Cold War Revision sheet – Thanks johndclare!
A war short of full scale war because of the development of the Atomic bomb.
CAUSES OF THE COLD WAR [BARE]
1. Beliefs: Russia was a Communist country, ruled by a dictator who cared little about human rights.
America was a capitalist democracy, which valued freedom.
2. Aims: Stalin wanted reparations from Germany/ a buffer of friendly states.
Britain and the USA [led by President Truman] wanted to help Germany recover/ to prevent large areas of Europe from coming under Communist control.
3. Resentment about history: The USSR did not trust Britain and the USA – They had tried to destroy the Russian Revolution in 1918/ Stalin thought they had not helped the USSR enough in WW2.
Britain & USA did not trust USSR – Stalin had signed the Nazi-Soviet pact in 1939.
4. Events turned the mistrust into war: Yalta/ Potsdam/ Salami tactics/ Fulton/ Greece/ Truman Doctrine/ Marshall Plan/ Cominform/ Czechoslovakia
YALTA CONFERENCE (February 1945)
1. Churchill, Stalin and Roosevelt agreed to Divide Germany into 4 zones (France, Britain, USA, USSR)/ to hold free elections in Eastern European countries./ to set up the United Nations./ to set up a government of Communists and non Communists in Poland.
2. On the surface, everything seemed friendly, but there was tension behind the scenes
POTSDAM CONFERENCE (July 1945)
1. At Potsdam the tensions surfaced.
2. Stalin, Truman and Atlee agreed to bring Nazi war criminals to trial/ divide Germany into 4 occupied zones.
3. There were disagreements over Soviet policy in Poland./ The size of German reparations.
SALAMI TACTICS (1945–48) ‘Slice-by-slice’, Stalin ensured all E Eur.countries had Communist govts
1. Albania (1945) – the Communists took power after the war without opposition
2. Bulgaria (1945) – the Communists executed the leaders of all the other parties.
3. Poland (1947) – the Communists forced the non-Communist leaders into exile. 4. Hungary (1947) – Russian troops