superpower relations

• What was the grand alliance?

  Alliance involving Britain led by Churchill, USA led by Roosevelt and USSR led by Stalin. All wanted to defeat Germany
• What happened at the Tehran conference?

  November- December 1943

  USSR would declare war on Japan once Germany was defeated

  An international body would be set up to settle future disputes
• What happened at the Yalta conference?

  Was agreed that when defeated Germany would be reduced in size, divided and demilitarised. it would have to pay reparation's

  Poland was in soviet sphere of influence but ran on a democratic basis
• What happened at the potsdam conference

  July-August 1945

  A council of foreign ministers was set up to organise the rebuilding of Europe

  Nazi party was banned and war criminals were prosecuted

  Germany divided into 4 zones. Britain, USA, France and USSR

  Berlin was also divided into 4 zones
• Why did the Grand Alliance begin to come to an end in May 1945?

  Roosevelt died and Truman came into power and he was more distrustful of the USSR, he believed that USA had power over USSR after dropping the atomic bomb and pushed them around at the Potsdam conference, USSR didn't like this
• What was Novikov's Telegram of 1946?

  Told Stalin that:

  USA wanted world domination and was building its military strength

  USSR was only country left that could stand up to the USA

  USA was preparing its people for war with USSR
• What was the impact did Soviet occupation of eastern Europe have on superpower relations?

  USA saw the occupation of Europe as a betrayal of the Yalta agreement in which stalin said he would hold democratic elections

  The soviet union argued it needed control of eastern Europe as a buffer zone
• What was the Truman Doctrine?

  1947

  A speech in which Truman claimed the USA needed to get involved as communism was bad and meant people couldn't be free

  The USA should provide money and troops if necessary to fight communism
• What was the Marshall plan?

  1947

  $13 billion from the USA was given to help rebuild Europe

  Countries must trade with the USA to get this money

  USSR said the Marshall plan was an attack on them as it threatened their control in Eastern Europe
• What was Cominform?


  Set up in 1947

  Organised all communist parties in Europe

  aimed to, get rid of any opposition to USSRs control of satellite states
• What was Comecon? 


  Stalin set up in 1949

  Stalin alternative to Marshall plan

  Built up trade links between Comecon countries and prevented them from signing up to Marshall Plan
• What was NATO and its significance?

  Set up in 1949

  based on collective security, if one country attacked the others had to assist

  Showed that neither United States or Western European governments were prepared to accept future Soviet aggression
• What was Bizonia?


  Britain and USA joined together to form Bizonia, later French zone joined to create West Germany

  Stalin wasnt consulted and thought that this went against agreements at Potsdam conference
• What was the Berlin Blockade?

  1948, The Berlin Blockade was a Soviet attempt to block Western access to West Berlin by cutting off all land, water, and rail routes into the city. This was to show that they had the power to stop a divided Germany from working
• What was Berlin Airlift?


  Between June 1948 and September 1949 thousands of tonnes of supplies were flown in daily to Berlin. This made the USA appear peaceful and generous
• What was the significance of the Nuclear Arms race?

  By 1950s the rapid development of nuclear weapons meant that any nuclear war would result in Mutually Assured Destruction. Meaning that they had to find a way to stop these disputes
• What was the Warsaw pact?

  Set up in May 1955 following West Germanys entry into NATO.

  This meant that there was now two opposing alliances separated by the Iron curtain. The Warsaw Pact gave the USSR direct control over armed forces of its satellite states
• What was the impact of soviet rule on Hungary?

  Any opposition was ruthlessly wiped out

  Rakosi was know as Stalin's best pupil

  communist rule became very unpopular
• What is destalinisation?


  Khrushchev took over as soviet leader and in 1956 hosted a 'secret speech' which stated that soviet control would relax. In October 1956 poor harvests meant that Hungarians started opposing communist rule (pulling down statues of Stalin) this lead to Khrushchev appointed a more liberal prime minister, Nagy
• What reforms did Nagy want as Hungary's Prime Minster?

  Leave Warsaw Pact and become a neutral country and held free elections
• Why did USSR invade Hungary?

  because Khrushchev disapproved of Nagy's reforms
• When was the Invasion of Hungary?

  1956, Khrushchev sent 200,000 troops to dispose Nagy
• What were the consequences of the Soviet invasion of Hungary?

  5000 Hungarians were killed

  Nagy was arrested, tried and executed, USSR hoped to make an example of him to prevent rebellions in other communist countries

  Kadar was appointed to restore communist rule in Hungary
• What was the refugee problem in Berlin?

  Between 1949-1961 2.7 million East Germans crossed over to West Berlin. This looked bad on the Soviets as people clearly preferred West Germany
• What was the outcome of the Geneva summit?

  1959, No solution but a further meeting arranged
• What was the outcome of the Camp David summit?

  1959, No solution but a further summit arranged
• What was the outcome of the Paris summit?

  1960, Khrushchev stormed out because the Soviet union shot down a US spy plane over Russia
• What was the outcome of the Vienna conference?

  1961, Neither Khrushchev nor Kennedy were willing to back down. Khrushchev reissued his ultimatum for USA to remove their troops from Berlin
• What did the USA try to do to Castro?

  Assassinate him as they didn't want a socialist country in their sphere of influence
• What was the bay of pigs incident?

  1961

  CIA told Kennedy: The invasion will look like a Cuban revolt, Castro's control of the CIA is weak and most Cubans hate him

  What actually happened: planes recognised as US planes were photographed and that information was published. Castro knew of the invasion and had 20,000 troops. Most Cubans didn't want their old leader back as he was corrupt
• What was the impact of Soviet rule on Czechoslovakia?

  Czechoslovakia economy and living standards declined. Any opposition to communism was crushed
• Who was Dubcek?


  Became leader 1968 became the Czechoslovakian leader.

  Good friend of Soviet leader Brezhnev

  Though a communist he wanted to make it better, he called this 'socialism with a human face'
• What were Dubcek's reforms and what did they lead to?

  Relaxation of censorship meant more freedom, More democracy amongst communism

  Prague Spring, an increased time of political freedom
• How did the rest of the communist world respond to the Prague spring?


  Communists in eastern Europe were concerned as they feared the Prague spring would lead to demands elsewhere.
• When was the Berlin Wall Built and why?

  August 1961 to prevent East Berliners from travelling to West Berlin (they would be shot if attempted to cross)
• Why was the Berlin wall built?

  Khrushchev knew he couldn't win the nuclear war, instead the wall was built this way Khrushchev avoided war whilst still looking strong
• When did the soviet union ship nuclear warheads to Cuba?

  1962
• What was Brezhnev's response to Dubcek's reforms in Czechoslovakia?

  Brezhnev couldn't allow the reforms as any weakness could mean the break-up of Warsaw Pact, In August 1968 the USSR sent tanks to Prague and Dubcek was arrested
• What was the normalisation in Czechoslovakia?

  When Czechoslovakia returned to being under strict soviet control
• What was the importance of the Soviet Invasion of Czechoslovakia?|

  Showed importance of the Brezhnev Doctrine as the Soviet Union reserved the right to invade any country that threatened the security of Eastern Bloc