Back to the full dot-point answer
SingaporeHistoryQuick questions
Origins of the Cold War
Quick questions on The breakdown of the wartime alliance explained: O-Level History
7short Q&A pairs drawn directly from our worked dot-point answer. For full context and worked exam questions, read the parent dot-point page.
What is allies only against a common enemy?Show answer
During the Second World War, the United States and the Soviet Union were allies, part of the "Grand Alliance" with Britain that defeated Nazi Germany. But this alliance was always a marriage of convenience. The two countries had completely opposite political and economic systems and had distrusted each other for years before the war. They cooperated only because they faced a common enemy in Hitler.
What are the clash of ideologies?Show answer
The deepest cause of the breakdown was a clash of ideologies, meaning opposite beliefs about how society should be run. The United States was a capitalist democracy: it believed in free elections, individual freedom, private business and free trade between nations. The Soviet Union, under Stalin, was a communist one-party state: it believed in state control of the economy, rule by the Communist Party, and the eventual spread of communism around the world. Each side saw the other's system as a threat.
What is suspicion built up during the war?Show answer
Suspicion had roots even during the war. The Western powers and the Soviet Union did not fully trust one another. Stalin resented that the Western Allies delayed opening a major second front in western Europe until 1944, leaving the Soviet Union to bear the brunt of the fighting against Germany for years. The Soviets were also suspicious that the Americans had developed the atomic bomb in secret.
What is disagreement over Eastern Europe?Show answer
The sharpest dispute after the war was over the future of Eastern Europe. As the Soviet army drove the Germans back, it occupied much of Eastern Europe, including Poland. At the wartime conferences (Yalta and Potsdam in 1945) the Allies had discussed the future of these countries, and there was talk of free elections. But Stalin was determined to control Eastern Europe as a protective buffer zone, because Germany had invaded the Soviet Union through this region.
What is q1?Show answer
What is meant by the "iron curtain"? [3 marks]
What is q2?Show answer
Explain why the United States and the Soviet Union distrusted each other after 1945. [5 marks]
What is q3?Show answer
"The Cold War began mainly because of the clash of ideologies." How far do you agree? [8 marks]
Have a question we have not covered?
This dot-point answer is short enough that we have not extracted many short questions yet. Read the full dot-point answer or ask Mo, our study assistant, in the chat for follow ups.