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A Cold War
US History/Napp
Name: __________________
“After World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union emerged as rival
superpowers, each strong enough to greatly influence world events. The United States and
the Soviet Union, however, had very different ambitions for the future. These differences
created a climate of icy tension that plunged the two countries into a bitter rivalry. Under
Soviet communism, the state controlled all property and economic activity, while in the
capitalistic American system; private citizens controlled almost all economic activity. In the
American system, voting by the people elected a president and a congress yet in the Soviet
Union, the Communist Party established a totalitarian government with no opposition.
Even during the war when the Soviets and Americans were allies, there was mistrust.
Relations worsened even more after Stalin learned that the United States had kept its
development of the atomic bomb secret. In spite of these problems, hopes for world peace
were high at the end of the war. The most visible symbol of these hopes was the United
Nations (UN). On April 25, 1945, the representatives of 50 nations met in San Francisco to
establish this new peacekeeping body. After two months of debate, on June 26, 1945, the
delegates signed the charter establishing the United Nations.
For the United States, the key figure in the early years of conflict with the Soviets was
President Harry S. Truman. On April 12, 1945, Truman had suddenly become president
when Franklin Roosevelt died. Truman’s test as a diplomat came in July 1945 when the
Big Three – the United States, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union – met at the final
wartime conference at Potsdam near Berlin. The countries that participated were the same
ones that had been present at Yalta in February 1945. At Yalta, Stalin had promised
Roosevelt that he would allow free elections in Poland and other parts of Eastern Europe
that the Soviets occupied at the end of the war. By July 1945, however, it was clear that
Stalin would not keep this promise. The Soviets prevented free elections in Poland and
banned democratic parties. The Soviets established communist governments in Eastern
Europe, known in the West as Soviet satellites.
Faced with the Soviet threat, American officials decided it was time, in Truman’s words,
to stop ‘babying the Soviets.’ In February 1946, George F. Kennan, an American diplomat
in Moscow, proposed a policy of containment. By containment he meant taking measures to
prevent any extension of communist rule to other countries. This policy began to guide the
Truman administration’s foreign policy. Europe was now divided into two political regions,
a mostly democratic Western Europe and a communist Eastern Europe. In March 1946,
Winston Churchill traveled to the United States and gave a speech that described the
situation in Europe. Churchill said, ‘From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic,
an iron curtain has descended across the Continent.’ ~ The Americans
1. The Cold War refers to
2. Containment was a U.S. policy that
(1) Fighting between Soviets and Americans sought to
(2) Tensions between Soviets and Americans (1) Encourage the spread of colonialism
(3) Nuclear proliferation in developing
(2) Prevent the spread of democracy
nations
(3) Stop the spread of Communism
(4) Nuclear proliferation in Western Europe (4) Stop the spread of mercantilism
The Cold War, 1945 – 1991:
 Rivalry between the U.S.A. and the Soviet Union
 Ideological differences; capitalism vs. communism/dictatorship vs. democracy
Why Americans Feared Communism:
 Karl Marx, the founder of Communism, believed that the history of the world was a
history of class struggle and that the final stage of history was the struggle between
the bourgeoisie (capitalists) and proletariats (workers); Soviet Union was the first
communist nation – established in 1917
 Marx believed in the abolition of private property
 Marx believed in economic equality
 Marx believed in a dictatorship of the proletariat until dictatorship withered away
 Marx believed that religion was the opiate of the masses
The Yalta and Potsdam Conferences:
 Yalta Conference (February 1945): Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin agreed on
formation of United Nations and the division of Germany into separate occupation
zones; they agreed on free elections in countries liberated from German rule
 Potsdam Conference (summer of 1945): When Truman met with Stalin, serious
differences emerged over Eastern Europe and Stalin refused to allow elections in
Poland and the U.S.A. refused to share the secrets behind atomic bomb; Soviets
placed Communists in power in all the governments of Eastern Europe thus an Iron
Curtain fell over Eastern Europe as Soviet satellites were controlled by U.S.S.R.
Containment:
 U.S.A. policy to stop the spread of communism
Truman Doctrine:
 In 1947, when Communist rebels threatened the governments of Greece and
Turkey, President Truman gave these countries military aid
 Marked the beginning of America’s containment policy
Marshall Plan, 1948:
 Massive aid given to the countries of war-torn Europe to rebuild their economies,
avoid the chaos that followed World War I, and stop the spread of communism
Division of Germany and Berlin Airlift, 1948:
 In 1948, the French, British, and Americans decided to merge their German zones
 Berlin, the old capital of Germany, was in the Soviet zone
 The Soviets reacted to the merging of the Western zones by closing all highway and
railroad links to West Berlin
 The Western Allies refused to abandon Berlin, and began a massive airlift to feed
the city thus within a year, Stalin lifted the blockade
1- What ideological differences existed between the U.S.A. and the Soviet Union?
________________________________________________________________________
2- Identify three beliefs of Karl Marx:
________________________________________________________________________
3- When was communism established in the Soviet Union? _______________________
4- If Americans and Soviets had such profound ideological differences, why were they
allies during World War II?
________________________________________________________________________
5- What was decided at the Yalta Conference?
________________________________________________________________________
6- What differences emerged during the Potsdam Conference?
________________________________________________________________________
7- What was the Iron Curtain?
________________________________________________________________________
8- What were Soviet satellites?
________________________________________________________________________
9- Why did Stalin want communist governments established in Eastern Europe?
________________________________________________________________________
10- Explain the U.S. policy of containment.
________________________________________________________________________
11- What was the Truman Doctrine?
________________________________________________________________________
12- What happened in 1947?
________________________________________________________________________
13- What was the Marshall Plan?
________________________________________________________________________
14- Why was the Marshall Plan established?
________________________________________________________________________
15- What happened in 1948?
________________________________________________________________________
16- In what sector of Germany was Berlin located?
________________________________________________________________________
17- How did the Soviets react to the merging of the Western zones of Germany?
________________________________________________________________________
18- Describe the Berlin Airlift.
________________________________________________________________________
19- What was the outcome of the Berlin Airlift?
________________________________________________________________________
The Warsaw Pact:
 In response to the formation of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization in
1949), the Soviets created their own Cold War Alliance known as the Warsaw Pact
China Falls to Communism, 1949:
 In 1949, the Communists, led by Mao Zedong, defeated the Nationalist government
 The Nationalists fled to the island of Taiwan
The Korean War, 1950 – 1953:
 After World War II, Korea had been divided into two zones
 North Korea: Communist
 South Korea: non-Communist
 1950: North Korea invaded South Korea
 Truman sent General Douglas MacArthur to Korea
1- MacArthur attacked North Korea, advancing to the border between North Korea
and China
2- This brought a large Chinese army into the war, forcing MacArthur to retreat
3- MacArthur wanted to recapture China from Communists and use atomic bomb
4- Truman disagreed
5- MacArthur publicly criticized Truman
6- Truman dismissed MacArthur
 An armistice was signed in 1953, ending the war
1- Korea was divided exactly as it had been
1- What was NATO?
________________________________________________________________________
2- What was the Warsaw Pact?
________________________________________________________________________
3- What happened in 1949?
________________________________________________________________________
4- What happened in 1950?
________________________________________________________________________
5- Why was the U.S. able to pass a resolution sending U.N. troops to South Korea?
________________________________________________________________________
6- Why was it significant that U.N. troops were sent to South Korea?
________________________________________________________________________
7- Why did a large Chinese army enter the Korean conflict?
________________________________________________________________________
8- What did MacArthur want?
________________________________________________________________________
9- Why did MacArthur publicly criticize Truman?
________________________________________________________________________
10- How did Truman respond to MacArthur?
________________________________________________________________________
1. The Truman Doctrine and the
3. After World War II, the United States
Marshall Plan represented attempts
departed most sharply from its traditional
by the United States to deal with the
foreign policy when it
(1) national debt
(1) stopped foreign-aid programs
(2) spread of communism
(2) sponsored disarmament treaties
(3) President’s political opposition
(3) organized global systems of alliances
(4) arms race
(4) recognized revolutionary
governments
2. “An attack on one shall be
considered an attack on all.” This
4. Shortly after World War II, the cold war
statement summarizes the foreign
developed mainly as a result of the
policy known a
(1) United States refusal to send economic
(1) colonialism
aid to European nations
(2) nonalignment
(2) Soviet domination of Eastern Europe
(3) appeasement
(3) Competition between the superpowers to
(4) collective security
explore outer space
(4) Continuation of the pre-World War II
balance of power