THE COLD WAR AND SOVIET UNION

What was Joseph Stalin’s agenda?

-Was suspicious of Britain and USA and believed they would side with the Nazis

-Demanded the allies open up the second front to draw the Nazis away from the USSR and decrease their casualties

What was Winston Churchill’s agenda?

-Suspicious of Stalin

-Believed that any second front should be opened in the Balkans rather than western Europe

What was Roosevelt’s Agenda?

-Suspicious of communism and British colonialism

-Wanted the support of the allies in Japan

What were the consequences of the the Tehran Conference (1943)

-A second front would be opened

-Germany was split

Why was a second front open?

It was said that it would ease pressure for the soviets on the Eastern Front where they were losing a lot of soldiers by forcing the German soldiers to divert some of their troops westward

Why did Germany get split?

All agreed that Germany should be kept weak after their unconditional surrender and that to do so it was agreed that some land should be given to Poland but that Stalin should keep the land that he had seized from Poland

What was the significance of the Tehran Conference?

The relationship between Roosevelt and Stalin became incredibly close as Stalin became less wary of the Western countries as they decided to open a front

When was the Yalta conference?

1945

What were the consequences of the Yalta Conference?

-Churchill had doubts about Stalin and believed that Stalin should not have been permitted to keep his troops in Eastern Europe. This created some early tension between Britain and the USSR.

- the 'Big Three' disagreed on the meaning of 'free elections.'

Why did the politicians disagree on the meaning of free elections?

Stalin believed that it was where people would vote for communism since only communism truly represented the people. Yet, Roosevelt and Churchill believed that it was where lots of political parties would compete for votes. This disparity increased tensions between the allies.

What was major disagreement between the powers at the conference?

Stalin was convinced that Poland needed to remain as a buffer zone between Germany and the soviet union and that Poland was seen as a reward for the many lives lost by the USSR while fighting the Nazis but Roosevelt and Churchill were against the increase in soviet influence in the region of Eastern Europe

Who was made the new American President?

Truman

What was different about Truman from Roosevelt?

Truman took a completely different attitude to Stalin and saw him as a complete threat

What were the consequences of the Potsdam conference?

-Harry Truman exploded the atomic bomb without consulting Stalin beforehand

-Harry Truman and Clement Atlee were alarmed by Stalin's actions in Poland, where he installed a pro-communist government.

Why did Truman exploding the atomic bomb have an effect?

This upset Stalin who felt slightly threatened by the USA's actions. In addition, Harry Truman believed that Stalin intended to take over the world and therefore was less willing to compromise was more suspicious of Stalin.

Why was Truman angry Stalin installed a pro-communist government?

This went against the agreement made in the Yalta Conference, which caused relations to further deteriorate.

What two cities were bombs dropped on?

Hiroshima and Nagasaki

What did the dropping of the bombs mean for the USA?

It meant that the USSR wasn’t needed to defeat Japan and that Truman refused to allow the USSR to take part in the US occupation of Japan

What was the effect of the USA keeping their development of the atomic bomb a secret?

-So they would have the upper hand in any future negotiations with the USSR

-Stalin saw the development of the atomic bomb as an attempt to intimidate the USSR and so he was less likely to allow Eastern European countries freedom as he felt less secure

-These increased tensions led to the USSR developing their own atomic bomb which caused an arms race

What happened after the Second World War?

The Red army occupied Eastern Europe and made these countries to be part of their sphere of influence after the war

What did Stalin install in these countries?

Pro Soviet Puppet Governments in Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Czechoslovakia

What did the USSR do to Czechoslovakia?

When the communist party seemed likely to lose ground in the next election it seized power in February 1984

What did the Soviet Union do to Yugoslavia?

Yugoslavia was communist but more open to the West and its leader Tito argued with Stalin over political interference

What did the divide between the USSR and the Soviet Union become known as?

-The Cold War

-Churchill described it as an iron curtain dividing Europe

What is the Long Telegram?

-A telegram sent to the USA

-It said that Stalin had given a speech in favour of the destruction of capitalism

-It warned of the USSR trying to divide and weaken Western Powers in favour of their own

What is the Novikov Telegram?

-Telegram sent to Stalin

-Claimed that the USA was pursuing world domination

-It warned that the USA was trying to limit the influence of the USSR

How did Truman control the Communist Threat?

-Truman Doctrine

-Marshall Plan

What was the Truman Doctrine?

-The USA pledged to support any nation threatened by a communist takeover through diplomatic , military or financial aid.

-The USA gave 400 million dollars of aid to Turkey and Greece to stop communism spreading

What was the Marshall Plan?

Between 1948 and 1952 the USA gave 12.7 billion dollars of aid to the countries of Western Europe with 16 countries benefitting from it overall

-This was part of Truman’s policy of containment

How did the Marshall Plan effect US-Soviet relations?

Stalin viewed the Marshall Plan and the Truman Doctrine as an American Attempt to extend its influence in Europe and that it was undermining the role of the United Nations

-Stalin believed America was simply trying to establish its own empire which became known as ‘dollar imperialism’

What was Cominform?

An organisation set up on Stalin’s orders to create an alliance of the communist parties and co-ordinate their actions with the USSR

-Made in direct opposition to the Marshall Plan

What was Comecon?

An organisation made to support economic development within its member states

What plan did the Soviet Union put into place?

The Five Year Plan with nationalised industry and collectivized agriculture while offering economic aid

-Due to the closeness of the economies of these countries the east could avoid parallelism which meant they weren’t producing the same goods

What was Comecon made in direct opposition to?

The Marshall Plan

When was NATO formed?

1949

What was the aim of Nato?

The idea that if any member was attacked then all members would come to their aid to offer military and economic assistance

What was the Warsaw Pact?

The agreement made by Eastern Countries to protect each other in case of attack which became known as the eastern bloc

When was the Atomic Bomb made by the USA?

1945

When was the hydrogen bomb made by the USA?

1952

It was 1000 times more powerful

When was the ICBM made?

1957

It could fire a nuclear weapon at a target more than 4500km away

What was the Bizonia?

When France Britain and the USA occupied four zones which they combined together to create ‘Bizonia’

What was good about this new Western Zone?

It had a single government with a new currency to help economic recovery

Why did Stalin hate this new western zone?

It was a unified western zone with a strong capitalist economy which embarrassed the USSR and made communism look weak

What did Stalin do as a result of the Western Zones?

He created a blockade in Berlin to try and withdraw the West from Western Berlin and in June 1948 he ordered that all road , rail and canal links between West Berlin and the outside world should be cut off

What did the West do to combat the Blockade?

They bypassed it and flew in supplies which became known as the Berlin Airlift

-By 1949 8000 tonnes of supply were being flown in each day

-Tegel airport was built in Western Berlin to help aid with bringing in supplies

What was the aftermath of this?

Stalin ended the blockade and Germany was split into West Germany and East Germany

What was the arms race fuelled by?

Fear and suspicion of other events such as the formation of NATO which made the USSR feel vulnerable

Who was made President after Stalin died?

Khrushchev

What did Khrushchev want?

A peaceful co-existence with the West

What changes did Khrushchev make?

He de-stalinised the USSR by:

-Abolishing Cominform meaning states in Eastern Europe would have more political freedom and rights

-These changes allowed tensions in the satellite states to come to the surface as not all states chose communism and saw this as a way to separate themselves from it

Who did Khrushchev change the leader of Hungary to?

Imre Nagy instead of Rakosi who was an authoritarian dictator

What change did Nagy make?

-In November 1956 Nagy announced that Hungary would withdraw from the Warsaw Pact and hold its own free elections

-If Hungary was allowed to withdraw from communism other countries would seek to as well

What did Khrushchev do?

Soviet tanks invaded Hungary in 1956 with 20,000 Hungarians being killed and Janos Kadar became the new Prime Minister

What was the significance of the Hungary Crisis?

-Showed the consequences of disloyalty towards the USSR and they were still in control

-It was a turning point for Khrushchev and signified his authority over the satellite states and dismissed any claims that his rule signified a thaw in the cold war

-The lack of intervention from western countries made them look weak

Who succeeded Truman as President?

President Eisenhower

What happened at the Geneva Conference?

The conference in which the USA and USSR agreed to communicate more openly

What was West Berlin like after the Berlin crisis?