Origins

• what were the main characteristics of the cold war

  the space race, the arms race, propaganda (ideologies), spying, international aid & loans, proxy wars
• where did this rivalry and tension first begin

  1917 Bolshevik revolution- USA and Britain sent troops to fight in support of the monarchy/aristocracy and against the communists. Lenin thought this meant the USA would stop at nothing to destroy communism
• who were the leaders of the USSR and the USA after the end of WW2

  Joseph Stalin and Harry Truman
• which ideologies caused the conflict and why

  capitalism and communism- cannot exist together in the same country- both wanted to spread them around the world
• what happened to the USSR's economy under Stalin

  collectivisation and nationalisation of all industries. unsuccessful and ineffective. was not productive enough to support entire nation. economic failure
• why did many adopt a sympathetic attitude to communism in the 1930s in the West

  depression = capitalism isn't working. anti-fascist- fascism in Germany, Italy and Spain- could spread- worse than communism?
• what did the Munich Agreement and appeasement mean to Stalin

  giving Hitler the Sudetenland builds Germany up in preparation to invade and conquer the USSR (Lebensraum) so they too want to destroy communism
• explain the Nazi-Soviet Pact and the land that was taken because of it

  Stalin sought to buy the Soviet Union time to strengthen the economy & army before Hitler undoubtedly invades and attempts to destroy communism. they take Poland together and share it between them. eastern poland = soviet
• how do the Soviet Union and the US become allies

  june 1941 Hitler invades the Soviet Union, pushing the Red Army back in retreat. december 1941 Japanese bomb Pearl Harbour so US declares war on Japan. Germany declares war on US- US now in the war. USSR + US unite against common enemy
• how was this the start of the cold war?

  it brought the USSR into the heart of Europe leading Stalin to plan for postwar Soviet boundaries (e.g. had seized Lithuania, Latvia + Estonia and didn't want to give them up)
• why did Stalin want a second front in 1942

  to relieve Soviet suffering on the eastern front- 36 million total dead compared to 3 mill on western front
• how did Stalin interpret the delays to open up a second front in europe against hitler

  reluctance to help the struggling USSR, feel abandoned + weak. they are fighting in North Africa in Egypt against India over the Suez Canal- selfish capitalists only care about own empire
• how did the nazis attempt to split this alliance up

  dug up 4000 Polish officers in Poland- proved they were killed by the USSR- the Katyn massacre (Stalin wanted to stop them rebelling)
• what was the Tehran Conference

  The Tehran Conference was the meeting of Joseph Stalin, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill between November 28 and December 1, 1943 that took place in Tehran, Iran in the Soviet Embassy (bugged). discussed the final attack on Germany by opening up a second front
• what did Stalin gain from the conference

  Roosevelt and Churchill finally agreed to open up a second front- Operation Overlord invading northern France- D-Day in June 1944. demands for Kurile Islands and other areas of land in China & Japan were accepted. the referendum for Baltic states to be reincorporated into the USSR was to be supervised only Stalin, not internationally
• why were the Baltic states so important to Stalin


  it was through them that Hitler or any other nation would invade- he must secure it as a defence to the country
• what did Roosevelt gain from the conference

  soviets agreed to launch a major offensive along the eastern front as a distraction from operation overlord. Stalin agreed that he would declare war on Japan following an Allied victory over Germany. secured Stalin's assurance that the Republics of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia would be reincorporated into the USSR only after the citizens had voted in support of it in a referendum
• why did Stalin want to keep control of the Balkans/ Eastern European countries?


  spread communism and avoid Germany ever invading the Soviet Union via these countries ever again
• what was the Percentages Agreement and why did it contradict Allied war aims in WW2

  a secret informal agreement between Stalin and Churchill that divided Eastern Europe into spheres of influence. it meant foreign occupation and control over countries e.g. Poland for whom the allies began fighting Germany to free. self determination, independence???
• when and where was the Yalta Conference + who attended it

  1945 Feb. Yalta in Crimea region of the USSR. attended by Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin
• what was agreed on in terms on Germany including division, reparations and war criminals

  divide germany into 4 zones post allied victory (include france). demilitarise + denazify completely. pursue nazi war criminals + put them on trial. reparations set at $20 bill by Stalin
• why was Churchill against such a large reparations sum

  wanted germany to trade + defend from communism. economic crash had led to the election of the nazis and therefore ww2!!!
• what was decided on for berlin

  also divided into 4 zones. (berlin inside soviet zone in germany)
• what about poland including borders and gov

  poland received territorial compensation from germany in the west. Poland had 2 govs at the time. agreed that they would be allowed a free election to decide on their one gov. Stalin declared he would not leave Polish territory as it had bee within the USSR since 1939
• Stalin seemingly agreed with Poland (and other eastern european countries) having free elections. what was truth


  interpreted it differently- would allow an election as long as the communist party one.
• what was the Declaration on a Liberated Europe

  an agreement to allow free elections in the countries of Eastern Europe.
• what was agreed about japan

  Stalin agreed to join the war against Japan once Germany had been defeated
• what was agreed about united nations

  agreed to set up the united nations. organisation dedicated to international cooperation and prevention of war
• key developments between yalta and potsdam

  Red Army liberated eastern europe countries then stayed and occupied them. communist gov set up in Poland by Stalin. Truman replaced Roosevelt (anti-communist). western powers began demilitarising but soviets didn't post ww2.
• what had the US been testing

  the atom bomb in July. Truman told Stalin he had a powerful new secret weapon ready to drop on Japan
• how did Stalin view the news of an atomic bomb

  saw it as a threat and the beginning of a technological rivalry
• who was the new british pm

  Clement Atlee (labour party leader). strongly anti-communist
• what was the next conference, when and where

  Potsdam, 1945 July. Soviet zone in Germany. Atlee, Truman and Stalin attend
• what was decided on in terms of Germany's division

  4 zones as previously agreed. Soviet in east (contained Berlin which was also split), US, GB and French in west. demilitarised. democracy to be re-established e.g. free elections, free press and freedom of speech
• what was decided on in terms of Germany's reparations


  to be paid in equipment and materials. mostly to USSR who suffered most. quarter of industrial goods made in western zones given to USSR in return for food and coal from soviet zone (Russian zone = agricultural, Allied zone = industrial)
• what was decided on in terms of war criminals

  nazi party banned, nazis removed from important positions. leading nazis put on trial for war crimes at Nuremburg in 1946
• what was disagreed on in terms of Germany

  wanted to disable germany completely to protect the soviet union against future threats/ possible invasion. Truman wanted more lenient punishment, less harsh than ToV. differed in views on free elections. Truman thought Stalin was taking too much of Poland
• what did the US think of Stalin's aims to continue occupying Eastern Europe


  they saw it as an offensive rather than defensive measure. Stalin wanted to prevent being invaded by Germany via the Polish corridor like in 1941 ever again but the US saw it as part of the scheme to spread communism westwards (which it also was)
• what were Soviet losses like by the end of the war and where were Soviet troops by the end of the war

  USSR lost approx 25 mill ppl, nearly 40 times American and British losses combined! nearly 40% of total deaths in WW2. the Soviet front line cut Europe in two, from the Baltic to the Adriatic
• what was agreed on in terms of Poland

  Poland frontier moved westward. final border between Soviet Union and Poland = Oder-Neisse line- Soviet Union got more land and Poland compensated (insufficiently) by German land