history

1943-  tehran confernece 

• Tehran Conference took place
• The "big three"- Winston Churchill, President Roosevelt and USSR leader Stalin met
• In this conference they planned the invasion of Western Europe and agreed to moving Poland's borders once Germany had been defeated

• This meeting was held to decide what was going to happen after the war.
• Germany was going to be split into four zones for the- SOVIET UNION, BRITISH, FRENCH,USA
• The United Nations would replace the League of Nations because it failed
• Russia was invited to join the United Nations
• Germany will pay reparations
• A government of "national unity" was to be set up in Poland for both communists and non-communists
• Free elections for new governments would be held in countries previously occupied in Eastern Europe. This part of the agreement was called "Declaration of Liberated Europe"

• President Roosevelt died and Harry S Truman became president-
• Truman was suspicious of the USSR
• Attlee replaced Churchill
• USSR expanded westwards into Finland, Czechoslovakia, Romania and the Baltic States
• The allies were now suspicious of each other. USA and Britain suspected that Stalin wanted to control Eastern Europe because he didn't want any free elections there
• Stalin thought Truman and Attlee were weak leaders because they were new to their jobs. This made him believe that he could do what he wanted

• Germany surrenders
• merica has the atomic bomb
• The USA used the atomic bomb in 1945 in the final stages of the war against Japan by dropping one on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
• he allies meet for a second time to discuss the outcome of WW2
• The new boundaries of Poland were agreed
• Truman was angry because Stalin had arrested non-communist leaders in Poland

• The USA used the atomic bomb in 1945 in the final stages of the war against Japan by dropping one on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
• Truman dropped an atomic bomb on Japan, so that the Japanese would surrender before the Russian troops could reach Japan. America dropped the bomb in August but had, had it since July. Truman didn't tell Stalin about the bomb. Stalin was furious when he found out that Truman had tricked him.

• From 1945-1948 the 4 sections of Berlin remained integrated. People could live and work in different sections. However, Marshall aid which was supplied to the British, USA and French sectors began to create economic differences between them and the Soviet Sector. The free integration of the sections during this time emphasised the difference in living standards for the Soviet sector
• Stalin installed pro-Soviet 'puppet governments in POLAND.....
• Churchill gave a speech in March 1946 referring to the 'iron curtain' that had descended on Europe. It was an ideological division, between those countries that were under Soviet Communist control and Capitalist Western countries as well as physical division

• The Marshall Plan was made available to all European countries. Eastern European countries were interested in joining this but on the realisation that the grants would be orientated towards establishing Capitalism, they were forced by Stalin to withdraw their applications
• Truman had hoped to be able to undermine Communism by funding Eastern European countries with capitalist focussed funds. However, as soon as Stalin realised the implications  of the plan all countries within the Eastern bloc were forced to withdraw their applications
• President Truman used the Marshall plan to stop the spread of Communism. This promised American aid to European countries to help rebuild their economies- West Germany benefited massively. The USA was worried that if Western europe it might be be vulnerable to communism

• The Eastern bloc formed the Warsaw pact which was a military treaty designed to counter NATO
• The communist equivalent to NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) was the WARSAW PACT
• 1955- the Soviet Union created the Warsaw Pact this involved: POLAND, HUNGRY, CZECHOSLOVAKIA, ROMANIA, BULGARIA, ALBANIA and EAST GERMANY
• It was designed to a joint command of the allied armed forces and also to create a Political Commitee

• Khrushchev freed prisoners and reduced Censorship in the USSR.
• In 1955, he agreed to the Austrian State Treaty along with the US, FRANCE and BRITAIN (agreeing to withdraw occupying troops from AUSTRIA, allowing it to become an independent state).
• Austria declared itself to a neutral state
• Khrushchev freed prisoners and reduced Censorship in the USSR.
• In 1955, he agreed to the Austrian State Treaty along with the US, FRANCE and BRITAIN (agreeing to withdraw occupying troops from AUSTRIA, allowing it to become an independent state).
• Austria declared itself to a neutral state

• The Cuban missile crisis took place in 1962
• In 1962, the USA spy-plane U-2 detected Soviet missiles in Cuba, they coud be used to destroy many US states very easily
• A number of Soviet MRBMs and IRBMs- missiles with an ability to wipe out most of the USA were found on Cuba pointing at the USA in 1962
• As a result of the Cuban missile crisis, Khrushchev achieved the removal of the USA missiles from Turkey, security for Cuba and reduced tension and therefore threat from the USA. His actions, however, were viewed as feeble by China, Cuba and the people of the USSR. They believed that he had not been hard line enough with the USA- his actions were therefore unpopular

• When all but one Soviet Union ship heading towards Cuba looked to have slowed or changed course, Kennedy placed the USA's armed forces on DEFCON 2 which was the highest state of defence readiness that the USA had been on since WW2
• President Kennedy also ordered a Naval blockade of Cuba. All Soviet ships were meant to be stopped and searched- to prevent any more missiles being transported to Cuba.
• Kennedy demanded that Khrushchev removed his missiles and America prepared to invade Cuba

• The cold was created a Crisis in the USSR
• The ARMS RACE with the USA was so expensive that Soviet living stadards became worse as more money was spent on weapons
• Soviet farming was inefficient- there wasn't enough food and millions of tonnes of grain had to be imported from the USA
• The communist government was becoming more corrupt and was unable to give the Soviet people the same high living standards as people had in the West
• The war in Afghanistan was a disaster- it costs billions of dollas and 15,000 Soviets troops were killed