Restructuring the Postwar World

Cold War: Superpowers Face Off

Vocabulary –Superpowers Face Off

• veto – no vote• animosity – feeling of strong dislike or hatred,

hostility• skeptical – doubting; questioning• bloc – a group of persons, nations, etc.

combined for a common purpose• arms race – weapon competition between

powerful nations• doctrine – ideology or set of ideas

• containment – the foreign policy of keeping communism from spreading to other countries

The Cold War

• Opening Activity: Why did the United States and the Soviet Union split after WWII and become rivals?

From World War to Cold War

• In 1945 total war had gutted cities, factories, harbors, bridges, railroads, farms, homes and lives.

• 75 million people had been killed worldwide.

February 1945, Yalta Conference

• Meeting of leaders from the United States, Britain and the Soviet Union

Yalta Conference, February 1945

Winston Churchill

Franklin Roosevelt

Joseph Stalin

February 1945, Yalta Conference

• Meeting of leaders from the United States, Britain and the Soviet Union

• Postwar Plan:

– Germany will be divided into zones of occupation controlled by the Allied military forces

February 1945, Yalta Conference

• Meeting of leaders from the United States, Britain and the Soviet Union

• Postwar Plan:

– Germany will be divided into zones of occupation controlled by the Allied military forces

– Germany will pay the SU to compensate for loss of life and property

– Eastern Europe will have free elections– The SU will join the war against Japan

Creation of the United Nations• June 1945 the United Nations was formed• The purpose of this organization was to keep peace in

the world• The UN is based in New York City, NY• Military force to enforce UN decisions• General Assembly

– All member nations have equal voting and speaking rights

• Security Council – 11 members (currently 15)– Five Permanent Members; Britain, China, France, the

United States and the Soviet Union

The United Nations

From World War to Cold War

• The Soviet Union experienced the worst casualties during WWII; 22 million dead possibly more. Compare this to the US;

• The Allied powers occupied Germany and Japan:

– Work was done to strengthen democracy to ensure tolerance and peace.

– New governments and democratic constitutions were developed to protect the rights of all citizens.

Soviet and US soldiers meet at the Elbe River

in Germany1945

• Two superpowers; the United States and the Soviet Union emerge from WWII.

• The US and the SU had cooperated to defeat the Axis powers, but following the war conflicting ideologies and mutual distrust divided the superpowers.

United States

Soviet Union

Reunite Germany to

stabilize it and increase the security of

Europe

Keep Germany divided to prevent its waging war

again

Reunite Germany to

stabilize it and increase the security of

Europe

Reunite Germany to

stabilize it and increase the security of

Europe

Reunite Germany to

stabilize it and increase the security of

Europe

Rebuild European

governments to promote stability

& create new markets for US

goods

Reunite Germany to

stabilize it and increase the security of

Europe

Gain access to raw materials

and markets to fuel booming

industries

Encourage democracy in

other countries to help prevent the

rise of Communist

governments

Encourage communism in other countries

as part of a worldwide workers’

revolutionRebuild its war-

ravaged economy using

Eastern Europe’s industrial

equipment and raw materials

Control Eastern Europe to protect Soviet borders & balance the US

influence in Western Europe

Successful Allied power during World

War Two

Post WWII Superpower

Roots of Soviet-U.S. Mistrust and Hostilities

Western Democracy supported the White Army in Russia’s Civil War

Stalin was not included

in the Munich

Conference

Stalin signs the Non-

aggression Pact with

Hitler

Britain and the U.S. were slow to

respond to Stalin’s request that they open a

western front

The U.S. uses the atomic bomb

Stalin does not allow free elections in

Eastern Europe (post WWII) A buffer zone between the East and

West is created

The Iron curtain has dropped on

Czechoslovakia (1948)

Textbook page 533

People

Objects

Human arm labeled

Czechoslovakia

Iron Wall

Hammer & Sickle

Torch

Just like

Just like

RF: symbolize(s)

Just like

Iron Curtain Soviet Union/ Communism

People of Czechoslovakia

Liberty

Roots of Soviet-U.S. Mistrust and Hostilities

Western Democracy supported the White Army in Russia’s Civil War

Stalin was not included

in the Munich

Conference

Stalin signs the Non-

aggression Pact with

Hitler

Britain and the U.S. were slow to

respond to Stalin’s request that they open a

western front

The U.S. uses the atomic bomb

Stalin does not allow free elections in

Eastern Europe (post WWII) A buffer zone between the East and

West is created

The Cold WarSU – spread of communism and protection from Western invasion

U.S. – spread of democracy, rebuild European economics and

establish United Nations

• cold war – a state of tension and hostility among nations without armed conflict between the major rivals.

• Cold War – term used to describe the atmosphere of hostility and tension that existed between the superpowers in the decades following World War II brought on by different governing ideologies.

Weapons of the Cold War

• Weapons of the Cold War– Propaganda– Diplomacy– Technology

• Space Race• Arms Race

– Espionage (Spying)

Cold War Ideologies

United States Soviet Union

Economy Politics Value SocietyEconomy Politics Value Society

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Contrasting Cold War Terms

• Totalitarian– Government by one or a few– Total (hence the term) control over most aspects

of people’s lives– No freedoms

Contrasting Cold War Terms

• Capitalism– Private ownership of industry– Freedom of competition– Survival of the fittest– Laissez-faire: government keeps “hands off”– Creates different economic classes

Contrasting Cold War Terms

• Collective– Stresses the need for people to do things

together to benefit the whole– “all for one, and one for all”– Example: collective farm

Contrasting Cold War Terms

• Socialism– Government ownership of industry– Created as reaction to capitalism– Goal is to bring economic equality to people– Classless society

Contrasting Cold War Terms

• Democracy– Government by the people– Two Forms

• Representative• Direct

Contrasting Cold War Terms

• Freedom– The condition of being free– Most valued:

• Freedom of the press• Freedom of speech• Freedom to do business

Contrasting Cold War Terms

• Equality– Condition of being equal– Most valued: Basic needs met for all; food,

housing, education and jobs

Contrasting Cold War Terms

• Individual– Stresses the need for people to d things on their

own– Competition: the best get to the top– Laissez-faire– Example: individual class work

Cold War Heats Up

Marshall Plan

Warsaw Pact

U.S. Policy of brinkmanship

Sputnik & the

U-2 Incident

Soviet Blockade of Berlin -

Berlin Airlift

NATO

Soviet Union

tests an atomic device

Soviet Buffer Zone

(Eastern Europe)

The Truman Doctrine

The Truman

Doctrine is issued

Turkey and Greece were weaker counties

trying to fight of communist pressures

Turkey and Greece remain free countries

The United States practices their

commitment to the containment of

communism

The United States adopts the foreign

policy of containment

The U.S. did not want to repeat the outcomes of indecisive policies

practiced in the 1930’s

The Marshall Plan is

passed by the U.S.

Congress

The U.S. had adopted a foreign

policy of containment

European countries receiving aide recovered their

economic stability and remained free from communist

influence

The Communist state of Yugoslavia

received aid and broke away from Soviet domination

Europe was in ruins following

WWII

Europe faced economic turmoil; a scarcity of jobs and

food

European trade was vital to the economic success of the United

States

The Soviet Union

blockades Berlin

The U.S. and British officials organized flights of food and

supplies to Western Berlin for nearly 11

months

The Soviet Union wanted Germany to remain weak

and divided

The city of Berlin was divided; East Berlin

was Soviet controlled, West Berlin was part of West Germany/fee.

The Soviet Union wanted the West to

surrender West Berlin

The West refused to surrender West Berlin

to Soviet control.

Western Europe’s fear of Soviet

aggression increased

NATO is formed (a peacetime

military alliance)

The Soviet Union was threatened by NATO and formed it’s own alliance called the

Warsaw Pact

Western European nations were alarmed by

the Berlin blockade

Collective security provides

The Soviet Union

successfully tests an atomic device

Ideological differences between

the U.S. and the Soviet Union led to

conflict and completion between

the two countries

An arms race begins between the United States and the Soviet Union

The United States was the Soviet Union’s most

powerful rival and the U.S. had atomic

bombs

The United States adopts the policy of

“brinkmanship”

Think about it…

• Why would the U.S. be willing to support cruel and unjust leaders of foreign nations during the Cold War?