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What caused the breakdown of the wartime alliance by 1949?
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All Flashcards in Topic 13.12
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13.12.112 cards
What caused the breakdown of the wartime alliance by 1949?
Ideological incompatibility (democracy/capitalism vs communism), broken promises over free elections in Poland, and the economic split caused by the Marshall Plan and Cominform.
Truman Doctrine (March 1947)
US pledge to support 'free peoples' resisting communist takeover, starting with aid to Greece and Turkey — the start of the policy of containment.
Marshall Plan (June 1947)
US offer of $13 billion in economic aid to rebuild Europe, open to all states including the USSR; Stalin refused it and forbade Eastern Bloc states from joining.
Cominform (September 1947)
The Communist Information Bureau, set up by Stalin to tighten Soviet control over Eastern European communist parties in response to the Marshall Plan.
Orthodox vs revisionist vs post-revisionist views on Cold War origins
Orthodox: Stalin was the aggressor. Revisionist: US economic self-interest provoked confrontation. Post-revisionist: both sides acted from genuine, mutual security fears.
Why did Stalin blockade Berlin in 1948-49?
To force the Western Allies out of Berlin after they introduced the Deutschmark currency in their zones, which Stalin saw as a move toward a permanent, Western-aligned Germany.
How did the West respond to the Berlin Blockade?
The Berlin Airlift — flying food and coal into West Berlin around the clock for eleven months — forced Stalin to lift the blockade in May 1949 without a war.
Direct consequence of the Berlin Blockade
It sped up the creation of NATO (April 1949) and directly led to the formal division of Germany into the FRG (West) and GDR (East) in 1949.
Why was the Berlin Wall built in 1961?
To stop the 'brain drain' — roughly 2.7 million East Germans had fled to the West through Berlin between 1949 and 1961, threatening the GDR's economy and stability.
West Germany vs East Germany, 1961-1990
West: multi-party democracy, market economy 'economic miracle', free travel. East: one-party SED rule, Stasi surveillance, planned economy, but job security and free childcare.
What triggered the fall of the Berlin Wall (9 November 1989)?
Gorbachev's reforms signalled no Soviet military intervention; Hungary opened its border with Austria (May 1989); mass peaceful 'Monday demonstrations' in Leipzig; Honecker was forced out.
How was German reunification achieved (3 October 1990)?
Chancellor Helmut Kohl negotiated the Two Plus Four Treaty with the US, USSR, Britain and France, securing international agreement for full reunification.
13.12.212 cards
What is NATO and when was it founded?
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, a military alliance of the USA, Canada, and Western European states founded in April 1949, built on collective defence (Article 5).
What event directly triggered the founding of NATO?
The Berlin Blockade (1948–49), which convinced Western leaders the USSR was expansionist and Western Europe needed a collective defence alliance.
What was the EEC and when was it created?
The European Economic Community, created by the Treaty of Rome in 1957, forming a tariff-free common market between France, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg.
Give two rival explanations for why the EEC was founded.
1) Genuine idealism for lasting peace through interdependence (Monnet, Schuman). 2) Cold War necessity — building a strong bloc to resist Soviet pressure and stay loyal to the USA.
How did relations between Western Europe and the USA change over time?
From dependent gratitude (Marshall Plan, late 1940s) to friction (de Gaulle pulled France out of NATO's integrated command in 1966) to renewed alignment under Cold War pressure (1979 dual-track missile decision).
What were 'salami tactics'?
The method Soviet-backed communist parties used to seize power in Eastern Europe gradually — sharing coalition government first, then purging rivals, then banning opposition entirely, 1945–48.
What was the Warsaw Pact and why was it founded in 1955?
A Soviet-led military alliance of the USSR and seven Eastern European states, founded in May 1955 directly in response to West Germany joining NATO.
What was COMECON and what was its real economic effect?
The Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (1949), the USSR's answer to the Marshall Plan; in practice it forced economic specialisation and unequal trade that mostly benefited the USSR over its satellite states.
Give one example of the social impact of Soviet control in the East.
Surveillance by secret police such as East Germany's Stasi, censorship of media, restricted travel, and the Berlin Wall (built 1961) preventing citizens leaving.
Why could Josip Broz Tito defy Stalin in 1948 when other Eastern European leaders could not?
Yugoslavia was liberated by Tito's own communist partisans, not the Red Army, so no Soviet troops occupied the country and Tito had his own military and political base independent of Moscow.
What was 'Titoism'?
Tito's independent path to socialism after breaking from Moscow in 1948, including worker self-management in factories rather than strict Soviet-style central planning.
Name three instances of opposition to Soviet control that were crushed by force.
The East German uprising (1953), the Hungarian Revolution (1956), and the Prague Spring in Czechoslovakia (1968) — all suppressed by Soviet or Warsaw Pact forces.
13.12.312 cards
What was the Maastricht Treaty (1992)?
Treaty that turned the EEC into the **European Union**, created the euro currency plan, and introduced EU citizenship.
Name the two waves of EU expansion after the Cold War.
1995 (Austria, Finland, Sweden — rich, neutral states) and 2004 (the 'Big Bang' — 10 states, mostly ex-communist Central/Eastern Europe, e.g. Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic).
What is the Schengen Area?
A zone of EU (and some non-EU) countries with **no passport checks** at internal borders.
What is the Eurozone?
The group of EU states that adopted the **euro** as their shared currency, starting 1999/2002.
Give one economic benefit and one economic cost of the euro.
Benefit: easier trade, no exchange-rate risk. Cost: countries lose control of their own interest rates — seen sharply in the 2010s Greek debt crisis.
What social policies did the EU expand after the Cold War?
Freedom of movement for workers, common social/employment rights, funding for poorer regions (Cohesion Funds), and Erasmus student exchange.
What was UKIP and what did it campaign for?
The UK Independence Party, led by Nigel Farage — campaigned for Britain to leave the EU, citing sovereignty and immigration concerns.
What was the result of the 2016 Brexit referendum?
52% voted to Leave the EU, 48% to Remain. The UK formally left on 31 January 2020.
Name two named reasons for political resistance to the EU (besides Brexit).
Loss of national sovereignty (laws made in Brussels) and anger over immigration/free movement; also resentment at austerity rules imposed during the debt crisis.
Give one example of post-Cold War social change in a European country (e.g. Germany).
Reunified Germany (1990) faced a persistent East-West gap in wages and unemployment — a divide still visible decades later.
What is 'democratic deficit' as applied to the EU?
The criticism that unelected EU bodies (like the Commission) hold too much power over elected national governments.
What Paper 3 skill does this micro mainly train?
Evaluating a historical argument ('to what extent') by weighing benefits against costs/resistance and reaching a substantiated judgement.
Topic 13.12 study notes
Full notes & explanations for Europe during and after the Cold War (1945–2020)
History (2028+) exam skills
Paper structures, command terms & tips
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