THE COLD WAR How did Russia and the United States and Western Europe go from

Allies to enemies after WWII?

During WWII the United States and Russia fought together as Allies against the Axis Powers. After defeating the Axis Powers, determined to avoid ever descending into such a terrible conflict again, the victorious Allies created a peacekeeping organization, the United Nations (U.N.), which was charged with maintaining peace and cooperation among the nations of the world. However, less than twenty years later, the United States and Russia were locked in a bitter “Cold War.” The Cold War lasted decades and came terrifyingly close to becoming a nuclear conflict. Although the two nations never had armies face one another on the battlefield, the proxy wars and political and economic manipulation involved in this conflict continue to impact our lives today. This collection of activities examines how the United States and Russia went from Allies to enemies after WWII.

Activity 1. Political Cartoon Analysis

 

Cold War Political Cartoon Questions

1. Who are the two figures depicted and what nations do they represent?

2. What are they sitting on?

3. What activity are they engaged in?

4. Do the figures look relaxed? Explain.

5. Based on this cartoon do you believe their relationship is friendly? Why or why not?

6. Describe what their fingers are pointed at and what might happen if they press it.

7. What is the overall message of this cartoon? Explain your answer.

Activity 2: The Partition of Germany

 

At the close of WW2 Germany was divided into four administrative regions. In time, these lines would become the physical embodiment of the cold war.

Answer the following questions:

1. What country controlled the area surrounding Berlin, the capital city of Germany?

2. What four countries divided Berlin?

3. Why would the Allies want to split Berlin although it is clearly located in __________ administrative region? Explain your answer.

Activity 3 – Background Summary

Cold War History During World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union fought together as allies against the Axis powers. However, the relationship between the two nations was a tense one. Americans had long been wary of Soviet communism and concerned about Russian leader Joseph Stalin’s tyrannical, blood-thirsty rule of his own country. For their part, the Soviets resented the Americans’ decades-long refusal to treat the USSR as a legitimate part of the international community as well as their delayed entry into World War II, which resulted in the deaths of tens of millions of Russians. After the war ended, these grievances ripened into an overwhelming sense of mutual distrust and enmity. Postwar Soviet expansionism in Eastern Europe fueled many Americans’ fears of a Russian plan to control the world. Meanwhile, the USSR came to resent what they perceived as American officials’ bellicose rhetoric, arms buildup and interventionist approach to international relations. The Soviets also feared America’s insistence on rebuilding and rearming Germany, to whom Russia had lost over 17 million of her countrymen in some of the most brutal fighting of the entire war. Russia also knew that the U.S. possessed atomic bombs, and had seen the destructive power of them. In such a hostile atmosphere, no single party was entirely to blame for the Cold War; in fact, some historians believe it was inevitable. The Cold War: Containment By the time World War II ended, most American officials agreed that the best defense against the Soviet threat was a strategy called “containment.” In 1946, in his famous “Long Telegram,” the diplomat George Kennan (1904-2005) explained this policy: The Soviet Union, he wrote, was “a political force committed fanatically to the belief that with the U.S. there can be no permanent modus vivendi [agreement between parties

that disagree]”; as a result, America’s only choice was the “long-term, patient but firm and vigilant containment of Russian expansive tendencies.” President Harry Truman (1884-1972) agreed. “It must be the policy of the United States,” he declared before Congress in 1947, “to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation…by outside pressures.” This way of thinking would shape American foreign policy for the next four decades and the U.S. would become involved in numerous conflicts throughout the world.

Figure 1: Image of Soviet Dictator Joseph Stalin 

Figure 2: Image of United States President Harry Truman 

Figure 3: Image of United States diplomat George Kennan 

Activity 3 – Background Summary

1. Why were Americans wary of Soviet Russia?

2. Who was the leader of Russia? What kind of leader was he?

3. Why did the Russians resent Americans?

4. Explain the containment policy that the U.S. used to deal with Russia.

5. Who was the president of the United States in 1947, just after WWII?

6. Why were U.S. officials concerned about Russia? What were they afraid of?

7. Why were the Russians concerned about the Unites States? What were they afraid of?

8. Define these terms:

Expansionism –

Arms Buildup –

Interventionist -

Discussion Questions

1. Do you think U.S. fears about Russia were justified? Explain your answer.

2. Do you think Russia’s fears about the U.S. were justified? Explain your answer.

3. What do you think the President meant by this quote?

“It must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation…by outside pressures.”

 

 

Activity 4: Comparing Ideologies

 

Figure 1: Karl Marx, German Philosopher, economist, and revolutionary, laid the ideological groundwork for modern socialism and communism. 

Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels turned the world upside down. Until the publication of their 1848 Communist Manifesto, much of the western world followed a course where individuals owned private property, business enterprises, and the profits that resulted from wise investments. Marx and Engels pointed out the uneven distribution of wealth in the capitalist world and predicted a worldwide popular uprising to distribute wealth evenly. Ever since, nations have wrestled with which direction to turn their economies.

Capitalism Capitalism is based on private ownership of the means of production and on individual economic freedom. Most of the means of production, such as factories and businesses, are owned by private individuals and not by the government. Private owners make decisions about what and when to produce and how much products should cost. Other characteristics of capitalism include: Free competition. The basic rule of capitalism is that people should compete freely without interference from government or any other outside force. Capitalism assumes that the most deserving person will usually win. In theory, prices will be kept as

low as possible because consumers will seek the best product for the least amount of money. Supply and demand. In a capitalist system prices are determined by how many products there are and how many people want them. When supplies increase, prices tend to drop. If prices drop, demand usually increases until supplies run out. Then prices will rise once more, but only as long as demand is high. These laws of supply and demand work in a cycle to control prices and keep them from getting too high or too low. Communism Karl Marx, the 19th century father of communism, was outraged by the growing gap between rich and poor. He saw capitalism as an outmoded economic system that exploited workers, which would eventually rise against the rich because the poor were so unfairly treated. Marx thought that the economic system of communism would replace capitalism. Communism is based on principles meant to correct the problems caused by capitalism. The most important principle of communism is that no private ownership of property should be allowed. Marx believed that private ownership encouraged greed and motivated people to knock out the competition, no matter what the consequences. Property should be shared, and the people should ultimately control the economy. The government should exercise the control in the name of the people, at least in the transition between capitalism and communism. The goals are to eliminate the gap between the rich and poor and bring about economic equality. Socialism Socialism, like communism, calls for putting the major means of production in the hands of the people, either directly or through the government. Socialism also believes that wealth and income should be shared more

Activity 4: Comparing Ideologies

equally among people. Socialists differ from communists in that they do not believe that the workers will overthrow capitalists suddenly and violently. Nor do they believe that all private property should be eliminated. Their main goal is to narrow, not totally eliminate, the gap between the rich and the poor. The government, they say, has a responsibility to redistribute wealth to make society more fair and just. There is no purely capitalist or communist economy in the world today. The capitalist United States has a Social Security system and a government-owned postal service. Communist China now allows its citizens to keep some of the profits they earn. These categories are models designed to shed greater light on differing economic systems. Communism vs Capitalism The Communism Versus Capitalism debate is a battle between two extreme socioeconomic theories. They are theories that represent two inherently opposite ways of thinking. One is extremely individualistic (Capitalism), while the other one (Communism) believes in putting the society before self. The communism vs. capitalism clash polarized the world during the cold war. This article explores the two ideologies while comparing their differences. The primary difference between capitalism and communism is regarding the ownership of land or natural resources in general. Communism is against private ownership of land and resources. Instead, all land and resources should be owned by the whole community of people. In other words, all land and resources should be owned by one and all. Everything should be shared and all decisions about the economy should be made by the whole community by democratic means. There should be equal pay for all and all decisions

should be made according to what is good for everyone. On the other hand, capitalism believes in private ownership of land and resources. In this system every man will have to earn his worth. The major share of profits from business should go to the business owner, while the workers will get a small share. Every man shall get his pay according to his value which is decided by the person who owns the business. The people who own businesses, the capitalists, call all the shots when it comes to decision making. This is the major disagreement between the two. Who should own the land and natural resources? Both are extreme ideas. While communism can kill the idea of individual enterprise, which has led to most of the technological advancements we see today, capitalism has the seeds of exploitation, where too much wealth and power can be concentrated in the hands of a few people. Answer the Following Questions:

1. Define Capitalism

2. Define Communism

3. What are the key differences between capitalism and communism?

4. Who is the “father” of communism? Why did he not like capitalism?

5. What is the difference between communism and socialism?

6. After comparing capitalism and communism, which system do you think is better? Explain your answer.

Activity 5 The U.N. Charter

Source - Charter of the United Nations; June 26, 1945

 WE THE PEOPLES OF THE UNITED NATIONS DETERMINED to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind, and to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person… and to establish conditions under which justice and respect… and international law can be maintained… to promote social progress and better standards of life… AND… to practice tolerance and live together in peace… as good neighbours, and to unite our strength to maintain international peace and security... and to employ international machinery for the promotion of the economic and social advancement of all peoples, HAVE RESOLVED TO COMBINE OUR EFFORTS TO ACCOMPLISH THESE AIMS… Accordingly, our respective Governments… have agreed to the present Charter of the United Nations and do hereby establish an international organization to be known as the United Nations.   

CHAPTER I: PURPOSES AND PRINCIPLES Article 1 The Purposes of the United Nations are:

1. To maintain international peace and security… to take effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats… and to bring about… settlement of international disputes or situations which might lead to a breach of the peace;

2. To develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples…

3. To achieve international co-operation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian character…and in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms…  

CHAPTER XIX Article 110

…3. The present Charter shall come into force upon the deposit of by the Republic of China, France, the Union of Soviet Socialist, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the United States of America, and by a majority of the other signatory states…

  

Answer the following questions:

1. What year was this treaty written?

2. What are the parties involved in this treaty trying to accomplish?

3. According to the authors, what is the reason for creating this treaty?

4. What nations are involved in creating this treaty?

5. Is this a peace treaty or a military treaty? Explain your answer.

6. What is the overall tone of this treaty? Do the authors seem angry, aggressive, afraid, worried etc.? Explain your answer.

Activity 6 - NATO

The Parties to this Treaty reaffirm their faith in the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and their desire to live in peace with all peoples and all governments. They are determined to safeguard the freedom, common heritage and civilisation of their peoples, founded on the principles of democracy, individual liberty and the rule of law. They seek to promote stability and well-being in the North Atlantic area. They are resolved to unite their efforts for collective defence and for the preservation of peace and security. They therefore agree to this North Atlantic Treaty :

Article 1 The Parties undertake… to settle any international dispute in which they may be involved by peaceful means in such a manner that international peace and security and justice are not endangered, and to refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force in any manner inconsistent with the purposes of the United Nations. Article 2 The Parties will contribute toward the further development of peaceful and friendly international relations by strengthening their free institutions, by bringing about a better understanding of the principles upon which these institutions are founded, and by promoting conditions of stability and well-being. They will seek to eliminate conflict in their international economic policies and will encourage economic collaboration between any or all of them.  Source - The North Atlantic Treaty Washington D.C. - 4 April 1949  

Answer the following questions

1. What date was this treaty created? 2. What does the text say is the purpose of the treaty? Why is the treaty being

created?

3. What does Article 1 say are the rules for members of the treaty?

4. What does Article 2 say are the goals of the parties involved?

5. What is the overall tone of the document? Do the authors seem angry, aggressive, afraid, worried etc.? Explain you answer.

Activity 6 - NATO

Article 3 …to achieve the objectives of this Treaty, the Parties… will maintain and develop their individual and collective capacity to resist armed attack. Article 4 The Parties will consult together whenever, in the opinion of any of them, the territorial integrity, political independence or security of any of the Parties is threatened. Article 5 The Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all and… agree that, if such an armed attack occurs, each of them… will assist the Party or Parties so attacked by taking… such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area… Article 11 … The Treaty shall enter into force between the States… including… Belgium, Canada, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States… Source - The North Atlantic Treaty Washington D.C. - 4 April 1949  

Answer the Following Questions

1. What does Article 3 say all parties will do to achieve the goals of the treaty?

2. Describe the responsibilities of the treaty members listed in Article 5.

3. What does Article 4 require members to do?

4. What countries are members of the treaty? Who is missing?

5. What is the overall tone of the treaty? Do the authors seem angry, aggressive, afraid, worried etc.? Explain your answer.

Activity 7 – The Warsaw Pact

Source - The Warsaw Security Pact: May 14, 1955

Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance…. The Contracting Parties, reaffirming their desire for the establishment of a system of European

collective security… which would make it possible to unite their efforts in safeguarding the peace of Europe; mindful… of the situation created in Europe by the ratification of the Paris agreements, which envisage the formation of a new military alignment in the shape of "Western European Union," with the participation of a remilitarized Western Germany and the integration of the latter in the North-Atlantic bloc, which increased the danger of another war and constitutes a threat to the national security of the peaceable states… in these circumstances the peaceable European states must take the necessary measures to safeguard their security and in the interests of preserving peace in Europe… have decided to conclude the present Treaty of Friendship…. Article 1 The Contracting Parties undertake… to refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force, and to settle their international disputes peacefully and in such manner as will not jeopardize international peace and security. Article 2 The Contracting Parties declare their readiness to participate in a spirit of sincere cooperation in all international actions designed to safeguard international peace and security… The Contracting Parties will furthermore strive for the adoption… of effective measures for universal reduction of armaments and prohibition of atomic, hydrogen and other weapons of mass destruction. Article 4 In the event of armed attack in Europe on one or more of the Parties to the Treaty by any state or group of states… shall immediately, either individually or in agreement with other Parties to the Treaty, come to the assistance of the state or states attacked with all such means as it deems necessary, including armed force… Article 11 Done in Warsaw on May 14, 1955, in one copy each in the Russian, Polish, Czech and German languages, all texts being equally authentic…

1. The authors say they are creating this treaty in response to what event(s)?

2. What year was this treaty signed? 3. What does the text say about Germany? Why are the authors concerned about this

action?

4. What do the authors of this treaty say about nuclear weapons? Who do you think they were referring to when they wrote this clause?

5. What is the overall tone of this document? Do the authors seem angry, aggressive, afraid, worried etc.? Explain your answer.

6. From the languages from listed in Article 11, what can you infer about the national origins of the authors?

Activity 8 - Final Essays

The Cold War: The Atomic Age

The containment strategy provided the rationale for an unprecedented arms buildup in the United States. Truman recommended that the country use military force to “contain” communist expansionism anywhere it seemed to be occurring. Americans began a four-fold increase in defense spending.

American officials encouraged the development of atomic weapons like the ones that had ended World War II. Thus began a deadly “arms race.” In 1949, the Soviets tested an atom bomb of their own. In response, President Truman announced that the United States would build an even more destructive atomic weapon: the hydrogen bomb, or “superbomb.” Stalin followed suit.

As a result, the stakes of the Cold War were perilously high. The first H-bomb test, in the Eniwetok atoll in the Marshall Islands, showed just how fearsome the nuclear age could be. It created a 25-square-mile fireball that vaporized an island, blew a huge hole in the ocean floor and had the power to destroy half of Manhattan. Subsequent American and Soviet tests spewed poisonous radioactive waste into the atmosphere.

The ever-present threat of nuclear annihilation had a great impact on American domestic life as well. People built bomb shelters in their backyards. They practiced attack drills in schools and other public places. The 1950s and 1960s saw an epidemic of popular films that horrified moviegoers with depictions

of nuclear devastation and mutant creatures. In these and other ways, the Cold War was a constant presence in Americans’ everyday lives.

Questions:

1. Describe the arms race and what caused it.

2. How did the arms race effect American’s everyday lives?

3. Define the following terms Containment strategy – Expansionism –

Activity 8 - Final Essays

The Cold War Extends to Space Space exploration served as another dramatic arena for Cold War competition. On October 4, 1957, a Soviet R-7 intercontinental ballistic missile launched Sputnik (Russian for “traveler”), the world’s first artificial satellite and the first man-made object to be placed into the Earth’s orbit. Sputnik’s launch came as a surprise, and not a pleasant one, to most Americans. In the United States, space was seen as the next frontier, a logical extension of the grand American tradition of exploration, and it was crucial not to lose too much ground to the Soviets. In addition, this demonstration of the overwhelming power of the R-7 missile–seemingly capable of delivering a nuclear warhead into U.S. air space–made gathering intelligence about Soviet military activities particularly urgent.

In 1958, the U.S. launched its own satellite, Explorer I, and what came to be known as the Space Race was underway. That same year, President Dwight Eisenhower signed a public order creating the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), a federal agency dedicated to space exploration, as well as several programs seeking to exploit the military potential of space. Still, the Soviets were one step ahead, launching the first man into space in April 1961.

That May, after Alan Shepard become the first American man in space, President John F. Kennedy (1917-1963) made the bold public claim that the U.S. would land a man on the moon by the end of the decade. His prediction came true on July 20, 1969, when Neil Armstrong of

NASA’s Apollo 11 mission, became the first man to set food on the moon, effectively winning the Space Race for the Americans. U.S. astronauts came to be seen as the ultimate American heroes, and earth-bound men and women seemed to enjoy living vicariously through them. Soviets, in turn, were pictured as the ultimate villains, with their massive, relentless efforts to surpass America and prove the power of the communist system.

Questions:

1. Describe the Space race and what caused it.

2. What country was the first to launch a satellite into space?

3. What was the name of the satellite?

4. Who was the first man to land on the moon? What country was he from?

5. Define the following words – Intercontinental ballistic missile – Nuclear warhead –

Activity 8 - Final Essays

The Cold War: The Red Scare

Meanwhile, beginning in 1947, the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) brought the Cold War home in another way. The committee began a series of hearings designed to show that communist subversion in the United States was alive and well.

In Hollywood, HUAC forced hundreds of people who worked in the movie industry to renounce left-wing political beliefs and testify against one another. More than 500 people lost their jobs. Many of these “blacklisted” writers, directors, actors and others were unable to work again for more than a decade. HUAC also accused State Department workers of engaging in subversive activities. Soon, other anticommunist politicians, most notably Senator Joseph McCarthy (1908-1957), expanded this probe to include anyone who worked in the federal government. Thousands of federal employees were investigated, fired and even prosecuted. As this anticommunist hysteria spread throughout the 1950s, liberal college professors lost their jobs, people were asked to testify against colleagues and “loyalty oaths” became commonplace.

Questions:

1. Explain what does the title “Red Scare” refers to.

2. Who was Joseph McCarthy and what did he do?

3. Define the following words Subversion – Left-wing political belief –

Activity 8 - Final Essays

The Cold War Abroad (Proxy Wars)

The fight against subversion at home mirrored a growing concern with the Soviet threat abroad. In June 1950, the first military action of the Cold War began when the Soviet-backed North Korean People’s Army invaded its pro-Western neighbor to the south. Many American officials feared this was the first step in a communist campaign to take over the world and deemed that nonintervention was not an option. Truman sent the American military into Korea, but the war dragged to a stalemate and ended in 1953.

Other international disputes followed. In the early 1960s, President Kennedy faced a number of troubling situations in his own hemisphere. The Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961 and the Cuban missile crisis the following year seemed to prove that the real communist threat now lay in the unstable, postcolonial “Third World” Nowhere was this more apparent than in Vietnam, where the collapse of the French colonial regime had led to a struggle between the American-backed nationalist Ngo Dinh Diem in the south and the communist nationalist Ho Chi Minh in the north. Since the 1950s, the United States had been committed to the survival of an anticommunist government in the region, and by the early 1960s it seemed clear to American leaders that if they were to successfully “contain” communist expansionism there, they would have to intervene more actively on Diem’s behalf. However, what was intended to be a brief military action spiraled into a 10-year conflict.

Questions:

1. What was the first military action of the cold war? What countries did it involve?

2. List the other cold war military conflicts listed in this section.

3. Based on the reading, what can you infer about the meaning of the term Proxy War?

Activity 8 - Final Essays

The Close of the Cold War

Almost as soon as he took office, President Richard Nixon (1913-1994) began to implement a new approach to international relations. Instead of viewing the world as a hostile, “bi-polar” place, he suggested, why not use diplomacy instead of military action to create more poles? To that end, he encouraged the United Nations to recognize the communist Chinese government and, after a trip there in 1972, began to establish diplomatic relations with Beijing. At the same time, he adopted a policy of “détente”–”relaxation”–toward the Soviet Union. In 1972, he and Soviet premier Leonid Brezhnev (1906-1982) signed the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT I), which prohibited the manufacture of nuclear missiles by both sides and took a step toward reducing the decades-old threat of nuclear war.

Despite Nixon’s efforts, the Cold War heated up again under President Ronald Reagan (1911-2004). Like many leaders of his generation, Reagan believed that the spread of communism anywhere threatened freedom everywhere. As a result, he worked to provide financial and military aid to anticommunist governments and insurgencies around the world. This policy, particularly as it was applied in the developing world in places like Grenada and El Salvador, was known as the Reagan Doctrine.

Even as Reagan fought communism in Central America, however, the Soviet Union was disintegrating. In response to severe economic problems and growing

political ferment in the USSR, Premier Mikhail Gorbachev (1931-) took office in 1985 and introduced two policies that redefined Russia’s relationship to the rest of the world: “glasnost,” or political openness, and “perestroika,” or economic reform. Soviet influence in Eastern Europe waned. In 1989, every other communist state in the region replaced its government with a noncommunist one. In November of that year, the Berlin Wall–the most visible symbol of the decades-long Cold War–was finally destroyed, just over two years after Reagan had challenged the Soviet premier in a speech at Brandenburg Gate in Berlin: “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.” By 1991, the Soviet Union itself had fallen apart. The Cold War was over.

Questions:

1. What was the term for Richard Nixon’s strategy for dealing with Russia? What did this strategy involve?

2. Describe Ronald Reagan’s approach to dealing with Russia.

3. What were the names of the policies implemented by Mikhail Gorbachev? What did these policies stand for?

4. What became the most visible symbol of the cold war?