AQA GCSE HISTORY PAPER 1: Cold War

1945 feb

Yalta- Churchill, Roosevelt, Stalin. Mostly agreements (Stalin to join war vs Japan, Split Germany into 4, punish genociders, free elections in nazi liberated countries, UN, Soviet sphere of influence) only disagreement was on who should have poland

1945 apr

Roosevelt dies

1945 May

Hitler commits suicide, ww2 in the west ends. Germany surrenders

1945 Jul/aug

Potsdam- Atlee, Truman, Stalin. Disagreements: cripple Germany?, reparations (Stalin wanted $10bn. From Germany. Truman didn’t want to repeat history), Soviet policies in E Europe USA had just developed a-bomb, threatened Stalin with it.

1945 07/08 and 09/08

Hiroshima and Nagasaki Bomb- may have been a threat to Stalin

1945 02/09

End of ww2 after Japan defeat.

1946

IRON CURTAIN SPEECH (Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary and Albania have communist governments)
Civil war begins in Greece. British support Monarchists (anti-communist)

1946-49 soviet expansion

1.forced non-communist polish leader into exile,

2. imprisoned opposition politicians and attacked churches in Hungary
3. communist members of coalition in Bulgaria executed other party leaders

1947 mar

TRUMAN DOCTRINE AND CONTAINMENT (+DOMINO THEORY). Greece and Turkey Aid Bill ($400 mil)

1947 oct

Cominform set up (alliance of communist leaders- baby warsaw pact)

1948 apr

Marshall Aid- $17bn to countries under threat of communism bc of poverty (Marshall went to Europe). Stalin forbid Cominform states from applying for Marshall aid

1948 apr 2

Trizonia in W Germany

1948 jun

Tito expelled from Cominfrom

1948 23/06

Stalin starts Berlin Blockade

1948 24/06

USA starts airlift to get supplies into Berlin

1948 aug

airlifts finally start bringing enough (plane every 3 mins)

1949 jan

Comecon set up as a response to Marshall Plan (economic alliance)

1949 apr

NATO set up

1949 12/05

Berlin borders open again (end of Berlin Blockade)

1949 may

West Germany formed as a formal country

1949 aug

USSR detonates A bomb 4 years before USA predicted. Official start of ARMS RACE

1949 oct

Mao declares China turns communist after civil war

1949 oct 2

East Germany (DDR) a formal country

1950s

BOMBER GAP- spending 40% of defence on airforce, esp. SAC bombing force. Soviets develop bison jet bomber and TU-95 during this decade- range to hit American cities so Eisenhower buys more B-52s. In reality there was no gap

1950 feb

McCarthyism Red Scare 2 starts- investigations of government, media and institution workers under suspicion of being communist

1950 feb 2

USSR and Communist China Treaty of Friendship, Alliance and Mutual Assistance

1950 jun

start of Korean war (N invades S) and quickly gain control. PROXY WAR

1950 jul

UN decides to join after pressure from USA and an appeal from S Korea. USA couldn’t veto bc they were boycotting due to the Chinese Communist Party not getting a seat in the UN as the UN supported the republic (Taiwan). China, France, USSR, USA and UK had veto power.

1950 sep

USA troops land in Korea Ichon. Quickly push back Communist forces almost to Chinese Border

1950 nov

Chinese forces cross into South Korea to push back UN forces (200,000 specially trained Chinese troops

1951 jan

Communists take Soeul

1951 mar

MacArthur threatens China with nukes, even after being told no by Truman. He gets fired

1951 jun

Korean peace talks begin as a stalemate is reached at 38th parallel . No progress due to dispute over prisoners and fighting continued

1951 (gen)

USA SAC develops a state of constant readiness. 6000 targets to be hit in venent of war
1952

1952 nov

USA detonates first H-bomb

1952 nov 2

Eisenhower becomes President

1953 05/03 Stalin dies. Khrushchev into power

1953 jul

Korean war ends, armistice signed (border still along 38th parallel)

1953 jul 2

start of Cuban revolution assault on Moncada Barracks

1953 aug

USSR detonates H-Bomb

1954 mar

USA developes H-Bomb small enough to be dropped from a bomber (actually usable)

1954 mar 2

Dien Bien Phu Vietnam war – France lost w. 8000 deaths against Vietnamese nationalists

1954 mar 3

KGB formed

1954 may

Geneva agreement- Britain, France China, USSR, USA and nam. Removal of French troops and free elections to be in 1956. split into N (communist- led by Ho Chi Min and Viet Cong ) and S (non-communist President Diem harsh and corrupt- funded by USA) DOMINO THEORY! PROXY WAR!

1954 sep

USSR drops test H-Bomb from a bomber

1955 may

West Germany let into Nato. Khrushchev maad so Warsaw Pact created (communist NATO- military pact containing all buffer states minus Yugoslavia). Russians still saw Germans as the enemy (20 million reasons)

1955 jul

Eisenhower announces space program and wanted to make a satellite. Start of space race

1956 feb

destalinisation- Khrushchev brings up purges of Communist Parties. K released political prisoners, closed down Cominform, invited Marshal Tito to Moscow, dismissed Stalin’s foreign minister, wanted to improve living standards

1956 jun

start of Hungary Revolution. Rakosi -> Erno Gero. Hungarians lived in fear, had no freedom of speech and had too much Russian. Also had to pay for soviet forces to be in Hngaryu

1956 23/10

Erno no better, students demonstrated pulled down a statue of Stalin. USSR allowed Nagy to come into power. Wanted: free elections, impartial courts, private land, no soviet army and to leave warsaw pact

1956 nov

Khrushchev couldn’t let Hungary leave Warsaw. Invaded Budapest w thousands of troops and tanks. 2 weeks of fighting, thousands of deaths, 200,000 Hungarians fled to Austria, USSR won, Nagy and leaders executed and a harsh commie leader in charge of H. Western powers didn’t intervene in Hungary bc 1. Didn’t want war and 2. Were busy with Suez Canal

1956 (gen)

viet elections never took place, Eisenhower allowed U2 planes to restart spying over USSR. Khrushchev annoyed w flights but couldn’t prove them

1957 15/05

USSR testing first ICBM- gave soviets ability to launch missile into space and bring it down onto USA

1957 oct

sputnik 1. first man made satellite in space

1957 nov

sputnik 2 (bigger) and laika-> USA pours money into research to catch up

1958 jan

USA Explorer 1 satellite launched

1958 jul

US congress approves formation of NASA

1959 feb

Castro comes into power after revolution

1959 (v)

Viet Cong creates HoChiMin trail to carry upplies down to S nam. Guerilla warfare

1959 (gen)

USA developes their own ICBMs

1960 01/05

U2 crisis USA sends Gary Powers over USSR. Shot down Khrushchev tried to make Eisenhower confess. Eisenhower said it was a weather plane then K shows evidence that it wasn’t (Gary alive) and Eisenhower admits it BUT DOESN’T apologise

1960 17/05

Paris summit- wanting to discuss stopping testing nuclear bombs. Khrushchev storms out after Eisenhower continues to refuse to apologise

1960 jun

Eisenhower authorises CIA to start trying to overthrow Castro

1960 aug/summer

Castro allies w USSR who gave them $100mil and arms trades. Castro takes over USA refineries in Cuba to refine USSR oil

1960 nov

JFK president. Assured USA could keep naval base in Cuba

1961 jan

JFK breaks off relations w Cuba -> castro thinks USA is planning full scale invasion

1961 apr

Bay of Pig- JFK sends 1400 CIA trained Cuban exiles to Cuba days after publicly stating he wouldn’t invade Cuba. Castro thought it was full scale, sent 20,000 troops. Invasion failed and USA troops captured in days.
1961 12/04

1961 13/08

Berlin Wall built at 2am E German soldiers put up Barbed wire. Wanted to stop E berliners moving to W bc it was much more prosperous. Border completely closed except for checkpoint Charlie.

1961 27/10

checkpoint Charlie standoff- US ranks had been crossing into E Berlin all months to see how troops react. On 27. Tanks refused to let them through. 18 hour standoff where neither would back down. Finally backed off- close to nuclear war

1961 30/10

Tsar Bomba

1961 nov

Berlin wall finished. Many had managed to escape but security now tightened

1962 jul

USSR supplies Cuba with nukes- now had best army equipment in Latin America

1962 oct

Cuban Missile Crisis: 14/10-28/10- 1. American spy took detailed photos if missile sites. 2. JFK announces blockade on Cuba- soviet ships turned away. 3. Spying shows nuclear bases still increasing rapidly. 4. Communication between K and JFK: JFK says that if soviet do not retreat an attack will follow. 5. U2 plane shot down over Cuba 6. K dismantles nukes- crisis averted. JFK reputation increased, K seen as a peacemaker, brinkmanship helped thaw tensions bc of MAD. USA secret deal: takes nukes out of turkey

1963

K and JFK sign nuclear test ban

1968 jan-aug

prague spring- Dubcek reforms (socialism with a human face- less censorship and more freedom). Learned lessons from Hungary- reassured Brezhnev he wasn’t pulling out of Warsaw. B seemed ok with it.

1968 jul

USSR, UK, USA sign Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty- aim to stop spread of nukes

1968 aug

soviet tanks move into Prague- little resistance and Dubcek removed from power, despite previous conferences being tame

1968 nov

Brezhnev Doctrine: communism = 1 party system, in Warsaw pact. Dubcek slowly became censored (atmosphere of despair)

1969 jun

apollo 11 moon landing

1970s

Détente and easing of tensions: -usa pulls out of nam bc it cost too much, nuke scare and MAD (won’t blow up the world), conflict in middle east could disrupt oil supplies, both worried about growing power of china, Nixon and Brezhnev: peaceful coexistence

1972

salt 1 (strategic arms limitations treaty): limits ICBMs and ABMs, you are allowed to spy with satellites. to last 5 years /