The USSR pledged to invade Japan. Germany and Berlin were to be divided into four zones of occupation. Democratic elections were to be held in all countries freed from Nazi rule.

Name the international peace-keeping organisation that was called for at Yalta.

The United Nations.

Why was the future of Poland a ‘sticking point’ between the big three?

Stalin was determined to retain Soviet control over eastern Poland as a buffer zone; the outcome favoured by the USSR.

From where did Marshall Aid get its name?

From the US secretary of state George Marshall, who believed post-1945 European poverty was a breeding ground for Communism.

Was Marshall Aid support only available to the USA’s allies?

No. The offer of aid was open to all countries but Stalin refused to allow east European nations from accepting the money.

Marshall Aid was a key component of which US foreign policy?

The Truman Doctrine, which stated that communism should not be allowed to spread in Europe.

Name the agreement made between Stalin and Hitler in August 1939.

The Nazi-Soviet Non Agression Pact.

Stalin met twice with the leaders of the USA and Britain in 1945 to discuss the postwar settlement. Where did these meetings take place?

Yalta and Potsdam.

What was Stalin’s main aim for Eastern Europe after 1945?

To make governments that were loyal to the USSR.

Which crisis almost resulted in war between Stalin and the Western powers?

The Berlin blockade and airlift.

What was the purpose of the Tehran Conference in Iran in the year 1943?

To repair the increasingly strained wartime alliance between the USA, the USSR and Britain.

To what did Roosevelt and Churchill agree at Tehran?

Stalin's demand for a second front in France to be opened in the summer of 1944.

What was decided about the League of Nations?

That it was obsolete and needed to be replaced by a new peace-keeping organisation called the United Nations.

On which nation did the USSR agree to declare war against at the Tehran Conference?

Japan. Once Germany had been defeated.

The Warsaw pact was set up following what event?

West Germany’s entry into NATO (1955)

Name the original eight member states of the Warsaw Pact.

Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania and the USSR.

What were member states pledged to do?

To establish an agreement on mutual defence against any threatened attack; to respect each other’s independence and sovereignty.

How did the USSR view the Warsaw Pact?

As a means of controlling its neighbours. In 1968, Warsaw Pact troops invaded Czechoslovakia.

Name the three leaders that were present and the Potsdam Conference.

Attlee (UK) Stalin (USSR) Truman (USA)

On what points did the leaders at Potsdam agree upon?

Germany was to be split into four zones; Germany was to be disarmed; Nazi Party to be abolished; War criminals to be prosecuted; Germany to pay reparations.

On what points did the big three disagree at Potsdam?

The future of Poland; the amount of reparations to be paid by Germany; democratic elections in eastern European countries.

What new development in the war against Japan increased the tensions at Potsdam?

The USA tested the first atomic bomb the day before the conference had started.

What was the origin of the term ‘Cold War’?

It was first used by America in 1947 to describe hostilities between the two sides which avoided direct conflict, or ‘hot war’.

Can the roots of mistrust between East and West be found any earlier than 1945?

Yes. The origins of the Cold War can be traced back to 1917 when the Bolsheviks started the Russian revolution.

Which two meetings between the Allied leaders signalled the start of the Cold War?

Yalta (february 1945) and Potsdam (May 1945)

List four ways in which the USA and USSR used other countries to undermine their opponent. Both fought each other’s rivals.

Both helped their respective allies fight each other. Both supported different sides in civil wars. Both used force to get rid of government or movements sympathetic to the other side.

What was the main aim of the United Nations?

To preserve peace, but its work included preventing disease, improving education and protecting refugees.

The main power of the UN lies in the hands of which body?

The security council.

Name the five permanent members of the security council.

The USA, Russia, China, Britain and France.

The UN has been particularly successful in two main areas. What are they?

Helping former colonies gain their independence. Sending UN forces into troublespots to help establish and keep peace.

Why did the Allies fall out over the future of Germany in 1948?

Stalin wanted to keep Germany weak while western powers wanted to see Germany prosper.

What led the Soviets to cut off West Berlin in 1948?

Disagreement between East and West over a new German currency resulted in the Soviet blockade of all road access into West Berlin.

How did the Western powers break the Berlin Blockade?

By flying in thousands of tons of supplies into West Berlin.

Did the Soviets attempt to stop the Allies from flying supplies into Berlin during the Berlin Airlift?

No. Stalin did not want to risk war at a time when the USSR did not yet possess atomic weapons, so he called off the blockade.

Which leader first used the term ‘Iron Curtain’ to describe eastern Europe?

Churchill in a speech in Fulton Missouri (USA)

How did the USSR react to Churchill's Iron Curtain speech?

Stalin described Churchill’s comments as a declaration of war against eastern Europe.

What exactly was the ‘Iron Curtain’?

A 2,000 km stretch of barbed wire, sentry posts and blocked roads that dominated the political geography of post 1945 Europe.

Name the leaders of North and South Korea in 1950.

Kim Il Sung (north); Syngman Rhee (South)

Why did the North Koreans invade the South on 25th June 1950?

The country was divided along the 38th parallel; the communist government in the North wanted authority over the whole country.

Why did the USA send troops to fight in the Korean War?

It considered the North Korean invasion a clear case of Soviet aggression.

How did the Korean war end?

Largely the same way that it began; the armistice signed in 1953 left Korea divided along the 38th parallel into two separate countries.

Who was Chiang Kai Shek?

The Chinese nationalist leader who was overthrown by the Communist party leader Mao Zedong in 1949 following a long and bloody civil war.

What is Maoism?

The brand of communism introduced by Mao. It was developed from Marxism and Leninism and was based on the revolutionary potential of the peasants.

Which country did the People Republic of China sign a Treaty of Friendship with in February 1949/50?

The USSR.

Why did Mao send Chinese troops to fight in the Korean war?