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The Yalta Conference
Roosevelt, Churchill Stalin
Objectives:
US UK - reconstruction of Germany, world economic recontruction (world bank), no spheres of influence, UN
USSR - keep Germany weak, economi reconstruction of the USSR, spheres of influence
Agreements:
- Germany Berlin to be split into 4 zones between the US, UK, USSR France
- UN would be formed
- USSR would gain land from Poland
Significance: High point of cooperation -
The Potsdam Conference
Truman, Attlee Stalin
Agreements:
- USSR would receive $20 million in reparations from germany
- Japan would be given an ultimatum
- Germany would be demilitarised, denazified, and decentralised
Significance: the different visions of the post-war world between the UK UK and the USSR became clear -
Atomic bombs dropped on Japan
'Little boy' and 'Fat man' were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing over 120,000 people -
Period: to
The Cold War
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Kennan's Long Telegram
George Kennan, an American diplomat in Moscow, sent a lengthy telegram to Washington D.C
He said that:
- Stalin was paranoid that the West wanted to destroy communism, and in turn he wanted to destroy capitalism
- In a crisis, the USSR would back down -
The Novikov Telegram
Nikolai Novikov, a Soviet diplomat in Washington D.C, send a telegram to Moscow
He said:
- The US wanted to use their military power to establish global supremacy
- USSR needed to secure its buffer zone -
The Iron Curtain Speech
Winston Churchill gave a speech in the US saying that Europe had been divided into Eastern and Western blocs
Stalin responded with his own speech 10 days later establishing the USSR to be peacefully seeking Eastern European allies -
The Truman Doctrine
Truman announced his policy of containment and officialised it by sending $400 million to Greece and Turkey to protect them from communism -
Cominform
- Stalin set up the political organisation Cominform as a response to the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan.
- It included the USSR and the communist parties of Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Yugoslavia, France and Italy
- The members had to take orders from Moscow and to cut contact with the west
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The Marshall Plan
as an extention of the truman doctrine, $13.5 billion would be given to 16 european countries over 5 years to rebuilt them after the war on the condition that they spent some of it on US goods -
Period: to
The Berlin Blockade & Airlift
- In response to the creation of Trizonia and the Deutschemark, Stalin blocked routes used by the US, UK and france to West Berlin
- The west carried out the Berlin Airlift to fly supplies in to West Berlin, delivering thousand of tonnes of goods
- He lifted this in May 1949 due to countermeasures imposed by the west such as a trade ban on Eastern European countries
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The Alger Hiss Trial
Alger Hiss was an ex US statesman accused of passing secrets to the USSR
Whittaker Chambers claimed Hiss had an undeveloped film of documents hidden in a hollow pumpking on his farm
Alger Hiss was convicted of pejury (lying in court) and served 3 and 1/2 years of prison time
It remains uncertain whether the accusations were true or not but it is an example of the dangers of McCarthyism and Cold War hysteria -
NATO created
The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation
Members:
US
UK
France
Belgium
Luxembourg
Netherlands
Norway
Iceland
Denmark
Portugal
Italy
Canada
Article 5 - An attack against one member nation will be considered an attack against all member nations
Cause: need for security against USSR expansion
Impact: threat of massive retaliation, establish US sphere of influence -
Federal Republic of Germany
3 days after the end of the Berlin Blokade, the west turned their zones into the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) aka West Germany, lead by Konrad Adenaur -
Trizonia and the Deutschemark
- The US, UK and France combined their zones of occupation in Berlin to form Trizonia
- They also introduced a new currency to create economic stability - the Deutschemark
- This directly caused Stalin to impose the Berlin Blockade
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German Democratic Republic
The USSR turned its zone in Germany into the German Democratic Republic (GDR) aka East Germany -
Sino-Soviet alliance
China and the USSR formed a military alliance
This was a turning point for the Cold War because it shifted it from Europe to the world and made Japan crucial to the containment of communism of the east -
NSC-68
Review of US strategic objectives and priorities
- Containment
- Expansion of military power -
The Poznam Uprising
Events:
Krushchev nominated Edward Ochab to implement Destalinisation
June: workers went on strike in protest at wage cuts and poor conditions
Prisons were stormed and weapons were seized
October: Wladyslaw Gomulka was elected as head of the Polish Communist Party
Khrushchev allowed this as long as he didnt carry out threatening reforms Impacts:
-Polish debt cancekked
-Censorship relaxed
-Repression of the Church reduced
-One-party state -
Period: to
The Korean War
Korea split on 38th parallel
USSR North (Democratic People's Republic of Korea-Kim II Sung)
US South (Republic of Korea-Syngman Rhee) 1949 USSR rejected attack on SK but decided indirect military support=best after communist victory in China
June 1950 NK invaded
US requested security council session
USSR boycotted bc Republic of China was recognised as legitimate government NK attack
SK counter
Chinese attack
Stalin died
Negotiations Long term division
Cold War globalised
Improved military -
Eisenhower becomes US President
Eisenhower succeeded Truman as President -
The Rosenberg Trial
Julius and Ethel Rosenburg were executed for passing US nuclear secrets to the USSR -
Stalin died
Stalin was succeeded by Krushchev -
SEATO created
Southeast Asia Collective Defence Treaty
Members:
US
UK
France
Australia
New Zealand
Thailand
Philippines
Pakistan
Cause: response to Sino-Soviet links
Impact: strengthened US influnce in Asia
Dissolved in 1977 -
The Warsaw Pact created
Members:
USSR
Poland
Czechoslovakia
Hungary
Romania
Bulgaria
Albania
East Germany
Article 4 = NATO's Article 5
Cause: admittance of FRG into NATO
Impact: consolidaated relationship between USSR and satellite states -
The Geneva Summit
Causes:
-Arms race needed to slow down
-West Germany had been admitted into NATO Discussion:
-Eisenhower's Open Skies proposal
-Eisenhower proposed reunified Germany with free elections
-Both rejected by Khrushchev Agreements:
-None Impact:
-Showed mutual intent for cooperation -
The Austrian State Treaty
Signed by US, UK, USSR, France and Austria
Agreement:
-Withdrawal of all powers
-Declaration of Austria as a neutral state Impact:
-Showed mutual intent for cooperation
-Removed Austria as a potential source of conflict -
West Germany admitted to NATO
Directly caused the creation of the Warsaw Pact -
The Hungarian Uprising
Events:
October: students in Budapest demonstrated and listed 16 demands
Hungarian secret police fired
Workers groups joined the students
Imre Nagy was appointed as PM
Krushchev met with him and agreed to withdraw Soviet troops
November: Nagy announced Hungary's withdrawal from the Warsaw Pact
Krushchev ordered troops back
The uprising was crushed Impacts:
-Lack of western intervention showed that Eastern Europe was under the USSR's control
-Showed a need for sociopolitical reform to the USSR -
Krushchev’s secret speech
- Denounced Stalin of his crimes
- Outlined policy of economic improvement in the Soviet Union
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Sputnik launched
October: Sputnik vecame the first satellite put into orbit by the USSR
November: A dog called Laika was launched in Sputnik II
December: The US tried to do the same and failed to launch what became known as Flopnik -
The Gaither Report
Eisenhower commissioned the Gaither Report to investigate US-USSR nuclear capability
Results: 100-30 lead in ICBMs for the USSR This was proven to be inadequate evidence. Eisenhower trusted U2 spy planes that suggested a slower rate of production by the USSR -
The Camp David talks
Eisenhower Khrushchev Agreement:
-Settle international issues through diplomacy -
The Paris Summit
US, UK, USSR and France Discussion:
-Krushchev wanted a deal over Berlin, a deal to prohibit nuclear weapons over the Pacific and a ban on nuclear weapons in Germany
-He never got the chance because a U-2 spy plane had been shot down over the USSR
-The news collapsed the summit Impact:
-Ended peaceful coexistence and escalated the Cold War -
Kennedy elected as US President
Kennedy replaced Eisenhower His inauguration speech was essentially the Truman Doctrine
He was bent on containment -
The Bay of Pigs Invasion
Kennedy sent 1500 anti-Castro Cuban exiles to carry out a military coup to remove Fidel Castri
Castro ordered 20,000 troops to remove the exile Cause:
Fidel Castro introduced agragian reform and developed an economic and political relationship with the USSR Response:
Operation Mongoose
Covert operations (propaganda, sabotage, etc)
Air strike plan - OPLAN 312
Land invasion plan - OPLAN 314 Failure -
The Cuban Missile Crisis
Events:
-U2 spy plane spotted missile site in Cuba
-Kennedy informed and assembled ExComm, an advisory committee
-'Hawks' favoured action while 'doves' favoured diplomacy
-Kennedy called for a naval blockade referred to as Quarantine
-Plan broadcasted to US citizens
-Krushchev sent Kennedy a letter demanding a non-invasion pledge and removal of missiles in Turkey in return for removing military presence in Cuba
-Agreement Impact:
-Hot line created (Moscow-Washington)
-Moscow Test Ban Treaty