Yalta Conference New United Nations

peacekeeping organization

Divided Germany Free elections in several

Eastern European nations

Potsdam Conference Met for 17 days Discussed post-war

resolutions

Yalta & Potsdam-1945

Yalta

Soviet Union enters the warJapan surrenders aboard USS Missouri,

September 2, 1945Postwar Soviet UnionCompetition between

U.S. and Soviet UnionCold War begins

End of World War II

U.S. develops atomic and hydrogen bombs

Soviets do the same Explode atomic bomb in

1949 Explode hydrogen bomb in

1953

What is a Cold War?

Bombs

Communism puts needs of state over needs of individual

Capitalism puts individual needs first

Both profess to guarantee the best way of life

Increased competition between the two superpowers

Communism vs. Capitalism

Adam Smith

Karl Marx

Plan to stop spread of communism

Truman Doctrine March 12, 1947 President asks Congress for

$400 million to assist Greece and Turkey

Containment Policy

“It must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures.”

— Harry S TrumanHarry S Truman

Marshall Plan Named after U.S. Secretary

of State Established in June 1947 Substantial U.S. aid to any nation

resisting communism Impacted 16 nations $12.5 billion in economic

assistance Considered a spectacular success

Containment Policy

George Marshall

June 1948Soviet leader Stalin

shuts down delivery of supplies to West Berlin

U.S. and British respond by airlifting supplies for almost one year

Soviets back down

Berlin Blockade

Soviet leader from 1922-1953

Led U.S.S.R. during early phase of the Cold War

Brutal dictator, killed millions of his own people

His successor, Khrushchev, denounced his politics

Joseph Stalin

Constructed by East Germans in 1961

Separated the capitalist West from the communist East

Prevented escapes to the West

Berlin Wall

Military alliance created in 194912 nations including the U.S.

and CanadaStrongest alliance in historyExpands to 15 members

by 1955Critics said the purpose

of NATO was:

“to keep the Russians out, the Germans down, and the Americans in.”

NATO

Soviet response to NATOMade up of Eastern European countriesA partial response to West Germany

joining NATOSoviet perspective

Attacked numerous times by Germany in two world wars

Distrusted global ambitions of the U.S. and Great Britain

Warsaw Pact-1955

Iron Curtain Map

single click speakerto hear audio clip >>>>>

“It is my duty however, for I am sure you would wish me to state the facts as I see them to you. It is my duty to place before you certain facts about the present position in Europe. From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe. Warsaw, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade, Bucharest and Sofia, all these famous cities and the populations around them lie in what I must call the Soviet sphere …”

— Winston Churchill

Communists vs. NationalistsMao Zedong, communist leaderChiang Kai-shek, nationalist leaderSoviets supported communistsU.S. supported nationalists The Communists were

victorious

Cold War in China

Mao Zedong

Chiang Kai-shek