Download Chapter 20 Sec 1

Confrontation of the Superpowers
After World War II, the United States
and the Soviet Union became fierce
rivals.
Confrontation of the Superpowers (cont.)
• In 1949, the United States and its European
allies formed the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization (NATO).
Confrontation of the Superpowers (cont.)
• The United States wanted the newly freed
countries of Eastern Europe to hold free
elections, hoping they would establish
democratic governments.
• In 1955, the Soviet Union and its European
allies formed the Warsaw Pact.
Confrontation of the Superpowers (cont.)
• The Soviet Union opposed the West’s plans,
fearing they would become anti-Communist,
and kept forces in the newly liberated
countries.
Confrontation of the Superpowers (cont.)
• U.S. President Harry S. Truman issued the
Truman Doctrine to persuade Greece,
Turkey, and other nations threatened by
Communist expansion to choose democratic
forms of government.
Confrontation of the Superpowers (cont.)
• U.S. secretary of state Dean Acheson
explained that the corruption of Greece
would likely spread to the nearby countries.
• The Marshall Plan was
created to prevent the
spread of communism by
providing $13 billion to
rebuild war-torn Europe.
• The Eastern European
satellite states refused
to participate.
Confrontation of the Superpowers (cont.)
• The U.S. adopted a policy of containment
to prevent further Soviet aggressive moves.
• Berlin and the rest of Germany
were divided into four zones,
each occupied by one of the
Allies—the United States, the
Soviet Union, Great Britain, and
France.
• In 1949, the Federal Republic
of Germany was formally
created in West Germany.
• The German Democratic
Republic was set up in East
Germany by the Soviets.
The Cold War Spreads
As Cold War tensions increased,
nations were forced to choose to
support the Soviet Union or the
United States.
The Cold War Spreads (cont.)
• Cold War tensions increased when China fell
to communism and the Soviet Union
exploded its first atomic bomb.
• Both sides
began
stockpiling
weapons and
building up
their armies,
resulting in
an arms
race.
The Cold War Spreads (cont.)
• The belief was that nuclear weapons were a
form of deterrence because neither side
would launch a nuclear attack knowing the
other side would be able to strike back.
• In another attempt to prevent war and
provide mutual support, military alliances
were formed throughout the world.
The Cold War Spreads (cont.)
• North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
– Formed in April 1949
– Included the United
States, Canada,
Belgium, Luxembourg,
France, the
Netherlands, Great
Britain, Italy, Denmark,
Norway, Portugal,
Iceland, West
Germany, Greece, and
Turkey
The Cold War Spreads (cont.)
• Warsaw Pact
– Formed in 1955
– Included the Soviet
Union, Albania,
Bulgaria,
Czechoslovakia,
East Germany,
Hungary, Poland,
and Romania
The Cold War Spreads (cont.)
• Southeast Asia Treaty Organization
(SEATO)
– Formed in 1954 to
prevent Soviet
aggression in the East
– Included the United
States, Great Britain,
France, Pakistan,
Thailand, the
Philippines, Australia,
and New Zealand
The Cold War Spreads (cont.)
• The Central Treaty Organization (CENTO)
– Formed in 1959 to
prevent Soviet
expansion in the
South
– Included Turkey,
Iraq, Iran, Pakistan,
Great Britain, and
the United States
The Cold War Spreads (cont.)
• In order to prevent East Berliners from
escaping to West Berlin, Nikita Khrushchev
ordered a wall to be built to divide the city.
• Fidel Castro set up a
Soviet-supported
socialist regime in Cuba.
U.S. President John F.
Kennedy authorized the
unsuccessful CIA plan to
invade Cuba at the Bay
of Pigs.
The Cold War Spreads (cont.)
• During the Cuban
missile crisis in 1962,
the United States
blockaded a fleet of
Soviet ships carrying
nuclear missiles to
Cuba. The threat of
nuclear war was
averted when the
Soviets turned back
their fleet and the
United States agreed
not to invade Cuba.
The Cold War Spreads (cont.)
• The United States became involved in the
Vietnam War to prevent the Communist
regime of North Vietnam from invading and
gaining control of South Vietnam.
The Cold War Spreads (cont.)
• U.S. policy makers believed that if one
country fell to communism, the surrounding
countries would also fall. This became
known as the domino theory.
• Vietnam helped
show the limitations
of the United States
and resulted in a
new era of
American-Soviet
relations.
THE END