GCSE HISTORY Superpower Relations & The Cold War

The Grand Alliance

1941

• Made up of the 'big three' allies from WW2 (Britain, USA and USSR)
• United by the desire to defeat Nazi Germany

The Tehran Conference

Nov 28, 1943

AGREEMENTS
- USA and Britain would open a second front to split German defences and take pressure of the USSR
- USSR would declare war on Japan once Germany was defeated
- Poland should be given more land from Germany but lose some to the USSR
DISAGREEMENTS
- Roosevelt often sided with Stalin, not Churchill
- Churchill wanted to begin an invasion of the Balkans but Stalin opposed this with the support of Roosevelt

The Potsdam Conference

1945

AGREEMENTS
- Exact divisions of Germany and Berlin were determined
- The new boundaries of Poland were agreed
- Nazi leaders would be tried for war crimes at Nuremberg
- Western allies handed over industrial equipment to USSR in exchange for raw materials
DISAGREEMENTS
- Truman was suspicious of the USSR
- Britain and the US were alarmed by Stalin installing a government of only pro communist members in Poland
- Stalin disliked that his part of Germany was poorer than the rest

The Yalta Conference

1945

AGREEMENTS
- Free elections would be held in previously occupied countries in Eastern Europe
- The allies as well as France would divide Germany and Berlin between them
- The United Nations would replace the failed league of nations
DISAGREEMENTS
- To the USA and Britain, the free elections meant lots of political parties competing for votes whereas Stalin believed only communist parties should run in elections
- Britain and the USA had been reluctant to agree to Poland becoming communist.

Atomic Bombs

Aug 6, 1945

• The USA dropped two atom bombs on Japan, destroying Hiroshima an Nagasaki
• Truman refused to allow the USSR to take part in the US occupation of Japan
• USA kept the atom bomb a secret from the USSR at Potsdam
• Events increased rivalry between the USA and USSR
  

Churchill's Iron Curtain Speech

1946

• Demonstrated the break down of the Grand alliance
• Established the division of Europe
• The USSR was now a threat to Britain and US
  

The Long Telegram

Feb 22, 1946

• Secret report from America's ambassador in Moscow
• Stalin gave a speech calling for the destruction of capitalism
• USSR was building up military power
• USSR was trying to weaken and divide western power
• USA should seek to contain communism

The Novikov Telegram

Sep 27, 1946

• Issued to Stalin about the USA from Soviet's ambassador
• USA pursued world supremacy and domination
• American public was prepared for war with the USSR
• USA was trying to limit the influence of the USSR in Europe

The Truman Doctrine

Mar 12, 1947

• USA wanted to contain the spread of communism
• USA pledged to support any nation threatened by communist takeover
• USA would send troops and economic resources to help governments that were threatened by communists
• Communism should not be allowed to grow and gain territory
• USA gave $400 million of aid to Turkey and Greece to stop the spread of communism

Western powers

May 29, 1947

• USA and Britain agreed to combine their zones in Berlin to form 'Bizonia'
• In 1948, France agreed to add their zone to form 'Trizonia'
• They had a single government, and introduced a new currency to help economic recovery
• West Berlin's strong capitalist economy made USSR look weak

The Marshall Plan

Jun 5, 1947

• USA promised $17 million of aid to European countries to help rebuild their economies
• Weakened the attraction of communism
• Stalin ordered all his satellite states to reject the plan and believed the USA was using economic incentives to lure Eastern European states away from the USSR

Cominform

Sep 22, 1947

• Communist Information Bureau
• USSR's reaction to Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan
• Brought together all European communist parties under the control of the USSR
• Strengthened the USSR's regimes

Berlin Blockade

Jun 24, 1948

• Stalin set up military blockade around West Berlin to cut West Germany off from Berlin
• Western Germany could not control its territory
• Aimed to force the wet to withdraw from Berlin
• Ordered all road, rail and canal links between West Berlin and the outside world to be cut off

Berlin Airlift

Jun 26, 1948

• The West bypassed the blockade to fly in supplies
• 70 cargo planes of 1000 tonnes of food and supplies was airlifted to west Berlin every day
• Over 17000 tonnes of supplies was provided during January 1949
• Tegel Airport was built in West Berlin to accommodate large volumes of flights
• Peaceful way to prevent blockade from succeeding which made the blockade appear highly aggressive

Comecon

Jan 5, 1949

• The Council for Mutual Economic Assistance
• countered the Marshall Plan & communist alternative
• Aimed to encourage economic development of Eastern Europe
• Attempted to prevent trade with Western Europe and America which minimised American influence and ensured benefits of economic recovery in Eastern Europe remained within the Soviet 'sphere of influence'

NATO

Apr 4, 1949

• North Atlantic Treaty Organisation
• Military alliance between Western powers
• All members agreed to respond together if a NATO country was under attack
• Defended the West against communism
• A big threat to the USSR

Division of Germany

May 23, 1949

• Stalin lifted the blockade and Germany remained divided
• two separate states were formed: West Germany (Federal Republic of Germany) and East Germany (German Democratic Republic)
• Both were independent states
• East Germany became another soviet satellite

Arms Race

Aug 29, 1949

• USA and USSR worked to developed the most powerful weapons they could
• weapons weren't being used but they had to gain advantage over each other
• A stand-off but both countries didn't dare act against each other
• Caused the space race to the moon
• Fuelled by fear and suspicion created from other events
• Nuclear stockpiles create:
• Atom bombs (USA,1945- USSR,1949)
• Hydrogen bombs (USA,1952- USSR,1955)
• ICBMs (USSR,1957- USA,1959
• Increased tensions
  

Krushchev

Mar 5, 1953

• New leader of the Communist party
• Wanted peaceful co-existence with the West
• Many hoped he would end the cold war but he remained very competitive with the USA
• Continued to develop weapons which continued arms race
• USA still felt threatened
  

The Cuban Revolution

Jul 26, 1953

• Fidel Castro began a guerrilla war against Batista and successfully overthrew the government
• Worried the USA as it owned half of Cuba's land and held most of the shares in all Cuban industries
• Cubans resented Americans as they didn't feel like an independent state
• Eisenhower threatened to stop importing Cuban sugar to stop Castro from moving towards communism
• Castro retaliated by signing a trade agreement with the USSR
• USA severed all diplomatic relations with Cuba

Warsaw Pact

May 14, 1955

• USSR's rival to NATO
• All satellite states became members
• Military alliance of Eastern European countries
• Improved the defensive capability of Eastern Europe

Geneva summit

Jul 18, 1955

• President Eisenhower succeeded Truman which provided an opportunity for a fresh start
• Talks were held in a summit meeting in Geneva
• They agreed to communicate more openly
• displayed groundwork for Khrushchev to visit the USA for face to face talks
  

Unrest in Eastern Europe

Feb 5, 1956

• Made a 'secret speech' which criticised Stalin's approach to communism
• Abolished the death penalty and freed political prisoners
• Satellite states hoped their countries would also be 'de-Stalinised'
• Abolished Cominform which gave Eastern Europe more political freedom
• Increased tensions as states took this as a chance to loosen ties with the USSR
• His plan that giving more economic independence to stabilise communist regimes severely backfired
• Caused uprising in Poland,1956

Hungarian uprising

Oct 23, 1956

• Bad harvests, fuel and bread shortages led to riots
• students demonstrated in parliament square against the government
• rapid conflict developed
• Imre Nagy replaced Rakosi as prime minister
• Nagy announced Hungary would withdraw from Warsaw pact and hold free elections to end communism
• If Hungary was allowed to turn away from communism, Satellite states may follow
• USSR had to assert Khrushchev's authority
• Soviet tanks invade Hungary where thousands were killed
• Nagy was hanged

Khrushchev's Ultimatum

Nov 10, 1958

• Berlin face refugee problems
• Many East German's fled to West Germany for greater freedom
• 2.7 million East German refugees escaped (majority were highly skilled)
• Embarrassed USSR
• Gave US troops six months to withdraw from West Berlin
• Eisenhower refused and Berlin's problem wasn't solved
  

Paris Summit

May 17, 1960

• Was a disaster
• USSR had shot down American spy plane over Russia and captured its pilot before the conference
• Khrushchev walked out in protest when Eisenhower refused to apologise

The Bay of Pigs

Apr 17, 1961

• Kennedy refused to let a communist state to emerge next to America
• Kennedy authorised an invasion into Cuba by anti-Castro rebels
• Rebels landed in the Bay of Pigs and easily defeated the USA
• USA was humiliated and pushed Cuba closer to USSR

Vienna conference

Jun 4, 1961

• When John F.Kennedy became president a summit was arrange to discuss Berlin
• Neither side were willing to back down with the US presence in Berlin
• Khrushchev wanted to exploit Kennedy's inexperience and believed he would back down if pushed
• Khrushchev gave the six month ultimatum again

The Berlin Wall

Aug 13, 1961

• Khrushchev separated the east and west with a 27 mile barrier across Berlin
• Fortified with barbed wire and machine gun posts
• Separation of jobs and family
• Stopped East Germans escaping
• Allowed Khrushchev to appear strong without a war
• Powerful symbol of the division of Germany
  

The Cuban Missile Crisis

Oct 16, 1962

• Cuba felt vulnerable to American attacks and asked Khrushchev for military assistance
• Khrushchev stationed Russian nuclear weapons on Cuban soil
• This placed nuclear missiles within striking range of America so placed missiles in Turkey
• Kennedy demanded Khrushchev to dismantle the missile bases and ordered a naval blockade of Cuba
• USA prepared to invade Cuba
• Khrushchev made a deal to dismantle the missile bases in exchange for USA to lift the blockade and remove missiles from turkey

Beginning of Detente

Oct 29, 1962

• Aim to defuse tensions
• Hotline established between Washington and Moscow for direct communication
• All nuclear missiles removed
• Kennedy emerged as a hero however Khrushchev was discredited
• The Limited Test Ban Theory signed so all future tests of nuclear weapons had to be carried out underground
• The Outer Space Treaty forbade countries from placing WOMD in space
• The Nuclear Non- Proliferation Theory agreed not to supply nuclear weapons to countries that didn't already have arms

The Prague Springs

Jan 5, 1968

• Opposition to soviet control in Czechoslovakia as it had been a communist state
• Students and writers protested lack of free speech and free movement
• Alexander Dubcek introduced reforms:
• Travel to the west was made available
• Border with West Germany reopened
• All industry decentralised
• Trade unions and workers given more power
• Freedom of speech and opposition parties allowed
• Policies were tolerated by USSR for 4 months
• period of freedom known as 'Prague springs'

The Brezhnev Doctrine

Aug 3, 1968

• Stated that the USSR had the right to invade any country in Eastern Europe whose actions appeared to threaten the security of the whole Eastern Bloc
• Dubcek's actions had threatened to undermine the Warsaw pact and communist control so invasion was necessary

The Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia

Aug 20, 1968

• 500 000 soviet troops invaded Czechoslovakia
• They responded with non violent demonstration
• Many students stood in the way of tanks with anti invasion banners
• Dubcek was arrested and taken to Moscow for betraying socialism
• He was forced to sign the Moscow protocol which committed the Czech government to protect socialism by reintroducing censorship and removing political opposition
• USSR succeeded and strengthened
• Brezhnev established authority

SALT 1

May 26, 1972

• The strategic Arms Limitation Treaty -Limited the number of ABMs each country could have and placed limit on numbers of ICBMs on both sides
• Success as it slowed down the arms race
• Aimed for détente

The Helsinki Agreement

Aug 1, 1975

• A pact between USA, USSR, Canada and most of Europe
• Both superpowers accepted the division of Germany and the USSR's influence over Eastern Europe
• All countries agreed to uphold to human rights
• The USSR didn't stick to its word as they didn't grant freedom of speech or freedom of movement
• USSR undermined the Helsinki agreement and made USA distrust the USA

The 'Second Cold War'

1979

-Phrase used to describe period between 1979 and 1985
- Public was extremely concerned about possibility of nuclear war
- anxiety represented in popular cultures

SALT 2

Jun 18, 1979

• Banned USA and USSR from launching new missile programmes and limited the number of MIRVs each country could have
• However treaty was never approved by the US senate so didn't come into effect

The Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan

Dec 24, 1979

• A civil war broke out in Afghanistan
• Many Muslim leaders were angered by socialist reforms
• Muslim, Hafizullah Amin, became prime minister which angered the USSR
• USSR worried for the spread of Islamic beliefs so near to satellite states
• 15 000 Soviet troops were killed, the USSR couldn't win
• Soviet-Afghan war led to loss of public support in the USSR
• Soviets were angry at the fall of living standards as a result of the spending in Afghanistan
• Brezhnev was an embarrassment

Collapse of Détente & the Carter Doctrine

Jan 23, 1980

• War caused tension between USSR and USA to resurface
• USA interpreted intervention as an act of communist expansionism
• President Carter was so alarmed he stopped SALT 2 called for an increase in defence budget
• USA worried USSR was trying to gain influence in Persian Gulf close to Afghan border which threatened US interests
• Carter produced the Carter Doctrine which argued that the USA would not allow the USSR to gain control of territory in the oil- rich Middle East.
  

President Reagan

Jan 20, 1981

• Replaced President Carter after fall of Détente
• A hard line anti- communist
• Viewed USSR as an evil empire
• Didn't believe in détente and wanted to win the cold war
• Spent $550 billion a year on conventional nuclear weapons
• He reauthorised some weapon programmes and began to develop neutron bomb which was designed to cause maximum loss of life and minimum damage to property
• The USSR couldn't afford to match Reagan's spending

Strategic Defence Initiative

Mar 23, 1983

• Reagan announced the development of this, nicknamed 'star wars'
• Programme would develop weapons that would be deployed in space which could destroy nuclear missiles after they've been launched
• The ultimate defence system
• Shifts the balance of the Cold War in the USA's favour
• Détente was truly over
  

Gorbachev's 'new thinking'

Mar 11, 1985

• More open to the West -'Perestroika' meaning restructuring designed to make Soviet economy more efficient -'Glasnost' meaning 'openness' designed to relax the censorship of the press
• Met with President Reagan several times to improve relations with the west
• INF (intermediate- Range Nuclear Forces Treaty) agreed to remove medium- range nuclear missiles from Europe within three years
• Reduced the scale of USSR's commitment's abroad
• Announced reduction of USSR's stockpile and troops

Opposition to USSR

May 15, 1988

• Gorbachev's decision to abandon the Brezhnev Doctrine led to the USSR losing control of its satellite state
• Stated he would no longer use force to uphold communism
• withdrawal of Soviet troops, tanks and aircrafts encouraged reformist movements
• Caused splits in the Soviet Communist Party
  

The Fall of the Berlin Wall

Nov 9, 1989

• Hungary opened its border with non- communist Austria which let East Germans travel through Hungary to Austria to West Germany
• Thousands left East Germany for West Germany
• East German government unable to control situation
• Mass protests against communism pushed government to finally agree to opening the border
• Relationship between the East and the West was now transforming
• USSR was losing its grip over communist territory

The Malta Summit

Dec 2, 1989

• Meeting between President Bush and Gorbachev
• Began to work on agreements

The CFE Agreement

Nov 19, 1990

• Set limits to non- nuclear forces the Warsaw Pact and NATO could have in Europe
• Process of negotiation made difficult because of the beginning of the break up of the USSR
  
• Hungary was part of the Warsaw pact when negotiations began, but left by the time the treaty was signed

START 1

Jul 31, 1991

• signed with pens made from scrapped nuclear missiles
• set limits to numbers of nuclear weapons
• Both sides agreed to reduce holdings of nuclear warheads by a third
• Did not agree on all kinds of nuclear weapons but covered most

COLLAPSE OF THE SOVIET UNION!!!!!!

Dec 25, 1991

-Communist governments in Eastern Europe started to collapse
-East Germany and West Germany re-joined to form a single state again symbolising the end of communism
-USSR lost its grip of satellite states
-Gorbachev's authority weakened and independence movements gained in strength
-He faced opposition from within his own party
-A coup was plotted to take over government by forced by arresting Gorbachev to try force him to resign
-Gorbachev resigned on Christmas and USSR dissolved the day after