Chapter 2 - Cold War

Question 1

2 reasons why Truman adopted a more aggressive stance towards the USSR then Roosevelt?

Answer 1

Truman Doctrine 1947 - ‘anti-communist party’
No longer had a common enemy

Question 2

2 factors that influenced Stalin’s attitude to the Eastern Bloc countries?

Answer 2

buffer states between both the USSR and the West, lower risk of invasion
wanted to gain more communist influence

Question 3

What were salami tactics?

Answer 3

communist party gradually weakened non-communist groups by forming alliances and creating division between them

Question 4

What was the ‘Percentages agreement’?

Answer 4

1944 - Stalin and Churchill had an unofficial meeting without America deciding how to carve up Eastern Europe

Question 5

How was Poland loyal to the USSR?

Answer 5

Pro-Stalin Lublin government
Provisional government of national unity formed in June 1945
contained parties from either end of the spectrum
free multi-party elections were rigged
By January 1947, communists were dominant and Gomulka was replaced in 1948 as he opposed Soviet Politics

Question 6

how was Hungary loyal to the USSR?

Answer 6

communists allied with other parties to challenge the Smallholders Party
Elections were rigged
By 1949 all political opponents of Moscow had disappeared and Laszlo Rajk executed for anti-Soviet activities
Salami Tactics used

Question 7

How was Romania loyal to the USSR?

Answer 7

communists were popular and the Red Army occupied Romania so was fairly easy to control

Question 8

How was Czechoslovakia loyal to the USSR?

Answer 8

Many Czech communists were working class and were popular
Klement Gottwald was the communist leader and members of anti-communist groups resigned in 1948
highly respected president Edvard Benes supported the communists and gave them full control in 1948 as he resigned.

Question 9

How was Bulgaria loyal to the USSR?

Answer 9

Gradualism, manipulated elections and forced removal of opponents
Nikola Petkov leader of the Agrarian Party was executed and the party was forcibly absorbed into the communist party

Question 10

How was Yugoslavia loyal to the USSR?

Answer 10

Tito hardcore Stalinist at the start but by 1948 soviet control was limited
conflict over soviet interests in southern and Eastern Europe
by June 1948 Yugoslavia expelled from Cominform

Question 11

3 main reasons for Stalin wanting to control Eastern Europe?

Answer 11

need for security, spread communist ideology and the Great Power rivalry

Question 12

When was at what was the Iron Curtain Speech?

Answer 12

March 1946 - Churchill said an iron curtain had descended across the continent and was a peril to the Christian civilization. Convinced Stalin was involved that the USA and Britain were to carry an anti-ideological assault

Question 13

How did events in Turkey lead to higher tension?

Answer 13

USSR wanted military presence in the Dardanelles and UK and the US saw it as a threat to the Suez canal

Question 14

How did events in Iran lead to tension between the USSR and the West?

Answer 14

Security council told USSR to leave Iran

Question 15

When was the Kennan Long telegram and what did it suggest?

Answer 15

February 1946 and said the USA should take a hard line stance against communism

Question 16

Define the ‘X’ article?

Answer 16

called for systematic and focused containment of Soviet Expansion

Question 17

What was the Novikov Telegram?

Answer 17

September 1946 and identified the USA were arming themselves more then they previously had and their bases

Question 18

What did Stalin call Churchill after the Iron Curtain Speech?

Answer 18

called him a warmonger

Question 19

When was the Greek Civil War between?

Answer 19

1946-1949 Greek Monarchists and the Greek Communists

Question 20

Why did Stalin not support the Greek Communists?

Answer 20

Because of the percentages agreement with Churchill

Question 21

When was Cominform set up?

Answer 21

1947

Question 22

What was the Zhdanov Doctrine?

Answer 22

believed the world was dividing into 2 different camps (imperialists were America and the democrats were the USSR) - 1946

Question 23

Who was the US Secretary of State from 1949 and 1953 and also one of the architects of the Marshall plan?

Answer 23

George Marshall