
    > USA won despite being behind and this was used as propaganda to show the superiority of capitalism over communism.
    > It highlighted that the American military was greater as rockets could be used to launch weapons (ICBMs)
  • What happened when Stalin died?
    > Stalin died in 1953 and was succeeded by Khrushchev in 1955.
    > He made a speech in 1956 to denounce Stalin and remove anything related to him.
    > This was known as Destalinisation.
    > The change of policy to the West was called peaceful coexistence and reduced Cold War tensions.
    > He was not prepared to compromise the security of the USSR's buffer and so ruthlessly shut down any revolts against the Soviets in other countries.
  • Why were people unhappy in Hungary?
    > The leader was Matyas Rakosi who was very unpopular with the people.
    > There were tight restrictions placed on them by communism including the loss of freedom of speech.
    > They were scared of the Russians and the secret police and had to pay tax for Soviets to be in Hungary.
  • What happened at the Student Demonstrations in 1956?
    > Statue of Stalin pulled down and the USSR allowed a new government to be formed under Imre Nagy.
    > He planned to hold free elections, create impartial courts and restore farmland to private ownership.
    > He also wanted Hungary to withdraw from the Warsaw Pact
  • Why did Khrushchev not want Hungary to leave the Warsaw Pact and what did he do?
    > This would have left a gap in the buffer zone.
    > It could encourage other countries to leave.
    > He sent troops and tanks into Budapest and started 2 weeks of fighting in the streets.
  • What were the effects of the Hungarian Uprising?
    > Thousands of people killed, both Hungarian and Russian.
    > Nagy and his followers were imprisoned and killed.
  • How did Hungary affect Cold War relations?
    > USSR was looked badly upon by the UN and western media but nothing was done to stop them.
    > Hungary remained a part of the Warsaw Pact.
    > Made the world realise that Khrushchev was not much better than Stalin.
    > The USA could not help due to the risk of starting another war.
  • What was a U-2 plane?
    An American spy plane that could fly extremely high meaning it was too high to intercept.
    It had high-tech cameras to take pictures of Soviet military sites.
  • What was the U-2 Crisis?
    1960 - Powers took off from Pakistan and was then hit by a Soviet missile. He ejected but could not destroy the plane and instead crashed and was captured by the Soviets.
  • How did the USA react to the U-2 crash?
    They tried to cover it up and claimed it was a research plane studying the weather that had gone off course accidentally.
    The Soviets knew they were lying as they had Powers alive and the pictures taken by the plane.
  • How did the U-2 crisis affect the Paris Peace Summit?
    > Eisenhower would not apologise to Khrushchev which caused him to storm out the meeting.
    > This means they could not discuss what they needed to settle relations.
    > This greatly increased Cold War tensions and mean that the USA were no longer morally higher due to the use of espionage.