The transformation of the Soviet Union's international position

emergence as a superpower
what was the nature of the USSR before the war?

Stalin did not want the USSR to be a superpower, he had isolationist policy and wante the Soviet Union to be left alone to allow his industrial/agricultural revolution to be completed.

emergence as a superpower
how did the war transform the USSR domestically? 3 reasons.

-vast new military built up, by 1945 the USSR armed forces consisted of 7.5 million troops.

-increased territory in eastern europe

-red army occupied eastern germany and east berlin.

emergence as a superpower
what was the nature of the other world powers as the USSR emerged as a superpower?

the european powers such as the UK were seriously weakened by the war.
alongiside the United States, the USSr was poised to dominate the post war world

emergence as a superpower
when and what was the first wartime summit?

Tehran confluence in november 1943. it was the first summit to include stalin.

emergence as a superpower
whwen and what was the second wartime confrence?

Churchill met stalin in moscow in october 1944

emergence as a superpower
when and what was the third wratime confrence?

churchil, stalin and roosevelt (the big three) met in yalta in feburary 1945)

emergence as a superpower
when and what was the confrence after the defeat of the germans?

Potsdam confrence July 1945

-by this confrence it became clear that the previous superpower, the UK was exhausted and bankrupted by the war.

emergence as a superpower
how did americans have nuclear dominance? how did the USSR end it? (2 points. )

american nuclear dominance from 1945 placed the USSR at a huge disadvantage.

-Stalin placed Beria in charge of the nuclear program, nad the first successful test was on August 29th 1949.

emergence as a superpower
how was the USSR status as a superpower reflected in the new world order?

United Nations formed in 1945. USSR was one of the 5 permanent members of the security council.

formation of a soviet bloc
what was the new ‘soviet bloc’?

The USSR used its military presence and political influence over communist parties to encourage the formation of governments that were ‘freindly’ to the soviet union in the neighbouring national states of the USSR, such as hungary and poland. s

by 1948 most of htese became ‘sattelite states’ closely linked with the USSR. this created a buffer zone, which stalin hoped would protect the USSR against future invasion from the west.

formation of a soviet bloc
how aws this further see nby the ‘warsaw uprising’ 2 reasons.

august 1944, the Polish Nationlist AK army launched an uprising against nazi occupiers.

-soviet forces halted their advance towards warsaw, and the uprising was crushed.

formation of a soviet bloc
how did the USSR prop up european communists in eastern states?

from the 1930’s, exiled communist party groups from European countries were trained in moscow to infiltrate post war governments after liberation.

formation of a soviet bloc
how did the soviets take control of polands government?

as soon as the red army entered poland, a provisional government was set up in lublin, dominated by pro moscow communists

formation of a soviet bloc
how did the soviets take influence of yugoslavia, romania and bulgaria ?

in yugoslavia, communist partisans led by josip tito gained control of the post war government. communist regimes also controlled bulgaria and romania.

formation of a soviet bloc
how did the soviets take control of east germany?

he eastern region of germany became a soviet zone of occupation and a group of msocow trained communist gained political control by 1946. t

formation of a soviet bloc
how was east central europe harder to influence? 2 reasons.

central european countries saw democratic national governments elected. communists here were instructed by Moscow to join with non communists, and “bourgeise liberals” to give hte USSR a poltiical foothold.

used to gain power over hungaryin 1947, and czechoslovkia in 1948.

formation of a soviet bloc
what were salami tactics?
whats an example? 2 points.

-salami slice strategy used to subvert bourgeois parties in europe, through small steps, such as infiltrating trade unions, and targeting politicans with harassment and violence.

-in 1948, the anti soviet foreign minister of czechoslovkia died from a ‘fall’ from a high window.

conflict with the United States and capitalist west
how did dissagrement’s with the west emerge? 3 points.

-ideological differences, Churchill and Truman were very anti communist.

-Stalin was critical of the west for not opening a western fron earlier.

-disagreemnts over hte future of poland, and the post war borders of germany.

Breakdown of east-west relations
what was the long telegram?

Febuary 1946, George Kennan , US diplomat to moscow sent a telegram to Washington urging the US to contain the spread of communism.

Breakdown of east-west relations
what was the iron curtian speech?

Winston Churchill gave a speech in march 1946 in Fulton, missouri, warning of an ‘iron curtain’

Breakdown of east-west relations
wha was the truman doctrine?

in March 1947, president Truman adopted the Truman doctrine, committing the US to a policy of containment.

Breakdown of east-west relations
what was the mashall plan? 2 points.

April 3rd 1948, Truman signed the Economic Revoery Act into law, also known as the Marshall plan.

-allowed for aid in countries europe to stop the spread of communism.

Breakdown of east-west relations
what was the berlin blockade?

the berlin blockade of 1948 to 1949 hardened the division of germany

Breakdown of east-west relations
how did the formation of nato harm relations?

NATO was formed in 1949, establishing western defence of europe.

-by this time the cold war was fully formed.

why did the US introduce the marshall plan?

-by early 1947, the economic crisis in western europe led to a burst in communist parties in france and italy, and civil war broke out in greece.

how did stalin react to the marshall plan?

Soviet bloc nations received severe pressure to reject marshall aid.

Berlin crisis
why did stalin introduce the berlin blockade?

Stalin was frustrated by the way soviet control in berlin was slipping, exacerbated by the introductoin of new currency in western zones in june 1948.

-the blockade cut of all road and rail links between berlin and the west.

Berlin crisis
how did the west respond to the berlin blockade?

US coordinated the berlin airlift, which flew in huge amounts of supplies into west berlin between 1948 and 1949.

-stalin did not risk war by shooting down planes, and called of the blockade in May 1949.

how did hte USSR grow its influence over china?

in china, the long civil war ended with the victory of the chinese communis revolution. stalin met the chinese leader, mao zedong to agree to a treaty of alliance. conflict between the USSR and its allies against the US and the capitlalist west became the established norm between 1940s to 1989.

Stalins death
what was stalin like as he was dying?

by early 1950’s, stalin became more unpredictable and harsh as he was dying.

atmopshere of fear continued until his death on the 5th march.

stalins legacy, foreign domestic
why is stalins legacy problematic?

production of consumer goods was underfunded, and agricultural was failing to keep pace with industrial development

issue of relations with the wet and terror in the USSR.

stalins legacy, foreign domestic
what happened after khrushchevs secret speech?

after the 1956 secret speech, unrest spread to east germany, poland and hungrary, where reform of the communist system spilled over into violent revolution in the 1956 budapest riising. stalins statute was symbolically demolsihed. the ussr had to impose military control to restore order.