Edexcel GCSE (9-1) History Foundation Superpower Relations and the Cold War, 1941-91 Student Book
This is a PDF to my complete notes on the Cold War for the Edexcel IGCSE exam in May/June 2019. I combined the info from my class notes, textbook, revision guides and internet research to make these notes. I got a 7 in my exam. I hope this helps some other people do well in their IGCSE history exam...
Key Concepts
● Cold war - a war with no direct fighting, involves propaganda and spying between
different ideologies or beliefs
● Communist - belief in shared ownership of production and goods in society = that way,
everybody is equal
● Capitalist - private ownership is encouraged and right to make money
● Cold war tension - bad feeling between East (USSR) and West (USA, UK)
● Satellite states - independent countries controlled or heavily influenced by another
country
Key People
● The Big Three - leaders of USA, USSR & UK
● At Tehran in 1943 - Roosevelt for USA, Stalin for USSR and Churchill for UK
● At Yalta in 1945 - Roosevelt for USA, Stalin for USSR and Churchill for UK
● At Potsdam in 1945 - Truman for USA, Stalin for USSR and Churchill for UK
THE ORIGINS OF THE COLD WAR
1914: WW1 breaks out - Russia, France & Britain join forces against Germany
1917: The Russian Revolution - the communists seized power and pull Russia out of the war
against Germany. communist leader Lenin had been smuggled into Russia in a German train
Churchill describes him as a Plague virus.
1918: Russian Civil War - following the defeat of Germany, troops are sent by Britain, France
and USA into Russia in an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the communists. Winston
Churchill says ‘communism must be strangled in its cradle’.
1919: Comintern established - Lenin sets up the Comintern (Communist international) designed
to undermine capitalist governments in the west to create a world revolution of communism
1920: League of Nations - Britain and France refuse to allow the USSR to join the new League
of Nations. The USSR is finally allowed to join in 1934.
1924: Zinoviev letter - UK break off diplomatic relations with USSR after finding a letter
suggesting the Comintern is organising a communist revolution in the UK. The letter proves to
be a forgery.
,1928: The Five Year plans - Stalin, the USSR as leader, starts modernizing the country: ‘We are
50 to 100 years behind the West... either we make good the difference in 10 years, or they
crush us
1934: The Great purges - Stalin begins exterminating rivals within and outside his party in a
horrifying show of blood-shed. Up to 20 million Russians are tortured and executed.
1938: Munich conference - the USSR is not invited, and Britain and France give the
sudetenland over to Hitler even though the USSR is an ally of Czechoslovakia.
1939: Nazi Soviet pact - the USSR signs in the lines with Germany. Days Later, they invade
Poland from opposite directions and carve it up between themselves. WW2 begins.
1941: Operation Barbarossa - Germany invades the USSR. Stalin joins an alliance with
Churchill (UK) and Roosevelt (USA) to form ‘the big three’. Stalin is giving the cuddly nickname
‘uncle Joe’ by the Western press.
1945: Yalta and Potsdam - with Germany on the verge of defeat, ‘the big three’ meet to discuss
the shape of the post-war world.
EXPLANATIONS FOR THE COLD WAR
Almost as soon as ww2 ended, a bitter struggle developed between the USSR and the US.
Three possible explanations:
● The USSR was to blame. Stalin planned for a communist takeover of the world. The
takeover of Eastern Europe was the first step towards world control.
● The USA was to blame. Soviet actions were defensive period the US wanted to control
it's area of influence but refused to allow the USSR to do the same.
● Neither side was to blame. The Cold war was based on misunderstanding and forces
beyond the control of both sides.
- The roots of the Cold War are to be found earlier in history karma searches when Soviet
communism was born during the Russian Revolution
- The two countries were separated by the different beliefs - Americans believed in
capitalism and Soviets believed in communism
- Tension and hostility increased during the civil war in Russia
, 1945: The breakdown of the wartime alliance
TEHRAN CONFERENCE - Nov/Dec 1943
● The first time ‘the big three’ discussed seriously the post-war settlement
YALTA CONFERENCE - Feb 1945
● Roosevelt, Stalin and Churchill were there
They agreed:
● The USSR would enter the war against Japan once Germany had surrendered
● To divide Germany into four zones between the US, British, French and Soviet
● To divide Berlin into 4 zones in the same way
● To hunt down and try Nazi war criminals in an International Court of Justice
● To allow countries that had been liberated from occupation by the German army to have
free elections to the government's they wanted
● To join the new United Nations organisation to maintain peace once the war ended
● That Eastern Europe would be a Soviet ‘sphere of influence’
They disagreed:
● On how much Germany was to pay in reparations - Stalin wanted a much higher figure
than either Roosevelt or Churchill
● Poland - He wanted a friendly Polish government so that his country would have some
production from Germany. The Western powers feel that this would be a Soviet
controlled government - persuaded Stalin to agree allow free elections in Poland
A NEW AMERICAN PRESIDENT
● Harry Truman became president when Roosevelt died in April 1945
→ he had no experience of international politics
→ Roosevelt was much more diplomatic than Truman
→ Truman was less certain about the USSR and USA getting along
POTSDAM CONFERENCE - July/Aug 1945
● Truman, Stalin and Churchill were there
They agreed:
● To divide Germany and Berlin as previously agreed
● To demilitarize Germany
● To establish democracy in Germany inc free elections, free press and freedom of speech
● Germany had to pay reparations to the allies in equipment and materials - most of this
would go to the Soviet who had suffered the most
● To ban the Nazi party - Nazis remove from important positions and leading Nazis were
put on trial for war crimes at Nuremberg in 1946
● To participate fully in United Nations organisation
● That Poland's frontier was to be moved westwards to the rivers Oder & Neisse
They disagreed:
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