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| Question | Answer |
| Define the term: COLD WAR | The period after WWII during which the USA and the USSR (Soviet Union) competed for influence around the globe - each trying to 'impose' or 'protect' their particular political ideology (Way of Life) |
| Two Competing IDEOLOGIES | Democracy & Capitalism VS Communism |
| THREE KEY features of DEMOCRACY? | Government is chosen by the people in regular 'fair' elections (Representative Government) The people have 'rights' such as freedom of speech, which are protected in law. (Individual Liberty) The economy is capitalist - businesses are privately owned |
| THREE KEY features of COMMUNISM | Government is by a one party dictatorship - elections are held - but there is no choice of party (One party state) The Government controls all industry - no private enterprise (anti-capitalist) Individual rights are less important that those of the 'state' (Collectivism) |
| Was a COLD WAR after WWII likely? | YES! The Wartime Alliance was a 'strange Alliance' - one of convenience not conviction. Much previous 'history' - The West had tried to help defeat the Communist Revolution in the 1920s The USA would not share the secrets of the Atomic bomb with Stalin Stalin suspected that Appeasement had been a ploy to push Hitler eastwards! Once the common enemy 'fascism' had been destroyed - not a lot holding the Alliance together. The existence of secret documents such as 'operation unthinkable' (USSR to be overcome by USA and Britain after Germany was defeated) |
| What was agreed at Yalta (February 1945) | Met to decide what should happen after the war was over. Stalin agreed to join war against Japan Agreement that 'liberated' countries would be able to determine their own future through democratic elections. Germany to be divided into 4 zones of occupation (No sense of where this would lead!) The 'east' would be a Soviet 'sphere of influence' |
| What had changed by the time of the Potsdam Meeting? July-August 1946 | War was almost over - no pressure to keep a united front The Soviet forces occupied most of Eastern Europe (No easy way of getting them out) USA had a new President - Truman - he was a hard-line anti communist The USA had tested an atomic bomb - they no longer needed the USSR in the war against Japan. |
| Factors that contributed to the breakdown of the Grand Alliance and the start of a Cold War | Personality (esp. relationship between Truman and Stalin ) The actions and foreign policy decisions of the USA after the war was over. The actions and foreign policy decisions of the USSR after the war was over. Mutual misunderstand rooted in incompatible ideological beliefs |
| What happened across eastern Europe that lead to Churchill talk of an 'Iron Curtain descending across Europe'? | Stalin ensured communist governments took power in Eastern European states. Established the Cominform - to centrally control all communist parties (from Moscow) By 1946 Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria and Albania had communist governments |
| What methods were employed to ensure communist domination of Eastern Europe states? | Forming & dominating post war coalition governments Banning all other political parties Killing and imprisoning political opponents., and abolishing Monarchy. |
| What was the US response to events in Eastern Europe? | The Truman Doctrine & Marshall Aid (Two halves of the same walnut) |
| The Truman Doctrine | MARCH 1947 A 'promise' to support 'free peoples' who were resisting 'attempted subjugation' In effect a commitment to CONTAIN communism by giving those who wanted it the means to resist it. |
| Marshall Aid | 1946-47 was one of the harshest winters - real threat of starvation and poverty throughout western Europe. - US fear that communism would thrive in such circumstances Marshall Aid was $17 billion to help countries rebuild and to help them resist the 'attractions' of communism |
| Churchill called Marshall Aid 'the greatest of all selfless acts by any one nation...' was this true? | It was 'generous' - Britain received £2.7 billion to help rebuild) BUT The USA needed a strong European economy for her own export markets. The Soviets viewed it as a way of the USA imposing and economic noose around Europe's neck - they called it 'Dollar Imperialism' |
| REFLECTION So why did a cold war emerge out of WWII? | It was inevitable given the profound differences: Too much national self-interest The USA's actions - Belief in containment (no understanding of USSR's 'needs' Soviet ambitions - a world revolution of communism |
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