AP World History AMSCO Guided Notes
8.1: Setting the Stage for the Cold War and Decolonization
AMSCO Guided Notes
AP World History Guided Notes
AMSCO 8.1 - Setting the Stage for the Cold War and Decolonization
Essential Questions
- What was the historical context for the Cold War after World War II?
I. Bringing the War to an End
1. What was the purpose of the Big Three conferences during World War II?
A. The Tehran Conference
1. What territorial agreements did the Allies make at the Tehran Conference regarding Poland and Eastern Europe?
B. The Yalta Conference
1. What did Roosevelt want for Eastern Europe after the war, and what did Stalin demand instead?
2. Why did Roosevelt agree to vague Soviet assurances on free elections in Eastern Europe?
C. The Potsdam Conference
1. How did the leadership of the United States and Britain change between the beginning and middle of the Potsdam Conference?
2. What was the outcome of Truman's demand for free elections in Eastern Europe, and why did Stalin refuse?
II. Shifting Balance of Power
A. Massive Destruction in Europe
1. How did the extent of destruction differ between Eastern and Western Europe after World War II?
2. What advantages did Western European countries like Britain and France retain despite their wartime losses?
3. How did Europe's relative power in the world change as a result of World War II?
B. The U.S.-Soviet Rivalry
1. Why was the United States in a position to become the most powerful country in the world by 1945?
2. What military advantage did the United States gain during World War II, and when did the Soviet Union match this capability?
C. Advances During the War
1. What were examples of technological advances developed during World War II, and how did they benefit civilians after the war?
III. The Start of the Cold War
1. What is a cold war and why did the United States and Soviet Union engage in one rather than direct military conflict?
2. How did U.S.-Soviet rivalry affect conflicts in regions outside the superpowers' territories?
3. What was the military-industrial complex and why did President Eisenhower warn against it?
IV. Breakdown of Empires
1. What was the high point of European colonial empires, and what happened to empires based in Austria, Turkey, and Russia after World War I?
2. Why did anti-colonial movements probably grow stronger during World War II despite limited actual independence?
3. What three factors after World War II created conditions for the dismantling of colonial empires?
Key Terms
Big Three
Tehran Conference
Yalta Conference
Potsdam Conference
Harry Truman
Cold War
Dwight Eisenhower
self-determination
hydrogen bomb
military-industrial complex