T1M2 Berlin and Cold War alliances

Question 1

What was the Hunger Winter in Europe?

Answer 1

A food shortage and economic chaos quickly ensued in the western zones and the winter of 1946/7.

Question 2

How did the West respond to the Hunger Winter?

Answer 2

• merged Germany’s western zones in 1948 into the Trizone.
• reformed German currency to the Deutschmark.

Question 3

Why did Stalin implement the Berlin Blockade?

Answer 3

Stalin felt that the West was not sticking to the terms of the Yalta Conference.

Question 4

What was the Berlin Blockade?

Answer 4

All routes from West Germany into West Berlin – road, rail and canal.

Question 5

What was the aim of the Berlin Blockade?

Answer 5

The aim of the blockade was to prevent the import of provisions, food and fuel supplies to the western region of the city and force them to submit to Soviet control.

Question 6

What was the first hot point of the Cold War.

Answer 6

The Berlin Blockade.

Question 7

How did the west respond to the blockade?

Answer 7

The USA and Britain chose to airlift supplies into West Berlin.

Question 8

How long did the Berlin airlift last?

Answer 8

11 months, 277 000 flights and 2,5 million tons.

Question 9

When was the blockade lifted?

Answer 9

12 May 1949.

Question 10

What were the 2 countries that Germany was split into?

Answer 10

• The Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) – (West)
• The German Democratic Republic (GDR) – (East)

Question 11

What happened in Berlin in 1953?

Answer 11

East Berliners protested their lack of freedom, increased work quotas and threatened pay cuts, after Stalin’s death. This was the June Uprising.

Question 12

How did the Soviets respond to the June Rising?

Answer 12

They executed over 600 protesters. In response, thousands of people (young, educated and skill) fled to West Germany.

Question 13

What is a brain drain?

Answer 13

The consistent fleeing of skilled people.

Question 14

What happened in Berlin 1958?

Answer 14

Khrushchev demanded that the West hand over West Berlin to East Germany.

Question 15

Who was Nikita Khrushchev?

Answer 15

The new Soviet leader.

Question 16

What were the people who left the East called?

Answer 16

Defectors.

Question 17

Who became the new American president in 1961?

Answer 17

John F. Kennedy.

Question 18

What happened on June 1961 in Vienna?

Answer 18

JFK and Khrushchev met and Khrushchev demanded a settlement to the Berlin problem.

Question 19

What happened on 13 August 1961?

Answer 19

The Berlin Wall was began construction.

Question 20

What were the effects of JFK’s speech he delivered in West Berlin, in 1963

Answer 20

• it boosted West Germans morale
• it sent a message to the USSR that the west won’t be forced out.

Question 21

What are the famous words that JFK said in his speech in West Berlin, 1963?

Answer 21

‘Ich bin ein Berliner!’ (‘I am a Berliner!’)

Question 22

When was NATO formed?

Answer 22

1949.

Question 23

What is the full name for NATO?

Answer 23

The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO)

Question 24

Why was NATO formed, and what was its aim?

Answer 24

NATO was a military alliance formed to prevent any Soviet attack. The mutual protection alliance meant that, should a NATO member country be invaded or attacked by the USSR, the other member countries would come to its aid.

Question 25

What were the anti-communist alliances that were linked to NATO, that the West formed?

Answer 25

Southeast Asia Treaty Organisation (SEATO, 1954) Central Treaty Organisation (CENTO, 1955)

Question 26

How did the USSR respond to the formation of NATO?

Answer 26

They formed the Warsaw Treaty Organisation (or the Warsaw Pact) in 1955, with its East European satellites.

Question 27

What happened in Hungary in 1956?

Answer 27

The Hungarian Uprising.

Question 27

What was the Prague Spring, and when was it?

Answer 27

The USSR used its soldiers from other Warsaw Pact countries to regain control of the nation when the Czech people rose up in revolt against Soviet domination, in 1968.

Question 28

What did the USSR implement in response to the Prague Spring?

Answer 28

The Brezhnev Doctrine.

Question 29

What did the Brezhnev Doctrine entail?

Answer 29

- It stated that the Warsaw Pact granted the right to intervention in any member state that threatened to break away from the bloc. - if any one of the Warsaw Pact countries turned towards capitalism, the other member countries would force it to return to communism.

Question 30

What is MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction)?

Answer 30

The knowledge that both the USA and the USSR had enough weapons to destroy each other and possibly the world, and hoping that knowledge would prevent the other from attacking first.

Question 31

What talks were had on reducing the arms race, by the USSR and the USA.

Answer 31

Strategic Arms Limitations Talks (SALT)

Question 32

When was SALT I signed, and why was it important?

Answer 32

In 1972 and it was an important first step to slowing down the arms race.

Question 33

What competitions did the superpowers have with each other?

Answer 33

- the arms race - the space race

Question 34

Who led in the space race in 1957?

Answer 34

The USSR launched the first satellite into space. (Sputnik)

Question 35

Who was the first person to orbit the earth and return safely?

Answer 35

Yuri Gagarin from the USSR, in 1961.

Question 36

Who was the first woman sent to space?

Answer 36

Valentina Tereshkova from the USSR.

Question 37

Why did the USA speed up work on their space programme?

Answer 37

It seemed that the USSR was way ahead in science and technology

Question 38

When did America achieve being the first country to walk on the moon?

Answer 38

1969

Question 39

What was the orthodox/conventional view of who was to blame for the Cold War?

Answer 39

This view portrayed the USA and West as morally correct, while the USSR was portrayed as the villain. - It was Soviet aggression in Eastern Europe – and in other parts of the world – that caused the Cold War; - The United States had no choice but to meet the challenges posed by Soviet actions;

Question 40

When was the orthodox view of who was to blame for the Cold War, popular?

Answer 40

1950s and 1960s

Question 41

What was McCarthyism?

Answer 41

The US Government began investigating people who were suspected of being communists. This was led by Senator Joe Mcarthy.

Question 42

What was the revisionist view of who was to blame for the Cold War?

Answer 42

This view placed the blame for the start of the Cold War on the USA, rather than the Soviet Union. - The Soviets did nothing more than any great power would have in Eastern Europe, in terms of looking after its national interests. - The Soviets were often only reacting to what the revisionists portrayed as aggressive American demands for business markets and political access into the region. The USA dominated Western Europe and expected it would do the same in Eastern Europe, despite real, Russian security interests. The USA's foreign policy was imperialistic and a response to the requirements of American capitalism.

Question 43

What was the post-revisionist view of who was to blame for the Cold War?

Answer 43

- Try to show that both sides had their faults and that, over time, both superpowers pushed their own interests and misunderstood the other side. - Agree that Stalin was more concerned with the Soviet sphere of influence rather than world domination or aggressive ambitions towards Western Europe. - Also agree that Western powers had real concerns about the USSR, as they could not be certain of what Stalin was up to.