Berlin Blockade
Exam question -Berlin Blockade a) What was the Cold war? The cold war was a period of time when there was great tension mainly between the two super-powers: United States and the USSR but also their allies and surrounding countries. This occurred between the end of the Second World War and the early 1990s. The main disagreements were to do with control or political influence in the countries liberated from Germany after the war. USA and USSR had very opposing views on what system these countries should have. USA wished for countries to be socialist; whereas USSR wanted to influence communism. Rather than going at each other in an all out war, they attempted to obtain their way through subtle methods. b) Why did tension between the Soviet Union and the West increase after the Potsdam conference? Tension between the west and the Soviet Union increased after the Potsdam conference because of the many disagreements that were discussed there and the clear different political views of the two opposing sides. One of the disagreements at Potsdam was how hardly Germany should be punished. Stalin wanted to cripple them completely, whereas Truman believed that this may lead to another Treaty of Versailles. Failure to come to an agreement on this subject increased tension between the Soviet Union and the west. It was a similar case when it came to reparations. Stalin wanted large
Who was to blame for the start of the Cold War?
Who was to blame for the start of the Cold War? In 1945, just after World War II, the alliance between the United States, Britain and the USSR ended. An intense rivalry between communist and non-communist nations led to the Cold War. It's called the Cold War because it never led to armed or "hot" conflict. At the end of World War II, at the Yalta Conference, Germany was divided into four occupied zones controlled by Great Britain, France, the Soviet Union, and the United States. Berlin was also divided into four sections. No agreement marked the start of the Cold War. When the USA decided to drop the atomic bomb on Japan, the USSR was upset that America had secretly developed the bomb. Churchill, Truman and Atlee were angry that Stalin had already signed a border treaty agreement with Poland. By 1948, Russia controlled Poland, East Germany, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Czechoslovakia. Churchill was first to refer to this as an Iron Curtain that divided Europe. The Allies were angered that the free elections promised by Stalin at the Yalta Conference were not held and adopted a new foreign policy of containment to keep communism to the areas where it was already in affect. The Truman Doctrine of 1947 stated that America would help any non-communist country to resist communist pressure. The Marshall Plan involved sending large amounts of American money to help non-communist
The Duvalier regime compared to other dictatorships on Haiti during the middle of the 20th century
Extended Essay History By Geir Espen Aas May 2003 The Duvalier regime compared to other dictatorships on Haiti during the middle of the 20th century 3874 words Abstract This essay tells the history of Haiti from its independence in 1804 to the end of the Duvalier regime in 1986 with special focuse on the regimes of Francois Duvalier and his son Jean-Claude Duvalier who ruled Haiti from September 22nd 1957 to February 6th 1986. This is quite a feat considering that the average ruling time of a Haitian presidentwas less than 3 years up to then. Francois Duvalier and Jean-Claude Duvalier are compared to other Haitian rulers in the 20th century to determine the causes of their success. The conclusion is that Francois Duvalier's secret police, his creation of a new elite, his manipulation through religion and his control over the Haitian army were decisive factors for the Duvalier regime. Context Page * The history of Haiti * Duamarsais Estimé's regime * Paul Magloire's regime * The Duvalier election * Papa Doc's regime * The Domestic policy * The Voodoo policy * The foreign policy * Assassination attempts * Economic situation * Baby Doc's regime * Baby Doc's policy * The end of the Duvalier regime * Conclusion The Duvalier regime compared to other dictatorships on Haiti in the 20th century During its time as an independent nation from January 1 1804 to
Twisting - Poetry
Twisting, curling around your fingers. Pressed palm to palm, She screams in the dark. A kick into nowhere. A punch through the air. You hold her close once more, just once more. Chest to chest, you both shiver at night. Woman, blinded by cloth and tied at the wrist. A blackened hand reaches for her. Twists and curls her hair around its fingers. Just as you did, One cold winters night. Lips pressed against hers, you cherished that moment. But now you sit on a cold pew in an empty church. Your eyes fixed on the open casket. And a cold presence lurks, Over your shoulder As you remember. Her soft skin, lips and hair. Now you lean over her coffin. Twisting, curling her hair around your fingers. You place one more kiss upon her
Why and how did the Cold War develop until 1949?
Why and how did the Cold War develop until 1949? The Cold War is the name of the international rivalry between the USA and its allies, and the USSR and their allies, from the close of World War 2 until the collapse of the USSR in 1991. The two most powerful countries, the USA and the USSR never actually fought each other. This is why it's called a 'cold war'. However on at least one occasion it became very close to being a 'hot war', an all out war with nuclear weapons. Even though the Soviet Union had been allies with the USA and Britain during the Second World War, there had always been deep mistrust between them. The countries were run very differently. The Soviet Union was a communist country run by a dictator, Joseph Stalin. Britain and America were capitalist countries run by elected governments. There was no free speech and the Soviet Union was a one party state; no other political parties were allowed. The Western countries such as the USA and the Britain were a democratic state. They believed in free elections and a right to free speech. In 1922, Russia merged with five neighbouring states to from the Soviet Union. By 1936 Russia added more 5 states. It was obvious that the Soviet Union was rapidly growing. The Soviets didn't agree with the USA and the British's democratic ideas. They ensured the countries in Eastern Europe were communist by rigging elections or
Vietnam was a Racist War
"The Main Reason for American Opposition towards the Vietnam War was because it was seen as a Racist War" On the one hand, I agree that it is true; the main reason Americans detested the war was because it was chauvinistic. For example, in Source C, Martin Luther King, a famous black human rights leader, said that the US army was integrated, while the US society was segregated. He said; "...kill and die together", meaning that they can fight together in something that they are most likely to be defeated in, but not be together in the "great" American society. Martin Luther King also says; "...unable to provide schools...sit together", implicating that black people are not even educated, and they cannot even sit together on buses and trains, they couldn't even go to the same schools. Using my own knowledge, I know that a tenth of the US population was black, but a fifth of the army were black. Implicating that the number of black people doubled in the army from society. From my own knowledge, I know that the draft was unfair, as the number of black people drafted to go to the Vietnam War doubled in the army, showing that the draft had to be prejudiced, as it also chose the poor white boys, who had no power to overrule the selection that had been made. Mohammed Ali had opposed the war, as he said that; "...the Vietcong never called me a n****r", showing that he would have been
Social Lives during the Japanese occupation
Social Lives during the Japanese occupation On the morning of December 8, 1941 (Hong Kong local time) the Japanese launched an attack on Hong Kong, just 8 hours after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. British, Canadian and Indian allies helped by the Hong Kong Volunteer Defense Forces made a feeble attempt to stop the rapidly advancing Japanese invasion, but we sadly vastly out numbered. The Hong Kong people lived in an abyss of misery, which lasted for three years and eight months. Many survivors called the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong simply "Three Years and Eight Months". For the Hong Kong people, life under the rule of the Japanese was hard; there was lack of food supply, so the Japanese rationed their food. Each person had been given a ration card, foods such as rice, oil, flour, salt and sugar we cut down. Non-staple foods such as sugar, cooking and salt were scarce. Each person could only but 0.24 kg of rice per day. Because of the lack of food, much people died of starvation. Fighting for food was the order of the day. According to Philip Snow, a prominent historian of the period, he says that the Japanese would cut the rations of the civilians just to conserve food for the Japanese military. Most of the repatriated actually had come to Hong Kong just a few years earlier to flee the terror of the Second Sino-Japanese War in mainland China. In 1944, the rationing
Why did the Suez Canal crisis of 1956 take place?
Question 2. Why did the Suez Canal crisis of 1956 take place? Answer. There were various reasons for the start of the Suez Canal Crisis in 1956. One of the foremost reasons for the war the nationalization of the Suez Canal this canal represented a main source for oil for the Britain and France. Another important reason was the Arab-Israeli rivalry which had reached a peak after the 1948/49 war, the Arabs wanted revenge due to the loss of war. A separate reason was that Egypt had closed the canal for any Israeli ships and vessels. An additional cause of the crisis was Nasser's continued attempts to frustrate and anger the British through various different methods. The western powers decision to cancel the Aswan dam building loan was another source for the start of the crisis. Of course the continued attacks by the Fedayeen had a far reaching effect on Israel. A small reason would also be Russia supplying arms and planes to Egypt, even going to extents of sending trained military personnel to train the Egyptian armed forces. One of the most important if not the most important reason was the nationalization of the Suez Canal on 26th July 1956. This was seen as a very big threat by the British and French. As they relied heavily on the Suez Canal for oil if Nasser took control of the dam he could control the supply of oil to Britain and France. This was caused due to the soviet
'Without the new automobile industry the prosperity of the 1920s would scarcely have been possible? Do you agree?'
'Without the new automobile industry the prosperity of the 1920s would scarcely have been possible? Do you agree?' In the 1920s, the USA's economy was booming. People felt that they had a right to prosperity and many had aims of owning a nice house and car. Most people in the USA had this state of mind. I believe that the automobile industry was extremely important in the economic boom! In the 1890s cars were only made by skilled blacksmiths, and were very expensive. Only about 4000 were produced each year/ However Henry Ford changed all this. He set up the first real 'production line', where workers only had one or two jobs to do on a car as it passed them. A skeleton of a car went in and after each worker had done their bit a ready car came out. This was extremely efficient and significantly lowered the price of cars. Not only this, but it created a vast amount of employment! In 1929 4.8 million cars were produced. The automobile industry not only created much employment in its own industry but it created large employment in other industries too. For example the cars needed steel and rubber and due to the vast amounts of cars being produced much steel and rubber was being produced hence more employment. The 'T-model' car was coming off the production line at one every 10 seconds at one stage! As many people were buying cars, more roads had to be made, and this created
The Cold War was a war between the United Sates and its allies and the Soviet Socialists Republic (USSR) and their allies. This war lasted from the mid 1940s to the end of the 1980s.
The Cold War was a war between the United Sates and its allies and the Soviet Socialists Republic (USSR) and their allies. This war lasted from the mid 1940s to the end of the 1980s. The US represented democracy and capitalism which is an economic system that allows people to open up businesses and earn their own money while the soviets represented communism which is an equal economy. The term Cold War meant that the US and the USSR were at war but an ideological war, rather than a war with ammunition. This constant fighting led to the formation of The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (1949) and the soviet dominated Warsaw pact (1955). The war was mainly centered in Europe. In 1917, the end of World War 1, the later communists (Bolsheviks) overthrew Russia's govt. The US , Britain, France, and Japan intervened in the war and the Bolshevik leader thought that they were making an attempt to overthrow Russia's new weak govt. The US and the European powers really did have something against Russia. They wanted capitalism while Russia was for communism. The US would not recognize the Soviet State until 1933. The US and the USSR had become divided over the political future of Poland even before the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945. Joseph Stalin, the leader of the USSR from 1929-1953 established a pro-communist government there, believing that the Soviet control of Poland was