The Cold War AQA
The end of the second world war
The alliance of the big three from World War Two (Britain, the USA and the USSR closed bracket was known as the grand alliance. Their desire to defeat Nazi Germany united them, but as the war ended, tensions emerged
The USA and the USSR had very different ideologies
USA with the capitalist country, while the USSR was a communist 1
The big three discussed Europe’s future at Yalta conference
in February 1945 they held a conference at Yalta in the Soviet Union. By this time the allies were confident of winning the war, so talks focused on how Germany should be dealt with after it was defeated
All three sides had opposed views
despite this, they agreed on many things:
Eastern Europe with the Soviet union's sphere of influence
liberated Eastern European countries would hold free elections
Germany and Berlin would be divided into 4 zones, and these would be shared between the big three plus France
United Nations would replace the failed League of Nations
after Germany surrendered in May 1945, the allied leaders met again in Potsdam over July and August
somethings at Potsdam were different to Yalta. Roosevelt had died in April 1945, and Harry Truman was now U S president. Britain also had a new leader, Clement Attlee replaced Churchill mid conference
Some agreements were finalised at Potsdam, such as the new boundaries of Poland, and it was confirmed that Germany and Berlin would be divided into zones an split between the allies
The two superpowers
The USSR on the USA emerged from the Second World War as the two biggest powers in the world. But they were very suspicious of one another and began to interpret each other 's actions as threats
USA kept its atom bomb a secret
Japan was on Germany side in the war, and continued to fight after Germany surrender
in August 1945, USA dropped two atom bombs on Japan, destroying the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
USSR became influential in Eastern Europe
there was an iron curtain between the east and the West
countries in Western Europe tended to support USA in the Cold War. Most countries in Eastern Europe were dominated by the USSR. In a famous speech in 1946, Winston Churchill warned that there was an iron curtain dividing Europe
Mutual suspicion
The Cold War was a period of international tension, with each side suspicious of the other
Truman acted to contain the communist threat
Truman believed that if one more country within Europe turned to communism, they would not be able to stop all of the other countries in Europe changing. This was known as the domino effect
The Truman doctrine, announced in March 1947, pledged to support any nation threatened by communist takeover
the Marshall plan, announced in June 1947, promised $17 billion of aid to European countries to help rebuild their economies, in exchange for support for the USA
USSR reacted creating Cominform
Stalin felt threatened by the tremendous rent, and reacted by strengthening and uniting his allies
Cominform was set up in September 1947. The organisation brought together all European communist parties and place them under the control of the USSR
Comecon stablished in January 1949. Industry and agriculture under state control and offered satellite states economic aid as an alternative to the Marshall Plan
Stalin wanted complete control over his sphere of influence
The Berlin crisis
Tension over the division of Germany had been building ever since the Potsdam conference, and finally spilled over in the Berlin crisis in 1948. It resulted in an even larger rift between the two great powers
1948 the USSR tried to take control of Berlin
following the division of Germany, in 1947, the USA and Britain combined their zones to form bizonia. In 1948, the French added their zone too.
This new western zone had a single government, and a new currency was introduced to help economic recovery
Just alarmed the USSR, as W Berlin strong capitalist economy made the communists look weak
as a result, Stalin decided to blockade Berlin to try to force the capitalist power to withdraw from West Berlin. In June 1948, he ordered all roads, rails and canal links between West Berlin and the outside world should be cut off
The blockade meant that W Berlin faced shortages of food and other essential items, such as fuel, water and medicine. It also meant that travel to and from Berlin was severely restricted
West was determined to keep zones
The Western powers decided to bypass the blockade and fly supplies into West Berlin. This became known as the Berlin airlift and lasted for 318 days.
Western powers also imposed a blockade on eastern Berlin, cutting off supplies that they supplied
Crisis worsened relations between east and West
After it became clear that the West was determined not to withdraw from Berlin, Stalin unwillingly lifted the blockade in May 1949
The Berlin crisis gave America a huge propaganda victory over the USSR
The USSR and China
The superpowers had concentrated on events unfolding in Europe, but communism was also growing in Asia
China became a communist state in 1949
1949 summer China had been in a state of civil war for almost 25 years. Communist forces challenged the country's nationalist government
this government was corrupt and was losing support in China. The communists, however, wanted to modernise the country and had a large following among the Chinese population
specially the communists won the civil war, and on the 1st of October 1949, Mao announced the creation of the People's Republic of China. Nationalists fled to Taiwan
China's fall to communism was a massive shock to Americans, they had views China as an ally that shared American values
Stalin supported Mao and communism in China, while Truman 's government refused to recognise Mao’s leadership
in February 1950, China on the USSR I'll find a Treaty of friendship. Both countries promised to assist and defend one another
The USA feared that communism would spread in Asia
Truman feared that the ‘fall’ of China to communism would lead other Asian countries to become communist
Korea and vietnam
By the 1950s, the focus of the cold war had shifted to Asia. The USA worries that communism could spread throughout Asia and undermine US power – this fear is reflected in America’s actions in Korea and Vietnam
The Korean war
In 1948, two separate governments were established in Korea. Communist North Korea, backed by the USSR, and anti-communist South Korea, backed by the USA
Both sides wanted to unite Korea, with their belfies across the entire country
War broke out in June 1950 after Stalin agreed to support an invasion of SK by NK, providing them with weapons
When SK turned to the UN security council for help, the USA proposed the UN should support them. The USSR was not present to veto this (due to having walked out and boycotted the meetings), so the proposal was passed
By this point in the war, it was majorly the USA fighting the USSR
The war became a stalemate after a while, meaning both sides agreed to a truce in 1953, with both sides maintaining their views on communism
There was a similar situation in Vietnam
Vietnam was part of a French colony, but in the 1940s, a group of communist rebels opposed the rule, called the Viet Minh
The USSR and China recognised the Viet Minh as the leaders of Vietnam in January 1950
Due to the need to resist the domino effect further, the USA sent aid to the French to resist the Viet Minh, but they were defeated in May 1954
It was then decided that Vietnam would be divide into the communist north, led by the Viet Minh, and the south
The USA backed an anti-communist leader in the south, until an rebellion led by the Vietcong, a communist group supportive of the Viet Minh, overthrew and assassinated him
Both the USA and USSR sent large amounts of aid to their respective sides of this war
In the end, involvement in Vietnam became disastrous for America, and the US troops withdrew without victory in 1973.
Vietnam became a united communist country in 1975, but Southeast Asia did not fall to communism as the US government feared
Military rivalies
The USA and USSR began an arms race
Both countries wanted to be the first to develop strong nuclear weapons
Neither side really wanted to use these weapons, but both felt the other couldn’t be allowed to gain advantage, as a military asset
Both countries ended up with a huge stockpile of nuclear weapons
The arms race was also fuelled by the fear and suspicion created by other events:
The formation of NATO made the USSR feel militarily vulnerable
The treaty of friendship between China and the USSR strengthened Western fears that the USSR was planning communist domination
Both powers established military alliance
Following the Berlin Blockade showing how unprepared the West were for conflict with the USSR, the Western powers created an allocate called NATO
The soviets were threatened by NATO, creating the Warsaw Pact with off the USSR’s satellite states
The space race:
Between the two powers, a race to space began, wanting to be the first to complete many things, such as the first satellite or man in space
In 1969, Apollo 11 was successful in sending Nield Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to be the first men to walk on the moon
Following landing on the moon, the USA claimed to have won the space race
The space race fuelled yet more competition between the powers, as winning this race showed power and status, showing which was more technologically advanced
This also advanced the arms race, as much of the same technology could be used for weapons
The ‘thaw’
When Khrushchev became leader of the USSR in 1953, there were hopes for a ‘thaw’ in the cold war. Many thought the East-West relations would improve, and that the USSR satellite states would have more freedom
Khrushchev aimed to reform the Soviet Union
Khrushchev raised hopes of ‘Peaceful co-existence’
In January 1953, Eisenhower succeeded Truman POTUS. With new leaders of both powers, there was an opportunity for a fresh start
They made many agreements to communicate more openly, but Khrushchev was still very competitive with the USA, and wanted to spread communism
hungary and the u2 crisis
The USSR used the Hungarian uprising to send a message
Hungarians were angry with the communist leader due to lack of reform, low living standards and Soviet control
Mass protests broke out in Budapest in October 1956
To end these riots, Khrushchev allowed the liberal Imre Nagy to take over
Nagy soon announced a program of reforms, aiming to dissolve the secret police and more, along with securing the withdrawal of Soviet troops
In November 1956, Nagy announced Hungary would be leaving the Warsaw Pact
The USSR felt it had to respond with force and make an example of Nagy, so Soviet tanks invaded Hungary in November 1956, killing or wounding thousands of Hungarians. Nagy was arrested and hanged, and a new leader was put in his place, who was loyal to the USSR
The West condemned the Soviets, but did not take any actions
The U2 crisis hindered Peace talks
Eisenhower and Khrushchev had agreed to discuss issues such as nuclear weapon testing and the Berlin situation at the Paris Peace summit
On May 1 1960, days before the summit was to take place, the USSR shot down a U2 American spy plane over Soviet territory, which had been collecting information on the USSR’s military facilities
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Eisenhower denies it being a spy plane, despite there being evidence, which the USA eventually admitted to
Khrushchev demanded an apology, but Eisenhower refused, arguing that spy planes were necessary for the USA’s safety, causing Khrushchev to walk out of the Peace Summit
The Berlin Wall
In 1961, it became clear to Khrushchev hat the situation in Bering was not very good and could not be solved diplomatically, so on the 13of August 1961, a 27-mile barrier was built across the city of Berling, dividing the East and West halves of the city
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Citizens were not allowed between the halves, and anyone attempting to leave East Berlin was shot
The wall helped to stabilise the situation in Berlin
The USA condemned the building of the wall but didn’t take any military action
There were some tense moments, such as the 16-hour standoff at Checkpoint Charlie
Both sides used the wall as propaganda
The USA used the Berlin wall as anti-communist propaganda, saying the Soviets had to build a wall to try to keep people in East Berlin, and that’s it showed the failure of communism
The USSR used propaganda to justify the building of the wall, claiming it was vital to national security because it kept out Western spies
The wall finally fell on November 9 1989, due to the major propaganda victory this gave the Western allies
The Cuban missile crisis
As tensions increased over Berlin, USA also began to have problems closer to home. Cuba had long been the USA's economic ally, but revolution brought the communist threat to the USA's doorstep
The Cuban Revolution in 1959 worried the USA
since 1952, Cuba had been ruled by a dictator, who allowed American businessmen and the mafia to make huge profits in the country where most people lived in poverty
in 1956, a rebel called Fidel Castro Began guerilla war. By 1959, he had enough support to take Cuba’s capital, and successfully overthrew the government
USA accidentally pushed to Castro closer to the USSR
rebels backed by the USA invaded Cuba at the Bay of pigs
Kennedy could not let a communist state emerged right next to America, so he had to intervene. In 1961, Kennedy authorised an invasion of Cuba by anti-Castro rebels
April 17th 1961, rebels landed in the Bay of pigs, but they were easily defeated in the USA didn't help
Kenedy tried to hide the USA involvement in the invasion but failed. The USA was humiliated and had pushed Cuba even closer to the USSR. However, Kennedy was still determined to overthrow Castro
Due to the closeness of Cuba and the USSR now, Khrushchev agreed to help Castro and began to build nuclear missile sites in Cuba
Having missiles in Cuba would allow the USSR to launch a nuclear attack on all of the central and eastern USA with very little warning
Khrushchev sent Kennedy a letter, to remove the missiles from Cuba if the USA ended the naval blockade and pledged not to invade Cuba. Khrushchev then sent a second letter which had stronger demands, that Soviet missile bases would only be dismantled if the USA removed its missiles from Turkey
This crisis significantly altered the course of the Cold War, as it showed how quickly a tense situation could become a catastrophe
this also resulted in new measures to bring buildup of nuclear weapons under control
The Prague spring
In 1968, Czechoslovakia wanted more freedom from Moscow, and decided to move away from Soviet influence in a rebellion known as the Prague spring
there was opposition to Soviet control into Slovakia, due to extent of external control, and lack of free speech and free movement in the country
Dubcek wanted to move away from Soviet policies
Dubcek came a leader of the Communist Party in Czechoslovakia, but wanted to follow his own version of communism, rather than that of the USSR
The USSR was put under pressure to intervene, due to the increased concern about the reforms
leader of the USSR, Brezhnev, was worried that the reforms could lead to a rejection of communism in the eastern bloc
In August 1968, the USSR decided to intervene militarily. This led to a new pro Soviet leader in power and Czechoslovakia returned to more Soviet style communism
USSR invaded Czechoslovakia in August 1968
for 1969, Dubcek was forcibly removed from office, and replaced with Husak, was loyal to Soviet style communism
The Soviet invasion strained relations between east and West
The Brezhnev doctrine worried other communist countries, as it showed that in the future, the USSR would act to protect communism in any country where it was under threat. This strengthened the USSR's control over its satellite states
Détente
In the 1960s there was a period of easing in tension between the two superpowers, known as Détente
tension still existed between the superpowers before détente
the policies of it was practical
despite sources of tension that still existed between the superpowers, they both realised the importance of avoiding conflict. In an attempt to improve relations, the USA and the USSR agreed to the policy of détente
superpowers agreed to reduce arms and cooperate