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This is (will be) all the content you need to know for GCSE History "Superpower Relationships and the Cold War"
Who was in the Grand Alliance?
USA, USSR, UK
Who was at what ones?
Stalin (USSR) was at all 3,
Churchill (UK) was at Tehran and Yalta but was replaced by Clement Attlee at Potsdam
Roosevelt (USA) was at Tehran and Yalta but was replaced by Truman at Potsdam
What was decided at Tehran?
New front to be opened in Normandy (not Balkans like Churchill wanted)
USSR would get a sphere of influence in Eastern Europe after WWII
What was decided at Yalta?
Free elections in Eastern Europe
Germany and Berlin to be split into 4, UK, USSR, USA & France get one piece each.
United Nations would replace the failed League of Nations
What was decided at Potsdam?
Exact borders Germany and Berlin would be split into.
Whether / When the zones could join together to form one nation again was not agreed
NSDAP leaders to be tried for War crimes
Whats causes tensions at Potsdam?
USA’s Atomic bomb
USSR had broken it’s free elections promise and installed pro-soviet governments in Eastern Europe
Communism aimed at world domination which the USA saw as threatening
Ideological differences USSR vs USA
USA | USSR |
Democratic | Autocratic |
Capitalist | Communist |
Liberal | Totalitarian |
Christian | Atheist |
What did Japan do?
It was Germany’s ally in WWII
What concerned the USSR about the USA & Japan?
USSR agreed to help the USA against the war in Japan
USA had developed the powerful A-Bomb without telling the USSR. It was used in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945
This created tensions over what the USA’s real intentions were as it had not informed the USSR about it’s weapon.
Furthermore, because of these bombs Japan surrendered and USSR’s help was not needed. Truman then refused for USSR’s troops to be involved in the occupation of Japan. This created a rift.
What actions of the USSR concern the USA after WWII (with 2 specific examples)?
USSR used its occupation of Eastern Europe during WWII to help it install puppet governments to make these countries (Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Czechoslovakia) “satellite” states from 1945 to 1948.
This was to create a buffer zone between itself and the USA, which it was becoming increasingly suspicious of.
Czechoslovakia held free elections, however, in 1945 which led to only a partial communist government. This made it seem it would not become a puppet state but in 1948, force and bullying was used to install a communist government into power.
Yugoslavak’s communist leader Tito rejected USSR’s influence and was more open to the West. Tito argued with Stalin which did not result in an invasion but the USSR cut of aid to the country.
What symbolically signalled the start of the Cold War?
Churchill’s Iron Curtain speech which claimed that Europe had been split by an “Iron Curtain” in 1946. This signalled rising tensions.
What report caused Truman to change his strategy?
Long Telegram (Feb. 1946)
This was issued to Truman about the USSR.
It claimed that Stalin had given a speech in favour of destruction of capitalism. It warned that the USSR was trying to divide the West and strengthen itself militarily.
This panicked the USA’s government and sped up the Cold War
What report caused Stalin to change his strategy?
Novikov Telegram (Sept. 1946)
This was issued to Stalin about the USSR.
It claimed that the USA was pursuing World domination and warned that the USA was aiming to limit the influence of the USSR in Europe.
This panicked the USSR’s government and sped up the Cold War.
What did Truman fear in WWII’s aftermath, and how did he respond?
He feared that the struggling after WWII would cause even more countries to turn communist so he decided to act.
In the Truman Doctrine (March 1947) he pledged to support any country threatened with a communist takeover. This could be diplomatically, militarily or financially.
Under this, he sent $400 million to Greece and Turkey to prevent a communist revolution.
How and when did Truman take the Truman Doctrine even further?
Announced in 1947 and signed into law in 1948
In the Marshall Plan he pledged $17 billion in aid to Europe to help rebuild their economies. West Germany benefited a lot.
How did Stalin respond to the Truman Doctrine?
He created Cominform (sept. 1947)
This combined all communist parties in Eastern Europe and placed then under firm control of the USSR.
How did Stalin respond to the Marshall Plan?
He ordered his puppet states to refuse economic aid from the Marshall plan.
He created Comecon (Jan. 1949)
This nationalised industry, collectivised agriculture and offered economic aid to the USSR’s satellite states.
When was the first Berlin crisis?
June 1948
What led up to the first Berlin crisis (3 Points)?
In 1947, USA and UK combined their zones in Germany to form “Bizonia”. Then in 1948, France added their zone to form “Trizonia”
New western Zone had one Government and in June 1948, a new standard currency was introduced: the Deutschmark.
This made Germany stronger and boosted its recovery. Stalin was alarmed as Russia had been invaded twice by Germans so he wanted Germany to remain weak. Furthermore, the strong capitalist economy of West Germany made communist East Germany look bad.
What did Stalin do in the first Berlin crisis?
He cut off all Canal, Road and Rail links to West Berlin and demanded for the West to give up West Berlin to the USSR.
How did the West respond to the first Berlin crisis and why?
They were not going to give up West Berlin as that would be humiliating and would encourage further aggression from the USSR, which could result in an invasion of West Germany.
West Berlin only had 30 days of Food and 40 days of Coal for electricity left. So the West needed to act fast.
They flew in supplies for 318 days to feed Berlin. By 1949, 8000 tons were flown in daily. Tegel airport was built in Berlin to facilitate this.
How did Stalin react to the West’s response to the Berlin crisis?
In May 1949, he was forced to lift the Blockade and admit defeat.
What were the consequences of the fist Berlin crisis (x3 points)?
Tensions increased because the 2 sides treated each other as enemies not allies any more.
In 1949, two seperate states were formed: capitalist West Germany became “Federal Republic of Germany” and communist East Germany became “German Democratic Republic”
NATO was formed in 1949 as the West realised it had to be united against the USSR to be prepared in the event of a conflict. All members pledged to respond together if any member of the alliance was attacked.
What caused the Warsaw Pact to form and who was in it?
When the Federal Republic of Germany entered NATO in May 1955, the Soviets feared the consequences of a strengthened NATO and a rearmed West Germany so they formed the Warsaw Pact aiming to counter NATO.
It consisted of all the satellite states ( Soviet Union, Albania, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, and the German Democratic Republic) but Yugoslavia.
What was the endless cycle of the Arms Race (4 steps)?
USA & USSR developed the most powerful weapons possible, these could be conventional, nuclear or other weapons of mass destruction.
Neither wanted to have to use them but feared that they could get “left behind” and the other side would gain such an advantage that it may decide to start a war to benefit their own interests
So instead a stand-off developed, where neither side would act against the other and dreaded getting “left behind” as well
This competition spilled into other areas such as when the USSR launched the first salittilet in 1961, the USA sent Astronauts to the moon in 1969
Timeline of the Arms race (x6 events)
1945: USA dropped it’s A-Bombs on Japan
1949: USSR detonated it’s own A-Bomb
1952: USA detonated the H-Bomb
1953: USSR detonated it’s own H-Bomb
1957: USSR launched the first ICBM
1959: USA launched it’s own ICBM
Consequence of the formation of NATO in 1949?
Communist China and the USSR signed a treaty of alliance, which confirmed the West’s fear that the USSR was planning in communist domination.
The major change in leadership in the 1950s?
What were his actions and the consequence?
In 1953, Stalin died and in 1956, Nikita Khrushchev succeeded him.
He claimed he wanted a peaceful coexistence with West which created hope for a “thaw” in the Cold War. But Khrushchev remained very competitive with the USA, as he wanted to prove the communism was the way through technological competition. to demonstrate that the USSR was superior.
This meant that the Arms race did not slow down.
Note 
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