History Paper 2b: Superpower Relations and the Cold War

What were the two superpowers in the Cold War?

The USA and the USSR

What does 'Cold War' mean?

A state of tension and rivalry between the USA and USSR that never became direct military conflict ('hot war')

What is an ideology?

A set of political beliefs and values that shapes how a country is governed

What is capitalism?

An economic system based on private ownership, free markets and profit; associated with political democracy

What is communism?

An economic and political system based on state ownership, one-party rule and collective equality; associated with the Soviet model

What is liberal democracy?

A political system with free elections, multiple political parties, freedom of speech and individual rights; associated with the USA

What is a totalitarian state?

A state where the government controls all aspects of life, suppresses opposition and does not allow free elections; e.g. the USSR under Stalin

What were the fundamental ideological differences between the USA and USSR?

USA believed in capitalism, democracy, individual freedoms, and private property; USSR believed in communism, one-party rule, collective ownership, and state control

Why did the USA and USSR distrust each other even before WW2?

The USA had tried to destroy the Bolshevik Revolution; the USSR resented Western capitalism and imperialism; ideological differences made cooperation very difficult

What was the Grand Alliance?

The wartime alliance between the USA, USSR and Britain against Nazi Germany (1941-1945)

Why was the Grand Alliance uneasy?

The three powers had very different ideologies; Stalin resented the delay in opening a second front in Western Europe; there was deep mutual suspicion

What was the Tehran Conference (1943)?

First major meeting of Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill; agreed to open a second front (D-Day) and that the USSR would join the war against Japan after Germany's defeat

What was agreed at the Yalta Conference (February 1945)?

Germany to be divided into four occupation zones; free elections in liberated Eastern Europe; USSR to join war against Japan; United Nations to be established; Germany to pay reparations

Who attended Yalta?

Stalin (USSR), Roosevelt (USA), Churchill (Britain) - the 'Big Three'

What was the 'percentages agreement' (1944)?

Secret deal between Churchill and Stalin dividing influence in Eastern Europe by percentages, e.g. 90% Soviet influence in Romania, 90% British influence in Greece

What was the Potsdam Conference (July - August 1945)?

Final wartime conference; discussed post-war settlement; more tense than Yalta due to changes in leadership and atomic bomb

What changed between Yalta and Potsdam?

Roosevelt died (April 1945) and was replaced by the more anti-Soviet Truman; Churchill was replaced mid-conference by Attlee after Labour won the British election; the USA had tested the atomic bomb

Why was Truman more suspicious of Stalin than Roosevelt?

Truman was more forceful and confrontational; he had received intelligence about Soviet expansionism; he wanted to use the atomic bomb as leverage

What were the main disagreements at Potsdam?

Amount of reparations Germany should pay (USSR wanted more); Poland's western border; Soviet influence in Eastern Europe; how to treat Germany

How did Stalin react when told about the atomic bomb at Potsdam?

He showed little reaction, but secretly ordered Soviet scientists to accelerate their own nuclear weapons programme

How was Germany divided after WW2?

Into four occupation zones: US (south-west), British (north-west), French (south), Soviet (east); Berlin was similarly divided despite being inside the Soviet zone

What was the Iron Curtain?

Term used by Churchill in his Fulton, Missouri speech (March 1946) to describe the ideological and physical divide between Soviet-controlled Eastern Europe and the democratic West

What was the Long Telegram (February 1946)?

US diplomat George Kennan's telegram warning that the USSR was inherently expansionist and that the only response was firm containment of Soviet power

What was the Novikov Telegram (September 1946)?

Soviet diplomat Novikov's report arguing that the USA was seeking world domination and using Marshall Aid to extend its influence; showed Soviet suspicion of the West

What was containment?

US foreign policy (first articulated by Kennan) aimed at preventing the further spread of communism beyond where it already existed

What were Soviet satellite states?

Eastern European countries controlled by the USSR after WW2, e.g. Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, East Germany

How did the USSR establish control over Eastern Europe?

Rigged elections; installed communist governments; used secret police to suppress opposition; Red Army remained in occupation

What happened in Poland after WW2?

The USSR-backed Polish Provisional Government took power; free elections promised at Yalta were rigged; the London-based Polish government-in-exile was ignored

What happened in Czechoslovakia in 1948?

A communist coup (backed by the USSR) ousted the democratic government; Foreign Minister Jan Masaryk was found dead - likely murdered; shocked the West

What was the Truman Doctrine (March 1947)?

US policy to provide political, military and economic support to any country threatened by communist takeover; announced in response to crises in Greece and Turkey

What triggered the Truman Doctrine?

Britain told the USA it could no longer afford to support the Greek government against communist guerrillas; Truman feared Greece and Turkey would fall to communism

What did the Truman Doctrine mean for US foreign policy?

It committed the USA to actively opposing communist takeovers anywhere in the world - a major shift from pre-war isolationism

What was the Marshall Plan (June 1947)?

US economic aid programme offering $13 billion to rebuild Western European economies devastated by WW2; aimed to prevent poverty that might encourage communist revolution

Why did the USA offer the Marshall Plan?

To rebuild European economies; prevent communism spreading to war-weakened democracies; create markets for US goods; bind Western Europe to the USA

What was the Soviet response to the Marshall Plan?

Stalin refused it for the USSR and pressured Eastern European countries to reject it; called it 'dollar imperialism' - a US attempt to buy political influence

What was the Molotov Plan (1947)?

Soviet alternative to the Marshall Plan; provided economic aid to Eastern Bloc countries to bind them closer to the USSR

What was Cominform (1947)?

Communist Information Bureau - set up by Stalin to coordinate communist parties across Eastern Europe and ensure loyalty to Moscow and Soviet ideology

What was Comecon (1949)?

Council for Mutual Economic Assistance - Soviet economic organisation coordinating Eastern Bloc economies; presented as an alternative to Western economic integration

What was the Berlin Blockade (June 1948 - May 1949)?

Stalin blocked all road, rail and canal routes to West Berlin to try to force the Western Allies out of the city

Why did Stalin impose the Berlin Blockade?

Anger at Western plans to create a separate West German state; introduction of a new currency (Deutschmark) in West Berlin; wanted to test Western resolve

How did the West respond to the Berlin Blockade?

The Berlin Airlift - Western Allies flew in all supplies (food, fuel, medicine) for 11 months; over 200,000 flights; 'raisin bombers'

What was the tonnage delivered during the Berlin Airlift?

Over 2.3 million tons of supplies were flown in; at its peak, a plane landed every 90 seconds at West Berlin airports

Why did Stalin lift the blockade (May 1949)?

The airlift was succeeding; the blockade was a propaganda disaster for the USSR; the West had shown it would not back down

What was the significance of the Berlin Blockade?

First major Cold War crisis; showed Western resolve; led to creation of NATO; West Germany and East Germany formally created in 1949; propaganda victory for the West

What was NATO (April 1949)?

North Atlantic Treaty Organisation - Western military alliance: an attack on one member is treated as an attack on all (collective defence, Article 5)

Which countries were original NATO members (1949)?

USA, Canada, Britain, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Denmark, Norway, Iceland, Italy, Portugal

What was the significance of NATO?

First peacetime military alliance the USA had ever joined; directly challenged Soviet dominance in Europe; committed the USA to European defence

What was the Warsaw Pact (May 1955)?

Soviet military alliance of Eastern Bloc countries formed in response to West Germany joining NATO; included USSR, Poland, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Albania

What happened in 1949 that shocked the USA?

The USSR successfully tested its first atomic bomb (August 1949), ending the US nuclear monopoly far sooner than expected

What happened in China in 1949?

Mao Zedong's communist forces won the Chinese Civil War; China became a communist state - 'Who lost China?' - shocked the West

What was NSC-68 (1950)?

US National Security Council document recommending a massive increase in defence spending (from $13 billion to $50 billion per year) to combat the Soviet threat

What was the Korean War (1950 - 53)?

War between communist North Korea (backed by USSR and China) and South Korea (backed by UN/USA); ended in stalemate at the 38th parallel - the original border

How did the Korean War start?

North Korea invaded South Korea in June 1950; the UN Security Council (with USSR absent) voted to send troops under US General MacArthur

What was the significance of the Korean War for the Cold War?

Showed containment in practice; massively increased US defence spending; first 'hot' proxy conflict of the Cold War; showed USA would fight communism militarily

What was McCarthyism?

Anti-communist hysteria in the USA led by Senator Joseph McCarthy; accused hundreds of Americans of being Soviet spies or communist sympathisers, often without evidence

What was the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC)?

US congressional committee that investigated alleged communist influence in American society; persecuted Hollywood figures and government employees

What were the Rosenbergs?

Julius and Ethel Rosenberg - American couple executed in 1953 for passing nuclear secrets to the USSR; their trial reflected the fear of Soviet espionage

What was Stalin's death significant for?

His death in March 1953 raised hopes of a 'thaw' in Cold War tensions; led to a power struggle eventually won by Khrushchev

Who was Khrushchev?

Nikita Khrushchev - Soviet leader from 1955 to 1964; pursued de-Stalinisation and peaceful coexistence but also presided over major Cold War crises

What was 'peaceful coexistence'?

Khrushchev's policy that the USA and USSR could compete ideologically without going to war; replaced Stalin's more aggressive confrontation

What was Khrushchev's 'Secret Speech' (February 1956)?

Speech at the 20th Party Congress denouncing Stalin's crimes, cult of personality and purges; raised hopes of liberalisation across Eastern Europe

What was de-Stalinisation?

Khrushchev's programme of reducing Stalin's cult of personality, releasing political prisoners, allowing slightly more cultural freedom, and distancing the USSR from Stalin's brutal methods

What was the Hungarian Uprising (October - November 1956)?

Mass revolt against Soviet rule in Hungary; protestors demanded free elections, withdrawal of Soviet troops and Hungarian independence; crushed by Soviet tanks

Who led the Hungarian reform movement (1956)?

Imre Nagy - reformist Hungarian prime minister who announced Hungary would leave the Warsaw Pact and become neutral; executed by the Soviets in 1958

How did the USSR respond to the Hungarian Uprising?

Sent in 200,000 Soviet troops and 2,500 tanks; crushed the revolt; over 2,500 Hungarians killed; 200,000 fled as refugees

Why didn't the West intervene in Hungary (1956)?

Fear of nuclear war with the USSR; also distracted by the Suez Crisis (Britain and France); showed the limits of 'liberation' rhetoric

What was the significance of the Hungarian Uprising?

Showed the USSR would use force to maintain control of Eastern Europe; damaged Soviet reputation; revealed the limits of Western 'rollback' policy

What was the Suez Crisis (1956)?

Britain and France (with Israel) invaded Egypt to retake the Suez Canal after Nasser nationalised it; USA and USSR both opposed the invasion; Britain and France humiliated

Why was the Suez Crisis significant for the Cold War?

Showed decline of British and French power; USA asserted dominance over its allies; USSR made threats; distracted West during Hungarian Uprising

What was Sputnik (October 1957)?

The USSR launched the world's first artificial satellite; shocked the USA and demonstrated that Soviet rockets could potentially deliver nuclear warheads to US cities

What was Sputnik II (November 1957)?

Second Soviet satellite, carrying the dog Laika - first living creature in space; showed Soviet space technology was advancing rapidly

What was the 'Sputnik Crisis'?

The shock felt in the USA at Soviet space achievements; led to massive investment in US science education and the creation of NASA (1958)

What was the Space Race?

Competition between the USA and USSR to achieve superiority in space exploration; had massive propaganda significance for both sides

What were key Space Race milestones (Soviet)?

Sputnik 1 (1957); first animal in space - Laika (1957); first human in space - Gagarin (1961); first spacewalk - Leonov (1965)

What were key Space Race milestones (American)?

First American in space - Alan Shepard (1961); first American to orbit Earth - John Glenn (1962); first Moon landing - Neil Armstrong (1969)

What was the significance of Yuri Gagarin (April 1961)?

First human in space; major propaganda victory for the USSR; seemed to show the superiority of the Soviet system

What was the Moon landing (July 1969) significant for?

Apollo 11 landed on the Moon; Neil Armstrong first human on the Moon; major US propaganda victory; effectively 'won' the Space Race for the USA

What was Khrushchev's Berlin Ultimatum (November 1958)?

Demanded that Western powers leave West Berlin within 6 months or the USSR would hand control of access routes to East Germany

Why did Khrushchev issue the Berlin Ultimatum?

West Berlin was a 'showcase' of capitalism in the heart of the Eastern Bloc; embarrassing for the USSR; also, 3 million East Germans had fled West via Berlin since 1945

What was the outcome of the Berlin Ultimatum?

The West refused to leave; Khrushchev eventually backed down; the ultimatum failed but showed the Berlin problem needed a solution

What was the U-2 Crisis (May 1960)?

An American U-2 spy plane was shot down deep inside Soviet territory; pilot Gary Powers was captured; Eisenhower first denied, then admitted, the USA had been spying on the USSR

What was the impact of the U-2 Crisis?

Ruined the Paris Summit (May 1960) - Khrushchev walked out; severely damaged superpower relations; showed how deep mutual spying went

What was the Paris Summit (May 1960)?

Planned superpower meeting between Eisenhower and Khrushchev; collapsed after the U-2 incident when Khrushchev demanded an apology Eisenhower refused to give

What was the Bay of Pigs invasion (April 1961)?

CIA-trained Cuban exiles landed in Cuba to overthrow Castro; the invasion was a total failure; humiliated Kennedy and pushed Cuba closer to the USSR

Why did the Bay of Pigs fail?

The planned US air support was cancelled; local Cubans did not rise up against Castro as expected; the invaders were quickly captured; poor planning

What was the significance of the Bay of Pigs for the Cold War?

Made Kennedy look weak; convinced Khrushchev he could be pushed around; contributed to the decision to place missiles in Cuba

Why was Cuba significant to the USA?

Cuba is only 90 miles from Florida; a communist Cuba allied with the USSR was seen as a direct military and ideological threat

How did Castro come to power in Cuba?

Led a revolution that overthrew US-backed dictator Batista in 1959; initially sought US support but turned to the USSR after the USA imposed an economic embargo

What was Operation Mongoose?

CIA programme of sabotage, assassination attempts and destabilisation aimed at overthrowing Castro after the Bay of Pigs failure

What caused the Cuban Missile Crisis (October 1962)?

US U-2 spy planes photographed Soviet nuclear missile launch sites being constructed in Cuba (discovered 14 October 1962)

Why did the USSR place missiles in Cuba?

To defend Cuba from US invasion; to close the 'missile gap' (USA had more missiles); to use as a bargaining chip over Berlin; Khrushchev wanted to test Kennedy

What was ExComm?

Executive Committee of the National Security Council - Kennedy's secret group of advisers who met during the Cuban Missile Crisis to decide the US response

What were Kennedy's options during the Cuban Missile Crisis?

Do nothing; diplomacy; air strike on missile sites; full invasion of Cuba; naval blockade (quarantine); use nuclear weapons

Why did Kennedy choose a naval blockade?

Less aggressive than an air strike; gave Khrushchev time to back down; showed resolve without immediate violence; an air strike risked killing Soviet personnel

What was the 'quarantine' (naval blockade)?

Kennedy announced a naval blockade of Cuba on 22 October 1962; any Soviet ships carrying military equipment would be turned back

What happened when Soviet ships approached the blockade?

Most turned back; one was searched and found to carry no weapons; showed Khrushchev was willing to negotiate

What was 'Black Saturday' (27 October 1962)?

The most dangerous day of the crisis: a U-2 was shot down over Cuba (killing pilot Major Anderson); another U-2 accidentally flew into Soviet airspace; Soviet submarines under pressure from US depth charges

What was the secret deal that ended the Cuban Missile Crisis?

USSR agreed to remove missiles from Cuba; USA publicly pledged not to invade Cuba; USA secretly agreed to remove Jupiter missiles from Turkey within 6 months

Why was the Cuban Missile Crisis resolved?

Both sides feared nuclear war; back-channel communications between Robert Kennedy and Soviet ambassador Dobrynin; pragmatic compromise by both leaders

What was the significance of the Cuban Missile Crisis?

Closest the world came to nuclear war; led to the hotline; Partial Test Ban Treaty; showed MAD was real; weakened Khrushchev who was seen as backing down