Cold War

• What different ideologies were there?

  -Communism (USSR) -Capitalism (USA)
• What was the difference between Capitalism and Communism?

  Capitalism -Individual rights -Individual freedom -Free trade -Democratic elections Communism -Rights of the working class -Equality -Government planned -Dictator and Communist Party controls the government
• What was the Grand Alliance?

  A war-time alliance established to defeat the Axis powers
• When was the Grand Alliance established?

  1941
• What countries were apart of the Grand Alliance?

  -Britain, who had been at war with Germany since 1939 -USA, who had been at war with Germany since 1941 -USSR, who had been at war with Germany since 1941
• Where did the leaders of the Grand Alliance meet?

  -Tehran -Yalta -Potsdam
• When was the Tehran Conference?

  28th November - 1st December 1943
• When was the Yalta Conference?

  February 1945
• When was the Potsdam Conference?

  July-August 1945
• What were the key areas of agreement in the Tehran Conference?

  -The USA and Britain agreed to open up a second front by invading Nazi-occupied Europe -The Soviet Union would declare war on Japan once Germany was defeated -The boundaries of Poland would be moved westwards; Poland would gain territory from Germany and lose it to the Soviet Union -It was also agreed that an international body would be set up to settle future disputes between countries
• What were the key areas of agreement in the Yalta Conference?

  -Germany, when defeated, would be divided into four zones, each controlled by a different power, and demilitarised -Germany would have to pay $20 billion in reparations -Countries would have democratic elections -The UN (United Nations) would be set up -The Soviet Union would declare war on Japan once Germany was defeated -Poland would be in the ‘Soviet sphere of influence’ but run on a broader democratic basis
• What were the key areas of agreement in the Potsdam Conference?


  -A Council of Foreign Ministers was set up to organise the rebuilding of Europe -The Nazi Party was banned and war criminals were to be prosecuted -Germany was to be reduced in size and divided into four zones of occupation run by Britain, France, the USA and the Soviet Union -Berlin was also to be divided up into zones of occupation The Soviet Union was to receive 25% of the output from the other three occupied zones, as it had the poorest zone
• What were the key areas of disagreement in the Potsdam Conference?

  -Stalin wanted Germany to pay significant reparations, while the USA and Britain wanted Germany to recovery fairly -Stalin wanted there to be pro-Communist governments in Eastern Europe
• What were the key areas of disagreement in the Yalta Conference?

  -Stalin wanted all 16 Soviet republics to be given individual membership to the UN, which Britain and France disagreed on -Stalin wanted Poland to have a pro-Communist government, while Britain wanted the London Poles to be elected
• What impact did the Tehran Conference have?

  -Improved relations between Roosevelt and Stalin, who was pleased with the agreement of a second front
• What events occurred between the Yalta and Potsdam Conferences?

  -USA had developed the atomic bomb -Truman, who was very anti-Communist, had replaced Roosevelt -Churchill was replaced by Atlee, who was rushing the discussions as there were issues in Britain -Germany had surrendered in May 1945
• What leaders attended the Tehran Conference?

  -Churchill (Britain) -Roosevelt (USA) -Stalin (USSR)
• What leaders attended the Tehran Conference?

  -Churchill (Britain) -Roosevelt (USA) -Stalin (USSR)
• What leaders attended the Potsdam Conference?

  -Churchill & Attlee (Britain) -Truman (USA) -Stalin (USSR)
• When did the USA test their first atomic bomb?

  16th July 1945
• What was the significance of the atomic bomb?

  -Made Stalin suspicious of the West and pushed him to begin the Arms Race -USSR exploded their own atomic bomb in 1949 -USA began to develop the hydrogen bomb -USSR then exploded their own hydrogen bomb in 1952
• Why did the Grand Alliance fall apart?

  -All members began to have conflicting aims and objectives -Roosevelt, who had been holding the alliance together, died
• What factors led to increased tension between the superpowers and the start of the Cold War?

  -Britain had finished on the winning side in 1945 but was economically exhausted by the war., becoming an ally with the USA -The USA dropped atomic bombs on Japan in August 1945 -Truman trusted Stalin much less, as he had broken the promises he made over Poland at Yalta -Stalin disliked the way in which Truman had tried to push him around at Potsdam
• What were the secret telegrams?

  -Both Truman and Stalin feared the breakdown of the Grand Alliance and the threat of a new war so requested secret reports from their embassies for information on the other leader and their plans
• When was the Long Telegram sent?

  22th February 1946
• When was the Novikov Telegram sent?

  27th September 1946
• Who sent the Long Telegram?

  US ambassador George Kennan, in Moscow
• Who sent the Novikov Telegram?


  Soviet ambassador Novikov to the USA
• What did Kennan report in the Long Telegram?

  -The Soviet Union saw capitalism as a threat to communism that had to be destroyed -The Soviet Union was building its military power -Stalin had given a speech calling for the destruction of capitalism -Peace between a communist Soviet Union and a capitalist USA was not possible -The USA should seek to contain Communism
• What did Novikov report in the Novikov Telegram?

  -The USA wanted world domination and was building up its military strength -The Soviet Union was the only country left after the war that could stand up to the USA -The USA was preparing its people for war with the Soviet Union -The American government was no longer interested in co-operation with the USSR
• What was the impact of the secret telegrams?

  -Both countries believed that there was a great possibility of war -The Grand Alliance ended -America believed that the USSR was preparing for world domination and vice versa -The Cold War had unofficially started
• What was the Iron Curtain speech?

  -Churchill made a speech in Fulton (USA) which stated an 'iron curtain had descended across the continent of Europe' - which had separated the Communist East from the Capitalist West
• When was the Iron Curtain speech?

  5th March 1946
• How did the Soviet Union gain control over Eastern European states?

  -Rigged elections -Violence -Intimidation -Other methods
• Which countries were satellite states of the USSR?

  -Poland-Hungary -Romania -Bulgaria -Czechoslovakia -Yugoslavia
• What happened in each satellite state?

  -Opposition leaders were arrested -'Peoples democracies' set up -Fixed elections held -Coalition governments were set up -Communist governments were backed by Stalin
• What was the USSR's justification for creating satellite states?

  -It had created a buffer zone against the West -It was afraid of the USA's atomic power -It was afraid of an attack by the West in the near feature -It had created a 'sphere of influence' as agreed at Yalta
• What did the USA claim about the USSR's satellite states?

  -The USSR had seized control of Eastern Europe and rejected free elections as agreed at Yalta -The USA feared that the USSR was determined to extend its influence into Western Europe
• What was Truman concerned about?

  -Europe was devastated after the war, and in many countries people had no money, no jobs and were feeling hopeless. Communism was attractive to these people, especially in France and Italy: it made sure everyone had enough -Many in Eastern Europe had been liberated from Nazi rule by the Soviets -Countries like Poland, Romania and Bulgaria had already had communist governments forced on them and Truman feared this could happen in other countries too -Some governments (e.g. Greece and Turkey) were too poor to combat
• What was the 'Domino Theory'?

  -The belief that the USA should prevent one country from falling to communism to stop others from following