cold war unit one

• Cold War


  Period of tension between the USA and USSR that lasted from 1945 until 1991
• The name 'cold' war comes from the fact that the two sides never actually fought each other directly
• Ideology


  The set of ideas that a country has about how it should be run
• Ideological differences between the USA and USSR

  • America was capitalist
  • USSR was Communist
• Both sides believed that their ideology was the best and that the best way to protect themselves was to make sure that as many countries as possible followed their beliefs
• Communism (USSR)


  • Only one party - the Communist Party
  • Elections should only be held to decide which Communists you want to represent you
• Capitalism (USA)


  • The people should have a choice of parties at elections
  • Voters should be able to change the government if they are unhappy with what it is doing
• Communism (USSR)


  • All businesses are owned by the government
  • The government should use the profits from these businesses to help everyone
  • Everyone should earn an equal amount of money
• Capitalism (USA)


  • Businesses should be owned by individuals
  • If a business is successful the owner should be able to keep the profits
  • Some people will earn more money than others depending on how hard they work and the value of their work
• Communism (USSR)


  • Every country should be Communist
• Capitalism (USA)


  • Every country should be capitalist
• During WWII America and the USSR were fighting on the same side. Although the two countries did not trust each other, they were united by their hatred of Hitler
• They worked together to defeat the Nazis in the 'Grand Alliance' of USA, USSR and Britain
• Agreements at the Tehran Conference

  • The British and Americans would attack Germany from the West to open a 'second front'
  • The Soviet Union would enter the war against Japan once the Nazis were defeated
  • The United Nations organisation would be established after WWII
  • Poland would get some of Germany's land and the USSR would get some land from Poland
• Disagreements at the Tehran Conference

  • The main disagreement was between Churchill and Roosevelt
  • Churchill wanted to keep the British Empire after the war, Roosevelt thought this would be a threat to world peace
  • Churchill also wanted to attack Germany from the South, not from the west as was agreed
• Agreements at the Yalta Conference

  • They confirmed from Tehran that: The United Nations would be established, The USSR would enter the war against Japan
  • They also agreed that: Germany would be divided into four zones occupied by Britain, France, the USA and USSR, Free elections would be held in the east European countries which had been controlled by the Nazis
• Disagreements at the Yalta Conference

  • Stalin wanted to weaken Germany by making them pay for the war. Roosevelt and Churchill disagreed and prevented this from happening
• Agreements at the Potsdam Conference

  • They confirmed from Yalta that: Germany and Berlin would be divided, The United Nations would be established
  • They also agreed that: The USSR could take some materials from their section of Germany to help them rebuild the Soviet Union
• Disagreements at the Potsdam Conference

  • Stalin again wanted massive compensation from Germany. The new American President, Truman (who was much more anti-Communist than Roosevelt), refused to accept this
  • Truman insisted that all east European countries have free elections. Stalin did not want this, he aimed to introduce Communism to keep the USSR safe from future invasion
  • America had successfully tested the atomic bomb. He felt that America was using this to intimidate the USSR
• With a more anti-Communist President in charge of the USA and the common enemy of Hitler defeated in May 1945 it was clear that the 'Grand Alliance' was going to be tested
• It was unlikely that the USA and USSR would remain close friends
• Five key developments worsened the relationship so that the USA and USSR went from being allies to potential enemies
• America used the atomic bomb to bring a quick end to the war. By using nuclear weapons America could avoid the need to invade Japan and risk the lives of American soldiers
• Some historians believe that America also hoped that they could use the threat of the nuclear bomb to stop the USSR spreading communism after the war
• When America used the atomic bomb in August 1945, the USSR felt threatened
• The USSR quickly began to develop their own nuclear bomb but to prevent an invasion by the capitalist countries they took control of six countries in Eastern Europe to create a barrier between the USSR and the west
• The USSR made East Germany, Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Romania and Bulgaria communist by keeping their army in these countries
• America saw this as an attempt to spread communism and said that it broke the agreements at Yalta and Potsdam where they had agreed that the USSR would allow free elections in Eastern Europe
• America now distrusted the USSR as they were spreading communism and not allowing free elections to happen
• George Kennan was alarmed by the way in which the USSR had taken over Eastern Europe
• In February 1946 Kennan sent a telegram to the American government saying that in his opinion the USSR wanted to destroy capitalism and take over even more countries in Europe
• In February 1946 Nikolai Novikov sent a Telegram to Moscow which said that since Roosevelt was replaced by Truman, America had no interest in being friends with the USSR
• Novikov said that America wanted to dominate the world and make everywhere capitalist
• This convinced Stalin that he needed full control of Eastern Europe to protect the USSR from an American invasion
• The American government was shocked that it was being described as aggressive and surprised that the USSR was even considering a war
• In March 1946 Winston Churchill made a speech in Missouri in which he made it clear that the USSR was a threat
• He announced that Europe had been divided by what he called an 'Iron Curtain'
• The USSR believed that the 'Iron Curtain' speech reflected America's views and they now viewed the USA as an enemy
• During WWII Poland was conquered by Germany. In 1944 the Poles staged a rebellion against the Germans known as the Warsaw Uprising
• The Soviets promised to help them fight the Nazis but instead of sending support they waited until the Nazis had crushed them