Page 16 part 1 cold war

• The Grand Alliance was formed between the USA, the Soviet Union and Britain to mastermind the defeat of Germany and Japan in the Second World War
• The alliance was formed when a force of four million German troops invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941 -despite a non-aggression pact between Germany and the Soviet Union
• The USA and Britain, in particular remained suspicious of communism, and Stalin realised that the West would not want to take any actions that made the Soviet Union stronger in the long run
• The leaders of The Grand Alliance nations met three times during the war at Tehran (1943), Yalta (February 1945) and Potsdam (July 1945)
• Democracy


  A political system in which a nation's leaders are chosen in free elections. Both the USA and the Soviet Union said they believed in democracy, but Stalin believed elections had to lead to a communist government, as only The Communist Party represented the working people
• Satellite state


  A nation that was once independent but is now under the control of another. In the Cold War, satellite states usually describes nations under the political, economic and military control of the Soviet Union
• Colonialism


  Economic, political and cultural control of another country
• Reparations


  Payments in money or goods, after a war, from the losing country to the victors. Reparations are compensation for loss of life and damage to land and the economy
• At the Tehran conference, the USA and Britain agreed to open a 'second front' by launching an attack on Germany in Western Europe, and Stalin agreed to declare war against Japan and supply Soviet troops to help the USA once the war in Europe was over
• At the Yalta conference, it was agreed that Germany would be split into four zones, each controlled by a different power, and that the Nazi Party would be banned and war criminals prosecuted
• At the Potsdam conference, it was agreed that Germany would be divided into four zones administered by the Soviet Union, the USA, Britain and France, and that Berlin would also be divided into four zones controlled by different countries
• The USA exploded an atom bomb over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, killing over 120,000 civilians
• The development of the atomic bomb made the countries of Western Europe feel more secure about placing themselves under American protection, rather than looking to reach agreement with the Soviet Union
• The Soviet Union was already working on their own version of the atom bomb, and their first successful test was in 1949, just four years after the USA
• The Kennan Long Telegram and the Novikov Telegram in 1946 showed that both the USA and the Soviet Union distrusted each other and saw the other as a threat
• The Novikov Telegram said the USA wanted to use their massive military power to dominate the world, and that the American people would support their government if this led to war
• Tehran conference


  Meeting between the leaders of the USA, Britain, and the Soviet Union during World War II, which took place in Tehran, Iran.
• Second front


  A military strategy where a new attack is launched on a different front to divert enemy forces and resources.