History Cold War

• The Cold War


  Conflict between the USA and the USSR after World War II
• The Atom Bomb


  A powerful nuclear weapon
• Truman believed the atom bomb would give the USA the upper-hand

  For making decisions
• Truman hoped the USSR would become more accepting of his ideas


  In order to stop the USA dropping the bomb in Russia
• The opposite effect happened

  The USSR developed a sense of suspicion for the USA
• Stalin felt threatened by the growing technological advancements in the USA


  As a result, he decided to put more money and time into developing their own atomic bomb
• Difficulty in making agreements at Potsdam

  Would've worsened relations
• The USSR exploded its own nuclear weapon in 1949

  Tensions began to arise
• The USA began to develop the H-bomb
• In 1952, the USSR exploded their own H-bomb
• The alliance between the powers was becoming weaker
• The arms race was permanently damaging their relations and ability to make successful agreements
• The Truman Doctrine


  Marked a change of international policy from isolationism to containment
• From 1945-1949 the US sought to contain the spread of communism, first in Europe then, soon, around the world
• The US believed that the USSR was determined to expand, so the USA should use any means possible to prohibit this expansion
• Stalin felt increasingly betrayed by Western attempts to undermine his control of the Eastern bloc


  This led to the Marshall Plan
• The Marshall Plan


  Aimed to rebuild the shattered European economy, so that it could contain the spread of communism
• The Marshall Plan raised living standards
• Stalin believed the Marshall Plan was 'dollar imperialism'


  He believed the USA sought to undermine communism and promote the spread of capitalism across the globe
• The Berlin Crisis

  Included issues like bizonia, trizonia, and disagreement on reparation and the deutschmark
• The Berlin Airlift was a huge propaganda victory for the West
• The Berlin Airlift exhibited the USA's commitment to containment by launching it to supply West Berlin with essential resources
• Stalin was posed in a foolish light

  The USSR failed to extend its influence
• The Berlin Crisis deepened hostility between East and West
• The Berlin Crisis imposed a barrier and divided Germany into two separate states</b>
• The Federal Republic of Germany (the West) was bigger than the Eastern zones
• The German Democratic Republic (the Eastern bloc) was not accepted as a state by the FDR
• Each German regarded their state as the only real one
• The Berlin Crisis finalised the divisions between East and West Germany
• The Hungarian Uprising


  Increased Khrushchev's power in Eastern Europe, thus souring relations between the 2 superpowers
• The USSR repelled the uprisers with strong force, sending in 1,000 tanks and resulting in 20,000 Hungarians dead
• The Hungarian Uprising exhibited the brutal extent of defying orders/not sticking to the regime, and secured Khrushchev's position in the USSR
• The Hungarian Uprising gave Khrushchev a stronger position in the Warsaw Pact
• The West would not come to the aid of the Hungarian uprising

  Mainly out of fear, which boosted the confidence of the USSR when dealing with the USA
• The USA was not prepared to interfere with existing affairs of communist countries, fearing the brink of a nuclear war
• The failure of the Hungarian uprising was badly reflective of the West, thus boosting Khrushchev's confidence of future dealings with the USA
• The Summit Meetings (1959-61)

  Earlier summit meetings initially established less tense relationships, introducing the possibility of a future peaceful coexistence between the superpowers
• The Geneva proposals were for how Berlin should be governed, but no formal agreement was reached
• At Camp David 1959, no formal agreements were made, but the USSR did agree to withdraw their ultimatum
• Eisenhower remained hopeful that they could begin to come to an effective compromise