Cold War Revision

If you click on the yellow pointers, you will reveal all the facts that you ought to remember.     
Try to remember BEFORE you click!

  •  WHAT WAS THE COLD WAR?
    • The war against Hitler had united America and Russia, but post-war splits appeared. They stopped short of full scale war because of the development of the Atomic bomb.
    • It turned into a battle for world domination.
  •  CAUSES OF THE COLD WAR [memory word: BARE]
    • Beliefs:
      • Russia was (3 things)
        • a Communist country,
        • ruled by a dictator
        • who cared little about human rights.
      • America was (3 things)
        • a capitalist
        • democracy,
        • which valued freedom.
    • Aims:
      • Stalin wanted (2 things)
        • reparations from Germany
        • a buffer of friendly states.
      • Britain and the USA [led by President Truman] wanted (2 things)
        • to help Germany recover
        • to prevent large areas of Europe from coming under Communist control.
    • Resentment about history
      • The USSR did not trust Britain and the USA (2 reasons)
        • They had tried to destroy the Russian Revolution in 1918.
        • Stalin thought they had not helped the USSR enough in WW2.
      • Britain Britain and the USA did not trust the USSR (1 reason)
        • Stalin had signed the Nazi-Soviet pact in 1939.
    • Events
  •  EVENTS (9 events):
    • YALTA CONFERENCE (4 things)
      • February 1945
      • Churchill, Stalin and Roosevelt agreed to (5 points):
        • Divide Germany into 4 zones occupied by France, Britain, USA, USSR.
        • Hold free elections in Eastern European countries.
        • Give the USSR territory in Manchuria in return for their help against Japan.
        • Set up the United Nations.
        • Set up a government of Communists and non Communists in Poland.
      • On the surface, everything seemed friendly
      • Tension behind the scenes
    • POTSDAM CONFERENCE (4 things)
      • July 1945
      • At Potsdam the tensions surfaced.
      • Stalin, Truman and Atlee agreed to (2 things):
        • Bring Nazi war criminals to trial.
        • Divide Germany into 4 occupied zones.
      • There were also disagreements over (3 things):
        • Soviet policy in Poland.
        • The size of German reparations.
        • Stalin’s demands for a naval base in the Mediterranean.
    • SALAMI TACTICS (2 things)
      • 1945–48
      • ‘Slice-by-slice’, Stalin ensured 7 Eastern European countries had Communist governments.
        • Albania
          • (1945) – the Communists took power after the war without opposition
        • Bulgaria
          • (1945) – the Communists executed the leaders of all the other parties.
        • Poland
          • (1947) – the Communists forced the non-Communist leaders into exile.
        • Hungary (4 things)
          • (1947) – Russian troops stayed there. Stalin allowed elections (non-communists won a big majority). The Communists were led by the pro-Russian Rakosi.
          • Rakosi demanded that groups which opposed him should be banned.
          • He got control of the police, and arrested his opponents.
          • He set up a secret police unit, the AVH.
        • Romania
          • (1945–1947) – the Communists gradually took over control.
        • Czechoslovakia
          • (1945–48) – in 1948, the Communists banned all other parties and killed their leaders.
        • East Germany
          • (1949) – the Russians turned their zone into the German Democratic Republic.
    • FULTON SPEECH (5 things)
      • March 1946
      • Churchill described the Soviet bloc as an ‘iron curtain’.
      • Stalin believed this was necessary to maintain the safety of the USSR.
      • After Fulton, the Cold War worsened.
      • Russia called the speech a declaration of war.
    • GREECE (2 things)
      • February 1947
      • The USA supplied arms and money to defeat the Communists in Greece.
    • TRUMAN DOCTRINE (2 things)
      • March 1947
      • The USA implemented a policy of ‘containment’ towards the USSR – to prevent Communism spreading any further.
    • THE MARSHALL PLAN (3 things)
      • June 1947
      • Marshall believed poverty was a breeding ground for Communism.
      • American introduced ‘Marshall Aid’ – $17 billion to get Europe’s economy going.
    • COMINFORM (3 things)
      • October 1947
      • Stalin forbade Communist countries to accept Marshall Aid.
      • Cominform was set up to control all Communist countries in Europe.
    • CZECHOSLOVAKIA (3 things)
      • March 1948
      • Communists took control
      • Panicked the US Senate into granting Marshall Aid (31 March 1948)
  •  THE BERLIN BLOCKADE
    • Causes [memory word: CABAN]
      • Cold War
        • was beginning to bite – created tension.
      • Aims
        • USA and Britain wanted Germany to recover
        • Stalin wanted to destroy Germany and was looting German industrial capacity.
      • Bizonia
        • USA, Britain and France merged their zones into West Germany which became more prosperous than the Soviet zone.
      • American Aid
        • Marshall Aid was voted 31 March 1948.
      • New Currency (3 things)
        • To get the Germany economy going, Britain and America introduced a new currency.
        • This destabilised the East German economy
        • Stalin said that this was the cause of the blockade.
    • Events (6 points)
      • (24 June 1948) – Stalin closed all rail and road links from Berlin to West Germany.
      • Lasted 11 months.
      • The Allies airlifted supplies to Berliners – 275,000 flights took 1.5m tons supplies.
      • In winter, Berliners lived on dried eggs and potatoes/ 4 hours of electricity a day.
      • US had B29 bombers on standby.
      • (12 May 1949) – Stalin re-opened the borders.
    • Results [memory word: CENA]
      • Cold War
        • got worse.
      • East/ West Germany split.
        • West Germany = Federal Republic of Germany.
        • East Germany = German Democratic Republic.
      • NATO/ Warsaw Pact
        • NATO was set up in 1949 by the Western Allies as a defensive alliance against the USSR
        • Warsaw Pact set up 1955 by Russia
      • Arms Race
        • The USA and USSR competed for world domination.
  •  KOREAN WAR
    • North Korea [Communist] invaded South Korea [Capitalist].
    • Causes [memory word: DUCKS]
      • Domino theory
        • Truman thought that Far Eastern countries would fall like dominoes. China became Communist in 1949. Truman feared Japan would follow. He felt he had to stop this.
      • Undermine Communism
        • NSC 68 (April 1950) recommended that the US abandon 'containment' and start to 'roll back' Communism.
      • Cold War
        • Truman and Stalin were in a battle for world domination – Korea was a ‘war at arm’s length’.
      • Kim Il Sung
        • got Stalin’s and Mao tse Tung’s agreement to attack South Korea.
      • Syngman Rhee
        • (1950) – boasted he would attack North Korea – gave an excuse.
    • Events (5 phases)
      • By June 1950
        • the NKPA captured most of South Korea from the ROKs.
      • July 1950
        • UN troops, mainly Americans led by General MacArthur, drove the Communists back to the Chinese border.
      • October 1950 (4 things)
        • China attacked
        • drove the Americans back
        • advanced into South Korea.
        • MacArthur called for use of atomic bomb.
      • March 1950 (3 things)
        • The Americans sent reinforcements and drove back the Chinese (200,000 dead)
        • Truman told the troops to stop t the 38th parallel
        • Truman sacked MacArthur for criticising his orders.
      • 1953
        • Truce: America claimed successful containment.
  •  KHRUSHCHEV succeeded Stalin.
    • It seemed he would bring a thaw in the Cold War (4 reasons)
      • He advocated ‘Peaceful Coexistence’
      • He met Western leaders at summit meetings
      • He was friendly to Yugoslavia, telling Tito there were ‘different roads to Communism’
      • He criticised Stalin, executed Beria, set free political prisoners and began to de-stalinise the eastern bloc countries.
    • In fact 1955–1963 was the time of greatest tension in the Cold War (3 reasons)
      • Khrushchev used Russian troops when countries tried to leave Russian control.
      • By peaceful co-existence, Khrushchev meant ‘peaceful competition’ (5 examples)
        • He loved to argue (Kitchen debate with Nixon)
        • He gave economic aid to countries like Afghanistan and Burma
        • Space Race (1957: Sputnik. 1961: Yuri Gagarin orbits the earth)
        • Arms Race (1953: Russia got the hydrogen bomb)
        • Warsaw Pact (1955: 8 countries)
          • USSR
          • Albania
          • Bulgaria
          • Czechoslovakia,
          • East Germany
          • Hungary
          • Poland
          • Romania
      • In retaliation, in America:
        • McCarthy conducted a 'witchhunt' for Communists
        • America entered the arms race with Russia
          • in 1955, NATO agreed to an army of 0.5million men in West Germany
        • America entered the space race with Russia
          • America rushed to put a man on the moon.
        • American U2 planes spied on Russia
  •  HUNGARY (1956)
    • Causes (5 reasons)
      • Poverty
        • When most of Hungary’s food was sent to Russia.
      • Russian Control (3 things)
        • The Hungarians were very patriotic
        • They hated censorship, the AVH, and Russian control of education.
        • They hated having Russian troops stationed in Hungary
      • Catholic Church
        • Communism tried to destroy religion, but most Hungarians were devout Catholics
      • Help from the West
        • The Hungarians thought Eisenhower or the UN would help.
      • Destalinisation
        • Led to protests against Rakosi’s harsh government.
    • Events (3 key dates)
      • 23 October
        • Student riots – attacks on AVH and Russian troops
      • 24 October – 3 November
        • Reforming government led by Imre Nagy (4 things)
          • Democracy
          • Freedom of speech
          • Freedom of religion
          • Aimed to withdraw from Warsaw Pact.
      • 4 November
        • Soviets sent in 1000 tanks to crush the rebellion.
        • Western powers protested but didn’t send troops (didn’t want a war).
    • Results (7 things)
      • Janos Kadar put in control of Hungary
      • 4,000 Hungarians killed
      • Nagy shot.
      • 200,000 Hungarians flee to West.
      • Many westerners leave the Communist party.
      • Russia stays in control behind the Iron Curtain.
      • Western leaders all the more determined to ‘contain’ communism.
  •  U2 CRISIS
    • 1 May 1960 Soviets shot down American U2 spy plane over USSR, and captured pilot Gary Powers.
    • Americans had to admit he was a spy.
    • Khrushchev demanded apology + end to spying flights.
    • Eisenhower refused.
    • Results (5 things)
      • Khrushchev walks out of Paris summit (14 May 1960)
      • Eisenhower’s planned visit to Russia cancelled
      • Khrushchev demands that US leaves West Berlin
      • Americans came off badly – been caught lying- propaganda victory for USSR.
      • New American president Kennedy promises to get tough on Communism.
  •  BERLIN WALL, 1961
    • Causes (3 Causes)
      • Growing tension (2 things)
        • U2 crisis
        • Kennedy finances anti-Communist forces in Laos and Vietnam
      • Refugees (3 things)
        • West Berlin enjoyed much higher standard than East Berlin.
        • 1945–1960: 3 million people crossed the border – a propaganda point for the US
        • Most refugees were skilled workers
      • Sabotage
        • The Russians claimed that America used West Berlin for spies and sabotage in east Germany.
    • Events (6 things)
      • 13 August 1961
      • East Germans erected a barbed wire wall overnight, later replaced with stone.
      • All movement between East and West was stopped.
      • Wall was fortified with barbed wire and guns.
      • Western powers could do nothing.
      • Symbol of East /West division until 1989.
  •  CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS, 1962
    • Causes (4 causes)
      • Superpower tension
        • U2 – Berlin Wall – Laos – Vietnam
      • Fidel Castro’s Cuba (3 things)
        • Cuba only 90 miles off coast of America.
        • Close relationship with USSR (oil, machinery and money in return for sugar)
        • Cuba nationalises American companies
      • Bay of Pigs
        • (April 1961) – America sent in rebels in but they were defeated (a humiliation).
      • Missile bases
        • 14 October 1962 – USA U2 spy planes photographs Soviet missile sites on Cuba.
    • Events (4 things)
      • Kennedy ordered a naval blockade and threatened invasion.
      • For 10 days the world was on the brink of nuclear war.
      • Kennedy promised to remove US missiles from Turkey
      • 28 October Khrushchev removed the missiles and the crisis was over
    • Results (4 things)
      • Khrushchev seemed to have failed
      • Kennedy became the hero of the Western world
      • Telephone hot line set up between Moscow and Washington.
      • (1963) – Nuclear test ban treaty signed.