Conflict with the United States and the Capitalist West Flashcards
(68 cards)
what did the wartime summit conferences reflect
the latent disagreements between the United States, Great Britain and the USSR.
what was agreed in Tehran in 1943
the allies agreed to demand unconditional surrender from Germany, not because Britain and the US thought it a good idea (they did not) but to prevent any of them from making a separate peace with Hitler.
what ideological differences were there at the summit conferences
Stalin was critical of his Western allies for not opening a ‘second front’ in the European war, to relieve the pressure on the red army
What happened at the meeting between Stalin and Churchill in Moscow, late in 1944
it was plagued by disagreements over the future of Poland.
what dominated the Yalta conference
in Feb 1945, it was dominated by conflicting ideas about the post-war borders of Germany and Poland
what happened to the Potsdam Conference in July/August 1945
it ended with no final peace agreement. By this time, it was clear how the USSR was asserting political control over the countries it had liberated
what had Stalin become by the Yalta conference
the senior partner of the three allies: Roosevelt had died in April and been replaced as US president by Harry Truman; Churchill had lost power after the Labour Party won a landslide victory in Britain’s general election. Clement Attlee took over from Churchill midway through the conference.
What happened between 1946 ad 1949
the conflict between the Soviet bloc and the capitalist west hardened into Cold War confrontation. Attempts at diplomatic cooperation broke down in growing mutual suspicion and hostility, over a series of disagreements
what was the disagreement over the buffer zone
the allies were suspicious of soviet expansionism and the USSR’s demand for recognition of its right to have a safe ‘buffer zone’ against aggression in the future.
what was the long telegram
a report set to Washington from Moscow by the American diplomat George Kennan in Feb 1946, urging the US to take action to contain the spread of communism in Europe.
when and where did Churchill make his iron curtain speech
at Fulton, Missouri in March 1946
what was announced in March 1947
the Truman doctrine, committing the US to a policy of containment
what was the marshall plan
US aid for European economic recovery
what was the Soviet response to the marshal plan
it was hostile
What happened from 1948 t0 1949
the berlin blockade, hardening the division of Germany
what was formed in 1949
NATO
what is NATO
the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation
how did the soviets view NATO
a hostile act
how was the US fear of soviet expansionism exacerbated?
by a telegram sent to Washington from Moscow in February 1946, by the American diplomat George Kennan.
who was George Kennan
a long-serving American expert on Soviet affairs, who had been sent to Moscow after the war
what did George Kennan say
‘soviet leaders are driven by necessities of their own past and present position to put forward a dogma that pictures the outside world as evil, hostile and menacing’
what did Churchill speak of in his iron curtain speech
he spoke of ‘communist fifth columns’ in western southern Europe and advised ‘strength’ in dealing with USSR
how did Stalin describe Churchill’s iron curtain speech
‘i consider it a dangerous act, aimed at sowing discord between allied states’
what had happened to western Europe by early 1947
it was in crisis, with fears of complete economic collapse, and of political instability
