Download The Cold War

Monday April 17, 2017
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Objective- Identify the root causes of the Cold War and
Determine who is primarily responsible for starting the Cold War.
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Journal Log- Complete the following inside of your notebooks.
Academic- Compile a list of the points of agreement among the
Big Three powers at Yalta. (p. 791-792)
1.
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What was the outcome of the Yalta Conference, February 4–11,
1945, in context of the war and basic goals of the allied powers.
Honors- Likewise prepare a list of the topics discussed at the
Potsdam Conference, July 17–August 2, 1945. (p. 810)
1.
2.
3.
What were the basic issues that divided the United States and the
Soviet Union on the other.
What was the issue over Poland and Eastern Europe at Potsdam?
Had Stalin violated the Yalta agreement regarding Eastern Europe
as Britain and the United States claimed?
The Cold War
Begins
The United Nations
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Chartered in April 1945
Replaced the League of Nations as
a mediator for international
disputes
50 nations joined initially (today,
UN has 192 members)
In the General Assembly, which
decides general UN policies, each
nation gets 1 vote (so all are
equal)
UN Security Council: US, Soviet
Union, France, Great Britain, &
China reserved the power to veto
any action by the UN
For the UN to take any military
action requires a unanimous vote
of the Security Council
The Potsdam Conference
Jul. 16 – Aug. 2 1945
 Stalin, Clement Atlee (who
had replaced Churchill as
British Prime Minister), and
Truman met to decide the
fate of Germany and other
occupied territories in
Europe
 All sides agreed to divide
Germany and Austria into
occupation zones and to
dismantle most German
industry, but disagreed over
making Germany pay war
reparations to the Soviets
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Germany divided
The Soviets Split from the Allies
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Stalin wanted to keep territory
which the Soviets had
conquered in Eastern Europe,
in order to protect his nation
from future invasions
Allies insisted on free elections
in Soviet-occupied Poland,
Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia,
Romania, Bulgaria,
Czechoslovakia, & Hungary
Stalin refused and by 1948 all
of these states had communist
governments (Latvia,
Lithuania, & Estonia became
part of the Soviet Union itself)
The Iron Curtain
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“From Stettin in the Baltic to
Trieste in the Adriatic an "iron
curtain" has descended across
the Continent. Behind that line
lie all the capitals of the
ancient states of Central and
Eastern Europe … and all are
subject, in one form or
another, not only to Soviet
influence but to a very high
and in some cases increasing
measure of control from
Moscow.” - Winston Churchill,
1946
Term “iron curtain” was meant
to describe the ideological
division that had risen between
Communist Eastern Europe
and Democratic Western
Europe
Containment Policy
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US had little choice but to
accept communism in
Eastern Europe or enter
into an unpopular war
with the Soviets
US instead focused on
preventing communism
from spreading into new
areas and pledged to
“contain” communism to
the areas where it
already existed
George Kennan
1904 – 2005
 U.S. diplomat who is
credited with devising the
US policy of containment
and who argued that Soviet
communism was inherently
flawed and weak in his
“Long Telegram”
 Meant containment to be
through political coercion
rather than through military
force, was ultimately
disappointed with how the
US responded to the Soviets
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First Test of Containment
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Stalin supported
communist rebels in
Greece and Turkey in
their efforts to overthrow
US-backed governments
The devastation of WWII
had left these
governments in a
seriously weakened state
and they were in serious
danger of falling without
US intervention
The Truman Doctrine
Mar. 12, 1947: Truman
declared that US foreign
policy would be to “support
free peoples who are
resisting attempted
subjugation by armed
minorities or by outside
pressures”
 Truman essentially declared
war on the spread of
communism, launching a
“Cold War” that would last
into the 1990s
 After Truman’s speech,
Congress approved $400
million in economic aid to
Greece and Turkey, enough
to defeat the communist
threat in that region
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The Marshall Plan
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In support of the Truman
Doctrine, Sec. of State George
Marshall developed a plan to
provide US financial aid to
war-torn Europe, to help with
rebuilding both physically and
economically
The economic prosperity in
Western Europe that followed
minimized the potential for any
further spread of communism
in that region
The US would send $25 billion
in aid to Europe in the 6 years
following the end of WWII
Stalin rejects the Marshall Plan
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The US even offered
economic assistance
to countries behind
the “iron curtain,”
including the Soviet
Union, but Stalin
would not allow any
communist state to
accept US assistance,
believing it would
weaken his control
The Berlin Blockade
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June 1948 – May 1949
Frustrated with US efforts
to restore a unified
Germany, Stalin tried to
push the US and its allies
out of West Berlin by
blocking all overland
access to the city through
East Germany
All road and rail lines
were cut and no supplies
could be brought into the
western half of the city
The Berlin Airlift
Allies decided to fly supplies
into Berlin instead
 Soviets were unwilling to be
the aggressor by shooting
down Allied aircraft
 1500 flights a day delivered
5000 tons of supplies a day
– everything from food to
coal to gasoline to cloth to
machinery
 After nearly a year, the
Soviets lifted the
unsuccessful blockade
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North Atlantic Treaty Organization
(NATO)
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Founded April 4, 1949
Mutual defense treaty
against the Soviets
US, Belgium,
Luxembourg, The
Netherlands, Great
Britain, France, Canada,
Portugal, Italy, Norway,
Denmark, & Iceland were
the original members
France left in 1966
Today, includes most of
Europe + US & Canada
The Warsaw Pact
May 14, 1955: Soviets
responded to NATO by
creating an alliance of
communist states
 Unlike NATO, which was an
alliance of free nations,
Warsaw Pact members had
no choice but to join, since
their communist
governments were indirectly
controlled by the Soviet
Union
 Officially disbanded July 1,
1991 after the collapse of
the Soviet power
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Russians Develop Atomic Bombs
August 29, 1949: Soviets
tested their first atomic
bomb (technology they had
largely stolen from the US
through espionage)
 By 1961, Soviets were
capable of detonating 100
megaton bombs (equal to
about 20 times all of the
explosives used in WWII
combined!)
 Soviets had become a much
more serious threat in the
eyes of the US
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