Download The Cold War - Chandler Unified School District

Cold War
U.S. and Soviet Relations
• The U.S. and the Soviet Union were allies
during W.W.II.
• However, even before the end of the war
the alliance began to unravel.
– The U.S. was upset with Stalin for working
with Hitler (nonaggression pact)
– Stalin blamed the allies for delaying the
invasion of German-occupied Europe
Yalta Conference
– Postwar Plans for Germany
• In February 1945, they agreed to divide
Germany into 4 separate zones.
– Each zone would be occupied by the soldiers
of one of the main allied powers.
– Berlin too had been divided into four zones.
• Germany has to pay the Soviet Union to
compensate for its loss of life and property.
– In turn Stalin promised to have free elections
in Eastern Europe.
United Nations
• In June 1945, the United States and the
Soviet Union temporarily set aside their
differences.
• They were among the 50 countries that
formed the United Nations.
– This international organization was intended to
protect the members from aggression.
– The U.N. pledged to save the world from
war.
Goals for the Postwar World
• U.S. and the Soviet Union had sharp political and
economic differences.
• Postwar Goals
– U.S.
• wanted to encourage democracy and trade.
• Wanted to put the different zones of Germany back
together to make one nation (Unify Germany).
– Soviet Union
• Wanted to promote communism
• Take advantage of raw materials in Eastern Europe
and rebuild its own economy
• Keep Germany divided and weak.
Stalin Breaks Promise
• Stalin went back on his word to allow for
free Elections in Eastern Europe.
– He installed communist governments in Albania,
Bulgaria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Poland,
and Yugoslavia (Eastern Europe)
– The Soviet Union regarded these countries as a
necessary buffer along the Soviet’s western border.
• This decision of not allowing free elections in
Eastern Europe angered U.S. President Truman,
but Stalin would not budge.
The Iron Curtain
• Europe now lay divided between East and
West.
• Germany was split into two sections.
– The Soviets controlled the eastern part
(including half of the capital Berlin)
• Named the German Democratic Republic and was
Communist
– Western part was controlled by the Allies and
mostly democratic.
• Named the Federal Republic of Germany.
• This division in Europe became known as
the Iron Curtain.
Non -Communist
Communist
Size of this preview: 582 × 599 pixels
Containment
• In response to Stalin’s actions Truman
began a policy of containment.
• Containment was a policy directed at
preventing the expansion of communism.
• Containment policies included creating
alliances and helping weak countries resist
Soviet advancements.
Truman Doctrine
• In President Truman’s quest to contain
Communism he turned to congress for help.
• The Truman Doctrine gave aid and support
to countries that in fact rejected
Communism.
– Caused great controversy. Some felt the U.S.
should not interfere in other nation’s affairs.
– Congress, however, immediately supported the
doctrine and authorized over $400 million in
aid to Turkey and Greece.
Marshall Plan
• As a part of the
Containment policy the
United States adopted the
Marshall Plan in 1947.
– Proposed that the U.S.
would give aid to needy
European countries.
• The Plan donated food
and materials such as
machines to Western
European countries,
helping them to rebuild
from war.
– $12.5 billion program
Secretary of State
George Marshall
Clash Over Germany
• While Europe began rebuilding the U.S. and its
allies clashed with the Soviet Union over
Germany.
• In 1948, Allies (France, Britain, and the U.S.)
withdrew their forces from Germany.
– They would let their three occupation zones form one
nation.
• In response, the Soviet Union held West Berlin
hostage.
Blockade
• What makes this unique is Berlin lays well within
the Soviet occupation zone of Germany.
• The Soviets cut off highway, water, and rail
traffic into Berlin’s Western Zones.
• Since no supplies could get in, the cities faced
starvation.
• Stalin hoped it would force the Allies to surrender
West Berlin or give up on their idea of unifying
Germany.
Berlin Airlift
• The United
States/British
Responded with the
Berlin Airlift.
• The U.S./British flew
food and supplies into
West Berlin for 11
months.
• After 270,000 flights,
pilots brought in 2.3
million tons of supplies.
– Food , fuel, medicine and
even Christmas presents.
• Soviet Union lifts the
blockade.
Cold War Begins
• These conflicts marked the start of the Cold War
between the United States and the Soviet Union.
• Cold War--struggle over political differences
carried on by means short of military action or
war.
• Beginning in 1949 and continuing until the Soviet
Union broke up in 1991 the Cold war dictated
the U.S. and Soviet foreign policy.
Other Nations Take Sides
• In 1949, 10 western European nations joined the
U.S. and Canada to form a defensive military
alliance called NATO (North Atlantic Treaty
Organization)
– Each nation promised to defend any other member that
was attacked.
• The Soviets and the countries of Eastern
Europe made a similar agreement called the
Warsaw Pact.
• In 1961, the East Germans built a wall to separate
East and West Berlin.
• The Berlin Wall symbolized a world divided into
rival camps.
Nuclear Threat
• As these alliances were forming, the Cold War
threatened to heat up enough to destroy the world.
• In 1949, the Soviet Union announced that they,
like the United States, had developed an atomic
bomb.
• By 1952 both nations had an even more deadly
weapon—the Hydrogen Bomb.
– Thousands of times more powerful than the A-bomb.
– Rather than the splitting of atoms, its power came from
the fusion, or joining together, of atoms.
On Edge
• Soon both the United States and the Soviet
Union were involved in an Arms race, as they
produced growing numbers of nuclear weapons
and developed new ways to deliver them.
• Both countries were ready for war at anytime.
– Brinkmanship—willingness to go to the brink or edge
of war.
• Note: Dwight D. Eisenhower became the
president in 1953.
Science and Technology
• The Cold war also affected the science and
education programs of the two countries.
• August 1957, the Soviets announced the
development of a rocket that could travel great
distances – an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile
(ICBM).
• In Oct 1957, Soviet scientists shocked the world
by launching Sputnik, the world’s first
unmanned satellite, using an ICBM.
• Many Americans felt that the soviets were far
ahead in science and technology, prompting the
U.S. to start spending huge amounts of money to
improve math and science education.
– 1958, the U.S. launched its own satellite.
U2 Incident
• In 1955, President Eisenhower proposed that the
U.S. and the Soviet Union should be able to fly
over each other’s territory to guard against
surprise nuclear attacks.
– Soviet Union said no.
– U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) started secret
high-altitude spy flights over Soviet territory in planes
called U2s.
– May 1960, the Soviets shot down a U-2 plane and the
pilot was captured.
• This U2 incident heightened Cold War tensions.