International relations 1945-1960 Flashcards
(38 cards)
1
Q
How much did Russia suffer during WW2?
A
- Stalin argued hat his country suffered grievously: possibly as many as 27 million dead, 25 million homeless and 6 mill buildings destroyed
- Nazi Germany invaded USSR without warning
- wanted security of knowing it can’t be attacked without warning
- thus wanted to control neighbours
- by invading Eastern Euro countries e.g Poland: demonstrated would influence them in future
2
Q
How were agreements with Russia under Roosevelt?
A
- Yalta in Feb 1945
- Roosevelt seemed to sympathise with Stalin
- it was agreed that Germany should be divided and forced to pay war reparations
- half would go USSR
- USSR gain land from Poland and Poland compensated with land from Germany
3
Q
What were Truman’s attitudes to Stalin?
A
- more critical; hadn’t fought war with him
- US endured less than 2% of human losses of USSR
- Truman did not consider this
- Meeting in Potsdam July: less amicable
- poll found 50% of Americans felt wartime co-operations between superpowers should con
- Stalin was imposing Communist regimes on many countries “liberated” from Nazi influence
- Romania: king given 2 hours to introduce pro-communist gov
4
Q
What was the Iron Curtain?
A
- Truman increasingly worried about Communism
- 1946: Churchill, visiting Fulton, Missouri, spoke of Iron Curtain descending through middle of Europe
5
Q
How was the spread of communism increasing under USSR?
A
- Soviets forced Czechoslovakia to adopt Communism in 1948
- Countries such as Romania, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia now governed by communists
- Cold War developed
6
Q
What was the Truman Doctrine?
A
- 1947
- Truman offered support of USA to countries struggling against Communism
- doctrine first applied in Greece: successful
7
Q
What was Marshall Aid?
A
- 1948
- USA offered $13 billion package to help Euro countries recover from effects of WW2
- conference of 22 nations set up to assess economic needs of affected countries
- USSR refused permission for countries under its sphere of influence to attend
- 16 Western European nations formed OEEC to spend this money
- help them recover + lose appeal for Communism
8
Q
What were the two crises that emerged that were close calls of direct confrontation?
A
- Berlin Airlift 1948-49
- NATO
9
Q
How was Germany split up?
A
- Germany divided 4 zones
- Berlin divided but in soviet zone
- Western powers relied on Soviet goodwill to travel through its zone
- 1948: western sectors recovering but soviet zone poor + communist
10
Q
When and what was the Berlin Airlift ?
A
- 1948-49
- June 1948: West introduced currency Deutschmark
- tried to introduce it to their sectors in Berlin: Stalin ordered all transport links with West cut
- believed could blockade Berlin into accepting Communist rule
- In retaliation Britain and USA organised an airlift of essential supplied to the city under siege
- 1949: 8000 tons of supplies per day being delivered despite Soviet threats to aircraft
- On 9 May: Stalin called off blockade - things back to normal
11
Q
What was the crisis with NATO?
A
- Berlin Crisis confirmed Truman’s commitment to containment in Europe
- April 1949: The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was signed
- main purpose to prevent Soviet expansion
- countries agreed armed attack against one or more of them in Europe and North America would be considered as attack on all
12
Q
When was the Korean War?
A
- 1950-1953
13
Q
How did the Korean War begin?
A
- North and South with border at the 38th parallel
- South supported USA
- North Communist + hostile
- 1950: North Korea invaded South
- UN sent forces to stop this invasion; vast majority were American and under an American Commander: General Douglas MacArthur
- succeeded in liberating South Korea
14
Q
What did MacArthur do that he wasn’t supposed to?
A
- invaded North, ignoring China’s warning of consequences
- President Truman faced tremendous hostility within USA when he fired MacArthur for going beyond his instructions
- “soft on communism”
15
Q
How was North Korea helped by other countries?
A
- China sent thousands of troops to help the North Koreans
- Soviets secretly sent air forces to help North Koreans
16
Q
Describe the Korean War?
- fatalities
- how it ended
A
- Effectively became a stalemate for 3 years
- USA alone lost 27,000 troops + 1 million Korean civilians died
- 1953: peace of sorts agreed which Korea remained divided into communist North and non communist south
17
Q
What were the effects of the korean war on the US?
- communism
A
- USA learned communism global issue
- early 1950s President spoke of domino theory
- if one state fell to communism would be followed by neighbours
- later used to justify full-scale involvement in Vietnam War
18
Q
What were the effects of the korean war on the US?
- china
A
- Sino-American hostility greatly increased
- USA gave increased support to Taiwan
- Helped to sustain McCarthyism and generally worsened cold war antagonism
- three leaders showed unwillingness for WW3
- sacking of MacArthur signalled stick to plan of containment
19
Q
When was stalin replaced and who by?
A
- 1955: Nikita Khrushchev
20
Q
What did Khrushchev do to increase communism:
- Pact
A
- created Warsaw Pact to tighten Soviet bloc militarily
21
Q
What was the Warsaw Pact?
A
- Stalin saw NATO as an “aggressive alliance” aimed against Soviet Union
- Within 6 years, in 1955. Soviet Union set up Warsaw Pact
- military alliance of 8 nations headed by SU designed to counter threat of nato
22
Q
What did Krushchev do that wasn’t increasing communism?
A
- returned a naval base to Finland
- decreased the Red Army by 1/2 a million men
- agreed to talks on agriculture and peaceful use of atomic energy with USA
- May 1955: signed Austrian peace treaty, under which the 4 occupying powers at last got out of Austria - which became an independent neutral state
- Eisenhower not convinced
23
Q
What did Khrushchev do with Hungary?
A
- 1956
- Khrushchev began policy of relaxing controls Stalin had put on eastern Europe
- but when moderate Communists in Hungary, led by Imre Nagy, threatened to leave the Warsaw Pact, Khrushchev sent in tanks to quell rebellion
- Nagy shot and new leader took over
- US gov did not intervene
- risks too high + preoccupied with Suez crisis
24
Q
What were the problems with Berlin under Eisenhower and Khrushchev?
A
- West refused to recognise legitimacy of East German state
- America, Britain and France used West Berlin for espionage and sabotage
- K tried to force West to recognise East Germany by threatening to give EG control of access routes to West Berlin
- gave the West an ultimatum that they must do something about West Berlin within 6 months or face consequences
- Khrushchev backed down March 1959
25
Describe summit between Khrushchev and Eisenhower
- sep 1959
- made no progress in Berlin
- Khrushchev hoped for a Berlin agreement at the Paris summit in May 1960
- failed as just before meeting:
- Soviet Union shot down U-2 American spy-plane and captured pilot, Gary Powers
- Eisenhower forced to admit plane's intent and K refused to attend summit
26
What happened with Suez?
- July 1956: Egyptian leader Gamal Nasar took control of Suez canal
- important trade waterway that gave a quicker route from Mediterranean to Indian Ocean
- British and France invaded Canal zone
- not supported by US who forced them to withdraw
- Eisenhower wanted to keep with Arab nations believing west needed their oil and friendship against communist bloc
- furious at B and F for not informing him
27
What were the results of the Suez crisis?
- illustrated that B and F no longer world powers + heavily dependent on US
- increased American intervention in middle east
- 1957: Eisenhower asked Congress for military and economic aid for any Middle East country threatened by aggression or subversion
- Known as Eisenhower doctrine: extension of containment in ME
- Egypt and Syria turned increasingly to the USSR
- USSR sold armaments to allies in this area
28
US relations with china between during Chinese civil war?
- Involved in Chinese Civil War 1945-49
- US gave aid to Chiang Kai-Shek and Chinese Nationalists in struggle against Mao and CCP
- By 1949: USA abandoned Chiang who fled with thousands followers to Taiwan
- American unhappy with Mao's success in late 1949
29
What were US attitudes to different parts of china?
after war attitudes?
What did Truman do?
- refused to formally recognise the People's Republic of China (PRC)
- instead USA maintained diplomatic relations with Republic of China gov in Taiwan
- After civil war lost interest in china
- Korean war changed attitude
- Truman sent US Seventh Fleet to the Taiwan Straits and relations with china remained cool under eisenhower
30
What did Eisenhower/ USA think of chinese communism and during korean war?
What did Mao think of US?
- USA hated communism + convinced Beijing was Moscow's puppet
- Dulles, US secretary of state under E insisted Chinese communism more threatening than soviet: influence in asia + weak countries
- Mao hated capitalism
- resented aid to Chiang
- US interpreted Korean War as a sign of Chinese-sponsored communism was expansionist and threatened US security
- China interpreted as a sign that USA was aggressive + likely to attack china
31
How did relations with china deteriorate after korean war?
- USA put trade embargo on China and kept it out of UN
- established military base in Taiwan
- Mao infuriated by the US-Taiwan Defence Treaty signed in 1954
- 1955: Communist China shelled the Chinese Nationalist Islands of Quemoy and Matsu
- Eisenhower hinted use of atomic weapons to protect Taiwan: china backed down
- similar crisis in 1958: same thing happened
32
When did US test first atomic bomb?
Soviet response?
- 1945 atomic bomb tested
- Soviet atomic research programme transformed over the next few years: soviet spies in US able to find out american atomic secrets
33
When did USSR test its first nuclear weapon?
US response
- 1949: USSR exploded first nuclear weapon
- USA thus lost its monopoly on atomic weapons
34
When did US test hydrogen bomb?
soviet?
- US tested hydrogen bomb in Bikini Atoll, March 1954
- 1953: soviets tested hydrogen bomb
35
When did US test ballistic missile?
how did atomic weapons race end?
- The first American surface-to-surface ballistic missiles tested in 1947
- USSR's ICBM operational a few weeks before america's: A humiliated
- 1954: America's first nuclear-propelled submarine operational
- 1960: tested a missile fired from a submerged submarine
- soviet years behind atp
36
What developed due to prospects of other countries developing nuclear weapons?
- Military-industrial complex developed
- with defence spending between $40 to $50 billion per year in 1950s and 90% of foreign aid to US allies going on military spending
- billions of dollar spent maintaining a military presence throughout western europe and south east asia
37
Military spending:
Where was defence established in America?
- defence establishments in poor areas such as southern sates
- desert areas in Arizona and new mexico became centres for weapon testing
38
Effect of military spending?
- helped to smooth out economic inequalities within US
- California, in particular benefited from military contracts
- led to developments in tech: first IBM computer introduced in 1953
