Download Beginning of Cold War

Beginning of Cold War
Near the end of WWII, the major world leaders (Churchill, Roosevelt, & Stalin) met at the Yalta Conference (sitting in
front row, listed as before from left to right). It was decided that Germany would be controlled by Allied powers until its
government could be stabilized. At the end of the war, Germany was divided between East Germany and West
Germany.
1. What kind of government emerged in East Germany? Eastern Europe? (What are the Soviet satellite nations?)
Why did this kind of government emerge?
2. What kind of economic system emerged in East Germany? Why?
3. What kind of government emerged in West Germany? Why?
4. What kind of economic system emerged in West Germany? Why?
5. As a result of the differences between the Soviet Union and Western powers (United States, Britain, France),
Churchill described the tension between Eastern Europe and Western Europe as if a ________
________________ was spread across Europe to dividing it in two.
6. Using the map titled Europe After World War II, shade the countries that were west of the Iron Curtain, and
those that were east of the Iron Curtain.
7. What countries, make up the NATO alliance? Warsaw Pact? Show this on the second map titled Europe After
World War II.
President Roosevelt died before he completed his fourth term in office. The next president of the United States was
President Truman. He developed the Policy of Containment.
Containment (adapted from http://encyclopedia.farlex.com/Policy+of+containment)
US policy (adopted after WWII) designed to prevent the spread of communism from the USSR. The policy
evolved from the Truman Doctrine.
After World War II, US relations with the USSR began to deteriorate. The perceived threat of Soviet expansion
fuelled anti-communist fervour that affected both domestic and foreign policy. The Truman Doctrine was the
first incidence of containment policy in action. Other examples include the Marshall Plan (1948), under which
the USA gave economic aid to (non-communist) European countries (in part to support their governments and
economies against the spread of communist ideology), and the creation of the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization (NATO) in 1949 to defend Western Europe and the USA against the USSR. Containment
impacted US foreign policy until the end of the Cold War in 1989.
8. Explain the Policy of Containment.
9. What wars did the United States get involved with (after WWII ended) as a result of the Policy of
Containment?