AQA GCSE History: Conflict and Tension between the East and the West - part two

What is the Domino Theory?

the theory that if communism spread to one country it would spread to nearby countries

What was the New Look policy?

it increased American money and military

When was the Vietnam War?

1955-1975

what happened in the vietnam war?

The north was supported by Communist China and the USSR, and the south by the USA

When did China become communist?

1949, under Mao Zedong

Who was Mao Zedong?

Communist leader of China from 1949-1976. Known as the "Great Leader". He was a brutal leader, insuring his power by executing anyone who disagreed with him. He also set up labor camps where millions of people were sent and many died.

-became interested in the ideas of Marx and Lenin

When was the Treaty of Friendship?

1950

What did the Treaty of Friendship say?

-$300 million in aid would be provided to China

-95% would need to be repaid with a large interest

-China had to give two of its major parts and the right to mine in Xinjiang to the USSR

What happened to Korea after WW2?

it was divided into two zones along the 38th parallel

-the north zone was occupied by the USSR and the south by USA

Give a run down of the Korean War

Feb: Stalin reluctantly agrees to provide North Korea with weapons to fight the South

June: The North invades the South and the UN calls for a ceasefire but the war continues

Sept: US-led forces drive the North Koreans back to the 38th parallel

Oct: Chinese troops enter the war and help launch a North Korean counterattack and Seoul is caputured

July 1953: final ceasefire with Peninsula divided almost the same as before

When was the Korean War?

1950-1953

Nationalist

a person who wants independence for their country

Maoism

a version of Communism based on the ideas of Mao Tsetung

Veto

the right to overrule a decision

Viet minh

Vietnamese communists, supporters of Ho Chi Minh

Vietcong

the communist guerrilla fighters in Vietnam

Guerrilla warfare

A hit-and-run technique used in fighting a war; fighting by small bands of warriors using tactics such as sudden ambushes

How did the treaty of friendship affect the relationship between the East and West?

It changed the balance of power - America's fear of communism has now reached fever pitch

What was the Arms Race?

Competition for supremacy in the nuclear warfare, between US, the soviet union and allies

What is mutually assured destruction?

a doctrine of military strategy and national security policy in which a full-scale use of nuclear weapons by two or more opposing sides would cause the complete annihilation of both the attacker and the defender

When did the USA use the first hydrogen bomb?

November 1952

When did the USSR use their first hydrogen bomb?

August 1953

When did the USA develop U2 spy planes to spy on the Soviets?

July 1956

When did the USSR develop the first ICBM?

May 1957

When the USSR launch the first man-made satellite (Sputnik) ?

October 1957

When did the USSR launched the Sputnik II?

November 1957

When did the USA launch Explorer I?

December 1958

When did Yuri Gagarin become the first man in space?

12th August 1961

When did the USSR detonate the biggest hydrogen bomb ever?

October 1961

When did Apollo 11 land Neil Armstrong on the moon?

July 1969

ICMBs

Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles

CND

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament

Polaris

A nuclear missile capable of being carried and fired by submarines.

Duck and Cover Drills

schools practiced these during the Cold War era

When did Stalin die?

March 1953

NATO

North Atlantic Treaty Organization; an alliance made to defend one another if they were attacked by any other country; US, England, France, Canada, Western European countries

When was NATO formed?

April 1949

Why was Truman keen to have US bases in Europe?

So they were protected from a possible Soviet attack and they could resist advances that Stalin could try to make.

What was the Warsaw Pact?

Military alliance in support of the USSR.

When was the Warsaw Pact formed?

May 1955

Why did Khrushchev form the Warsaw Pacr?

He was worried about NATO rearming Germany after they caused so much damage.

How did NATO and the Warsaw Pact increase tension?

They were both gathering huge military allies in case of a war. This acted as a deterrent because neither could attack without facing the disastrous consequences.

What was de-Stalinization?

Purging the country of Stalin's memory (led by Nikita Khrushchev).in 1956

What did Khrushchev do to destalinize Russia?

-made an attack on Stalin at the Communist Party International Conference

-dredged up evidence of Stalin's purges and denounced him as an enemy

What did De-Stalinization do?

-released more political prisoners

-closed down Cominform to reconcile with Yugoslavia

-invited Tito to Moscow

-dismissed Stalin's former Foreign minister Molotov

-wanted to improve the living standards of Soviet citizens

When was the Hungarian Uprising?

October 1956

Who led the Hungarian uprising?

Imre Nagy

Why did the Hungarians revolt?

-hated the restrictions Rakosi's Communism imposed on them

-they lived in fear of the Secret Police and resented the presence of Hungarian troops

Describe the Hungarian Uprising

-in June a group within the Communist Party opposed Rakosi and he was forced out of power

-in October, the giant statue of Stalin in Budapest was pulled down

Nagy's reforms

-free elections

-impartial courts

-restore farm land to private ownership

What did Nagy intend to do which made Khrushchev kill the uprising?

-leave the Warsaw pact and declare Hungary a neutral country

Soviet reaction to Nagy's intentions

-November 1956 thousands of Soviet troops and tanks moved into Budapest and two weeks of bitter fighting followed

-around 3000 Hungarians killed and 7000 Russians

-200,000 Hungarians fled across the border into Austria

What happened to Nagy after the Soviet's reaction

he and his fellow leaders were imprisoned and executed

Why did the western powers not send any help to Hungary?

-they were preoccupied with the Suez crisis in the Middle East

-Hungary was too close to the USSR and it would have been impossible to help without sending massive forces across Europe which could trigger a war

Who did Khrushchev put in place as a leader to crush the uprising?

-Janos Kadar

-took several months to crush all of the resistance

-around 35,000 Anti-Communist leaders were killed

-introduced some of the reforms being demanded but did not allow Hungary to leave the Warsaw Pact

Suez Canal Crisis

-1956

-Britain and France invaded Egypt to take back the canal without telling America

-the USA and the USSR condemned British action and there was a furious debate in the United Nations

In the months after the Soviet invasion

-Khrushchev created a new government which disbanded most of the Hungarian army and began a programme of political education to ensure their loyalty to the USSR

-Khrushchev increased the number of soviet divisions in Hungary from two to four and forced the government to accept the presence of these troops for protection as well as pay for them

U2 crisis

May 1960

What was the U2 crisis?

-US spy planes have been spying on the USSR's nuclear capabilities

-U2 could read a newspaper on the floor from 23,000m away

-one spy plane was shot down by the USSR's new missile and Khrushchev was furious and it worsened tensions

What happened to Gary Powers?

Sentenced to 3 years in a Soviet prison and 7 years of forced labor. US and Soviet's reached deal 1 1/2 years later with a prisoner exchange. US exchanged Russian spy Rudolf Abel.

Criticism of the U2 crisis

-Eisenhower and his republican party were criticized abroad and at home they were criticized for being too soft

Mutually Assured Destruction

(MAD) if either US or the USSR was hit with a nuclear weapons they would respond with the same

Tensions in 1961

Both superpowers had hundreds of missiles pointed at each other and the tension was very high

Duck and cover

Schoolchildren practiced crawling under their desks and putting their hands over their heads to protect themselves from an atomic bomb attack.

What did the USSR do in October 1961?

Carried out a test explosion of the largest bomb ever exploded, the blast exceededthe power of all explosives used in WW2

Paris Peace Summit

Meeting planned in May 1960 Paris for Eisenhower and Khrushchev to discuss the "brain drain" caused by people fleeing East Berlin for the West-- as well as other tensions. It never happened because a U-2 plan was shot down, increasing U.S.-Soviet tensions