KQ4 Flashcards
(22 cards)
What were the political causes of the Berlin blockaid?
- disagreements on how Germany should be treated
- gain soviet occupation of West Berlin (become part of soviet sphere of influence)
- provocative actions from the USA (creating a new currency)
- undermining USA
- legal (as cutting off trade routes would pass through soviet zone)
What are the economic reasons for the Berlin blockaid?
- to prevent supplies reaching West Berlin
- new currency in West Berlin (seen as economic recovery)
- imbalance between east and West Berlin began to show
What are ‘salami tactics’?
-liberation of nazi control of Eastern Europe
- leave red army in said countries
- overthrow power by terror / persecution
- rigged elections held to ‘legally’ stay in said counties
What was the Truman doctrine?
- A document openly criticising communism and stating how USA would support anti communist action
- states martial plan
- policy of containment
What is martial plan?
- USA give $17.9 billion to Eastern Europe to help rebuild after WW2
How did the Truman doctrine cause tension?
-openly anticommunist
- disregarding conflicting ideologies
How did marshal aid cause tension?
- created a divide between east and West Berlin
- Stalin wanted Germany destroyed
- discredited communism + Soviet Union
- seen as dollar imperialism
What were the agreements at Yalta?
- USSR could enter war against japan
- Germany would be divided into soviet, American, french and British occupation zones
- nazi war criminals persecuted
- liberated countries should be allowed to hold free elections
- move borders of Eastern Europe countries
- USA, USSR, Britain would all join new UN
- Eastern Europe would become a soviet sphere of influence
What were the disagreements at Yalta?
- Eastern Europe couldn’t be in a soviet sphere of influence if they would also be able to hold free elections
- Stalin wanted more reparations
- Stalin wanted more republican seats in UN
What were the agreements at Potsdam?
- Germany temporarily separated
- payments of reparations confirmed
- UN created
- punish nazi war criminals
- Germans living in other countries brought back to Germany
What were the disagreements at Potsdam?
- whole confrence had conflict and rivalry (Roosevelt died and replaced by anticommunist Truman)
- Stalin wanted to cripple Germany to protect USSR but Truman thought too harsh would be repeat of TOV
- reparations resisted by Truman (20 million soviets died and want compensation)
When was the Yalta and Potsdam conference?
March + June 1945
When did West Berlin unite to one zone rather than french British and American occupational zones?
1946
What is the iron curtain?
A metaphor for the soviet sphere of influence
How did Stalin control the iron curtain?
- secret police
- replaced leaders to those who were loyal to Stalin
How long did the Berlin airlift last?
10 months
Why didn’t the USA ram the blockaid or abandon West Berlin?
- if rammed blockaid, would be classed as an act of war
- USA wanted to demonstrate they would not give up Berlin to USSR
- West Berlin became a symbol of freedom behind the iron curtain
What president took over from Churchill?
Clement Attlee
What were the events between yalta and potsdam?
- soviet troops occupied most of Eastern Europe
- USA tested 1st atomic bomb (threat to USSR)
Who created marshal aid and why was it good for the USA’s economy?
- general George Marshall
- good for US industry as boosted American industry (increased production to Germany)
Why did Stalin reject Marshall aid?
Didn’t want to become dependant on the US dollar
How did communism spread after 1945 in Poland, Hungary,Romania, Bulgaria and Czechoslovakia?
Poland - power by coalition (non communist leader in exile by 1947)
Hungary - power by democracy 1947 (imprisoned opposition)
Romania - coalition
Bulgaria - coalition + execution of other communist leader
Czechoslovakia - elections in 1945, became one party state in 1948
