cold war

• Grand Alliance


  USA, USSR, Britain and France in WW2 to defeat Nazi Germany
• Tehran (1943) and Yalta (1945) Conferences

  Agreed how to defeat Germany and how Europe should look after the war
• Potsdam Conference (1945)


  1. Agreed to de-nazify Germany and split it (and Berlin) into 4 zones shared between the 4 allies

  2. Agreed USA would have a sphere of influence in the West, and the USSR would have one in the East
• Long and Novikov Telegrams 1946


  USA and USSR used their ambassadors to secretly report on the other country
• Truman Doctrine 1947


  President Truman declared that he feared the spread of communism and said it was a threat to freedom- the USA had the right to use its military and economy to fight the spread of communism
• Marshall Plan 1947


  USA offered $13 billion of aid to Europe to stop poverty leading to communism
• This upset the USSR who thought USA was trying to bride its satellite states
• Iron Curtain Speech 1947


  Churchill declared Europe was divided into two spheres
• Cominform/Comecon


  In response to the Marshall Plan the USSR united all communist parties together from satellite states- Cominform. Also tried to tie all satellite states together economically- Comecon
• Hungarian Uprising 1956


  1. Encouraged by Khrushchev's Secret speech which criticised the hard, repressive policies of Stalin

  2. Imre Nagy wanted to take Hungary out of the Warsaw Pact and make the country less repressive

  3. USSR sent in troops and executed Nagy. Reforms undone. West didn't help at all despite promising to
• By 1958 3 million East Germans had crossed to the West (1/3 pop) Showed unpopularity of communism
• Berlin Ultimatum


  Khrushchev wanted to take over West Berlin to stop this- 1958 demanded West recognise East as independent country, and Berlin to be demilitarised or he would hand control of Berlin transport to the East government
• Camp David Summit 1959

  Eisenhower and Khrushchev met and agreed to withdraw ultimatum
• Paris Summit 1960


  USSR shot down US U2 spy plane. US tried to cover up and Khrushchev walked out of the meeting
• Vienna Summit 1961


  Khrushchev saw Kennedy as weak and reissued Ultimatum. Kennedy refused to make concessions, so nothing was agreed
• The Berlin Wall


  1. 12 August 1961 East German Leader Ulbricht ordered a barbed wire fence around West Berlin to stop the refugee problem

  2. Soon grew to 165km, cutting through streets and even buildings

  3. Two walls separated by no man's land with booby traps, barbed wire, watch towers and guards with machine guns

  4. People tried to escape- 130 killed, most famous was Peter Fechter

  5. Khrushchev had to abandon plans for a united communist Germany and showed how unpopular communism was, but it did stop the refugee problem and showed communism was in control in the East
• The Berlin Wall became a symbol of freedom and defiance against communism, and showed Khrushchev had accepted Western control in Berlin
• Kennedy's 'Ich Bin Ein Berliner' speech 1963 very popular
• The Fall of the Berlin Wall

  1. 1989 Gorbachev refused to help East Germany stop protests

  2. East Germany then announced border into West Berlin to be opened. Huge numbers cross the border and the wall is quickly pulled down

  3. Germany officially reunited 1990
• The Berlin Blockade (1947-1948)

  1. USSR worried the Western allies were trying to unite West Germany into Trizonia

  2. Blocked all road, rail and canal access to force them out of West Berlin

  3. USA kept Wets Berlin supplies through a huge airlift of supplies for 11 months. USSR eventually backed down. Couldn't shoot down planes as would be act of war
• FRG and GDR


  Germany became officially divided into 2 different countries- FRG in West and GDR in East. Berlin also official split
• NATO


  USA and Western European military alliance against USSR
• Warsaw Pact


  USSR responded to NATO by creating own military alliance of satellite states in Eastern Europe
• The Cuban Missile Crisis 1962


  1. 1959 Fidel Castro and Che Guevara topple the pro-American government in Cuba

  2. US boycotted buying Cuban sugar, so Castro sold it to Khrushchev, and receive arms from USSR

  3. 1961 CIA trained Cuban exiles to invade Cuba and overthrow Castro (Bay of Pigs invasion) but failed as USA backs out of air support and Cuban army superior to exiles

  4. Khrushchev sent nuclear missiles to Cuba to help defend from future US attacks. USA discovers them in 1962

  5. Kennedy decides to blockade Cuba to stop missiles arriving from USSR

  6. Khrushchev sent a telegram saying he would remove missiles from Cuba if USA wouldn't invade

  7. Khrushchev then sent another telegram adding he wanted US missiles removed from Turkey too

  8. Kennedy responded to first telegram publicly and second one secretly, increasing his reputation as a strong leader, making Khrushchev look like he backed down- maybe why he was dismissed as leader of USSR in 1954

  9. Moscow-Washington Hotline set up and 3 treaties (Test Ban 1963, Outer Space 1967, Non-Proliferation 1968) signed to reduce testing and spread of nuclear weapons
• Détente 1970s


  Thaw (peaceful period) in the Cold War where USA and USSR wanted to get on better
• SALT 1 1972


  Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty. Limited the number of nuclear weapons both sides had
• Helsinki Accords 1975


  Agreed to respect borders, work for closer relations and respect human rights
• SALT 2 1979


  Tried to introduce restrictions on missiles, but USA didn't trust the USSR after invasion of Afghanistan so US withdrew from talks
• Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan 1979

  1. There was a communist revolution in Afghanistan in 1978 and civil war broke out

  2. USSR invaded in 1979 to help the communist government

  3. USA very unhappy with this and ended détente. Supported Afghan rebels (Mujahedeen)

  4. Carter Doctrine- USA would use force to repel any threats in Persian Gulf area, and introduced sanctions

  5. USA boycotted the Moscow Olympics in 1980. USSR then boycotted LA Olympics in 1984

  6. Cost USSR $8 billion a year and 15,000 troops were killed
• Czechoslovakia 1968


  1. Alexander Dubcek introduced reforms 'Socialism with a human face'. Not anti- communist, just wanted more freedom. This became known as the Prague Spring

  2. Brezhnev worried about reforms spreading so invaded with 500,000 troops. Czechs didn't fight back- learn their lesson from Hungary!

  3. Brezhnev Doctrine- actions of any individual country affected whole Eastern Bloc, so he would use Warsaw Pact troops to stop any reforms
• Gorbachev's New Thinking


  • USSR couldn't afford war in Afghanistan or new missiles to compete with USA, and living standards were low
  • Perestroika- reform economy to include some capitalist ideas
  • Glasnost- introduce more openness and less corruption in government, allowed opposition to government
  • Brezhnev Doctrine would also be dropped
• Reykjavik Summit 1986


  Gorbachev suggested phasing out nuclear weapons if USA gave up SDI. No agreement but improved relations
• Washington Summit 1987


  Agreed a treaty reducing abolishing intermediate range missiles
• Malta Summit 1989


  No new agreements but seen as the end of the Cold War as both sides announced peaceful intentions
• End of the Cold War

  1. Without Brezhnev Doctrine, satellite states could introduce reforms without fear

  2. Many hold new elections and elect non-communists (Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia)

  3. 12 Soviet Republics left the USSR and formed the Commonwealth of Independent States after hard-line communists tried to remove Gorbachev

  4. Gorbachev resigned on Christmas Day 1990, dissolving the USSR and ending communist rule in Europe

  5. Warsaw Pact formally dissolved 1991
• Reagan's Second Cold War


  • Reagan became President of USA in 1980, called the USSR an 'evil empire' and ended détente
  • Planned the Strategic Defence Initiative (SDI) 1983 nicknamed 'Star Wars'- using satellites to destroy soviet missiles in space
  • USSR too poor to compete but didn't know USA hadn't actually made SDI yet
  • Reagan increased funding for the Cold War and supported anti- communist groups in South America
• Detente


  A period in the late 1960's and into the 70's during which there was a genuine improvement in relations between the USA and USSR and a lessening of tension in the Cold War.
• Space Handshake


  On July 17th 1975 3 American astronauts and two Russian cosmonauts were met and shook hands in orbit above the earth. Brezhnev declared it a symbol of the desire for peace.
• SALT 1 - 1972

  Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty. Imposed limits on the superpowers nuclear capability, no production of ballistic missiles, submarines would only be produced when the nuclear missiles ran out.

  First agreement that successfully limited the number of nuclear weapons, slowed down the arms race, led to further negotiations, ensured neither side had an advantage.

  However, assumed that if a war started both would still follow the rules, both sides had enough nuclear weapons to destroy each other, the treaty didn't cover all weapons e.g. MIRV's.
• SALT 1 - Consequences

  In 1972 Nixon visited Brezhnev. In 1973 Brezhnev visited Nixon. Helped to improve relations.