The Cold War

Origins and Early Years

What was the Cold War?

• The Cold War was a period of intense hostility between the US and the USSR that stopped just short of actual war

• It lasted from 1945-1989

Origins of the Cold War• The US and the USSR had a history of mistrust

– They had very different economic and political ideas

• They had cooperated during the war when they had a common enemy

• However, disputes arose once the war was ending at two conferences: Yalta and Potsdam– They disagreed about many things, like who should have

control over Eastern Europe– This early rivalry grew into a larger conflict: the Cold War

The Origins of the Cold War:Yalta and Potsdam

Potsdam Agreement? Results

Yalta Agreement Changes

http://www.authentichistory.com/1950s/speeches/19460305_Winston_Churchill_Iron_Curtain_Speech.html

How did both sides try to become more powerful during the Cold War?

• Build Alliances

• Spread their ideas

• Acquire the most weapons

• Win non-war competitions– Space, Sports

• Win proxy wars– Korea, Afghanistan

The Iron Curtain• In 1946, Winston Churchill gave a famous

speech about the start of the Cold War

• He said that an “iron curtain” had fallen across Europe– What do you think he meant by this?

Truman Doctrine (1947)• The US must take

responsibility for defending “free peoples who are resisting subjugation” throughout the world

• Often in the form of economic and military aid

• Why so significant?

Marshall Plan (1948)• Named after George Marshall,

the US Secretary of State• Gave billions to help Europe

recover from the war• Enacted to prevent any legal

Communist takeovers in Europe

Containment

• The general policy of the US towards the USSR during the Cold War– The US wanted to

prevent the spread of Communism by firm resistance

• How do you think the Soviets viewed Truman and his policies?

The First Problem of the

Cold War:

The Division of Germany

Occupied Germany

Berlin, though in the Soviet section, had been

divided too.In 1948, Stalin begins a blockade of West BerlinWhat should be done?

The Solution: The Berlin Airlift

                           

          

(united streaming video)

1949: A Busy YearDeterrence:Using the threat of a massive counter-strike to prevent an attack from an enemy; requires both sides to stockpile huge amounts of weapons

Results in a Climate of Fear…http://www.archive.org/details/DuckandC1951

Korean War (1950-53)

• North Korea invades South Korea to establish a Communist regime

• US sends troops to help the South

• The fighting results in a stalemate

• What is the significance?(united streaming video)

1953-1955

• Stalin is replaced by Nikita Khrushchev • The Warsaw Pact is

created• Most Eastern European

states join a military pact with the USSR

Sputnik Space Race

Berlin Wall• Ordered by Nikita

Khrushchev • Built to stop flow

of refugees to West Berlin

• Symbol of the Cold War

• http://www.learningcurve.gov.uk/coldwar/G4/cs4/s3.htm

http://www.newseum.org/cybernewseum/exhibits/berlin_wall/index.htm

You are the President of the United States, and a spy plane has just brought back this photo

from a run over Cuba—what do you do?

Cuban Missile Crisis• The Soviets supplied Cuba (a recent convert to

Communism) with missiles that could hit the US

• Kennedy and Khrushchev succeed in defusing the situation through letters and a naval blockade

• VERY tense moment in the Cold War

By the 1980s, this is how the world was divided:

If we finish…

Interactive Quizzes:

http://www.schoolhistory.co.uk/lessons/coldwar/truman_matchup.html