Superpower relations and the Cold War, 1941–91 · GCSE History

The origins of the Cold War, 1941–58

The Grand Alliance of the USA, the USSR and Britain met at Tehran (1943), Yalta (February 1945) and Potsdam (July–August 1945). Tension grew over Poland, Germany and the USA's atomic bomb.
In 1946, the American diplomat George Kennan's 'Long Telegram' warned that the USSR wanted to expand, while the Soviet 'Novikov Telegram' claimed the USA was seeking world domination.
The Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan (1947) were answered by Cominform (1947) and Comecon (1949). The Berlin Blockade (1948–49) led to the division of Germany and the creation of NATO (1949). The Warsaw Pact followed in 1955.
The arms race grew, and in 1956 Soviet forces crushed the Hungarian Uprising.

Berlin: in 1958, Khrushchev demanded that Western troops leave West Berlin. Summits at Geneva and Camp David (1959) failed to settle it, the Paris summit (1960) collapsed after the U2 incident, and the Vienna summit (1961) went badly. In August 1961, the Berlin Wall was built, and in October 1961 American and Soviet tanks faced each other at Checkpoint Charlie.
Cuba: after the failed Bay of Pigs invasion (1961) came the Cuban Missile Crisis (October 1962). Afterwards came the hotline and the Limited Test Ban Treaty (1963), the Outer Space Treaty (1967) and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (1968).
Czechoslovakia: the Prague Spring (1968) was crushed by Warsaw Pact troops, and the Brezhnev Doctrine followed.

Détente: SALT 1 (1972) limited nuclear weapons, the Apollo–Soyuz mission (1975) was a joint space flight, and the Helsinki Agreements (1975) included human rights. SALT 2 was signed in 1979, but the US Senate never ratified it.
The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan (December 1979) ended détente. The Carter Doctrine, a grain embargo and the US-led boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics followed; the USSR boycotted the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.
President Reagan took a hard line, the 'Second Cold War': he called the USSR an 'evil empire' (1983), announced the Strategic Defense Initiative ('Star Wars', 1983) and supported anti-communist groups.

Mikhail Gorbachev became Soviet leader in 1985. He introduced glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring), and his 'new thinking' in foreign policy included the Sinatra Doctrine, which let Eastern European countries choose their own way.
Summits with Reagan at Geneva (1985), Reykjavik (1986) and Washington (1987) led to the INF Treaty (1987), which removed all intermediate-range nuclear missiles. Soviet troops left Afghanistan by 1989.
The Berlin Wall fell on 9 November 1989, and communist governments across Eastern Europe collapsed. The Warsaw Pact ended in 1991, and the USSR broke up in December 1991.

Grand Alliance: The wartime alliance of the USA, the USSR and Britain.
Long Telegram: Kennan's 1946 warning about Soviet aims.
Satellite state: A country controlled by the USSR, such as Poland.
Brinkmanship: Pushing a crisis to the edge of war to force the other side to back down.
Détente: An easing of tension between the superpowers.
SALT: The Strategic Arms Limitation Talks, which limited nuclear weapons.
Glasnost: 'Openness': Gorbachev's policy of more freedom of speech.
Perestroika: 'Restructuring': Gorbachev's reform of the Soviet economy.
INF Treaty: The 1987 treaty that removed intermediate-range nuclear missiles.
Sinatra Doctrine: Gorbachev's policy of letting Eastern European countries choose their own path.