COLD WAR (GCSE History)

Tehran Conference

1943 Big 3-WC, FDR, JS: disagree on German reparations, idea of the UN
USSR to wage war on Japan after Gmy
Percentages Agreement

Yalta Conference

1945 BIg 3, divide up gmy(+Berlin), eastern europe as "sphere of influence" (Stalin wanted Poland "for protection"), disagreements of ideology

Potsdam Conference

1945 Truman, Stalin, Atlee- future of Germany (4 zones, demilitarised, ban Nazis, democracy), most reparations to USSR (20 mil Russians killed), Polish borders extended to USSR.
Truman wanted free elections for Germany, Stalin said no

Hiroshima/Nagasaki

August 1945 20+22 kiloton atomic bomb kills 80k+70k (little boy+fat man)

Hostile Speeches

1946 "communism & capitalism are incompatible"
"Churchill is like a war-monger" --> iron curtain "has fallen over Europe"

Telegrams

1946 'Long' and 'Novikov'
L: Stalin called for destruction of capitalism and had built up his army (Moscow-> DC)
N: US to dominate the world, American public preparing for war w/ USSR (DC->Moscow)

Truman Doctrine

March 1947 Mainly in Greece, Containment, 'No country should be forced into communism', USA would fight for liberty and sent troops and money to european governments threatened by communism

Marshall Plan

June 1947 ('2 halves of same walnut') $13bil. aid to europe but actually spent $17bil. by 1953. offers money and machinery to stop countries turning to USSR, taken by 16 countries (discussed @ Paris conference)

Cominform

1947 Political. Coordinate communist parties and strengthen sphere- ensured states followed Soviet aims and foreign policy. Made sure they remained loyal to Stalin. Made them refuse offers from the West (e.g. Marshall Aid)
France 1947: 2million (communist) workers strike against Marshall Plan
5% of Hungary in prison by 1953

Comecon

1949 Financial. Stalin's version of Marshall Plan. Control economies and access resources. Prevent trade with the West. Official alliances-> 2 camps.

USSR takeover

(Eastern Europe) 1947-1949
Red Army intimidating. Communist governments supported Stalin-benefits.
Czech: only 1 non-commy in govt. found dead under open window (lol)
Stalins opponents=weak (incl. Gmy -divided)
+cominform
Allies didn't help

Berlin Crisis

June 1948 -1st confrontation of Cold War
USSR intimidated by Trizonia, concerns Stalin- suspends all road and rail into Berlin and shut off power to prove that divided Germany didn't work & cut off West from capital.

Berlin Airlift

1948-1949 : 1k tonnes of supplies every day.
total 1.5mil tonnes. Planes land every 3 mins.
propaganda success for USA. USSR couldn't shoot down planes+parachutes (hot war) Stalin ends blockade in May.

NATO

1949 North Atlantic Treaty Organisation: military alliance amongst western capitalists

Warsaw Pact

1955 Khrushchev's version of NATO for Eastern Bloc

USSR A bomb

1949

USA H bomb

1952: 450x more powerful than the Abomb dropped on Japan- tested in 1954- 15 tonnes of TNT

USSR H bomb

1953
(3 million troops)
1961: USSR detonate H bomb larger than USA's

USA nuclear spending

1957-1959: spending on missiles increased by 20%,
NASA founded

Sputnik Satellite

1957- can now launch rockets out of the atmosphere and guide to target

Death of Stalin

1953 :o

USA satellite

1958 put into orbit

1st man on the moon

1969 Neil Armstrong (USA)

1st man in space

Yuri Gagarin 1961 (USSR)

USA arms

1961: $32bil. on defence, $207 mil on nuclear shelters
USA 20x more weapons than USSR

Germany Refugees

1949-1961: 2.7million refugees East->West

Khrushchev Speech

1956 denounces Stalin as "Evil Tyrant" (shocker!)
Destalinisation

Hungarian Uprising

Oct 1956 Gero (within communist party) opposed Rakosi (bald butcher) killed 2k, imprisoned 387k.
(student demonstrations, stalin statue decapitated in Budapest)
Nagy forms new govt. free elections, general freedom etc, announces leaving Warsaw pact uh oh but Eisenhower doesn't give aid

Hungarian Crisis

Nov 1956 Tanks roll in. Khrushchev angry, worried about sphere and domino effect +looking weak
3k Hungarians, 8k Russians killed, 200k Hungarians go to Austria, Nagy imprisoned and killed
new dude: Kadar
30k anti-commies arrested

6 month ultimatum take 1

1958: Khrushchev gives Eisenhower 6 months to withdraw Allied troops from West Berlin

Cuban Revolution

1958/9: Fidel Castro overthrows President Batista in revolution

Geneva Summit

1959: representatives form the USA+ USSR make plans for leaders to meet, no agreement reached about ultimatum

Camp David

1959: Khrushchev visits Eisenhower for talks, ultimatum withdrawn

Lunar robot landing

1960: USSR lands 1st robot on the moon (space race)
Khrushchev: USA is "sleeping under a red moon"

Paris Summit

1960: day before-American U2 spy plane shot down in USSR -> Eisenhower refuses to apologise, Khrushchev walks out of meeting

Bay of Pigs

April 1961: US-backed anti-Castro Cubans attempt to invade Cuba and overthrow Castro but fail (makes US look bad)

Vienna Summit

1961: Khrushchev sees JFK as inexperienced and reinstates ultimatum (but JFK wont back down, esp after looking weak @ bay of pigs)

Berlin Wall

August 1961: barbed wire goes up night of 12th, becomes guarded concrete wall
End of free East <-> West access
JFK: "a wall is a hell of a lot better than a war"

Cuban Missile Crisis

Sept 1962: Khrushchev sends 114 ships of offensive nuclear weapons to Cuba
October 1962: '13 days' - U2 spy plane shot down in Cuba, JFK enforces military blockade (Soviet ships turn around)

Start of Detente?

1963: hotline installed in the aftermath of CMC
JFK: "common interests" "ich bin ein Berliner"

Limited Test Ban Treaty

1963: bans nuclear testing in space, sea, & ABOVE ground

Arms Race Decelerates?

USSR catches up to USA, equal footing by 1970

Outer Space Treaty

1967: bans nuclear weapons in space

Prague Spring

1967: Brezhnev concerned with opposition to Czech President Novotny, appoints Dubcek as 1st secretary->
1968: 'Socialism with a Human Face' relaxes censorship, more freedom BUT no intention to leave Warsaw Pact

Soviet Invasion of Czechoslovakia

1968: tanks roll in, Dubcek orders non-violence:lots of civil disobedience
Communist split? Countries including Yugoslavia, Romania, China condemn invasion

Brezhnev Doctrine

1968: 'USSR has the right to invade any country threatening the Eastern Bloc'
-> Czechoslovakia portrayed as a major threat by Soviet media

Nuclear Non-Profileration Treaty

1968-1970: bans superpowers form helping other states to obtain nuclear arms

SALT I

1972: 'Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty' : bans production of strategic ballistic missiles, submarines only when missiles are obsolete

SALT II

1972: talks begin to limit ICBM/SLBMs, ban production of ICBMs
1979: USA refuses to sign saying USSR would not stick to terms

Apollo-Soyuz Mission

1975: USA+USSR joint mission to space
handshake in space, propaganda for detente

Afghanistan

Christmas 1979: 50k Soviet troops initially to restore communist party -> ends up being a 10 year war in which 15 MIL. die, including 15k Soviet soldiers

Carter Doctrine

1979: President Jimmy Carter draws a tough line on Afghanistan invasion
Doctrine: US to gibe military aid to defend national interests (including countries bordering Afghanistan for containment) + 'Rapid Deployment Force (conscription 18-2- y/olds can be sent anywhere @ short notice)

2nd Cold War

1979-1985: USA allies with China, end of trading and diplomatic relations between USA and USSR
(Afghanistan angers USA- ending detente)

Moscow Olympics

1980: USA & 61 other countries boycott in protest of Afghanistan

"Evil Empire" Speech

1983: Ronald Reagan: can imagine a "limited nuclear war in Europe"
USSR is "the focus of modern evil" and an "evil empire"

Solidarity

1982-1983: USA secretly assists Polish trade union& resistance movement

Lots of Soviet Premiers

1982: Brezhnev dies
1982-1984:Yuri Andropov-calls Reagan "insane" & a "liar"
1984-1985: Konstantin Chernenko
Reagan "How am I supposed to get anyplace with the Russians if they keep dying on me"
1985-1991: Mikhail Gorbachev

Los Angeles Olympics

1984: boycotted by USSR and 11 of its allies

START 1

1982: Strategic Arms Reduction Talks 'zero option' - cancel missiles in East Europe if USSR do the same. Brezhnev says no so Reagan increases number.
End in 1983 (USSR find out USA helping 'solidarty')
--> leads Reagan to launch SDI

SDI

1981-1987: Reagan (thought detente = bad, made USA weak) wants to win cold war -> disarms USSR with:
Strategic Defence Initiative 'Star Wars' 'umbrella' deflect Soviet missiles by launching satellites with lazers, threatens USSR. USA spend $1mill

End of Arms Race

1980s: Soviets can't compete with SDI etc.. (scared to invest in new technology, it undermines communism).
Soviet command economy failing + Afghanistan = financial strain

Mikhail Gorbachev

March 1985: young with new ideas. Relations not great @ first, calls Reagan "mentally retarded" and says he "looks like a chimp", "he is extremely primitive"

Gorbachev's Reforms

Perestroika (restructure): economic reforms to make USSR more efficient
Glasnost (openness): relaxation of censorship

Geneva Summit

1985 USSR + US want peace
Agree to: speed up arms talks, try to abolish chemical weapons, adress human rights issues
Disagree on: Arms control

Reykjavik Summit

1986: More ambitions than Geneva
Tensions high because of Chernobyl
Reagan proposes scrapping ballistic nuclear missiles, Gorbachev says no because of SDI

Moscow Summit

1989: height of "Gorbymania" (Gorbachev made Times' man of the decade") Wives of leaders instrumental in communications. Troop reductions in Europe, USSR withdrawal from Afghanistan -> led to CFE

Chernobyl Disaster

Nuclear Plant in Ukraine exploded. 4k killed, 336k relocated. Gorbs tries to deny it, West media show truth = awks for Gorbs, people know he was lying.. loss of trust

INF

Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty 1987: no more nuclear ground based missies, each nation could inspect the others' military installations. Gorb agreed due to financial problems (also disarmament would win him popularity due to trade + gorbymania)

CFE

Conventional Armed Forces in Europe Treaty 1990: Signed by NATO + Warsaw Pact, reduced number of non-nuclear hardware (eg tanks) and increased relations.
-> Oct 1990 Gorbs gets nobel peace prize "leading role in the peace process"

Malta

Dec 1989: George Bush Sr. announces end of Cold War

Fall of Sphere

1989: End of Communism in Poland, defeated in free elections
Hungary - promised free elections for Spring -> democracy
Czech - protests -> overthrow communism
Nov 1989: Fall of Berlin Wall (9th Nov 1000s East Berliners -> checkpoints + demand entry)

START signed

1991: Drastically reduce nuclear forces (25-30%) over 7 years (signed with pens made from scrapped missiles)

End of Warsaw Pact

Disintegration of Eastern bloc - no longer a purpose for pact. Cooperation ended in 1990, official end = July 1991

Gorbachev Removed from Power

19th August 1991; brutally removed by coup (trying to restore communism)
Coup overthrown by Yeltsin

Gorbachev Returns then Resigns

21 Aug 1991: shows his desire to save communism but cou weakened authority + made Yeltsin a hero.
Made constitution for Soviet Countries but they wanted independence so Gorby dissolved Union + resigned (25th Dec 1991)
OFFICIAL END OF COLD WAR
-> USA only remaining superpower