Superpower relations dates Flashcards
The United Nations - Was the name of a wartime alliance between the UK, USA, USSR and other nations. The alliance was a marriage of convienience between communists and capitalists united only in their opposition to Hitler.
1941
The Tehran Conference - (28th Nov - 1st Dec) - the leaders of the ‘united nations’ met to agree upon strategy for the next stage of the war and to discuss the reconstruction of Europe. Agreed to divide Europe into competing ‘spheres of influence’. [will not be in exam]
1943
The Yalta Conference - (4-11th Feb) - Japan, Democracy, UN, Poland, Eastern Europe. *The Potsdam Conference - (17th Jul - 2nd Aug) - Reparations, Poland & Atomic Bomb. *USA Drops Atomic Bomb - (6th Aug) - USA drops Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima, Japan.
1945
The Long Telegram - (22nd Feb) - Communism & Capitalism could no co-exist. *Churchill’s ‘Iron Curtain’ Speech (5th March) - USA & UK should ally against the USSR. *Novikov’s Telegram - (27th Sep) - USA wanted to dominate the world, building military
1946
*‘Truman Doctrine’ Speech - (12th Mar) - Communism needed to be ‘contained’ by USA. *The Marshall Plan - (5th June) - Committed $13 billion USD to rebuild Europe. *COMINFORM - (Sep) - Created to co-ordinate Communist parties under direction of USSR.
1947
Berlin Blockade - (24th Jun-12th May 1949) - Stalin surrounded West Berlin with a military
blockade. Truman responds with Berlin Airlift. Blockade fail
1948
COMECON - (Jan) - Stalin’s answer to Marshall Plan. Provided aid to Eastern Europe.
NATO Established - (Apr) - Collective security alliance between USA & Western Europe.
West Germany Created - (23rd May) - Trizonia becomes the Federal Republic of Germany (FDR). *USSR Develops
Atomic Bomb - (29th Aug) - First Soviet atomic test code-named First Lightening
1949
Eisenhower becomes US President - (20th Jan)
Stalin dies - (5th March) - Nikita Khrushchev becomes new leader of USSR
1953
West Germany joins NATO - (9th May) - FDR joins NATO, angering the USSR.
Warsaw Pact - (14th May) - USSR established a military alliance based on collective
security.
1955
Khruschev’s ‘Secret Speech’ - (25th Feb) - Promises an end to Stalinism and a new policy of ‘peaceful co-existence’ with the Capitalist West.
Hungarian Revolution - (23rd Oct-10th Nov) - Imre Nagy’s liberal reforms ended by Khruschev who sends in 200,000 Soviet troops to end the revolution. Nagy is arrested and executed.
1956
Sputnik 1 launched - (4th Oct) - The USSR launches the world’s first man-made satellite, triggering fears of Soviet missile superiority which led to the Space Race.
1957
Berlin Ultimatum - (Nov) - Khrushchev issued an ultimatum giving Western powers six months to agree to withdraw from Berlin and make it a free, demilitarized city. Khruschev was concerned by the level of emigration from East to West Berlin. The ultimatum sparked a three year crisis over the future of Berlin that culminated in 1961 with the building of the Berlin Wall.
1958
Geneva Foreign Ministers’ Conference - (May) - Khruschev and Eisenhower unable to agree a solution to Berlin issues but Khruschev agrees to travel to US for further talks.
Camp David Summit - (25th Sep) - Khrushchev and Eisenhower fail to agree a future for Berlin but further talks are scheduled for May 1960.
1959
U2 Incident - (1st May) - US U-2 Spy Plane shot down over Soviet Union. US was forced to admit plane’s role when the USSR produced the pilot, Gary Powers.
Failure of the Paris Summit - (16th May) - Khrushchev lashes out at the US and President Eisenhower for spying on the USSR. He demanded that Eisenhower punish the leaders of the U2 programme and walked out of the conference when Eisenhower refused.
1960
Bay of Pigs Invasion - (17th Apr) - Unsuccessful invasion of Cuba undertaken by a US-trained force designed to overthrow the leftist- government who had been developing links with the USSR.
Vienna Summit - (4th June) - Talks over Berlin fail again. Khruschev challenges new US President Kennedy to withdraw all troops from Berlin within six months or to declare war. Kennedy responds by activating 150,000 reservists and commting the US government to an additional $3.2 billion of defence spending.
Berlin Wall Constructed - (13th Aug) - On the morning of the 13th, Berliners awoke to find that a barbed wire fence around the whole of West Berlin had been erected. It was soon replaced by cement walls.
1961
