cold war topic 1

Ideology of USA

Capitalism with democracy

Ideology of USSR

Communism with one-party rule

Why were capitalism and communism in conflict?

They had opposing political

Yalta Conference agreements

Germany divided into 4 zones

Potsdam Conference disagreements

Disputes over Germany’s future

Yalta leaders

U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin.

Potsdam leaders

U.S. President Harry S. Truman, Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin, and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who was later replaced by Clement Attlee

Reason USA dropped atomic bombs in 1945

To end the war with Japan quickly and show military strength

Impact of atomic bomb on US–Soviet relations

Increased mistrust and started the nuclear arms race

Soviet expansionism

USSR installed communist governments in Eastern Europe after WWII

Iron Curtain

Churchill’s term for the division between capitalist West and communist East

Truman Doctrine (1947)

US pledge to contain communism by supporting countries threatened by it

Marshall Plan (1947)

US economic aid of $13 billion to rebuild Europe and prevent communism

Stalin’s reaction to Marshall Plan

He saw it as a threat and forbade Eastern bloc countries from accepting aid

Cominform (1947)

Organisation to coordinate communist parties in Europe under Soviet control

Comecon (1949)

Economic organisation to link Eastern bloc economies and oppose the Marshall Plan

Cause of Berlin Blockade (1948)

Western Allies introduced a new currency and planned to rebuild West Germany

Berlin Blockade (1948–49)

Stalin blocked access to West Berlin to force Allies out

Western response to Berlin Blockade

Berlin Airlift supplied West Berlin by air for 11 months

Consequences of Berlin Blockade

Increased East–West tensions and permanent division of Germany

NATO (1949)

Defensive alliance between the USA

Warsaw Pact (1955)

Defensive alliance of the USSR and Eastern bloc states

Difference between NATO and Warsaw Pact

NATO was capitalist Western countries; Warsaw Pact was communist Eastern bloc

Arms race

Competition between the USA and USSR to build nuclear weapons

MAD in the Cold War

Mutually Assured Destruction — both sides had enough nuclear weapons to destroy each other

Death of Stalin (1953)

Led to power struggle and Khrushchev becoming leader

Khrushchev’s Secret Speech (1956)

Criticised Stalin’s rule and suggested peaceful coexistence with the West

Cause of Hungarian Uprising (1956)

Hungarians wanted freedom and reform

USSR response to Hungarian Uprising

Soviet tanks invaded and crushed the uprising

Consequences of Hungarian Uprising

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Events deepening Cold War 1949–1956

Berlin Blockade

Why 1949 was a turning point

NATO formed