Tag Archives: Cold War
Origins of the First Gulf War
This revision podcast is aimed at GCSE and IGCSE History students, although AS and IB students may find it a helpful introduction to events in the Gulf in the later 20th Century. This episode focuses on the origins of the Gulf War, with a focus on the causes and consequences of Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990.
The podcast begins with an overview of the background factors to the invasion of Kuwait, and then outlines the events of the invasion itself. The podcast concludes with a description of the effect that the invasion had on the international community, and how foreign nations responded.
The revision guide aims to give clear examples for each of these issues, and provide an explanation of how the events contributed to international action against Iraq that was to become known as the First Gulf War.
The origins of the Cold War
This podcast aims to look at three key areas – why the alliance between the USA and the USSR broke down in 1945, how Stalin take control of eastern Europe in 1945 and America’s reaction to it, and the consequences of the Berlin Blockade.
The podcast opens with a short explanation of the deteriorating relationship between the USA and the USSR through the Second World War. It goes on to present an overview of the two major Allied conferences – Yalta and Potsdam – and outlines the key agreements and disagreements that emerged from them.
Opening with an extract from Churchill’s famous Iron Curtain speech, the second part of this episode explores the way in which Stalin extended Soviet control over eastern Europe to establish a ‘buffer zone’ of communist states around the USSR. It then goes on to detail the USA’s response in terms of the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan. Examples are given of each.
The third section of the podcast focuses on the Berlin Blockade of 1948-9. It begins with the background of the divided Germany after the Second World War. An explanation is then given of how Berlin became further divided between the communist and non-communist zones leading to Stalin launching the Berlin Blockade. The Allied ‘air lift’ is then described.
The episode finishes with some exam tips on how to answer a question about who was to blame for the Cold War in a balanced way.
Brief introduction to the Yalta Conference
Attended by the “Big Three” Allied leaders, the conference saw United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin meet to discuss the government of post-war Europe.
Brief account of USA’s first ever nuclear test in the Manhattan Project
The 16th July 1945 marked the start of the atomic age when the USA detonated the first nuclear bomb under the codename ‘Trinity’.
A short account of the bombing of Hiroshima
On the 6th August 1945, the USA dropped an atomic bomb nicknamed “Little Boy” on the Japanese city of Hiroshima from the B-29 aircraft Enola Gay.
Truman and his advisors: different opinions of the atomic bomb
This short clip is taken from the BBC’s Curriculum Bites and offers a good overview of the different opinions about the use of the A-bomb in 1945.
Interpretations of why the USA dropped the atomic bomb on Japan
This video presents historical interpretations of why America chose to drop nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It also explains how it affected relations between the USA and the USSR.
Churchill and the ‘Iron Curtain’ speech
On the 5th March 1946, Winston Churchill described the post-war division of Europe as an “iron curtain” in his “Sinews of Peace” address at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri.
The origin of the ‘Containment’ policy
On the 24th September 1946, Clark Clifford and George Elsey presented a report to President Truman in which they recommended “restraining and confining” Soviet influence.
Berlin and the Cold War 1945-1949
Contrasting Pro-Soviet and Pro-American films from the post-WW2 period related to the increasing tensions between the two countries.
