The origins of the cold war

who was the cold war fought between

The USA and the USSR

what was agreed at the tehran conference in November 1943

Britain and the USA would open up a second front

The USSR would wage war on Japan once Germany was defeated

An area of East Poland would be added to the USSR

what was agreed at Yalta in February 1945

Germany would be divided into four zones

Berlin would be divided

All three countries would join the United Nations

Nazi war criminals would be hunted down and tried in court

Free elections for countries freed from nazi control

Eastern Europe would be a Soviet Sphere of influence

what was agreed at Potsdam in July 1945

Decentralisation(division of germany)

demilitarisation of germany

democracy would be established

denazification

reparations would be paid by germany

full participation in the UN

border of poland was set

what is the difference between communism and capitalism

capitalism- economic system where the owner keeps their profits for their own benefit

communism- wealth should be shared equally and means of production (e.g. factories) are publicly owned

why did relations worsen between the superpowers towards the end of ww2

stalin was furious about not being informed of america testing the atomic bomb

churchill was suspicious of stalin and his ideas about introducing communism in poland

what were satellite states

countries controlled by the USSR but were not a part of it

how did the USSR keep control of its satellite states

coalition governments set up (romania, hungary, czechoslovakia)

communists took over the civil service, media, security and defence (hungary, czechoslovakia)

opposition leaders were arrested or forced to flee(poland, hungary, czechoslovakia, romania)

elections were held but were fixed (poland, hungary, czechoslovakia)

people’s democracies set up (hungary)

what was the Long Telegram

sent by a US official in Moscow to Truman (US President) to inform him that the USSR seemed suspicious and should be seen as a rival rather than an ally

what was the Noikov Telegram

sent by the Soviet ambassador in the USA to Stalin to warn him about ‘obvious indications of the US effort to obtain world dominance’

how did the two telegrams impact relations

worsened the relationship between the USA and the USSR because suspicion built

what was the Truman Doctrine

Made in April 1947

American policy of containment (prevent the spread of communism)

America promised to help any state threatened by communist attack

(first country to be helped was greece)

what was Marshall Aid

Announced in June 1947

offered economic help to any country that needed it (open to USSR as well)

ensured that countries would be rebuilt and so less vulnerable to communism

why did the USA adopt the policy of containment

to prevent the spread of communism

how did relations change between the USA and the USSR 1943-1947

worsened due to different political views

Marshall Aid and Truman Doctrine meant that USSR was unhappy as they wanted to spread communism

Both wanted to be perceived as the most powerful

what did churchill say in his iron curtain speech

he made it clear that he believed the soviet union was a threat to world peace

‘iron curtain’ was the term he used to describe the divide between east and west europe

what were the reactions to the iron curtain speech

the speech was made in the usa, meaning it would have had to have been cleared with Truman first

This lead stalin to believe that the speech reflected american views so he strengthened his forces and had more anti-western propaganda

what was cominform (1947)

Communist Information Bureau

Introduced to satellite states

ensured that they followed soviet policy

what was comecon (1949)

Council for Mutual Assistance

supposed to allow the soviet union to financially aid the satellite states

USSR used it to control the economies of the satellite states

what was the berlin blockade

stalin didn’t want the West in berlin and accused them of interfering in soviet affairs

he blocked off all road, rail and canal traffic to try and starve west berlin and force the allies to leave

what was the berlin airlift

the allies flew supplies into berlin using air corridors

biggest airlift in history

each plane had a 90 second interval to land

what were consequences of the berlin blockade

confirmed divisions of berlin and germany

increased east-west rivalry

lead to the creation of nato

what is nato

created in 1949

main purpose to create soviet expansion

what was the soviet response to nato

the creation of the warsaw pact

what was the warsaw pact

alliance between soviet union and satellite states which agreed that they would defend each other

what was the arms race

a race between the USA and the USSR to have the most powerful and more advanced weaponry

two key events in the arms race up to 1958

1952- USA create the hydrogen bomb

1954- USA test the hydrogen bomb

what were the causes of the hungarian uprising

Krushchev became the leader of the soviet union and began de-stalinisation

rakosi became the leader of hungary but was a dictator

living standards began to fall

rakosi was replaced by nagy

what were the key features of the hungarian uprising

students demonstrated in budapest demanding free elections and free press (23 Oct)

on the 25 tanks were sent to restore peace but opened fire

Nagy proposed reforms such as removing Hungary from the Warsaw Pact

what was khrushchevs response to the hungarian uprising

200,000 soviet troops and 6000 tanks were sent to hungary

the hungarians were no match for the soviets

nagy was replaced as leader

Krushchev did this so he didn’t appear weak and to set an example to the rest of the soviet states

what were the results of the hungarian uprising

soviet troops easily defeated the hungarians

200,000 hungarians fled and became political refugues

the west could not interfere as hungary was under soviet control so it would risk nuclear war