The Origins, 1941-58

• Where did the big 3 discuss Europe's future?

  Tehran - November 1943

  Yalta - February 1945
• Britain and the USA were politically very different to the USSR, and there were tensions between the three allies. However, these were put aside as they fought a common enemy (Germany).
• Who were the presidents the Tehran conference?

  • Stalin
  • Churchill
  • Roosevelt
• What decisions were made at the Yalta Conference February 1945?

  • free elections would be held in previously occupied countries in Eastern Europe
  • the big three and France would divide Germany and Berlin between them
  • the UN would replaced the failed League of Nations
• The allies had different interpretations of a 'free' election. For the US and Britain, it meant lots of political parties competing for votes. For Stalin believed only communist parties should run in elections as they were the only parties that truly represented the people.
• What important agreements were made at Potsdam?

  • the exact division of Germany and Berlin
  • the new boundaries of Poland were agreed
  • nazi leaders would be tried for war crimes at Nuremberg
• Who were the presidents at the Potsdam conferences?

  • Stalin
  • Truman (USA)
  • Attlee (Britain)
• What were the disagreements of the Potsdam conferences?

  • allies couldn't decide if or when Germany would rejoin and from a country again
  • truman was a lot more suspicious of the USSR and less willing to compromise
  • Britain and the US were alarmed at Stalins actions of installing a government consisting of only pro-communist members in Poland. they felt this was against the Yalta agreement.
• Give the differences between the US and USSR ideologies?

  • US was capitalist, USSR was communist
  • US had a mostly Christian population, USSR had mostly atheists
  • US had a democratically elected government, USSR was a single-party state
  • US had an economy based on private ownership of property, free competition and forces of supply and demand. USSR had an economy controlled by the state, with no private ownership of property.
• Whose side was Japan on during WW2?

  Germany's
• Japan continued to fight after Germany surrendered in May 1945. In August 1945, the USA dropped two atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The US had kept the nature of the atom bomb a secret from the USSR at Potsdam in 1945.
• Why was Stalin upset that the US had kept the nature of the atom bomb a secret at the Potsdam conference?

  He saw it as an attempt to intimidate the USSR. He was also not happy that the US had managed to surpass Soviet technology. The USSR therefore sped up the development of its own atomic bomb, starting an arms race.
• What was the other name of the USSR's army?

  The red army
• Where did Stalin install 'puppet' governments between 1945 and 1948?

  • poland
  • hungary
  • romania
  • bulgaria
  • czechoslovakia
• What was the exception to Soviet domination?

  Yugoslavia, it freed itself from the Germans without the Red army. It was communist but more open to the West.
• Who was the Yugoslavian leader that argued with Stalin over political inference?

  Tito
• For a while, it seemed that Czechoslovakia might remain democratic. But when the Communist Party seemed likely to lose ground in the next election, it seized power in February 1948.
• Which British prime minister announced that there was an 'Iron Curtain' dividing Europe in 1946?

  Winston Churchill
• What were the Long and Novikov telegrams?

  Detailed reports issued out by one another, that described the motivations and intentions of the other country.
• The Long Telegram (February 1946):

  • Issued to Truman about the USSR
  • Said that Stalin had given a speech in favour of the destruction of capitalism
  • Warned of the USSR trying to weaken and divide Western powers, while buildings the strength of its own military
• The Novikov Telegram (September 1946):

  • Issued to Stalin about the US
  • Claimed that the US was pursuing world supremacy
  • Warned that the US was trying to limit the influence of the USSR in Europe
• What did the Truman Doctrine, announced March 1947, say?

  The USA pledged to support any nation threatened by a communist takeover. This support Ould be diplomatic, military or financial. For example, the US gave $400 million of aid to Turkey and Greece to stop the spread of communism.
• What did the Marshall Plan, announced June 1947, say?

  This promised $17 billion of aid to European countries to help rebuild their economies - the areas of Germany under Western occupation benefited massively. Stalin, however, ordered all of his satellite states to reject the plan. He believed that the USA was using economic incentives to lure Eastern European states away from the USSR.
• What did Stalin do in reaction to the Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan?

  Create Cominform and Comecon
• When was Cominfrom set up? What did it do?

  September 1947. It brought together all European communist parties and placed them under the control of the USSR.
• When was Comecon set up? What did it do?

  January 1949. It countered the Marshall Plan by nationalising industries, collectivising agriculture and offering economic aid.
• What did Stalin hope that Comecon and Cominform did?

  • encourage economic development in Eastern European countries
  • discourage trade with the west
  • appease the countries that had been ordered to refuse Marshall aid
• When did the US and Britain agree to combine their zones? What did they call their zone?

  1947, Bizonia
• When did France decide to join their sector of Berlin with Bizonia? What was it then called?

  The next year, 1948. Trizonia
• Stalin did not like Trizonia being on its doorstep. West Berlin's unified economy embarrassed the USSR, and made communism look weak.
• What did Stalin do as a response to Trizonia?

  Blockade Berlin in attempt to force out the Western allies. In June 1948, he ordered that all road, rail and canal links between West Berlin and the outside world should be cut off.
• How did the Western powers bypass the blockade?

  • flew in supplies
  • known as the Berlin Airlift
  • lasted 318 days
  • by 1949, 8000 tons of supplies were being flown in each day
  • tegel airport built to accommodate the large volume of flights
• When is became clear that the West was determined not to withdraw from Berlin, Stalin had to lift the blockade. This increased tensions as he did not do this willingly. It was also clear that Germany would remain divided.
• When were the two separate states of Germany formed? What were they called?

  1949

  West = Federal Republic of Germany

  East = German Democratic Republic
• When was NATO formed?

  1949
• When was the Warsaw Pact formed?

  1955
• USA: First atom bomb 1945

  USA: First hydrogen bomb 1952

  USSR: First ICBM 1957
• When did Stalin die? Who took over from him?

  1953, Khrushchev
• Khrushchev said he wanted peaceful coexistence with the US, but he remained very competitive. He wanted communism to spread but thought the best way to achieve this was to clearly demonstrate its superiority.
• When Khrushchev came to power, he made a speech critiquing Stalin's policies and brought in measures to 'de-Stalinise' the USSR. What measures did this include?

  • the abolition of the death penalty
  • freeing of political prisoners jailed under Stalin's regime
  • abolished Cominform