Who was to blame for the Cold War?

Question 1

Why did the USA-USSR alliance begin to break down in 1945? (4)

Answer 1

Removal of the common enemy. Germany had been defeated and there was now no need for Allied cooperation.
History of hostility. This went back to western intervention in the Russian civil war. In the 1930s, Stalin thought that the West saw Hitler and the Nazis as the buffer against the spread of communism.
Ideological differences. The USA followed a democratic capitalist approach opposed to the communist ideology of the USSR.
The Soviet “sphere of influence”. By early 1945, the Red army had occupied much of eastern Europe.

Question 2

What were the issues to be addressed at Yalta and Potsdam? (4)

Answer 2

What to do with a defeated Germany and its leaders.
What to do with countries formerly occupied by Germany, many of which were in eastern Europe.
To decide the future of Poland.
How war with Japan could be ended as soon as possible.
To discuss how a lasting peace was to be maintained.

Question 3

When was the Yalta conference held and which leaders were involved?

Answer 3

February 1945.

Roosevelt (US), Churchill (GB) and Stalin (USSR).

Question 4

What was agreed at the Yalta conference about what to do with a defeated Germany? (4)

Answer 4

Germany and its capital Berlin were to be divided into four occupation zones.
Germany’s eastern border was to be moved westwards.
War criminals were to be hunted down and punished.
Germany had surrender unconditionally and pay reparations.

Question 5

What changed between the Yalta conference and the Potsdam conference?

Answer 5

President Roosevelt died in Apr 1945 and was replaced by Harry S. Truman.
Churchill was defeated in a General Election and was replaced by Labour’s Clement Attlee.
The USSR had liberated eastern Europe from Nazi control but had failed to hold free election.
On the eve of the conference, Truman informed Stalin that the US had tested an atomic bomb.

Question 6

How did the allies disagree at the Potsdam conference? (3)

Answer 6

No agreement was reached over the future government of Poland.
There was disagreement over Germany. Stalin wanted Germany crippled to prevent future threat.
The USSR wished to intervene in the war against Japan but this was refused by Truman.

Question 7

Who coined the phrase the “iron curtain”?

Answer 7

Winston Churchill in a speech delivered in March 1946 in Fulton, Missouri. Used to describe the division of eastern Europe from western Europe; of democracy from communism.

Question 8

What was Cominform?

Answer 8

The Communist Information Bureau. An alliance of communist countries set up in October 1947. This tightened Stalin’s hold on the satellite states, further restricting their contact with the West.

Question 9

How was communism established in Czechoslovakia?

Answer 9

Soviet troops left after the war.
Post-war elections gave communists leadership of a balanced, coalition government.
Foreign Minister Jans Masaryk, a popular and non-communist politician, was murdered in May 1947.
All non-communist members of the government resigned in February 1948 with communists filling vacant posts.

Question 10

How was communism established in Hungary?

Answer 10

Soviet troops remained after liberation.
Communists won 17% of the vote in November 1945 elections.
Used secret police to discredit and persecute rival politicians and parties.
Rigged elections in 1947 gave communists control of a coalition government.
Social Democratic Party and Communist Party merged in 1948.

Question 11

What was the significance of events in Greece in 1947?

Answer 11

Civil war had developed in Greece between the monarchists, who were supported by the British, and the communists, who were back by the USSR. In Feb 1947, the British announced they were withdrawing from Greece as they could no longer afford the war. Truman persuaded Congress that the US should intervene to prevent Greece becoming communist. This marked a new era in the USA’s attitude to world politics.

Question 12

What was the Truman doctrine?

Answer 12

Named after a speech given by Truman in March 1947. Under the Truman Doctrine, the USA was prepared to send money, equipment and advice to any country which was, in the American view, threatened by a Communist take-over.

Question 13

Define containment

Answer 13

The USA became committed to a policy of stopping the spread of communism. Truman accepted that eastern Europe was communist but his aim was to stop it spreading any further.

Question 14

What was the Marshall Plan?

Answer 14

In June 1947, the US Secretary of State George Marshall announced an economic recovery plan which provided aid to build up Europe’s economy. To help, war-torn Europe recover, the US offered money, machinery, food and technological equipment.

Question 15

What is the link between the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan?

Answer 15

Truman believed that countries which suffered poverty were vulnerable to communism. By providing aid through the Marshall Plan to countries in Europe, this would help contain the spread of communism.

Question 16

How did Stalin respond to Marshall Aid?

Answer 16

He refused to have anything to do with it. He also forbade any of the eastern European states to apply for Marshall Aid.

Question 17

What were the long-term causes of the Berlin blockade? (4)

Answer 17

Within the Soviet zone, Soviet troops were able to control all access.
The USSR believed the western Allies had no right to be in Berlin. The western Allies were seen as a threat as they had a base inside the Soviet zone.
The western Allies needed to be there to prevent the USSR fully controlling Berlin.
The West could spy on Soviet activity behind the iron curtain.

Question 18

What were the short-term causes of the Berlin blockade?

Answer 18

In January 1947 Britain and the US combined their zones to form Bizonia.
Western Germany began to recover with the help of Marshall Aid. In East Germany there was poverty and hunger.
In 1948 the western Allies introduced a new currency into western Germany. Stalin refused to introduce it in the Soviet zone.

Question 19

When Stalin blockaded Berlin, what options were available to the western Allies?

Answer 19

Driving armed convoys through the blockade. Highly provocative with a strong risk of war.
Pull out of Berlin. Failure to act would render the Truman Doctrine an empty threat.
Supply West Berlin by air. Less risky than armed convoys but very expensive. This is the option that they went for.

Question 20

When did the Berlin airlift end?

Answer 20

In May 1949, Stalin recognised that the blockade of Berlin would not make the western allies give up Berlin and so reopened communications. The airlift had lasted 11 months.

Question 21

What were the consequences of the Berlin blockade?

Answer 21

Germany was firmly divided into two nations.
Berlin remained a powerful symbol of Cold War tensions and a potential flashpoint.
The Berlin blockade set a pattern for future Cold War confrontations.

Question 22

In which country were non-Communist political leaders executed by their Communist coalition partners, after a left-wing coalition of parties won the 1945 elections?

Answer 22

Bulgaria

Question 23

How did Stalin maintain control of Cominform?

Answer 23

Communist leaders regularly met in Moscow to be briefed by Stalin; he replaced any individual whom he thought to be too independently minded

Question 24

Who was expelled from Cominform organisation in 1948, but too popular in his country to replace?

Answer 24

Marshal Tito of Yugoslavia

Question 25

In what year did Britain, France and the USA combine their zones of Germany and Berlin to form Trizonia?

Answer 25

1949

Question 26

Events in which country and in what year persuaded Congress to back a cash injection of $17 billion to Europe?

Answer 26

Czechoslovakia. This became known as Marshall Aid.

Question 27

In what month and year did Stalin cut off access and utilities to West Berlin?

Answer 27

June 1948

Question 28

Approximately how frequent were US flights into Berlin during the blockade?

Answer 28

Three per minute. The airlift involved nearly 300,000 flights in total.

Question 29

What did the two sides of Germany become known as in May 1949 and October 1949 respectively?

Answer 29

Federal Republic of Germany (Western)

German Democratic Republic (Eastern)

Question 30

Which organisation was created at the height of the Berlin blockade?

Answer 30

The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, which was formed in April 1949.

Question 31

What was Kennan’s long telegram?

Answer 31

In February 1946, a key US diplomat in Moscow, George F. Kennan, sent a telegram to the US state department on the nature of Soviet conduct and foreign policy. His views on the USSR had a lasting impact on US policy. He believed that the USSR were fanatically hostile to the West and his telegram played a key role in the development of the US policy of containment.

Question 32

What were the main points of Kennan’s long telegram? (4)

Answer 32

The USSR’s view of the word was a traditional one of insecurity.
The Soviets wanted to advance Stalinist ideology.
The Soviet regime was cruel and repressive.
They USSR was fanatically hostile to the West.

Question 33

How did the USSR respond to the iron curtain speech? (4)

Answer 33

Stalin compared Churchill to Hitler. He saw the speech as ‘a call to war with the Soviet Union’.
The USSR withdrew from the International Monetary Fund.
The USSR stepped up the tone and intensity of anti-Western propaganda.
They initiated a new Five-Year Plan to build Soviet strength.

Question 34

What was COMECON and when was it founded?

Answer 34

The Council for Mutual economic Assistance. Founded in January 1949 to foster closer economic ties between Moscow and the satellite states.

Question 35

What was the Potsdam Proclamation?

Answer 35

The Potsdam Proclamation was issued by Truman at the Potsdam conference in July 1945 and called for Japan’s unconditional surrender.

Question 36

Complete the following phrase - “From ??? in the Baltic to ??? in the Adriatic, an ??? curtain has descended across the Continent.”

Answer 36

“From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent.”

Question 37

How was Soviet control secured over Poland?

Answer 37

Soviet troops remained after liberation.
New government formed in June 1945 dominated by “Lublin” Poles.
Opposition leaders arrested and murdered.
Rigged elections in 1947 gave communists 80% of the vote.

Question 38

How did the allies disagree over Poland at the Yalta conference?

Answer 38

Stalin wanted the border of the USSR to move westwards into Poland.
Churchill did not approve of Stalin’s plans for Poland but he knew there was not much he could do about it because Stalin’s Red Army was in total control of both Poland and eastern Germany.
Roosevelt was also unhappy about Stalin’s plans but Churchill persuaded Roosevelt to accept it, as long as the USSR did not intervene in Greece.

Question 39

What was the significance of events in Czechoslovakia in 1948?

Answer 39

Communists took over the government of Czechoslovakia. Anti-Soviet leaders were purged. One pro-American minister, Jan Masaryk was found dead below his open window. The Communists said he had jumped but the Americans suspected he had been pushed. Immediately, Congress accepted the Marshall Plan.

Question 40

When were the atomic bombs dropped on Japan?

Answer 40

Hiroshima - 6 August 1945

Nagasaki - 9 August 1945

Question 41

Define the term ‘satellite state’.

Answer 41

State which is controlled by a larger state e.g. Eastern European states controlled by the USSR after WWII.

Question 42

Define the term ‘Communist bloc’.

Answer 42

Eastern European states controlled by Communist governments from end of WWII to 1989.

Question 43

Define the term ‘Soviet sphere of influence’.

Answer 43

Terms agreed at Yalta conference in 1945. Western powers agreed that Poland and other parts of Eastern Europe would be under Soviet influence.