Cold War Paper 2 IB exam questions

evaluate the impact of détente upon US-USSR relations up to the end of 1979

- détente was initiated by Nixon

- was initiated due to dangers of nuclear war

- relaxation of tension

- each state was doing it for their own good

USSR's reasons :

1. stagnating economy

2. to improve standards of living

3. transfer economic resources to consumer goods / import technologies from the west

USA's reasons :

1. get USSR to pressure China to put pressure on N. Vietnam to end war

PRC-USA : reasons

1. China was worried about international isolation and saw improved relations with the United States as a way to prevent this and, at the same time, cause concerns in the Soviet Union

2. For the USA, an improved relationship with China was part of the new realpolitik approach to foreign policy

'realpolitik' - political realism or practical politics, especially policy based on power rather than on ideals

Reasons for improved East-West Europe Relations :

1. W. Germany chancellor Brandt was willing to reduce tension and create better link between E&W Germany

2. his policy supported 'ostpolitik' which meant 'opening toward the east'

Success of détente :

1. arms agreement between US-USSR (SALT I = The strategic arms limitation talks 1972)

2. ABM treaty (anti-ballistic missiles) no more than 100 missiles : ensure emphasis on mutually assured distruction

3. interim treaty : placed limits on ICBM & SLBMS

4. Basic Principles Agreement : two sides to promote peaceful co-existence

SALT II :

-> treaty signed in 1979

-> limit on number of ICBMs, SLBMs & heavy bombers for each side

-> ban on testing new types of ICBMs & rapid reload systems

Agreement between two Germanys & USSR :

-> Moscow treaty signed 197 between USSR-Poland-FRG and recognized borders between E&W

-> Basic treaty (1972) signed by E&W Germany which accepted two Germanys

'High point of détente' : Helsinki agreement :

1. Nixon agreed to participate

"ideology was the most important cause of cold war crisis" ; discuss with references to two cold war crises, each from a different region

communism - an economic and political system based on one-party government and state ownership of property

capitalism - an economic and. political system in which private individuals and corporations control the means of production and use them to earn profits

-> USA developed anti-communism after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, when the United States and the Soviet Union engaged in an intense rivalry.

--self interest of each country--

USA :

1. the need to establish. markets and open the door for trade

2. the desire to avoid another economic crisis of magnitude of 1929

3. president Truman and most of the post war US administrations' belief that was good for America was good for the world

USSR :

1. the need to secure borders

2. the need to recover from the effects of World

War Two

3. the need to regain strength as the 'nursery of communism'

4. Stalin's belief that what was good for the USSR was good for workers of the world

-> for the West, the outcome of WW2 showed that the ideals of capitalism had triumphed over fascism

-> for USSR, communism, over fascism

BERLIN CRISIS

causes :

-> following Germany's defeat in World War II, the country was divided into four zones that were run by the Allied nations: Britain, France, America, and the U.S.S.R.

-> its capital Berlin, was divided into 4 sectors that were run by the Allies

-> as many East Germans were escaping to west because of economic and political circumstances, Khrushchev had to do something about it

-> in 1958, Khrushchev proposed a peace treaty that would recognize the existence of the two Germanys; on 27 November 1958, he then demanded that Berlin should be demilitarized, Western troops withdrawn, and Berlin changed into a 'free city'. If the West did not agree to these changes within 6 months,

to what extent did the policy of peaceful co-existence improve superpower relations up to and including 1964

--peaceful co-existence--

The practical recognition of the right of individual nations to operate the political and social systems of their choice. Not an ideological retreat.

INTRODUCTION

-> in the Soviet Union, Nikita Khrushchev's leadership from 1955-1964 is remembered as a period of "thaw" during the Cold War; Khrushchev's foreign policy of pursuing peaceful coexistence with the United States and its allies was a dramatic change from previous leaders' attitudes; in 1956, after Khrushchev had succeeded Joseph Stalin and was beginning to consolidate power, Khrushchev began a process of "de-Stalinization" to weaken his enemies in the Communist Party and strengthen his position as leader.

-> this was a move away from the Leninist doctrine of the inevitability of war. 'Peaceful co-existence' meant that Capitalism and Communism should accept the continuing existence of one another rather than use force to destroy each other

reason :

1. avoid nuclear holocaust

2. economic factors

-> In the USSR, approximately one third of the economy was directed towards the military, while consumer goods were scarce and living standards very low. The economy of the United States was in much better shape than that of the Soviet Union, but 12 per cent of the GNP was still spent on the military.

3. as the Korean War ended in 1954, there was a release of tension between US & USSR

3. more progressive leadership.

4. confident that Soviet economy would overtake US one.

despite this :

1. as Khrushchev faced problems in Hungary, the West was involved in the Suez Crisis . Both of these crises helped to dissipate the good feeling achieved at Geneva. The Suez Crisis also raised fears of growing Soviet influence in the Middle East, and this led to the Eisenhower Doctrine in January 1957. This clearly stated that the United States would help any

"the impact of cold war tensions was mainly economic" ; discuss with reference to two countries (excluding USSR and the US)

-> as the ideology was different, the economic system differed

● communism - an economic and political system based on one-party government and state ownership of property

● capitalism - an economic and. political system in which private individuals and corporations control the means of production and use them to earn profits

Economic reasons: 'Our first break with Soviet policy in Germany came over reparations' - General Lucius Clay in 1946.

-> Gorbachev tried to initiate reforms that included perestroika, which meant market reforms in the economy along with democratic reforms in the political system. For years, the Soviet Union had spent most of its money/economic resources on producing war goods in order to keep up with the United States in the arms race, but this meant its people and its domestic economy suffered

-> can't feed your people guns

-> the economy couldn't keep up with the level of arms production; inefficiency of a command economy.

-> this led capitalism to seem more appealing (as in general capitalistic countries were doing better off). Tie this in with the Revolutions of 1989, peaceful massive movements that wanted change

HISTORIOGRAPHY :

"china's relations with the USSR and the US were largely shaped by increasing mistrust and suspicion" ; discuss with reference to the period between 1947 and 1979

--SINO-SOVIET--

-> Mao and Stalin had numerous clashes and the key one was ideological as Mao used peasants as the basis of revolution and Stalin felt that it could not be genuine Marxist revolution as it should feature workers leading an urban based class war

STALIN :

1. feared Mao as a rival for the leadership of the communist world

2. did not want the Cold War to spread to Asia

3. knew that Jiang's GMD would recognize Soviet claims to the disputed border territory along frontiers in Manchuria and Xinjiang

4. underestimated the CCP and believed that GMD to be a stronger party; he urged the CCP to unite with the GMD, even in the late 1940s, when CCP victory was looking inevitable

5. Mao became convinced that Stalin wanted divided and weak China to leave the USSR dominant in Asia

-> Stalin told Mao to collaborate with Jiang or else CCP will collapse

SINO-SOVIET TREATY OF ALLIANCE

-> CCP won the civil war

-> Mao was invited to Moscow

-> fist treaty between USSR & China

-> Stalin did not want to sign the treaty but did after two month of negotiations

-> has been suggested that Stalin deliberately delayed the end of Korean War to exhaust the PRC

-> 'honeymoon period' after Stalin's death

KHRUSHCHEV :

-> gave a secret speech in 1956 in Moscow attacking Stain's purges and his 'cult of personality', however Mao felt attacked as he has developed his own 'cult of personality'

-> developed a 'peaceful 'co-existenece' with the west and Mao saw this as ideological heresy

-> Mao believed that the USSR was initiating dètente (1968) with the west to further isolate China

-> visited Beijing and Mao did everything he could to ensure he is uncomfortable like hotel room with no air conditioner on a hot day, mosquitos in his room, made him swim and he hates that, etc

TAIWAN, 1958

-> PRC wanted reunification with Taiwan

-> wit

"the actions of individual leaders had a significant impact on the development of the cold war" ; discuss with reference to two leaders, each from a different region

~~INTRODUCTION~~

In 1950 Stalin gives the green light to North Korea and invades South Korea heightening the tensions between the two powers: America and Russia. Both Truman and Stalin played crucial roles in creating radical and important changes that set the course of the Cold War. Due to Stalin's significant actions in the years 1947 to 1950, Truman saw no choice but to counter the aggressive Soviet leader. By looking at Stalin and Truman, one can see how one action from one leader influenced the other, creating a domino theory of events that made the Cold War what we know it as today.

--US LEADERS--

1. Truman doctrine, 1947

-> was implemented as a means of countering the Soviet geopolitical expansion, by stating America would support the nations threatened by Soviet communism, further pledging to aid Greece and Turkey.

2. Marshall Plan, 1984 march

-> United States invested 13 billion into numerous European countries aimed to help rebuild postwar Europe, which led to Stalin creating Comecon in October of 1948

3. Berlin airlift, 1948

-> campaign that delivered food and supplies to the city in response to the Soviet imposed blockade

(Whilst it ended successfully, it resulted in a significant increase in tensions with the USSR, further developing the cold war on an international level.)

4. Truman's foreign policy of containment

-> leading to the outbreak of Korean War

(Before 1947, the US was isolationist. Truman's radical change of American foreign policy resulted in the US joining the world bank, NATO, UN, and a plethora of other international associations. Without Truman, the United States would not have been involved in rebuilding the European economy, and certainly would not have been able to guarantee the Asian prosperity we see today.)

Transition sentences :

1. "One significant impact on the cold war tha

"superpower rivalry in europe and asia between 1943-1949 led to the breakdown of the grand alliance" ; to what extend do you agree with this statement?

--Wartime Disagreements--

1. second front

-> Stalin demanded that the Allies open a 'second front' in Western Europe to relieve pressure of the Soviet Union. The USSR faced over 80% of all Nazi military resources

-> In 1942 and 1943, the UK and USA decided to invade North Africa and Italy first. These delays made Stalin suspicious

-> He thought that the Allies wanted to USSR to be weakened

-> Second Front opened with D-Day Landings in France in June 1944

2. Ideological suspicion

-> Despite agreeing to the principles of the Atlantic Chatter with the West, Stalin had concerns over Roosevelt's foreign policy

-> Roosevelt's 'Open Door' policy was based on 'free' world trade and 'equal' access to raw materials

-> Stalin feared this would only benefit capitalist countries like the USA

-> Allies attempted to resolve their differences at three wartime conferences

-> The failure of these conferences would lead to the Cold War

--Conferences--

1. Tehran, 1943

-> attended by Joseph Stalin, Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt

-> the conference was a fair successRoosevelt and Stalin worked reasonably well together

-> as the war progressed, a gap emerged between Stalin's post-war aims and those of Western powers

-> Stalin still demanded the creation of a Second Front in Western Europe

-> Date was set for Second Front - June 1944

2. Yalta, February 1945

-> decided that Germany would be disarmed, demilitarized, de-Nazified and divided into four zones

-> division would be temporary as Germany was to be run as 'one country'

-> Stalin agreed that Eastern Europe would be able to have 'free elections'

● Stalin was causing tension between the group as he was going back on his word and was supporting communist groups in Eastern Europe

● Relationships improved as the US and the UK were pleased with Stalin's idea of

discuss the impact of two cold war crises, each from a different region, on the development of superpower tension

INTRODUCTION :

Although the Cuban Missile Crisis brought the United States and the Soviet Union to the brink of nuclear war, it ultimately resulted in temporarily improved relations between the two antagonistic powers. When the crisis ended, President Kennedy and Premier Krushchev began the process of establishing better communications. It was hoped that an open dialogue between the two leaders would prevent such a crisis from happening again in the future.

--Cuban Missile Crisis--

-> the most dramatic Cold War confrontation between USSR and the US

-> after Castro takes over Cuba, US unsuccessfully tried to overthrow Cuba's new communists state which is called 'Bay of Pigs'

-> This convinced Cuba to seek help from USSR

-> Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev was happy to comply by secretly deploying nuclear missiles to Cuba

● to protect the island

● to counteract the threat from the US missiles in Turkey & Italy

-> on October 22nd he announced that the US navy would intercept all shipments to Cuba

-> a naval blockade was considered an act of war, although the president called it 'quarantine' that did not block any basic necessities, the Soviets didn't appreciate the distinction

-> in an outraged letter to Kennedy, Khrushchev wrote "The violation of freedom to use international waters and international airspace is an act of aggression which pushes the mankind towards the abyss of world nuclear missile war"

-> while the US demanded the removal of the missiles, Cuba and USSR insisted they were only defensive.

-> on October 27, a spy plane was shot down by a Soviet missile, Eisenhower refused to apologize despite the fact that he did admit to the USSR that US had been flying spy missions over the USSR for several years.

-> the same day, a nuclear-armed Soviet submarine was hit by a small-depth charge from a US Navy vessel

evaluate the successes and failures of the US policies of containment and brinkmanship up to 1962

INTRODUCTION :

The end of the second world war marked the beginning of a new war for the United States of American and the Soviet Union. This war, was fought in two major battlegrounds, Europe and Asia. American policy of containment refers to the foreign policy strategy of the US in the early years of the Cold war. The policy was to defeat the Soviet Union by preventing it from expanding the territories under its Communist control or otherwise extending its influence. This, naturally, resulted in strained relations and rivalry between the two superpowers. However, the domino effect had to be avoided at all costs. Despite the many difficulties, American policy of containment during the Korean War, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the Vietnam War did manage to contain the expansion of Communism to a certain extent.

VIETNAM WAR :

The Vietnam War is the most controversial war of the 20th century. For the second time in a decade, the United States government sent troops into an Asian country to prevent the spread of communism. Their policy of containment, the prevention of the spread of communism, in this case, was a spectacular disaster. Not only did they lose the war, they lost all public support and gained negative global attention. The American withdrawal from Vietnam led to the formation of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. A communist government had control. When the American troops had arrived in Vietnam in 1963, their sole purpose was to prevent that happening. However, when competing against a fanatical, ruthless, and dangerous opposition, their theory of 'clearing out communism' came crashing down. Containment failed in its practical sense

JAPAN :

Despite the fact that the policy didn't work in some countries, in Japan for example, they managed to not only prevent the spread of communism, but turn the country in

to what extent did the policy of peaceful co-existence improve superpower relations up to and including 1964?

examine the view that the policy of peaceful coexistence failed to promote good relations between the US and the USSR up to 1964

"ideology was the main factor that led to the emergence of superpower rivalry between 1943 and 1949" ; discuss.

compare and contrast the causes of two cold war crises, each from a different region

"economic problems between 1980 and 1991 were the most significant reason for the end of the cold war" ; to what extent do you agree with this statement?"economic problems between 1980 and 1991 were the most significant reason for the end of the cold war" ; to what extent do you agree with this statement?

compare and contrast the impact of two leaders, each from a different region, on the development of the cold war

"confrontation rather than reconciliation ended the cold war" ; discuss with reference to the period from 1980 to 1991

evaluate the impact of two leaders, each from a different region, on the course of the cold war

to what extent did economic interests rather than ideology lead to the breakdown of the grand alliance between 1943 and 1949?

evaluate the impact of cold war tensions on two countries (excluding the USSR and the US)

to what extent did the sovietization of eastern and central europe contribute to the emergence of the cold war between 1945 and 1949?

evaluate the impact of the cold war on the outbreak and development of either the korean war or the vietnam war

"the cold war had a significant impact on the effectiveness of the united nations between 1945 and 1989" ; discuss

examine the view that the policy of peaceful coexistence failed to promote good relations between the US and the USSR up to 1964

examine the cultural impact of the cold war on two countries, each chosen from a different region.

to what extent did internal problems contribute to the break-up of the Soviet Union?