Knowing and understanding the key events from each topic is obviously essential. For
Section A topics like Superpower Relations, you need to be able to describe or explain the
causes, key features and consequences of each event. Make sure you study the following
list of key events as part of your revision:
Causes
What happened?
Consequences
War situation
had changed:
Germany was
close to defeat.
USA led by
President
Roosevelt
UK led by
Prime
Minister
Winston
Discussions over
the post-war
world were
needed.
USA & UK
wanted USSR
to declare war
Churchill
on Japan.
democracy in Europe.
USSR led
Needed to
by Joseph
Stalin
agree a political
solution for
liberated
countries,
especially
Germany and
Poland.
Causes
What happened?
A compromise was reached over war
USA
represented
by
President
Harry S.
Truman
needed to decide
had to be reached
represented
by Prime
Minister
Winston
Churchill &
A political solution
UK
Consequences
criminals.
denazification, democratisation,
the whole of
Europe.
Clement
eastern Europe.
Attlee
Roosevelt had
Prime
Minister
powers.
confront communism in
USSR
Stalin. He wanted
represented
to be tougher with
by Joseph
Stalin
like Poland.
Causes
What happened?
By 1946 it became
Former
UK
Prime
Minister
Winston
Churchill
who lost
power in
the
1945
general
election
From 1945-1948,
Stalin rigged
th
elections to establish
communist
governments in
Poland, Hungary,
Bulgaria, Romania,
East Germany &
Czechoslovakia.
The West
responded to this
of words, designed
to portray Stalin as a
power-hungry
to Hitler.
Consequences
The speech showed that both
sides now clearly viewed each
other as opponents. Stalin
responded by saying:
Mr Churchill now adopts the
position of the warmonger, and in
this Mr Churchill is not alone. He
has friends not only in Britain but
in the USA as well. A point to be
noted in this respect is that Mr.
Churchill and his friends bear a
striking resemblance to Hitler
and his friends.
This war of words led to both
sides initiating spying and
assessment reports on each
other to determine the thinking
of their opponents. This resulted
in the Long Telegram and
Novikovs Telegram.
Causes
What happened?
Consequences
Truman and
Stalin were
both keen to
understand
intentions and
they both
capitalism.
each others
threats so
th
commissioned
reports to be
written by
embassy staff.
possibility of war.
The USA now
believed that the
both governments
Causes
What happened?
The Truman Doctrine stated that:
democratic freedom.
Consequences
isolationism.
The doctrine assumed that
Capitalism and Communism were
incompatible = the unofficial
start of the Cold War.
Truman was now committed to
a policy of containment.
US military aid to Greece
meant that the communists
were defeated in the Greek
Civil War in 1949.
Causes
Economic crisis in
Europe: food
shortages,
unemployment, food
rationing and
President
starvation. Communist
Truman of
the USA
growing, especially in
George C.
Marshall,
US
Secretary
of State
weaken the
attraction of
communism, he
needed to rebuild and
encourage prosperity
in Europe.
What happened?
Consequences
European leaders met at the Paris
Conference of 1948 to discuss Marshall
Aid. The USSR walked out of the
conference as they believed the US was
trying to split Europe into two camps.
Stalin claimed that Marshall Aid had
tricked western Europe into an economic
reliance on the US. Led to the creation of
Soviet rivals: COMINFORM and COMECON.
West European economies experienced an
economic boom and had returned to prewar levels of growth when the plan ended in
1952.
Divided Germany as the military governors
of western Germany agreed to accept
money. Divide in Europe was now
economic, not just ideological.
Causes
What happened?
Consequences
COMINFORM organised
strikes in Western Europe
did not work as growing
prosperity weakened the
attraction of communism.
COMINFORM
strengthened Stalins hold
on Eastern Europe. He
could use COMINFORM to
investigate government
ministers and employees,
and remove or imprison
those who were not loyal.
Causes
The failure of
COMINFORM to
destroy Marshall
Plan through political
Communist
Party
General
Secretary
Joseph
Stalin
What happened?
Consequences
USSR, Bulgaria,
Czechoslovakia, Hungary,
Poland and Romania were all
members in first year.
Albania and Eastern
Germany joined in 1950.
Causes
Stalin didnt want a
divided Germany.
Germanys main
Communist
Party
General
Secretary
of the
USSR,
Joseph
Stalin
US
President
Harry
Truman
economic resources
were in the west and he
wanted to prevent the
USA from having
further influence in
Germany. He feared
they were rebuilding
Germany as an ally
against the USSR.
He viewed the merging
of the Allied zones of
Germany in 1947, along
with the introduction of
the Deutschmark in
June 1948 as an
attempt to divide
Germany. He expected
the western powers to
make a humiliating
retreat.
What happened?
Consequences
rd
June
1949 USA,
UK, Canada,
Iceland,
France,
Portugal,
Italy, Belgium,
Luxembourg,
Netherlands,
Denmark and
Norway. 1952
Greece and
Turkey. 1955
West
Germany.
1982 Spain.
Causes
The Berlin
Blockade raised
the possibility of
war in Europe as it
was the first
military
confrontation of
the Cold War.
European
countries were
keen to establish
a military alliance
in order to keep
the USA in, the
USSR out and the
Germans down.
What happened?
The North Atlantic Treaty
Organisation (NATO) was
established as a military alliance
between the USA and Western
Europe. An attack on one member
would be considered as an attack
on all members.
It was in effect a military alliance
with the aim of defending the
West against communism. It
wasnt just a promise either. Five
divisions of US troops were based
in Germany.
West Germany joined NATO in
1955, adding millions more troops.
Consequences
The creation of NATO significantly
heightened tensions in the Cold War. The
creation of NATO now added a clear
military divide to Europe.
The USSR felt threatened by the
creation of NATO and especially when
West German troops joined. The USSR
responded by creating the Warsaw Pact in
1955 which was a military alliance of
Eastern European countries.
The build-up of military alliances turned
into an arms race when the USSR tested
its own nuclear bomb in 1949. But
paradoxically, the threat of Mutually
Assured Destruction (MAD) prevented war
in Europe.
Causes
Truman believed the
Russians were behind
the attack and it was
a test of his policy of
containment.
China had become
communists in 1949
providing further
proof that
containment was
What happened?
Vietnam.
Northern invasion.
needed.
had developed an
Consequences
th
Causes
What happened?
Consequences
USSR, Poland,
Czechoslovakia,
Romania,
Bulgaria,
Hungary,
Albania and
East Germany.
military alliance of
Eastern European
Causes
Hungarians were dissatisfied
with Soviet rule. After 1949,
COMINFORM imposed an
oppressive regime on Hungary.
Hungarian land was given to other
countries, resources shipped to
Hungarian
Dictator
Matyas
Rakosi
Hungarian
Leader
Erno Gero
Hungarian
Leader
Imre Nagy
Hungarian
Leader
Janos
Kadar
USSR led
by Nikita
Khrushchev
What happened?
Consequences
th
Nov.
Causes
What happened?
Consequences
deeply concerned
by the growing
refugee problem.
escaped to West
by Nikita
Germany through
Khrushchev
USA led by
highly skilled.
President
Khrushchev also
Truman
and Dwight
D.
Eisenhower
as a base for
from 1953
spying and
sabotage.
The post-war
recovery of West
Berlin seemed to
remind people of
th
June 1961,
the benefits of
capitalism. This
worried Khrushchev.
Causes
What happened?
Consequences
launch of Sputnik 1 in
ballistic missiles.
22
pro-US Batista
communist expansion in
Latin America. Cuba was
only 90 miles from Florida.
Castro nationalised US
Short-term
The overthrow of the
nd
25
th
th
invasion. He asked
help.
Short-Term
Kennedy and the USA appeared
victorious as Khrushchev was seen
by the world as the one to
publically back down. This
propaganda defeat contributed to
Khrushchev resigning in 1964.
Kennedy had agreed to pull US
missiles out of Turkey. In reality,
the event did end in compromise.
European allies of the US were
shocked at how little they were
consulted throughout the crisis.
French leader Charles de Gaulle
pulls France out of NATO in
response. NATO is weakened.
The Chinese were not impressed
with the performance of the
USSR so began to pursue a more
independent foreign policy. World
communism was also weakened.
This led to the creation of a
hotline in June 1963 between
Washington and Moscow in order
to avoid future
misunderstandings.
The Limited Test Ban Treaty
was agreed in August 1963. Both
sides agreed to ban nuclear
testing in space, in the sea and
above ground.
Long-term
Both sides recognised the dangers
of direct conflict. The USA and
USSR began to search for
meaningful peaceful co-existence
as they realised how close they
came to nuclear war. This led to a
policy called dtente a
relaxing of tension in the Cold
War which dominated superpower
relations in the 1970s.