Topic Summaries for AQA GCSE Tension in Asia course. These notes outline and summarise key events and facts that the exam board requires and are the perfect revision resource. I got a 9 with these notes! :)
The cold war in Asia
The cold war is the period of tension between communist USSR and capitalist USA- a war of ideologies
Long term causes:
Conflicting ideologies: USSR=communist USA=Capitalist (even though USSR, USA, England and France had formed
an alliance during ww2 to defeat Hitler.)
First world war: USSR had let USA, England and France down by pulling out of ww1 in 1917
Fears of Russian expansion: In 1922 Russia merged with many countries forming the USSR. By 1926 five more
countries had joined.
USA, Britain and France had helped the whites in the Russian civil war against the communists
Short term causes:
Yalta and Potsdam conferences: Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin met and disagreed with the USSR over Germany,
Britain, France and USA wanted to help European countries recover economically however Stalin wanted to protect
USSR from west by creating a buffer zone of communist countries in the East. Germany was divided into four and
Berlin was also divided. Communist East and Capitalist West. (Berlin Wall)
The USA issued the Marshall plan offering billions of dollars to European countries to help them recover from War;
they did this as they believed poorer countries were more likely to become communist.
As the USSR expanded, Churchill declared ‘An iron curtain’ had divided Europe between communist east and
capitalist west.
American president Harry Truman made the Truman Doctrine explaining the policy of containment and how they
would help any country under threat of communist takeover to contain communism in Eastern Europe.
In 1949, America, Britain, France, Canada, Belgium and other European countries joined together to form a military
alliance named NATO to defend against the USSR, in response the Communist countries formed the Warsaw pact.
In 1949 the USSR successfully tested a nuclear bomb meaning both world superpowers USSR and USA both had
nuclear weapons, this began the arms race. Each side built up their nuclear missile sites and people lived in a
constant fear of nuclear war.
Causes of the Korean War
Japan had ruled over Korea until they were defeated in ww2. In The North of Korea they had surrendered to the
soviets and in the south of Korea they had surrendered to the US forces meaning the country was temporarily
divided into 2 zones.
Before the UN (United Nations) could organise elections the North appointed Kim Il-Sung a communist as leader
and named the North the people’s republic of Korea and in the south elections were held and Syngman Rhee won
and South Korea was named the republic of Korea.
Both of the leaders wanted to unify Korea as one but one wanted it to be communist, the other capitalist.
The UN security council met and the US suggested they could provide South Korea with military support and usually
the USSR would have vetoed this but they were boycotting the meetings after china’s new communist government
were not allowed to join.
On June 25th 1950 troops from North Korea crossed the 38th parallel into South Korea and 2 days later Truman
announced the US would help South Korea.
The remaining members of the Security Council ordered the aggressive North Korea to leave South Korea but this
didn’t happen so they decided to take military action.
Truman wanted to prove ‘containment’ was needed and ordered General Macarthur, 60 battleships, 300 aircraft
and 40,000 soldiers to seas around Korea as well as supplying them with resources. He vowed to stop communism
spreading any further.
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