Summary Edexcel GCSE History Superpower relations & the Cold War Notes + Flashcards (Grade 9)
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Edexcel GCSE (9-1) History Superpower relations and the Cold War, 1941-91 Student Book
Edexcel GCSE History Superpower relations & the Cold War - detailed notes. Includes all the content needed for the paper, as well as a link to digital flashcards with spaced repetition to help with memorisation (on RemNote). The link is on the last page. The flashcards allow you to revise much more...
Superpower relations and the Cold War timeline for history GCSE edexcel
GCSE History: Cold War Retrieval qs- Grade 9 Student
Superpower Relations and the Cold War Timeline
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The origins of the Cold War, 1941-58
Early tensions between East and West
Ideological differences between East and West
Differences between leaders:
● Roosevelt believed in democracy but compromised to form an alliance with Stalin as he thought
the US needed Soviet support against Japan.
● Churchill believed in the British Empire, unlike Roosevelt, and was deeply suspicious of Stalin,
viewing his own role in the alliance as to stop Soviet expansion.
● Stalin cut back on individual rights in the Soviet Union and was convinced that the West wanted
to destroy communism, so he stood firm in negotiations.
The Grand Alliance:
● The alliance was formed in 1941 when Germany invaded the Soviet Union, despite a non-
aggression pact between them.
● Stalin was a strong opponent of German fascism, so it suited the US and Britain to work with the
Soviet Union to defeat Hitler.
● However, the ideological differences between them meant it was almost impossible to agree on
how post-war Europe should be governed.
The Tehran conference, November 1943
Agreements:
● The US and Britain would open a second front in Western Europe to ease pressure on the
Eastern Front, as the Germans would then have to withdraw troops from the Soviet Union.
● Stalin would declare war on Japan and supply Soviet troops to help the US with the war effort,
but only once the war in Europe was over.
● The aim of the war was to bring about the unconditional surrender of Germany, and it should
remain weak after the war.
● Poland would receive land from Germany, and the Soviet Union could keep land it had seized
from Poland.
Disagreements:
● Churchill wanted to open a second front in the Balkans in order to prevent the Soviet Union from
taking over Eastern Europe, but Roosevelt sided with Stalin.
Impact on relations:
,● Stalin was concerned that the US and Britain were deliberately delaying opening a second front
against Germany so that the Soviet Union would be further weakened, so he was pleased with
the agreement.
The Yalta conference, February 1945
Agreements:
● Germany would be split into four zones, controlled by different countries, and would pay $20
billion in reparations, half of which would go to the Soviet Union.
● Stalin agreed to join the war against Japan, three months after the defeat of Germany, and that
free elections would be held in Eastern Europe.
● The Polish borders would return to their 1921 position, giving the Soviet Union significant gains,
and there would be free elections.
● The UN would hold its first meeting in April 1945 for all nations.
Disagreements:
● Stalin wanted more reparations to be paid to the Soviet Union by Germany.
● Stalin wanted a communist government to be elected in Poland, but Britain supported the non-
communist London Poles.
● The US did not agree to Stalin's suggestion that all of the Soviet republics should be given
individual membership to the UN.
Impact on relations:
● Roosevelt and Stalin were pleased to get an agreement on free elections and the UN.
The Potsdam conference, July 1945
Agreements:
● Germany would be divided into four zones, but the German economy would be run as a whole.
● Berlin would also be divided into four zones, controlled by different countries.
● Each administering country would take reparations from its own zone, but as the Soviet Union
controlled the poorest zone, it could take industrial equipment from the other zones.
Disagreements:
● The Soviet Union wanted Germany to pay heavy reparations, but Truman was concerned that
this would make it harder for the German economy to recover.
, ● Truman objected to the control that the Soviet Union had over Eastern Europe and the
previously agreed arrangements for Poland.
Impact on relations:
● Truman wanted to take a tougher approach with Stalin, and the development of the atom bomb
increased tensions between the US and Soviet Union.
US-Soviet relations, 1945-46
The impact of the atom bomb:
● In 1945, the US exploded two atom bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing over 120,000
Japanese civilians.
● Some historians argue that the US used the bombs to establish a stronger bargaining position
with the Soviet Union.
● Stalin now felt more determined to make the Soviet Union secure, and his immediate aim was to
create a buffer zone of communist countries between Germany and the Soviet Union.
● The Soviet Union's first successful atom bomb test was in 1949, which dramatically increased
tensions.
The Long Telegram:
● In 1946, George Kennan, the American ambassador in Moscow, sent a telegram reporting that
Stalin wanted to see the destruction of capitalism and felt that the world outside was hostile.
● However, Kennan also believed that the Soviet Union was not suicidal, so would back down if
faced with strong resistance.
● This message led to the US policy of containment.
The Novikov Telegram:
● In 1946, Nikolai Novikov, a Soviet diplomat in Washington, sent a telegram stating that the US
wanted to use their massive military power to dominate the world.
● He believed that, since Roosevelt's death, the US no longer wanted to co-operate with the Soviet
Union and the American people would support their government if this led to war.
● This view had a major impact in Moscow, who wanted as much protection as possible in Eastern
Europe.
Churchill's 'Iron Curtain' speech:
● In 1946, Churchill gave a speech in Missouri where he made it clear that he thought the Soviet
Union was a threat to freedom and world peace.
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