GCSE AQA History: Conflict and Tension between East and West 1945-72 - Part One

WW2 allies

Great Britain (Churchill), USA (Roosevelt), USSR (Stalin)

Why did the WW2 allies become enemies?

-USA were the first to use the atomic bomb to prove they were winning the arms race

-USSR wanted to match their capabilities

-USSR sacrificed 70000 soldiers in order to get to Berlin before the West to prove they were the more powerful superpower

Why was there tension between the USA and the USSR? (LONG TERM)

-the USA was suspicious when communists took power in USSR in 1917

-the USA and Britain helped those fighting against the Communists in the Russian Civil War

-Red Scare, fear of communism

-Britain wanted a strong Germany that was capable of standing up to the USSR but the USSR wanted a weak Germany they could control

Why was there tension between the USA and the USSR? (SHORT TERM)

-the USSR won the race to Berlin, 1945

-the USA dropped two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, 1945

-both countries wanted to be the biggest superpower

-contrasting ideologies, communism v. capitalism

When was the Yalta Conference?

February 1945

Yalta Conference

1945 Meeting with US president FDR, British Prime Minister(PM) Winston Churchill, and and Soviet Leader Stalin during WWII to plan for post-war

What did Churchill want from the Yalta Conference?

-Britain to have a close relationship with the USA

-not to compromise too much with the Soviets

What did Roosevelt want from the Yalta Conference?

-wanted to get on well with the USSR

-may have misunderstood Stalin's aims

-only a Europe built on capitalism could prevent a future war

What did Stalin want from the Yalta Conference?

-wanted the Soviet Union to never be devastated again

-his advisors were weary of the US and Britain due to their contrasting ideology but he recognized the need for cooperation

When was Truman president?

12th April 1945-1953

How was Truman different to Roosevelt?

he was more anti-Communism

Potsdam Conference

July 26, 1945 - Allied leaders Truman, Stalin and Churchill met in Germany to set up zones of control and to inform the Japanese that if they refused to surrender at once, they would face total destruction.

When was the Potsdam Conference?

17th July - 2nd August 1945

Potsdam Conference agreements

-Germany was to be divided as stated at Yalta

-the Nazi party was banned and its former leaders would be tried as war criminals

-Germans living in Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia were to return to Germany

-Poland was to lose some territory in the East to the USSR

Truman's aims at Potsdam

-shared many of the same goals as Roosevelt

-wanted a world in which countries cooperated politically and economically

-negative relationship with Stalin - Truman was concerned about the growth of Soviet power in Eastern Europe

-did not think Stalin would cooperate

Who replaced Churchill?

Clement Attlee

Attlee's aims at Potsdam

-also concerned by the USSR's expansion into Eastern Europe

-thought the key to a peaceful Europe lay in making sure Germany was safe from attack

-wanted to focus on improving the lives of people in post-war Britain

-recognized Britain was no longer as powerful so stuck close to the USA

Stalin's aims at Potsdam

-was convinced that the USA was a rival for power and was determined to ensure long term Soviet security

-less willing to compromise with the red army in eastern Europe

-trusted Truman less than Roosevelt, especially after America's atomic weapons programme

Disagreements at Potsdam

-what to do with Germany: Stalin wanted to cripple them but Truman didn't want to repeat that mistake

-over reparations: 20 million russians died and Stalin wanted $10 billion from Germany

-Soviet policy: at Yalta, allies agreed Stalin could set up pro-Soviet governments in Europe. This was in order to protect the USSR from future attacks but Truman saw it as a way of building up a Soviet empire in Europe

How had the USSR gained control of Eastern Europe by 1948?

By 1948, Stalin made sure every country in Eastern Europe had a communist government that was sympathetic to the Soviet Union

What country was weak after WW2?

Albania had little opposition to a communist take over because it was a very poor country with 100,000 homeless and 200 towns and villages destroyed

Did the USSR gain control peacefully or violently?

Mostly violently; they imprisoned opposition politicians (Hungary), banned other parties (Czechoslovakia), forced leaders into exile (Poland) and executed leaders of other parties (Bulgaria)

What was the Iron Curtain?

-1946

A metaphorical separation between the West and the Soviet-controlled East described by Churchill

When did the USA drop the atomic bomb on Nagasaki?

9th August 1945

When did the USA drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima?

6th August 1945

How did America's development of atomic bombs affect superpower relations?

Truman kept the atomic bomb a secret however Stalin knew about it already from his spies. This caused the USSR to not trust the USA as it was very evident that the USA intended to dominate the post war period.

Post-war world

-the end of WW2 marked the end of the Grand Alliance between the USSR and the Western allies

-major division between superpowers and Germany was the dividing line between the East and West

What was containment?

US policy to prevent the expansion of communism as a response to the Soviet Union to enlarge its communist influence in Eastern Europe

Why did the UK help Greece?

-Churchill sent British troops to Greece after WW2 because he wanted to restore order and supervise free elections (supposedly)

-Churchill wanted to prevent Greece from becoming a communist country

-had to withdraw in 1947 because a civil war broke out between the monarch and the people

When was the Truman Doctrine?

1947

Truman Doctrine

-March 1947

-America's intervention in Greece and Turkey

-under the Truman Doctrine, the USA was prepared to send money, equipment and advice any country threatened by a communist takeover

The Marshall Plan

-June 1947

-after WW2 Europe had a ruined economy, they owed the USA $11.5

-Truman believed that Communism succeeded when countries faced poverty and hardship

-sent George Marshall to assess the economic state of Europe

-since there were extreme shortages of all goods, Marshall suggested that about $17 billion of aid would be needed to rebuild prosperity and that was granted eventually

How did the USSR react to the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan?

Cominform and Comecon

Cominform

-1947

-Communist Information Bureau

-set up by Stalin to coordinate various Communist governments in eastern Europe

-ran meetings and sent out instructions to communist governments about what the Soviet Union wanted them to do

Comecon

-1949

-Council for Mutual Economic Assistance

-set up to coordinate the industries and trade of European countries

-so that members would trade with other members instead of the West

-guaranteed USSR cheap raw materials

-Soviet alternative of the Marshall Plan, countries who signed up agreed to work together

What happened between Yugoslavia and the USSR?

-it was the only communist state to resist domination by Stalin

-Marshal Tito was the leader

-Soviet Union set up propaganda against Tito but took no military action

-Tito saw Yugoslavia as an independent country and accepted the Marshall Act, the only communist country to do so

Political aims of the Marshall Plan

-to stop the spread of communism

-to win friends in European countries

-to prevent potential communist takeovers of France and Italy

-to rebuild poor and depressed countries so they aren't easy targets for communist takeovers

Economic aims of the Marshall Plan

-to rebuild Western Europe's economic strength

-to create new markers for American goods

-to stop a worldwide economic slump

-to get people back to work, to make money and to feel good about democracy

Why did Stalin want to keep Germany crippled?

He was threatened by an economically strong Germany and wanted them weak to prevent a possible future invasion.

Bizonia

1947

-USA and Britain decided to join their zones in Germany to create Bizonia

Trizonia

1948

-French section of Germany was added to create Trizonia

New currency in Trizonia

Deutsche Mark

-was introduced in West Germany West Berlin in 1948 to further separate West Germany and Berlin

Berlin Blockade

-June 24th 1948

-Stalin blocked all routes in and out of Berlin

-road, rail and canal routes were all cut; vital transport and supply lines

Why did the USSR blockade Berin?

-New currency; helped West Germany to become more stable and Stalin could not have people from East Germany seeing West Germany thrive while he was crippling them

-Trizonia

-Conflict between USSR and the West

How did the allies react to the Berlin Blockade?

Berlin Airlift

-275,000 flights

-one plane landed every 3 minutes at its peak

-lasted 11 months

-supplies were flown in which West Berlin relied on

Why didn't the allies give in to Stalin?

To protect the western zones of Germany from being targeted and Truman wanted Berlin to be a symbol of freedom.

When was the blockade lifted?

12th May 1949

What was the Tehran Conference?

Explain why why the USA and USSR disliked each other ideologies

What did the USSR and China agree in their treaty of friendship in 1950

What dose Churchill iron curtain speech show about relations between the west and ussr after ww2