Download Chapter 23 THE COLD WAR ERA • “An iron curtain has descended

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Chapter 23
THE COLD WAR ERA
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“An iron curtain has descended”
The Cold War Era
After WWII, Soviet Expansion threatened to enslave Europe
“From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent.”
o Winston Churchill
Symbol of division:
o Communist world, dominated by the Soviet Union
o Free world, led by the United States
Decades of apprehension, hostility, and competition between the Soviet Union and the U.S. followed and became
known as the Cold War
o No actual fighting between the two super powers
Postwar Confrontation
The World divided into three groups
Industrialized nations
o North America
o Western Europe
o Japan
Communist world
o Soviet Union
o Eastern Europe
o China
Developing countries of:
o Africa
o Asia
o Middle East
 Collectively known as the Third World
A Heritage of Mistrust
Relations between U.S. & U.S.S.R. characterized by suspicion and mistrust.
o Lenin withdrew from WWI & signed a separate peace treaty with Germany
o United States withheld diplomatic recognition of the Soviet Union until 1933
o Soviets signed a nonaggression pact with Nazi Germany in 1939
o Communists join Allies to fight a common enemy after Hitler invades Soviet Union in 1941
Communist Motives
Three Motivations
Fear of the West
o Stalin believed the Allies purposely delayed opening another front in France
o Claimed America intent on destroying the Soviet Union
Zeal for their ideology
o Territorial expansion and spreading communist revolution were necessary
Desire for power
o Increase empire’s wealth, power and prestige by adding territories
Soviet Expansionist Policies
Soviet Expansionist Policies
In wartime conferences at Tehran, Yalta, and Potsdam, Allied leaders wrestle with what to do with Germany
o Germany to be divided & occupied by Western & Soviet forces
o Soviets allowed to keep territorial gains in Eastern Europe with understanding that free elections would be
held eventually
o Red Army never leaves Eastern Europe
 Poland
 Romania
 Bulgaria
 Albania
 Hungary
 Czechoslovakia
 In Yugoslavia, Josip Broz Tito (Marshal Tito) came to power and established a communist
government.
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American Containment Policies
U.S. emerges from WWII as most ___________________________ in the World
o Only nation with ___________________________
o Peacetime buildup of ____________________
o Clear sense of ____________________and ____________________
o Spread ____________________and promote ____________________throughout the world
o Began to rebuild its defeated foes (unprecedented)
o Under Truman, U.S. adopts policy of ____________________
o U.S. would support any country threatened by _______________________________– Truman Doctrine
o 1948, Truman signs the European Recovery Act, or ______________________________
U.S./Soviet Confrontation
Germany
Allies divided Germany into ____________________
o ____________________
o ____________________
o ____________________
o ____________________
U.S./Soviet Confrontation
NATO:
Regional military alliance formed by the _______________________________in 1949
The ______________________________________________________________
o ____________________
o ____________________
o ____________________
o ____________________
o ____________________ added in 1952
Soviets reacted by creating the ____________________in 1955
Arms race
1949
Soviet Union exploded its first ____________________
Beginning of ____________________
1950
President Truman ordered the production of the __________________________(____________________)
Spread of Communism
During the postwar period, tension between the ____________________and the _________________________
(a group of nations united by treaty or agreement for mutual support or joint action) flared several times
o Limited ____________________
o ________________________________________in 1960’s & 1970’s
o ________________________________ in 1980’s
Fall of China
After the defeat of ____________________, a civil war erupted in ____________________
o Nationalist forces of _________________________
o Communist forces of ___________________________
Americans supported the ____________________
By 1949 Communists forces captured ____________________ major cities
Nationalists forces fled to the island of ____________________ (____________________)
For the next ____________________, the U.S. recognized ____________________as the “real” China
The Korean War
Asia Remained a “hot spot” in the East-West confrontation when Communist North Korea invaded South
Korea and sparked the Korean War (1950 – 53)
At the close of WWII Korea had been ____________________, like ____________________, into
____________________and __________________________________occupation zones
The Korean War
IN June 1950, ____________________forces invaded ____________________
Example of Soviet expansion
Truman appeals to U.N. for ____________________________________.
UN secured __________________________
o Drove communist forces across _______________________________
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General McArthur proposes ________________________________
Truman did not want to provoke “_____________________________________”
Primarily an ______________________________________________