COLD WAR – SPECIFC KNOWLEDGE
UNIT 1: THE ORIGINS OF THE COLD WAR TO 1945
o THE SITUATIONS IN 1941, CAPITALISM AND COMMUNISM AND
GENERAL ATTITUDES IN EAST AND WEST
The cold war was a state of political hostility between countries
using means short of armed warfare.
Involved economic measures, non-cooperation and propaganda but
no direct armed fighting
The Bolshevik seizure of power in Russia was to lead to the
establishment of the world’s first socialist state (where the
government saw ideas of communism as their guiding principles)
REDS = THE BOLSHEVIKS WHITES = RUSSIANS (wished to
prevent the establishment of Bolsheviks rule.
Whites supported by allied governments of Britain, USA, France and
Japan, who also wanted to reverse Lenin’s decision to pull Russia out
of the first WW against Germany.
Leader of Bolsheviks = Lenin WEST = CAPITALIST countries of
western Europe and North American during cold war. Usa was the
principal power of the west. EAST = COMMUNISM
Comintern set up in order to further the cause of communism and
aid the collapse of capitalism.
Comintern = set up in 1919 to coordinate communist groups
throughout the world and support their attempts to undermine
capitalism by all available means, including revolution.
Capitalism and Communism ideological differences
Tsar Nicholas II = The emperor of Russia from 1894 until 1917.
Executed by the Bolsheviks in 1918
When Hitler his invasion of the soviet union in 1941, the second
world war was transformed.
When Japan bombed the US naval base at Pearl Habor In December
1941, the USA joined the war against fascist powers
End of 1941, the soviet union , USA and Britain were allies against
Germany , Italy and Japan
Capitalism - USA Communism - USSR
Upheld as the guiding values of Upheld as the guiding values of
the West the Soviet Union
Private enterprise: businesses, State-owned economy: an
factories and land owned by economy where all industries
individuals or groups of and agriculture are owned by
individuals with the minimum of the government on behalf of the
government interference people
Liberal democracy: a political One-party state: a political
system where each person has system where there is only one
, the freedom to vote, freedom of political party to represent the
speech, freedom of worship and people. In the Soviet Union all
freedom of Consolas the press political parties other than the
communist party were banned.
Elections are contested
between individuals who had to
be members of this party
o WARTIME TENSIONS IN THE GRAND ALLIANCE
USSR = same side with Britain in resisting the might of Nazi
Germany following Stalin’s invasion.
When Japan bombed the US naval base at Pearl Habor in December
1941, the USA joined the war against fascist powers
Winston Churchill and Roosevelt offered help to the S.U when the
Germans invaded
Churchill cooperating with Stalin to end war with the SU
The big three stablished a working relationship in order to secure
victory against fascism
Truman testing A-bomb w/o telling Stalin, 1945 = trust issues
o CONFERENCES: TENSIONS AND DIFFICULTIES AT TEHRAN, YALTA
AND POSTDAM
TEHRAN: November 1943, (Churchill, Roosevelt, Stalin) agree on
several issues concerning Poland. Yet divisions remained between
the three leaders and continued to be a source of tension.
Discussed how to pursue the war against Germany, Italy and Japan
Churchill wanted the second front to open up in the Balkans rather
than western Europe.
Stalin wanted to punish and weaken Germany with reparations, but
Churchill and Roosevelt wanted to rebuild Germany
YALTA: February 1945, the big three meet at Yalta and agreed on:
Establishment of the UN, Division of Germany, Berlin and Austria
into temporary zones of occupation, Free elections in eastern
Europe (Poland), SU agreed to join the war against Japan (return for
receiving some of Japan’s islands in the far east)
Main disagreement was over Poland. The west hoped that Stalin’s
free elections would reduce the influence of communist
governments
In return for this, the USA and Britain would allow the Soviet Union
to keep areas of Poland gained in 1939 at the start of the second
WW
Roosevelt died – 1956 he was accused of being too soft on
communism
Roosevelt Replaced by Truman
POTSDAM: July 1945, (Stalin, Truman and Attlee)
Churchill was ousted as PM by a general election and replaced by
Attlee
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