Cold War Flashcards
what happened at the Tehran conference BUGS
1943
Britain and America would invade nazi controlled France
United Nations organisations would be set up after war.
Generals and military bosses would keep in close touch
Stalin would fight Japan once Germany was defeated (with the allies)
what happened at the Yalta conference GREW
1945
Germany would be divided into 4 zones that the allies would occupy after the war and Berlin
Russia would join the United Nations
European countries freed by the nazis would be democratic and independent stain agreed to to allow free elections in the countries of eastern Europe with had been occupied by the soviet army
war criminal trials set up to try nazi leaders
what happened at the Potsdam conference BREAD
1945
Ban the nazi party sand all nazi laws Reduce germanys size by 25% compared to 1937 borders.
establish the 4 part division of Germany into British French s and soviet zones.
Allow Russia to take reparations (fines) from soviet government of Germany
destroy all factories producing military goods in Germany.
what were some disagreements had at Potsdam ARGUE
Arrest of non communist polish leaders by Stalin.
Reparations to be paid- Stalin wanted more
Germanys future- Stalin wanted to cripple it. Truman wanted to help it
The USA had a secret atomic bomb that Stalin found out about
Eastern European communists were coming to power
what is a satellite state
‘Satellite states’ are countries that are officially independent, meaning they make their own rules and laws like any other country. However in reality they are influenced or controlled (politically, economically and/or militarily) by another country. This control can be a lot or a little.
what was the Truman doctrine
In March 1947, President Truman made a speech to the US Congress in which he promised that the USA would provide aid to any country taking a stand against communism. This was developed into The Truman Doctrine. The USA was now fully committed to a policy of containment, or stopping the spread of communism.
what was the Marshall plan.
Marshall recommended spending a lot of money - over $12 billion to be exact. This Marshall Aid. money would be spent to help the economies of Western Europe recover after World War Two and make them less likely to fall prey to communism.
what was the long telegram
The Long Telegram (February 1946)
In 1946, George Kennan, an official at the US Embassy in Moscow, was asked to provide a summary of what the Soviets were up to. His response became known as The Long Telegram because at 8,000 words, it was indeed long!
In much fewer than 8,000 words, what Kennan’s telegram said was that the USSR was heavily armed and feared the outside world. It was determined to spread communism and therefore there could be no peaceful co-existence between the USSR and the USA. However, the USA was stronger than the USSR and so communism could be ‘contained’.
what was the Novikov telegram
The Soviet response to The Long Telegram was The Novikov Telegram, in which the Soviet ambassador to the USA, Nikolai Novikov, warned that the USA had emerged from World War Two economically strong and bent on world domination. As a result, the USSR needed to secure its buffer zone in Eastern Europe.
what was significant about the long and Novikov telegrams
These two telegrams set the scene for the Cold War in Europe. The USSR would attempt to dominate Eastern Europe and spread communism where possible. The USA would commit to a policy of ‘containment’.
what was the USAs main focus over the Cold War
containment
An American policy to try and stop communism from spreading, to restrict it from spreading to other countries.
What was Comecon
In January 1949 it (USSR) also established Comecon – the Council of Mutual Economic Assistance – to administer its own Molotov Plan of financial aid to keep the Eastern Bloc countries on side. Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland and Romania all joined the Soviet Union in this group and were joined by Albania and East Germany shortly after. The group was not as successful as it might have been as the USSR dominated in terms of industrial production and total economy size, however all countries were committed to Communist economic theory such as state-ownership and state-planning of the economy. The group became more important after Cominform disbanded in 1956.
what was the Berlin Blockade
On 24th June 1948, Stalin cut all land access to Berlin for the Allies. This became known as the Berlin Blockade.
This meant:
Berlin could now only be accessed by air, resulting in a restriction on the freedom to travel outside Berlin for all Germans.
A shortage of food - West Berlin only had enough food for 36 days.
A lack of basic goods like fuel and medicines.
what is NATO
Military Pact Alliance between the west
It was formed in April 1949
Aims
To resist an attack by the USSR on the USA or its Allies in Western Europe, based on the principle of collective security and that an armed attack on one of its members was an attack on them all
North Atlantic Treaty Organisation
What was the Warsaw Pact
Created in May 1955
Aims
To resist an attack on the Soviet bloc by the USA or its NATO allies. This group, along with Comecon, would become even more important in keeping the Soviet bloc together after 1956 when Cominform disbanded
