Test your Understanding

   

	Who was Prime Minister of Britain in 1945?   Winston Churchill
	Who was president of the USA in February 1945?   Franklin D Roosevelt
	Who became president of the USA in 1945?   Truman
	Who was leader of Russia in 1945?   Stalin
	What is a ‘cold war’?   America and Russia were enemies but they  didn’t declare war.   But they did everything to oppose each other short of war.
	List FOUR causes of the Cold War.   Beliefs Aims Resentment about History Events
	What do Communists believe?   That the means of production should be owned and controlled by the government.
	The USA is a ‘capitalist democracy’. What do these words mean?   Capitalists believe that property and industry should be privately owned. Democracy is where the people can elect their own government.
	Name two historical complaints that Stalin had against Britain and the USA.   In 1918 Britain and the USA had tried to destroy the Russian Revolution.    Stalin thought that they had not given him enough help in the Second World War.
	What could Britain and the USA not forgive Stalin for (from 1939)?   Stalin had signed the Nazi-Soviet Pact with Germany in 1939.
	Give TWO things that Stalin wanted from the peace.   huge reparations from Germany, a ‘buffer’ of friendly states to protect the USSR from being invaded again.
	What worried Britain and the USA about Stalin’s plans?   that large areas of eastern Europe were falling under Soviet control.
	When did Russia develop the atomic bomb?   1949
	List NINE events leading up to the Cold War, Feb 1945 to Mar 1948.   Yalta Conference (Feb 1945) Potsdam Conference (Jul 1945) Salami tactics (1945-48) Fulton Speech (Mar 1946) Greece (Feb 1947) Truman Doctrine (Mar 1947) Marshall Plan (Jun 1947) Cominform (Oct 1947) Czechoslovakia (Mar 1948)
	Give FOUR things agreed at Yalta.   divide Germany into four ‘zones’, which Britain, France, the USA and the USSR would occupy after the war.   hold elections in the countries of eastern Europe.   set up a government in Poland which would contain both Communists and non-Communists.   set up the United Nations.
	Explain TWO reasons why the Potsdam Conference was less successful than Yalta. In March 1945, Stalin had invited the non-Communist Polish leaders to meet him, and arrested them.    America had a new president, Truman, who was determined to ‘get tough’ with the Russians.
	Name THREE things that the ‘Big Three’ disagreed about at Potsdam. the details of how to divide Germany. the size of reparations Germany ought to pay. Soviet policy in eastern Europe.
	What were ‘salami tactics’?   gradually getting rid of all opposition, bit-by-bit.
	Was is ‘totalitarianism’?   where the government has total power over the people.
	Was does the word ‘imperialistic’ mean?   wanting to build and empire.   Communists used it as an abuse-word to describe the western powers.
	What was Churchill’s Fulton speech (5 March 1946) about?   He said ‘a shadow’ had fallen on eastern Europe, which was now cut off from the free world by ‘an iron curtain’.   Behind that line, he said, the people of eastern Europe were ‘subject to Soviet influence . . . totalitarian control [and] police governments’.
	Why did Britain keep soldiers in Greece after the Second World War had finished?   To support the Greek free government against the Communists.
	What happened when the British could no longer afford to keep soldiers in Greece?   America paid for the soldiers, and also gave economic aid to Greece.
	What did the Truman Doctrine say?   Truman told Americans that it was America’s DUTY to stop Communism.    His policy towards the Soviet Union was one of ‘containment’ – he did not try to destroy the USSR, but he wanted to stop it growing any more.
	Why did Marshall propose the Marshall Plan?   He said every country in Europe was so poor that it was in danger of turning Communist!    Europe was ‘a breeding ground of hate’.
	How much aid did the Marshall Plan want to send to Europe?   $17 billion
	Which country turned Communist in March 1948?   Czechoslovakia
	What rival to Marshall Aid did Stalin set up in 1947?   Cominform
	Give FIVE causes of the Berlin blockade. Cold War was just getting started Aims Bizonia American Aid New Currency
	How long did the blockade last?   318 days
	How did the US and Britain supply the Berliners?   by airplane
	List FOUR results of the Berlin blockade.   Cold War got worse East and West Germany NATO and the Warsaw Pact Arms Race
	What rival alliance to NATO did the USSR set up in 1955?   Warsaw Pact
	Why was the Korean War important in the history of the Cold War?   It was the first conflict outside Europe - the Cold War went global.
	Name the ruler of North Korea in 1950.   Kim Il Sung
	Name the ruler of South Korea in 1950.   Syngman Rhee
	List THREE reasons why Truman was interested in the Far East.   Cold War Domino Theory Japan
	When did China turn Communist?   1949
	Whose agreement to invade South Korea did Kim II Sung seek?   Stalin (Russia) MaoTse Tung (China)
	What excuse did Kim II Sung have for attacking South Korea?   In 1950, Syngman Rhee boasted that he was going to attack North Korea.
	Who was winning the war at its start in June 1950?   The North Korean People's Army (NKPA)
	Who led the UN forced which landed in July 1950?   General MacArthur
	Why did the Chinese enter the war?   The American Army drove back the North Koreans and recaptured South Korea.   It invaded North Korea.    It advanced as far as the Chinese border.
	How many Chinese soldiers died in the war?   200,000
	Why was MacArthur sacked? He publicly criticised Truman's order to stop at the 38th parallel (he wanted to conquer North Korea).