History: The Cold War

What were the ideological differences that caused the Cold War?

The USA was capitalist with free elections and private business / The USSR was communist with a one-party dictatorship and state-owned industry

What was agreed at the Yalta Conference in February 1945?

Germany to be divided into four zones / Berlin to be divided into four zones / Stalin agreed to join the war against Japan / Stalin promised free elections in Eastern Europe / The United Nations was set up

Why did tensions increase at the Potsdam Conference in July 1945?

Roosevelt died and was replaced by the highly anti-communist Truman / Truman successfully tested the atomic bomb without telling Stalin / Stalin had set up a communist government in Poland breaking his Yalta promise / They completely disagreed over the amount of German reparations

How did Stalin take over Eastern Europe between 1945 and 1948?

He left the Red Army in Eastern European countries after pushing back the Nazis / He used salami tactics to gradually eliminate political opposition / He rigged elections to ensure communist victories / He set up Cominform to strictly coordinate all communist parties

What were the causes and terms of the Truman Doctrine 1947?

Britain could no longer afford to keep soldiers in Greece / Truman feared Greece and Turkey would fall to communism / He announced the USA would provide money and weapons to any country threatened by communist takeover / This officially established the policy of containment

What was the Marshall Plan and how did Stalin react?

George Marshall found European economies were completely ruined and vulnerable to communism / The USA offered 13.7 billion dollars to rebuild European economies / Stalin viewed it as dollar imperialism / Stalin strictly banned all Eastern bloc countries from accepting the money and set up Comecon instead

What were the specific causes of the Berlin Blockade 1948?

Britain France and the USA combined their zones to form Trizonia / The western powers introduced a new currency called the Deutschmark to rebuild the economy / Stalin felt threatened by a recovering Germany / Stalin wanted to force the western powers out of Berlin completely

Describe the events and consequences of the Berlin Blockade 1948-49

Stalin blocked all road rail and canal supply lines into West Berlin / The USA and Britain launched a massive airlift flying in supplies for 11 months / Stalin eventually backed down to avoid nuclear war / It permanently divided Germany into East and West / It directly led to the creation of the NATO military alliance in 1949

What were the long term and short term causes of the Korean War 1950?

The USA was obsessed with the Domino Theory / China fell to communism in 1949 causing massive panic in America / Kim Il Sung convinced Stalin to provide weapons for an invasion / North Korean troops crossed the 38th parallel to unite the country by force

Why was the UN able to intervene in Korea and what did they do?

The USSR was boycotting the UN because communist China was not allowed to join / This meant the USSR could not use its veto power / The UN passed a resolution to defend South Korea / General MacArthur led a massive UN force composed mostly of American troops to push the North Koreans back

Why did the USA fail to achieve complete victory in Korea?

MacArthur pushed too close to the Yalu River ignoring Chinese warnings / Mao Zedong sent 200000 Chinese troops across the border / The brutal winter conditions and human wave tactics forced the UN troops to retreat / Truman fired MacArthur for wanting to drop atomic bombs on China / The war ended in a stalemate exactly where it began at the 38th parallel

What were the long term causes of the Cuban Missile Crisis?

The USA had heavily invested in Cuba under the corrupt dictator Batista / Fidel Castro overthrew Batista and nationalized American businesses / The USA refused to buy Cuban sugar so Castro allied with the USSR / The CIA launched the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion which completely failed and pushed Castro closer to Khrushchev

Why did Khrushchev put nuclear missiles on Cuba in 1962?

To defend Cuba from another American invasion / To close the missile gap because the USA had long-range missiles / To balance the threat of American Jupiter missiles placed in Turkey / To test the young President Kennedy and prove Soviet strength

Describe the events of the Thirteen Days during the Cuban Missile Crisis

American U-2 spy planes photographed the missile sites / Kennedy ordered a naval blockade or quarantine around Cuba / Soviet ships approached the blockade line but eventually turned around / Khrushchev sent two letters one offering to remove missiles if the USA did not invade and a second demanding the removal of US missiles in Turkey / Kennedy publicly agreed to the first and secretly agreed to the second

What were the consequences of the Cuban Missile Crisis?

It was the closest the world ever came to nuclear war / A direct hotline was set up between Washington and Moscow to improve communication / Both sides signed the Test Ban Treaty in 1963 / Khrushchev looked weak and was later removed from power / Kennedy was viewed as a strong decisive leader

Why did the USA get involved in Vietnam?

The French were defeated at Dien Bien Phu and forced to leave / Vietnam was split into a communist North and a capitalist South / The USA feared the Domino Theory would cause all of Southeast Asia to fall / The Gulf of Tonkin incident gave President Johnson the excuse to send massive numbers of combat troops

What military tactics did the Vietcong use against the USA?

Guerrilla warfare fighting in small groups and blending in with peasants / The extensive Cu Chi tunnel network to hide from airstrikes / Lethal booby traps like punji spikes / Supplied by the Ho Chi Minh trail which ran through neutral Laos and Cambodia

What military tactics did the USA use in Vietnam and why did they fail?

Operation Rolling Thunder involved massive carpet bombing but failed to destroy jungle supply lines / Search and Destroy missions alienated the local population / Chemical weapons like Napalm and Agent Orange caused horrific civilian casualties / American troops were young inexperienced and suffered from low morale

Why did public opinion in the USA turn against the Vietnam War?

The Tet Offensive in 1968 proved the Vietcong were nowhere near defeat / The My Lai massacre exposed American troops murdering innocent civilians / It was the first televised war bringing horrific images into living rooms / The military draft forced young men to fight causing massive anti-war protests on university campuses

What were the causes of the Hungarian Uprising 1956?

Hungarians hated the brutal secret police called the AVH / The strict Stalinist leader Matyas Rakosi ruined the economy / Khrushchevs secret speech criticizing Stalin gave Hungarians hope for reform / They believed the USA or UN would help them if they rebelled

What reforms did Imre Nagy propose and how did the USSR react?

Nagy announced Hungary would leave the Warsaw Pact / He promised to hold free multi-party elections / Khrushchev could not allow this because it would create a hole in the Iron Curtain / Khrushchev sent 1000 Soviet tanks into Budapest crushing the rebellion and executing Nagy

Why was the Berlin Wall built in 1961?

East Germany was suffering a massive brain drain as highly skilled workers fled to West Berlin / Over two million people had left making Communism look completely inferior to Capitalism / Khrushchev demanded Kennedy remove US troops from Berlin at the Vienna Summit but Kennedy refused / Khrushchev built the wall overnight to physically lock the East Germans in

What were the causes of the Prague Spring in Czechoslovakia in 1968?

The economy was failing under strict Soviet control / Alexander Dubcek became leader and promised socialism with a human face / He abolished censorship allowed freedom of speech and reduced the power of the secret police / He explicitly promised to stay inside the Warsaw Pact to avoid angering Moscow

How did Brezhnev react to the Prague Spring?

He was terrified that freedom of speech would spread to other Eastern bloc countries / He sent 500000 Warsaw Pact troops to invade Czechoslovakia / Dubcek ordered his people to use passive resistance rather than fight / Dubcek was arrested and the reforms were entirely reversed

What was the Brezhnev Doctrine?

Announced immediately after the Prague Spring / Stated that the USSR had the right to invade any Eastern bloc country that threatened the security of the communist system / Meant that true reform was completely impossible in Eastern Europe

What was Solidarity and why was it so successful in Poland?

An independent trade union led by shipyard worker Lech Walesa / It gained 10 million members which was too large for the government to simply crush / It was heavily supported by the Catholic Church and the Polish Pope John Paul II / It exposed the total failure of communism to provide for the working class

How did the Soviet Union respond to Solidarity in 1981?

The Soviet Union ordered the Polish leader General Jaruzelski to crack down / Jaruzelski declared martial law suspending all normal laws / Walesa and thousands of Solidarity leaders were arrested / The union was banned forcing it to operate entirely underground

How did Gorbachevs reforms lead to the collapse of Soviet control in Eastern Europe?

He introduced Glasnost meaning openness and freedom of speech / He introduced Perestroika introducing small capitalist elements to fix the bankrupt economy / He abandoned the Brezhnev Doctrine announcing the USSR would no longer use military force to control Eastern Europe / Without the threat of Soviet tanks communist governments across Eastern Europe immediately collapsed