Download After WWII a conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union

Chapter 19
Section 2
The Cold War
Begins
The Roots of the Cold War
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{After WWII a conflict between the United States and the
Soviet Union developed in what came to be known as the
Cold War}
The Cold War was mostly fought on political and economic
fronts but the threat of all out war was there.
The Cold War came about over economic, political and
philosophical differences
The U.S. was a democratic, capitalist nation and the S.U.
was a communist nation
The mistrust of the S.U. was fueled by the {Soviets seizure
of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Manchuria and large areas of
land in Romania and Poland. These lands taken by the
S.U. were called satellite nations}
Continued….
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Stalin obtained the satellite nations claiming that he
needed a “buffer zone” on the S.U. western border. He
was working to spread communism throughout Eastern
Europe
Afraid of Stalin’s actions, Great Britain, France and the
U.S. tightened their control of Western Germany
Winston Churchill and State Department official/ Soviet
expert George Keenan called for closer ties between the
U.S. and G.B. to control Soviet power
Keenan suggested a {policy of containment, or restricting
the expansion of communism}
Deadlock Over Atomic Weapons
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After WWII the S.U. began to develop atomic weapons
Many Americans feared nuclear war
U.S. presidential advisor Bernard Baruch called for the
construction of an international agency that had the authority to
inspect any country’s atomic energy plants
{The Baruch Plan would penalize any country that did not follow
international rules that were related to atomic weapons}
At the same time the U.S. was striving to develop even more
powerful nuclear weapons
The S.U. rejected all inspections and tested its first atomic
weapons in 1949. {The nuclear arms race became a reality
In response, Congress passed the {Atomic Energy Act} which
created the civilian run Atomic Energy Commission to oversee
nuclear weapons research and promote peacetime uses of
atomic energy}
Nuclear Testing in the Pacific
Containment Around the World
(the Mediterranean)
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The U.S. containment policy was put to use in Greece in
1946 when communist led rebels marched on the Greek
monarchy
Meanwhile, Stalin was trying to convince Turkey to give up
control of the Dardanelles, a narrow strait that connects
the Black sea and the Mediterranean
Knowing that control of this area would give the S.U. a
dominant position in the Mediterranean, {Truman
addressed Congress in what came to be known as the
Truman Doctrine
Congress approved $400 million in aid to Greece and
Turkey}
“It must be the
policy of the
United States to
support free
peoples who
are resisting
attempted
subjection by
armed
minorities or by
outside
pressures”
-Truman
Doctrine
Containment Around the World
(in Europe)
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After WWII Europe’s economy was hurting and a horrific
winter in 1946-47 made the situation worse
{Fearing that Western Europe’s vulnerable state would
make them an easy target for communist invasion,
Secretary of State George C. Marshall, called for the U.S.
to help with European recovery}
In response, Truman asked Congress for $17 billion in aid
for Europe
Truman’s request sparked controversy until in early 1948,
Soviet communists overthrew the gov. of Czechoslovakia
Congress funded the European Recovery Program, or
Marshall Plan, in April 1948
Marshall won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1953
Crisis in Berlin
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In June of 1948, Britain, France and the U.S. combined
their zones in west Germany and announced a plan to form
a West German government
Hoping to drive the Western Powers out of Berlin, on June
24, 1948, the soviets blocked all roads, canals and railways
that linked Berlin to western Germany cutting off food, fuel
and other shipments from the city.
Western leaders responded with the {Berlin Airlift in which
British planes over the following 10 months carried more
than 2 million tons of food and supplies to the people of
West Berlin}
In May 1949 the Soviets lifted the blockade
Soon after the Federal Republic of Germany, West
Germany, and the German Democratic Republic, East
Germany were founded
This division would last for more than 40 years
The Western Alliance
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After the Berlin Crisis, America turned its attention to
military security.
In April 1949, nine Western Europe nations joined the U.S.,
Canada and Iceland in {a military alliance called the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO.
Each member pledged to defend the others in the event of
an outside attack}
In 1951, General Dwight D. Eisenhower became the
supreme commander of NATO Forces
The U.S. stationed troops in Europe giving their new ally
military aid
{The Soviet Union responded by forming their own alliances
with other communist nations in Eastern Europe. This
alliance became known as the Warsaw Pact}
A Google Earth image of a Nuclear Testing site in Nevada