The Cold War-origins Of The Cold War

Question 1

operation Barbarossa

Answer 1

The Nazi invasion of the USSR on 22nd of June 1941.

Question 2

Tensions between soviets and the west prior to 1941

Answer 2

The 1917 revolution &the withdrawal of Russia from ww1. Western countries were worried about the soviet idea of a worldwide revolution. +the soviet idea that capitalist powers wanted communism to be overthrown.

Question 3

Bolshevik revolution 1917

Answer 3

3 years fighting in WW1 Russians rose in revolt against the government. Russia suffered badly due to the war. Tsar was forced to abdicate,replaced with the provisional government, Bolshevik uprising, seized power and overthrew the government.

Question 4

Wartime leaders

Answer 4

Great Britain- winston Churchill, prime minister, 1940-45
Clement Attlee,Prime minister,1954-51
USSR- Joseph Stalin,general secretary of the communist party, 1922-53
USA- Franklin Roosevelt’s, president, 1933-45
Harry truman-1945- 53

Question 5

the second front

Answer 5

German invasion of Russia was in 1941, they suffered, happened in 1942. Stalin took to British and USA to invade in north France because the German powers weren’t as strong & resources were being used in Russia. Second front was created in 1944.West took a long time to help which rose suspicions in USSR that the capitalist west wanted the dictatorships(Hitler& Stalin) to fight each other to a standsill.

Question 6

military operation

Answer 6

America+ Britain collaborated during war, a high point is D-day - the joint invasion in France in june 1944.

Question 7

relations prior to the war

Answer 7

relations between russia and the west were hostile because of Russias withdrawal from the first world war alongside the communist ideology that the Bolsheviks had. Countries were worried of Lenin’s desire of a worldwide revolution this potential threat and ideology horrified the rulers of the western nations.

Question 8

Russian civil war

Answer 8

After the 1917 revolution Russia was in chaos, the Bolsheviks, known as the ‘reds’ took over main cities whereas those loyal to tsarist regime and former army officers were known as the ‘whites’. the whites were assisted by foreign powers and tried to remove the Bolsheviks from power. this resulted in civil war of five years however the reds gained full control

Question 9

Joseph Stalin

Answer 9

Stalin, meaning ‘man of steel’ was the name that Joseph adopted. He was the leader of the Bolsheviks and he took over leadership of the soviet union following Lenins death in 1924. he pushed the cuntry to industrilise and defeated the Nazis in 1945. however, he was a ruthless and brutal autocrat who sent millions of his own people to their deaths. he dominated the soviets from the 30’s to 1953 when he died.

Question 10

Nazi soviet pact

Answer 10

in August 1939, Stalin stunned the west by signing a non aggression pact with the Nazis
called the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact. They agreed not to attack each other and to divide Poland between them. the Were were negotiating with the soviets hoping for a united front against Germany. Stalin made the pact with Germany because he was worried that the Western powers would come to an understanding with the Nazis also Stalin was buying time as he knew that soviet industry was behind and needed to modernise in order to defeat Germany.

Question 11

Polish-soviet war

Answer 11

was a conflict between the Soviet Republics and Ukraine and the newly reformed country of Poland. the [poles wanted to push their territory east and saw the Russian civil was as a great opportunity. the war lasted tow years but b0th sides were exhausted and signed the treaty of Riga in 1921.

Question 12

Munich, 1938

Answer 12

An agreement was reached between the western powers and Germany that Germany would occupy the Sudeten are of Czech because they had large amounts of German population. the westrn powers thought this would

Question 13

Finland and the Baltic states

Answer 13

Finland invaded in Dec 1939 by Stalin, following this the Baltic states, Eastonia, Latvia and Lithuania, they were occupied by the red army. Britain offered troops to Finland but fortunately, Russia and Finland signed a peace treaty and a simultaneous war with Russia and Germany was avoided.

Question 14

Operation Barbarossa 1941

Answer 14

Was the Nazi invasion of the soviet union which began in June 2941. the soviets were caught by surprise and were very unprepared. giving Britain and the Ussr a common enemy

Question 15

Winston Churchill

Answer 15

appointed prime minister in 1940. he welcomed Stalin as an ally in 1941. Famous for his iron curtain speech

Question 16

why were the tensions in the wartime Grand alliance

Answer 16

Stalin wanted the western powers to launch an atk on the west to open up a second front and relieve pressure of the red army. the western powers did not have the manpower and strength for this which Stalin reacted bitterly to. he questioned weather British troops feared the Germans.

Question 16

isolationism

Answer 16

was people in favour of non-involvement in European and Asian conflicts and in international poitics.

Question 17

the issue of the second front

Answer 17

Hitler had committed most of his army into the red army and they were struggling, Stalin asked west for help but they were unable because of the 190 defeats however Stalin was suspicious and felt that the west were going to make peace with Germany and leave them behind and let them be weakened so that they wouldn’t have any influence on post war Europe.

Question 18

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Answer 18

Us president in 1933 was democratic. he ended isolationism by joining the war in 41. he was willing to help the soviet union in the grand alliance and thought that meaningful international co-operation would continue after the war ended, he died in 45

Question 19

lend-lease programme

Answer 19

USA giving assistance in terms of war materials to other allied powers from march 41

Question 20

Tehran conference

Answer 20

1943, the first of three conferences, leaders consisted of Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill. Churchill wanted to invade through the Mediterranean and invade Germany though the ‘sort underbelly’ But Stalin was angry with this as he felt that there was delays and they should invade through France.
the agreements made were, invasion of France in may 1941,
Stalin agreed to join war against Japan once Germany defeated, Ussr would gain territory in Poland to protect them selfs, leaders agreed they would only accept an unconditional surrender from Germany.

Question 20

why did the liberation of Europe cause tensions in the wartime alliance and ultimately lead to the cold war

Answer 20

the liberation of Europe increased tensions because the soviets started to have ideas. the west countries were backed up in france till the end of 1944 which meant that the Soviets had the upper hand and determined that governments liberated by the soviets would be pro-soviet weather they wanted to or not. Stalin basically swapped one totalitarian regime to another.

Question 21

Czechoslovakia

Answer 21

government in exile. president Benes was reluctant but didn’t protest in soviet plans because they mistrusted the west. Benes signed a treaty of friendship with the soviets for security

Question 22

Hungary

Answer 22

was a Germany ally and helped them invade Soviet Union. the soviets invaded and the Hungarian army could not hold off which resulted in a replacement of the leader with a new fascist leader, Ferenc Szalasi. soviets stayed there even after the war.

Question 23

Romania

Answer 23

also a German ally. King Michael ousted the fascist iron guard and negotiated an armistice however, the soviets forced him to appointg pro-soviet Dr Petru Groza as prime minister. red army had a solid footing in Romania.

Question 24

Bulgaria

Answer 24

Bulgaria did not fight against the Soviet union. communist partisans liberated the capital. Red army was generally welcomed by the people. in the armistice, the soviet troops occupied the entire country.

Question 25

Yugoslavia

Answer 25

soviet influence was more limited becasue the country was liberated by communist partisans and the red army didn’t stay in the country and just passed through to liberate Hungary and Austria. Stain was content to see a communist leader be in charge of the country.

Question 26

Poland

Answer 26

the most problematic country. poles were deeply suspicious of Stalin. they hoped the western powers would help o resist Stalin however Stalin felt it was the most important country to liberate because it was between USSR and Germany. The Polish communist party had little support. there was an exiled government in London and was recognised as legit by all the allied powers. there was a military alliance between the two countries however the London poles were reluctant however agreements were made.

Question 27

soviet and polish tensions

Answer 27

thousands of polish officers bodies had been found in a soviet area of control and the soviets blamed the NKVD (soviet secret police). the soviets broke off relations with the poles and Stalin now looked for a easier alternative to the gov in exile. Stain created the comittee of National liberation from the leftover communist poles. the army was still loyal to the Lndn poles which resulted the NKVD arresting the army officers increasing tension. the London poles got the home army to liberate Warsaw so thy could liberate the capital before the red army which would ensure they were more powerful in the future. in retaliation, Stalin deliberately halted the advance of the red army, refused to allow allied planes to deliver supplies and disarmed polish units on the way to warsaw. Stalin’s actions allowed the Germans to regroup and and crush the rising. the home army were defeated.

Question 28

the Yalta conference

Answer 28

the last conference with the big three, 1945, Stalin insisted that the meeting take place in the soviet union despite Roosevelt being gravely ill. discussions moved from co-oeration to the political future regarding Poland and Germany. Stalin felt strong because of his occupation of majority of the eastern Europe. He wanted soviet control in countries bordering the USSR. the conference was seen as a time where Churchill and Roosivelt were duped however the USSR was vital in defeating Japan and Germany.

Question 29

decisions reached at Yalta

Answer 29

Germany would be divided into four zones of occupation
USSR would annex the polish territory that they had occupied in 1939 and in return the polish boarder would move west previously German territory
Stalin agreed to hold free and fair elections in countries that he had jurisdiction over
London poles and Lubin poles would form a joint gov
Stalin agreed to the formation of the united nations
soviets would recieve $20 billion in reparations in goods and services over 5 years

Question 30

the Potsdam conference

Answer 30

7th may 1945 Germany formally surrendered. tensions had grown because Stalin had gone against the promises he had made. Churchill had been replaced by Atlee and Roosevelt had been replaced by Harry .s. Truman. he was much more sus of Soviet affairs and a more hostile approach regarding the Soviets. the Red army were no longer needed to defeat anyone and therefore the west powers were less worried about pushing the Soviets too far. one adv they had was the American lend lease programme. the soviets were becoming more and more reliant on the USA. Truman stopped the ships to prove a point + he had the successful testing of the atom bomb. the atom bomb stopped the red army getting to japan first and they therefore could not strive to gain anything from helping the west.

Question 31

decisions reached at Potsdam

Answer 31

-4 zones of occupation in Germany
-Nazi party was to be destroyed
-Nazi war criminals would be brought to trial
-a polish provisional gov was to be established to hold free and fiar elections
-Russia was allowed to take reps from the soviet zone and 10% of western zone industrial equipment

Question 32

soviet satellites

Answer 32

generally referred to as the countries that were liberated by the red army and were in the soviet sphere of influence. they were Czech, Bulgaria, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Yugoslavia& Albania had communist governments.

Question 33

marshall plan

Answer 33

the european recovery program. this was a US initiative to aid Western Europe and the USA gave $13 billion to the west after WW2. the USA’s goals were to rebuild war-torn regions, remove trade barriers, modernise their industry, improve European prosperity, and prevent the spread of communism.

Question 34

Harry.s.truman

Answer 34

President of the USA from 1945-53 His political career had focused on domestic issues and he knew little about foreign policy when he became president. He took a more hard-line approach compared to Roosevelt. the Truman doctrine of 1947 promised ‘free people’ everywhere to resist communism and also implemented the Marshall plan

Question 35

Clement atlee

Answer 35

Leader of the labour party from 1an935, he was elected as prime minister initially July 1951. under his premiership, Great Britain aligned herself firmly with the united states and this policy continued throughout the cold war.

Question 36

tensions caused between wartime leaders- Stalin

Question 37

tensions casued between wartime leaders- Roosivelt

Question 38

tensions caused between wartime leaders-Truman

Question 39

Tensions caused between wartime leaders-Churchill

Question 40

who was to blame for the start of the cold war? - the soviet union

Question 41

who was to blame for the start of the cold war?- the USA