AP US History 7.11-7.13: Postwar and Period 7 Review

Cold War

A prolonged ideological, political, and geopolitical rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies. Relations solidified into the Western and Eastern Blocs mainly between 1945 and 1949, without a sustained direct war between the superpowers.

Why did the 1917 Russian Revolution contribute to later tensions between Soviet Russia and the Western Allies?

The Bolsheviks seized power, rejected the existing political order, and withdrew Russia from World War I. Their revolutionary ideology and hostility toward capitalism made Western governments fear the spread of communism.

Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

The March 1918 treaty in which Soviet Russia accepted severe peace terms with Germany and ceded large territories. The Western Allies viewed it as a betrayal because it freed German troops for the Western Front and transferred Russian resources to Germany.

Why did the Western Allies intervene in the Russian Civil War?

Britain, France, Japan, and the United States sent money, troops, or other support to anti-Bolshevik White forces. They opposed the Bolsheviks partly because Soviet Russia had left the war and threatened revolutionary upheaval abroad.

What was the outcome of Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War?

The Bolsheviks defeated their opponents through centralized leadership and unified command, retaining control over Russia and several breakaway regions. The failure of intervention deepened Soviet suspicion of Western powers.

What did the early Soviet idea of 'hostile capitalist encirclement' mean?

Soviet leaders believed capitalist states surrounded the revolutionary Soviet government and sought to undermine it. Lenin consequently treated diplomacy as a tool for dividing and weakening potential enemies.

Comintern

The Communist International, created by Lenin to encourage revolutionary movements in capitalist countries. By the mid-1920s, after revolutions in places such as Germany and Hungary failed, Moscow largely stopped actively fomenting immediate world revolution.

What political and economic differences separated the United States and the Soviet Union during the interwar period?

The United States was a multiparty democracy with a capitalist, privately owned economy, while the Soviet Union was a one-party Marxist-Leninist state with state control of farms and businesses. Each side increasingly portrayed its own system as an alternative way of life.

Why did the United States formally recognize the Soviet Union in 1933?

Earlier objections included Soviet repudiation of tsarist debts, authoritarian rule, and support for revolution abroad. By 1933 those concerns had diminished in importance, while the prospect of expanded trade encouraged recognition.

Why did the Soviet Union resent the Western response to the Munich Agreement of 1938?

The agreement allowed Nazi Germany to gain part of Czechoslovakia and was seen in Moscow as Western appeasement of Hitler. The Soviet Union was also excluded from the conference, reinforcing its belief that Britain and France might compromise at Soviet expense.

Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact

The 1939 nonaggression agreement between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. Its secret provisions divided Poland and other parts of Eastern Europe into German and Soviet spheres of influence.

Why did Stalin sign the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact despite the ideological conflict between Nazism and communism?

The pact temporarily reduced the danger of a German attack and gave the Soviet Union territorial influence in Eastern Europe. It also followed Soviet frustration with Western appeasement and unsuccessful efforts to secure agreements with Britain and France.

How did Operation Barbarossa alter the wartime relationship between Germany, the Soviet Union, and the Western Allies?

When Germany invaded the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941, Stalin abandoned cooperation with Hitler and joined Britain against Germany. The United States entered the broader alliance after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

Why was the wartime alliance between the Soviet Union and the Western Allies fragile?

The alliance was based mainly on the shared need to defeat Nazi Germany, not on compatible political systems or mutual trust. Disputes over Poland, intelligence, military strategy, resistance movements, and postwar Europe persisted throughout the war.

What was the disagreement over the 'second front' in World War II?

Stalin repeatedly urged Britain and the United States to invade German-occupied Western Europe to relieve pressure on the Soviet Union. The invasion was postponed from proposed dates in 1942 and 1943 until D-Day on June 6, 1944, leading Soviet leaders to suspect deliberate delay.

How did the Soviet and Western interpretations of the delayed second front differ?

Soviet leaders often believed the delay was intended to let the USSR bear the main cost of defeating Germany and to give the West greater influence over the peace settlement. Western explanations emphasized military preparation and strategic calculations.

How did World War II shape Soviet ideas about national security?

The Soviet Union suffered more than 20 million deaths, widespread destruction, and the loss of approximately 30,100 factories. Stalin therefore viewed security primarily in terms of strategic depth: controlling neighboring territory to prevent another invasion.

How did American and Soviet security concepts differ after World War II?

The United States emphasized a liberal international system with open markets, international institutions, and governments capable of resolving disputes peacefully. The Soviet Union emphasized territorial control and friendly regimes along its borders as protection against invasion.

What was the significance of Soviet actions during the Warsaw Uprising of 1944?

The Soviet Union did not provide substantial support to the Polish underground fighting the Germans and at times restricted Western aid flights. This reinforced Western fears that Stalin wanted postwar control of Poland rather than an independent, broadly democratic government.

What was the Percentages Agreement?

A 1944 understanding between Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin that assigned varying degrees of influence to the two powers in Balkan countries. It reflected their effort to define spheres of influence, especially in Romania, Bulgaria, and Greece.

What major issues remained unresolved at the Yalta Conference?

The Allies failed to reach firm agreements on the occupation and economic future of Germany, German reparations, and the composition of Poland's postwar government. They did issue a declaration promising respect for democratic forms in liberated Europe.

How did the change from Franklin Roosevelt to Harry Truman affect U.S.–Soviet relations?

Truman had less experience with Roosevelt's approach to Stalin and initially relied heavily on advisers who favored a harder line. As the wartime need for cooperation declined, relations became noticeably more confrontational.

Potsdam Conference

The July 1945 Allied meeting focused on administering defeated Germany and settling postwar issues. Unlike earlier wartime meetings, it occurred after Germany's defeat and amid increasing disagreement over Germany, Eastern Europe, reparations, and atomic weapons.

Why did the U.S. atomic bomb project increase Soviet–American mistrust in 1945?

The United States kept the project secret from the Soviet government, although Soviet espionage revealed its existence. After the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Stalin believed the nuclear monopoly altered the balance of power and might be used to pressure Moscow.

How did the end of World War II reduce incentives for U.S.–Soviet cooperation?

Once Germany was defeated, the common enemy that had held the alliance together disappeared. The United States also concluded that Soviet assistance was unnecessary for defeating Japan in Manchuria, making disengagement from the alliance more feasible.

Eastern Bloc

The group of communist-dominated states in Eastern Europe established under strong Soviet influence after World War II. Their governments were supported by Soviet military power and generally rejected Western-style multiparty democracy, independent courts, and market economies.

Why did Stalin seek communist-dominated governments in Eastern Europe after World War II?

He wanted a belt of politically reliable states between the Soviet Union and the West. This strategy was intended to provide strategic depth against future invasions, though Western governments interpreted it as Soviet expansionism.

How did the Red Army help the Soviet Union establish influence in Eastern Europe?

The Red Army occupied much of Eastern Europe as it drove Nazi forces westward. Its continued military presence enabled Moscow to install or support communist-dominated governments in neighboring states.

How did communist governments consolidate power in postwar Eastern Europe?

Communist parties used Soviet backing, intimidation, electoral manipulation, forced political mergers, arrests, executions, and exile to eliminate rivals. Over time, these states adopted political systems closely tied to Soviet direction.

What characterized the political economy of Stalinist Eastern Bloc states?

The state combined political authority with control of society and the economy, eliminating meaningful separation between those spheres. Market institutions, liberal democratic governance, private ownership, and an independent rule of law were subordinated to state power.

Marshall Plan

A U.S. program announced in 1947 to provide economic assistance for European reconstruction. It sought to stabilize capitalist economies and reduce the appeal of communism, but the Soviet Union rejected it as an instrument of American influence.

Why did the Soviet Union reject the Marshall Plan?

Moscow feared that participation would allow the United States to shape the economic and political future of Europe. The Soviet Union instead sought to maintain its own economic and political sphere in Eastern Europe.

Comecon

The Council for Mutual Economic Assistance, created by the Soviet Union to promote economic cooperation among communist states. It functioned as an Eastern Bloc counterpart to Western reconstruction and economic integration efforts.

Iron Curtain

A term describing the political, military, and ideological division separating Soviet-dominated Eastern Europe from Western Europe. The division became increasingly institutionalized through rival governments, economies, alliances, and restrictions on movement.

What was the Berlin Blockade of 1948–1949?

The Soviet Union attempted to cut off Western land access to Berlin, which lay inside the Soviet occupation zone of Germany. The crisis was a major early confrontation of the Cold War and brought the superpowers close to direct military conflict.

Berlin Airlift

The U.S. and its allies supplied West Berlin by air after the Soviet Union blocked ground and water access. The operation demonstrated Western commitment to the city and prevented the blockade from forcing the withdrawal of the Western powers.

Why was the Berlin Blockade a turning point in the Cold War?

It transformed growing diplomatic and ideological disagreements into a direct confrontation over access, occupation rights, and the future of Germany. The crisis further entrenched the division of Europe into opposing blocs.

NATO

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, established in 1949 to formalize military cooperation among the United States, Canada, and Western European states. Its creation institutionalized the Western Bloc and marked the consolidation of the Cold War.

How did the creation of NATO and Comecon reflect the broader Cold War division?

NATO organized the Western states into a collective military alliance, while Comecon coordinated communist economies under Soviet leadership. Together, they demonstrated that the rivalry had become institutionalized in both security and economic systems.

Why did Germany become central to the origins of the Cold War?

Germany was geographically and economically important, and the Allies disagreed over its occupation, reparations, industrial capacity, and political future. The division of Germany and the Berlin crisis made it the most visible focal point of the emerging East–West conflict.