the cold war (edexcel)

• Who made up the Grand Alliance?


  Britain, USA, USSR
• Tehran Conference (1943)


  - focused on plans to defeat the nazis

  - Stalin would declare war against Japan and help the US to defeat them once the war in europe was over

  - Poland could take land from Germany, and the USSR could keep the land it had taken from Poland
• Yalta Conference (1945)


  - Free elections to be held in previously occupied countries in Eastern Europe (Stalin believed only communist parties should run in elections)

  - United Nations (UN) would replace the failed League of Nations
• Potsdam Conference (1945)


  - Divided Germany into 4 military regions each controlled by the US, France, Great Britain, and the USSR after World War II. Berlin was also divided in the same manner.

  - Nazi leaders tried for war crimes at Nuremberg

  - New boundaries of Poland agreed
• Who attended the Potsdam Conference?


  Truman, Attlee, Stalin
• Why were tensions high during the Potsdam agreement?


  Truman was more suspicious of the USSR and less willing to compromise

  Stalin installed a government of only pro-communist members in Poland which Britain and the USA thought went against the Yalta agreement
• What did the USA keep a secret?

  The atomic bomb
• What did Stalin see the atomic bomb as?


  An attempt to intimidate them and angry that the USA surpassed Soviet technology
• Which countries were in the USSR's sphere of influence after the war?

  Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia
• What was Winston Churchill referring to in 1946 when he spoke in Missouri about an "iron curtain"?


  A division between Soviet-dominated Eastern Europe and the rest of the continent.
• Long Telegram


  Issued to Truman, said Stalin gave a speech in favour of the destruction of capitalism. Warned that the USSR was trying to weaken and divide Western powers and grow its military strength.
• The Novikov Telegram


  Issued to Stalin, claimed that the USA was pursuing world supremacy and warned that the USA was trying to limit the influence of the USSR in Europe.
• Truman Doctrine (March 1947)


  Stated that the U.S. would support any nation threatened by communism, for example aid for Turkey and Greece. Played a large role in the developing cold war with the Soviet Union. Helped set the stage for the Marshall Plan.
• what did the Truman Doctrine mark the end of?

  Isolationism
• The Marshall Plan (June 1947)


  $17 billion of aid to rebuild European countries economies. Stalin ordered his satellite states to reject the plan as he believed the USA was using economic incentives to lure Eastern European states away from the USSR.
• How did Stalin react to the Truman Doctrine?


  Cominform- set up in 1947 and brought together all European communist parties placing them under the control of the USSR.

  Stalin ordered opposition to be stamped out and encouraged countries to reject Marshall Plan.

  Consequences: did not work was Western Europe got richer, this weakened the attraction of Communism

  Strengthened Stalin's position in Europe
• How did Stalin react to the Marshall Plan?


  Comecon- established in 1949 and countered the Marshall Plan by nationalising industries, collectivising agriculture, and offering economic aid. Discouraged trade with the West.

  Consequences:

  not very successful as the USSR did not have the money needed to pour into the project

  USSR used money to help themselves first, satellite states second
• The Berlin Blockade


  The blockade was a Soviet attempt to starve out the allies in Berlin by closing all road, rail, and canal links in order to gain supremacy. The blockade was a high point in the Cold War, and it led to the Berlin Airlift.
• What was the name of the West zone of Germany?


  Trizonia
• What was introduced in Trizonia and how did it alarm the USSR?


  A new government and a new currency to help economic recovery

  Stalin did not want a unified Western zone on his doorstep

  West Berlins strong capitalist economy embarrassed the USSR and made communism look weak
• The Berlin Airlift


  The west bypassed the blockade by sending food and supplies into West Berlin via flights after the Soviet blocked off all ground routes into the city
• What was the consequence of the Berlin Blockade/Airlift?

  Propaganda victory for the West

  USA are heroes and Stalin portrayed as villain in newspapers making communism seem bad
• What does NATO stand for?


  North Atlantic Treaty Organisation
• What was NATO?


  A military alliance between the Western Powers created in 1949. An attack on one was an attack on them all.
• How did the formation of NATO affect the Soviet Union?


  It strengthened the nations who were opposed to Soviet expansion and made the USSR feel militarily vulnerable
• What was the Warsaw Pact?


  1955, USSR established to rival NATO and all of the satellite states became members. Each would defend each other in the event of a war.
• What were the aims of the Warsaw Pact?


  To improve the defensive capability of Eastern Europe and strengthen USSR's control over Eastern Europe
• What was the arms race during the Cold War?

  The competition between the US and USSR to see who could have the most powerful weapons
• What was the Space Race?

  Competition between USSR and USA to discover outer space
• What is a hydrogen bomb?


  second type of bomb that is a thousand times more powerful than the bombs dropped on Japan

  USA detonated its first hydrogen bomb in 1952, USSR followed in 1955
• When did Stalin die and who replaced him?

  1953, Nikita Khrushchev
• What was Khrushchev's secret speech?


  He stated that he wanted to DeStalinise Eastern Europe which included getting rid of Rakosi, and having peaceful co-existence with the West
• What was the impact of the secret speech?


  Students began to riot in hungary - this could lead to Khrushchev losing control over satellite states if they follow its example
• Why was Rakosi removed from power?


  He was a Stalinist and unpopular. People of Budapest protested against his government.
• Who took over Rakosi?


  The liberal Imre Nagy.
• What did Nagy want for Hungary?

  To leave the Warsaw Pact and be more free from the USSR's power
• How did Khrushchev stop the Hungarian Uprising?


  He sent Soviet tanks and troops to invade Hungary. Thousands of Hungarians killed or wounded. Nagy fled however was arrested and hanged.
• How did the West respond to the Hungarian Uprising?

  They did not intervene although they condemned the USSR's actions. They did not want to risk a nuclear war. This sent a clear message to Eastern Europe that they wouldn't receive Western help and this reasserted Krushchev's authority over the satellite states.
• Who was President of the USA by 1958?

  Dwight D Eisenhower
• Why did East Germans go to West Germany?


  - low standard of living

  - shortage of goods

  - communist regime

  - secret police