The Grand Alliance

The Grand Alliance was created in 1941 with the sole purpose of defeating Nazi Germany, and the other Axis powers including Japan.

A marriage of convenience

It was a marriage of convenience (practical partnership) between three very different countries:
- Britain (a democracy, at war since 1939)
- The USA (a democracy, at war since December 1941)
- The Soviet Union (the USSR, a one-party communist state, at war since 1941).

Aim of the alliance

These countries shared one core aim: to defeat Nazi Germany and its allies.

The Tehran Conference

The Tehran Conference was the first meeting between the British, American and Soviet Leaders. The Tehran Conference happened in November-December 1943.

Agreements about Germany

USA and Britain agreed to invade Nazi-occupied France (using Britain as a base for the invasion).
The Soviet Union agreed to invade Germany from the East (from the place that is now Russia).
- This was known as opening up a ‘second front’ against the Nazis. It is notoriously harder to fight 2 wars at the same time.

Agreements about Japan

The Soviet Union also agreed with the Americans that it would declare war against Japan. Japan had bombed the American navy at Pearl Harbour on the 7th December 1941.

Agreements for after the war

The USA and Britain agreed that the Polish border would be moved westward, to fall along the Oder and Neisse rivers. This would give the Soviet Union more of Poland's land at the end of the war.
An international organisation, a bit like a successor to the League of Nations would try to peacefully solve problems between countries. This meeting lay the foundations for the United Nations.

The leaders' views

For Stalin, the Tehran Conference was a success. He would gain Polish territory after the war.
Churchill was less pleased.

1The Cold War

1.1Early Tension

1.1.1The Grand Alliance

1.1.2Yalta & Potsdam Conferences

1.1.3Exam-Style Questions - Potsdam Conference

1.1.4Ideological Differences Between the Superpowers

1.1.5Early US-Soviet Relations

1.1.6End of Topic Test - Early Cold War Tension

1.1.7Grade 9 - Early Tension

1.2The Development of the Cold War

1.2.1The Truman Doctrine & Marshall Plan

1.2.2East-West Boundaries

1.2.3End of Topic Test - East & West

1.3The Cold War Intensifies

1.3.1The Arms Race

1.3.2The Hungarian Uprising

1.3.3End of Topic Test - Developing Tension

1.3.4Grade 9 - The Development of the Cold War

1.3.5Exam-Style Questions - Hungarian Uprising

1.4Cold War Crises, 1958–70

1.4.1The Berlin Wall

1.4.2Czechoslovakia

1.4.3The Cuban Missile Crisis

1.4.4End of Topic Test - Cold War Crises 1958-70

1.4.5Grade 9 - Cold War Crises

1.5Attempts to Reduce Tension Between East & West

1.5.1SALT & Helsinki

1.5.2End of Topic Test - SALT & Helsinki

1.5.3Grade 9 - SALT & Helsinki

1.5.4Exam-Style Questions - Helsinki Accords

1.6The End of the Cold War

1.6.1Flashpoints

1.6.2Reagan & Gorbachev

1.6.3The Collapse of Soviet Control

1.6.4End of Topic Test - Reducing Tensions and The End

1.6.5Grade 9 - The End of the Cold War

1.6.6Exam-Style Questions - Eastern Bloc Collapse

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