D2y1pz2y630308.cloudfront.net



Topic 15 – Postwar America (1945-1975)

Lesson 15.1 – The Beginning of the Cold War (Vocabulary& Notes)

Key Terms (Vocabulary)

1. Cold War - after World War II, the long period of

intense rivalry between the Soviet Union and the United States

2. satellite nation - a nation that is dominated politically and

economically by a more powerful nation

3. containment - the policy of trying to prevent the spread of

Soviet influence beyond where it already existed

4. Truman Doctrine - President Truman’s policy of giving

American aid to nations threatened by communist expansion

5. Marshall Plan - an American plan to help European nations

rebuild their economies after World War II

6. Berlin Airlift - an American and British relief effort to

airlift supplies to West Berliners from 1948-1949

7. Berlin Wall - the wall built by the communist East

German government in 1961 to seal off East Berlin from West Berlin

8. North Atlantic Treaty Organization-(NATO) an alliance formed in 1949 by the

US and Western European nations to fight Soviet aggression

9. Warsaw Pact - a military alliance, established in 1955, of

the Soviet Union and other communist states in Europe

10. United Nations - (UN) a world organization established in

1945 to provide peaceful resolutions to international conflicts

11. iron curtain - a term coined by Winston Churchill to

describe the border between the Soviet satellite nations and Western Europe

Lesson 15.1 – The Beginning of the Cold War

Obj: to explain why the United States took a leadership role in the world after World War II; to summarize how the Cold War began; to describe US response to Soviet expansion; to analyze how the crisis over Berlin led to new Cold War alliances; to identify the events during 1949 that increased Cold War tensions

The devastation of World War II left a different world in its wake, leaving only the United States and the Soviet Union strong enough to exert global influence

However, the differences between the two countries led to a new kind of war.

They did not clash directly in battle.

Instead, they competed for power and influence around the world.

THE CAUSE OF THE COLD WAR

The immense rivalry between the US and Soviets became known as the Cold War

• it lasted for nearly 50 years

• pitted the West

o US and its allies

• Against

• the East

o Soviets Union and its allies

• Did not involve an actual armed conflict

• The rivalry did, however, lead to conflict around the globe

The US quickly assumed a leadership role post World War II world as it attempted to stop the further spread of communism.

Both nations moved to build up their military and weapons

Distrust on Both Sides

Tensions among the Allies (the US, Britain, and the Soviet Union) began before the war ended

• US and Britain distrusted the Soviets

o Disliked communist rejection of religion and private property

o Angered at Soviet attempts to overthrow non-communist governments

▪ Soviets boasted that communism would soon destroy free enterprise systems around the world

• The Soviets distrusted the Western powers

o Feared that the US (now the world’s most powerful nation) would use its military to attack them

o Feared it would try to rebuild Germany in order to challenge them

The Question of Eastern Europe

Before WWII ended:

• Soviet armies drove German forces out of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe

• Drove them back to Germany

• Soviet troops occupied most of Eastern Europe

Stalin:

• Promised to hold free elections “as soon as possible” in these Eastern European nations.

• He soon broke that promise “a freely elected government in any of the Eastern European countries would be anti-Soviet, and that we cannot allow”

1948 –

• Communists controlled the government of every Eastern European nation

• Except for Yugoslavia, these countries became satellite nations of the Soviet Union

o In each satellite nations, the Soviets backed harsh dictators

o Citizens who protested were imprisoned or killed

Communism Gains Ground

Winston Churchill had warned against Soviet expansion into Eastern Europe.

He stated “From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent”

• The “iron curtain” Churchill described cut off Soviet-run Eastern Europe from the democratic governments in the West

Western fears of communism deepened:

• Communist parties achieved success in other parts of Europe

• Italian communists won many seats in the Italian parliament

• Communist rebels waged a civil war in Greece to topple the government

• Communist-led unions conducted strikes that paralyzed the weak economies

[pic]

THE AFTERMATH OF WAR

President Harry S. Truman was determined to keep Soviet influence contained within existing boundaries.

So his Cold War policy was known as containment.

The Truman Doctrine

March 1947 –

• President Truman asked Congress for $400 million in military and economic aid for Greece and Turkey.

• Eventually with American aid, both countries held off communist threats

• The Truman Doctrine –

o Program encouraged nations to resist communist expansion

The Marshall Plan

Other European nations needed aid too

From the war, Europe’s homes, roads, and factories lay in ruins.

Secretary of State – George Marshall

• Toured Europe

• Saw millions of homeless, hungry refugees

• He feared that under these conditions people would turn to communist revolutions

• June 1947 –

o The Marshall Plan

▪ Ambitious plan to help Europe rebuild

▪ The President and Congress accepted this plan

o Between 1948 and 1952

▪ Marshall provided more than $12 billion in aid to Western European countries

▪ By this aid, it helped reduce the threat of communist revolutions in Western Europe

A Divided City

1948 –

• Crisis in Berlin

o Germany’s largest city

• The Allies had divided Germany into four zones

o American

o British

o French

o Soviet

• Berlin, too, became divided among the four Allies, even though it lay inside the Soviet zone.

• The United States, Britain, and France wanted to reunite their zones in Belin and the rest of Germany

o Stalin opposed the plan

▪ he felt a reunited Germany would again be a threat to the Soviet Union

▪ to show his determination to prevent a united West Germany, he closed:

• all roads

• railway lines

• river routes

o all that connected West Berlin with West Germany

▪ the blockade cut off West Berlin from American, British,, and French aid

Sending Supplies to West Berlin

President Truman would not let West Berlin fall into Soviet hands.

At the same time, he did not want to order American troops to open a path in West Berlin through the Soviet occupied zone.

• That move could trigger a war

Instead, Truman approved a huge airlift:

• The Berlin Airlift

o Hundreds of American and British planes carried tons of food, fuel, and other supplies to the two million West Berliners every day

▪ For almost a year

• Stalin saw that the West would not abandon West Berlin

o May 1949 –

▪ He lifted the blockade

▪ The US, Britain, and France merged their zones in the west

• The Federal Republic of Germany, or West Germany

▪ The US, Britain, and France merged their zones in Berlin as well to form West Berlin, separate from but closely tied to West Germany

The Berlin Wall

Throughout the 1950s, both Germany and Berlin would remain divided.

With American aid,

• West Germany rebuilt its economy

• Became prosperous

In time, the Soviet zone became:

• German Democratic Republic, or East Germany

East Germany:

• much poorer than West German

• had a communist government

• for years, they fled communism by crossing into West Berlin

o this embarrassed the communists

1961 –

• the East German government built a huge concrete wall topped with barbed wire

o the Berlin Wall

▪ sealed off East Germany from West Berlin

▪ East Germans who tried to scale the wall were shot by East German border guards

▪ Cut off contact between families and friends

▪ Became a bitter symbol of the Cold War that divided Europe and the world

[pic]

POSTWAR ALLIANCES

New military alliances emerged during the Cold War.

A world peacekeeping organization was also established.

NATO and the Warsaw Pact

To contain Soviet influences:

• US set up alliances with friendly nations

• 1949 –

o The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was formed

▪ the US joined with many Western European countries

▪ its goal, to defend Western Europe against any Soviet threat

• 1955 –

o The Warsaw Pact

▪ The Soviet Union formed its own military alliance

▪ It also dominated its Warsaw Pact neighbors, forcing them to follow its policies

The United Nations

Many disputes were brought before a new world organization.

• The United Nations (UN)

o October 1945 –

▪ 51 nations ratified the UN charter

▪ It expanded as new nations were admitted

• Under the UN charter:

o Member nations to bring disputes before the body for peaceful settlement.

o Every member has a seat in the General Assembly

▪ Problems are discussed

o A smaller Security Council

▪ Also discusses conflicts that threaten peace

• Over the years:

o UN had succeeded best in fighting hunger and disease and improving education

o UN relief programs provided food, medicine, and supplies to victims of:

▪ Famine

▪ War

▪ Other disasters

o Preserving peace has proven more difficult

▪ Some nations rejected UN resolutions for courses of actions

• Resolutions are formal recommendations

▪ Still, UN negotiators and peacekeeping forces have sometimes eased dangerous crises

Communist Advancements

Until 1949 –

• Most Americans felt they had an upper hand in the Cold War

o the only country with the atomic bomb

September 1949 –

• Soviet Union

o tested an atomic bomb

• China

o Communist leader Mao Zedong gains power

o UN backed leader Chiang Kai-shek

▪ After a long civil war Mao was triumphant over Kai-shek

October 1949 –

• China under Mao set up the People’s Republic of China

o Chiang Kai-shek and his forces retreated to Taiwan

Communist leaders in China and the Soviet Union often disagreed with each other.

Yet, they both controlled almost a quarter of the globe.

Many Americans learned that communism would spread still further.

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download