Cold War Flashcards

Origins of the Cold War (1945–49)

Q: What was agreed at the Yalta Conference (Feb 1945)?
A: Division of Germany into 4 zones, free elections in Eastern Europe, USSR to join war against Japan, United Nations to be formed.

Q: Why did tensions increase at the Potsdam Conference (July 1945)?
A: Change in leadership (Truman), disagreement over reparations and Eastern Europe, U.S. had tested atomic bomb.

Q: What was the Truman Doctrine (1947)?
A: U.S. policy to contain communism and support countries threatened by it.

Q: What was the Marshall Plan (1947)?
A: U.S. economic aid to rebuild Europe and prevent spread of communism.

Q: What caused the Berlin Blockade (1948)?
A: Western Allies introduced a new currency and united their zones in Germany.

Q: How did the Allies respond to the Berlin Blockade?
A: With the Berlin Airlift, supplying West Berlin for 11 months.

🔹 Cold War Crises (1950s–60s)

Q: What started the Korean War (1950)?
A: North Korea invaded South Korea to unify the country under communism.

Q: Outcome of the Korean War (1953)?
A: Stalemate; Korea remained divided at the 38th parallel.

Q: What was the Warsaw Pact (1955)?
A: A military alliance of communist countries, led by the USSR.

Q: What happened in the Hungarian Uprising (1956)?
A: Hungary tried to leave Warsaw Pact; crushed by Soviet troops.

Q: Why was the Berlin Wall built (1961)?
A: To stop East Germans fleeing to the West via Berlin.

Q: What caused the Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)?
A: USSR put nuclear missiles in Cuba, close to the U.S.

Q: How did the Cuban Missile Crisis end?
A: USSR removed missiles from Cuba; U.S. secretly agreed to remove missiles from Turkey.

🔹 Détente & Second Cold War (1970s–80s)

Q: What is Détente?
A: Period of improved relations between USA and USSR in the 1970s.

Q: What were the SALT agreements?
A: Strategic Arms Limitation Talks to limit nuclear weapons.

Q: Why did détente end?
A: Soviet invasion of Afghanistan (1979); U.S. responded with sanctions and Olympic boycott.

Q: What was Reagan's approach to the Cold War?
A: Hardline; increased arms spending, introduced SDI (“Star Wars”), called USSR "evil empire".

🔹 End of the Cold War (1985–91)

Q: Who was Mikhail Gorbachev?
A: Soviet leader (1985–91) who introduced reforms: glasnost and perestroika.

Q: What was glasnost?
A: Policy of openness—freedom of speech, transparency.

Q: What was perestroika?
A: Economic restructuring—some market-style reforms.

Q: What happened in Eastern Europe in 1989?
A: Peaceful revolutions ended communist rule; Berlin Wall fell.

Q: When did the Soviet Union collapse?
A: 1991—USSR broke into independent republics, ending the Cold War.