COLD WAR

• What were the Tehran agreements in 1943?

  - US and Britain agreed to open up a second front invading Nazi-occupied Germany.

  - SU would declare war on japan once Germany was defeated.

  - international body would be set up.

  - boundaries of Poland would move Westwards.
• When was the Tehran Conference?

  November-December 1943
• What were the Yalta agreements?

  - Germany was to be reduced in size and de-militarised after the war was over.

  - Germany would pay reparations.

  - Countries would have democratic elections

  - UN to be set up

  - SU to declare war on Japan

  - Poland would be in SU sphere of influence.
• When was the Yalta Conference?

  February 1945
• What was the importance of the Yalta conference?

  - The promise of free elections in the Soviet sphere of influence was broken and caused tensions, leading to the Marshall plan and the Truman Doctrine.
• What were the Potsdam agreements?

  - Germany and Berlin to be reduced and divided.

  - Nazi party banned.

  - Council of foreign ministers to be set up to organise the rebuilding of Europe.
• When was the Potsdam Conference?

  July-August 1945
• When did the USA drop the atomic bomb on Japan?

  6th August 1945.
• What was the significance of the US dropping bombs on Japan?

  - Gave the US a huge military advantage

  - So Truman felt he could push Stalin around at the Potsdam conference, creating tensions.
• When did Roosevelt die?

  April 1945
• What was the significance of Roosevelt's death?

  - Roosevelt believed that the SU and the US could work together despite their ideological differences.

  - However after his death, his replacement, Truman, was more suspicious of the SU especially after Stalin's broken promise about democratic elections.
• Why did Britain only become an ally of the US after the war?

  Britain was economically exhausted after the war and could not stand up to the SU on their own.
• How did Stalin use 'salami tactics' to get control over Eastern Europe?


  - At the Yalta conference, he promised to hold democratic elections in the countries in its sphere of influence e.g Poland.

  - However, the SU fixed the elections so only the Communist parties won.
• What was the impacts of Soviet occupation of countries in Europe in 1945?

  - The USA saw it as a betrayal of the Yalta agreement.

  - Some saw it as evidence for Soviet expansion and a takeover of Eastern Europe.

  - The SU argued it needed control over Eastern Europe as a buffer zone to protect it from attacks from the USA.

  - The USA was determined to contain communism through economic and military assistance: The Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan.
• What was the Long Telegram of 1946?

  - A report from the US ambassador in Moscow to Truman. It reported:

  
  

  - The SU saw Capitalism as a threat

  - The SU was building its military power

  - Peace between the US/SU was impossible.
• What was the Novikov Telegram of 1946?

  - A report from the SU ambassador to Stalin.

  It reported:

  
  

  - USA wanted world domination.

  - Truman was pushing Stalin around at Potsdam.
• What were the effects of the 1946 Telegrams?

  Increased tensions between the superpowers.
• What was the Truman Doctrine 1947?

  A speech by Truman explaining why the US should get involved in Europe, showing its opposition against communism and the SU.
• What did the Truman Doctrine state?

  - Countries faced a choice between Capitalism and Communism

  - Communism was bad because people were not free.

  - The USA must contain the spread of Communism.

  - The USA must provide troops or money if necessary to help governments combat any Communist takeovers.
• What was the Marshall plan of 1947?

  Economic aid for Europe:

  - $13 billion from the USA to help rebuild Europe.

  - Hoped to stop Communism by giving people an interest in the Capitalism system.

  - The SU criticised it as an attack on them because it threatened Communist control and influence in Eastern Europe.
• Reasons for the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall plan?

  - The USA wanted to contain the spread of Communism.

  - Europe was devastated after the war so Communism looked attractive to them because it meant they would have enough, so the USA had to stop that and interest them in Capitalism with the economic aid.

  - Fear of the domino theory- if countries like Greece or Turkey became communist, it would spread outside of Europe to the Middle East which was bad for the US.
• Consequences of the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall plan?

  - Increased tensions because the US had openly established their opposition against communism. This also showed the US saw the SU as a threat.

  - The Marshall plan widened the divide of Europe because Stalin withdrew the SU from further conversations about rebuilding Europe because he didn't want to show how economically weak the SU was.

  - This withdrawal also decreased Soviet influence, overall widening the divide.
• What was Com-inform 1947?

  It organised all the Communist parties in Europe and arranged them so they would do everything Moscow told them to do.

  
  

  - Got rid of any opposition to the SU's control in Satellite states.

  - It encouraged Communist parties in Western countries to block Marshall plan assistance.
• What was Com-econ 1949?

  The Soviet alternative to the Marshall plan.

  
  

  - built up trade links between Comecon countries.

  - Prevented Comecon countries from signing up to the Marshall plan.
• Consequences of Comecon and Com-inform?

  Europe was now divided into two spheres of influence- Western Europe and Eastern Europe over the iron curtain.
• What did the USA want to do with Germany after the war?

  The USA wanted Germany to be a united, Capitalist country that would help prevent the spread of Communism.
• What did the SU want to do with Germany after the war?

  They wanted to weaken Germany and divide it so it would never be able to attack the SU again.
• What was Bizonia and when did it form?

  It was the British and US zones in Germany joining together because it was easier to handle. It was created in 1947.
• What was the Berlin Blockade in 1948?

  - The SU blocked all supplies into Berlin to show that it had the power to stop a divided Germany working.

  - All road, rail and canal links were closed to force the British, French and US troops to leave their zones in Berlin because the SU wanted a fully Soviet Berlin.

  - As Eastern Germany grew almost all the food that Berlin ate, Berlin was without food for days.
• What was the Berlin Airlift in 1948-9 and why did it happen?

  - The USA flew thousands of tonnes of food into Berlin daily because the West controlled Berlin could not survive without, and if the Western powers pulled out of Berlin, this would weaken the USA.
• What were West Germanys consequences of the Berlin Airlift?

  - Presented the USA as peaceful and generous.

  - West Germany was officially formed with US support.

  - NATO (military alliance between Western countries) was formed to counter the military threat from the SU.
• What were East Germany's consequences of the Berlin Airlift?

  - Presented the SU as cruel and agressive.

  - East Germany was officially formed after West Germany.

  - The SU formed the Warsaw pact to counter NATO.
• What was the arms race during the Cold War?

  - After the USA detonated the atomic bombs in Japan at the end of WW2, the USSR became suspicious.

  -In 1949, the soviets created their first atomic bomb, to rival the USA. Signalled beginning of the arms race.
• What was the MAD theory?

  If one side had more nuclear weapons, they would be able to destroy the other side.
• What were the consequences of the MAD theory?

  As both sides believed in the MAD theory, the amount nuclear weapons kept increasing, becoming increasingly dangerous and increasing tensions.
• Why did the superpowers have to avoid military confrontation during the Arms race?

  Any military confrontation would escalate to nuclear war, becoming dangerous.
• Importance of the Arms race for superpower relations?

  - economically weakened the Soviet Union- 20% of its annual budget was spent on nuclear weapons. This meant that the SU fell behind with their development of technology leading to further discontent and causing the USA to get ahead.

  - Increased tensions because of increasing threats of nuclear wars.

  - The US and the SU had to find a way of settling disputes without military involvement.
• Importance of the arms race for the development of the cold war?

  - increased tensions because of the risk of nuclear wars

  - economically weakened the SU, making them fall behind in their development of technology etc.
• What was the significance of the Warsaw Pact in the Arms Race?

  The Warsaw Pact gave the SU direct control over the armed forces of its satellite states, strengthening its grip on Eastern Europe.
• What was the refugee problem in Berlin?

  - 2.7 million East germans fled to West Germany because of the poor and harsh living conditions, causing a 'brain drain'/ a skills shortage, making the SU/ East Germany look bad. People clearly preferred the West/ Capitalist ideas.