Transcript Cold War - ClassNet

Origins of the Cold War
By the 1970s the US and the USSR each had enough nuclear weapons to blow
the world up several times over. Can you explain this cartoonist’s joke?
What was the Cold War?
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The strategic and
political struggle that
developed after WWII
between the United
States and it’s Western
European allies and the
Soviet Union (aka
Russia/USSR) and
Eastern European allies
The 2 Sides of Cold War
USSR
USA
East
West
Communism
Capitalism
Dictators
Democracy
East Europe
(USSR Satellites)
West Europe
(US Allies)
Warsaw Pact NATO
Characteristics of Cold War
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Suspicions between
capitalists & communists
Propaganda
Espionage - spying
Nuclear arms race
Space race
NO direct conflict
between those involved
COLD WAR MAP
USSR
USA
West Germany
and East
Germany
• Two conferences were held
in 1945 at Yalta and Potsdam
to discuss differences of
opinion (there had also been
conferences at Quebec in 1943
and 1944)
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A significant aim was also to discuss the future:
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What to do with Germany’s leaders after the war
What would happen to the occupied countries after defeat
of Nazis, especially those of Eastern Europe
How to end the war with Japan
How to build a lasting peace.
Why did the wartime
alliance breakdown?
Background to the Cold War
Damage caused by WWII
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Houses, factories, shops & entire cities destroyed by
bombing
By 1945, millions of sick, hungry & homeless &
refugees across Europe
Millions had lost their lives
Which country had
suffered most? How
did this affect its
relations with other
countries after the
war?
The USSR’s Position
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Major point: The USSR lost about
20 million people in WW2
Stalin was determined to make the USSR
secure against any future attacks - paranoid
By contrast: - Great Britain lost 370,000
- the USA lost 297,000
- Canada lost 42 000.
•Canada, meanwhile was known as a ‘middle power’ with
the world’s 3rd largest navy and 4th largest air force
Conflicting ideologies
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Before the war many countries could claim to be
superpowers: USA, USSR, Britain, Germany, Japan,
France, Italy
By 1945 only 2 clear superpowers: US & USSR
Conflicting ideologies: capitalism & communism
What joke is this
cartoonist saying
about relations
between the
Grand Alliance
after 1945?
•Canada, meanwhile was
known as a ‘middle
power’ with the world’s
3rd largest navy and 4th
largest air force
•Canada, meanwhile was
known as a ‘middle
power’ with the world’s
3rd largest navy and 4th
largest air force
Political changes in Europe
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Most European countries occupied by Germany & run
by governors
With no German govt., who would govern Europe?
Resistance movements: communist, e.g. Greece &
Turkey or non-communist e.g. France?
Rise of USA
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1941, Germany invaded Russia
Western allies delayed opening
of 2nd front
US developed atomic bomb
independently
US economic threat (50%
global manufacture)
US air & naval supremacy
Believed Communism was
undemocratic
USA’s first atomic bomb test
Rise of USSR
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1941, Germany invaded Russia
Russia fought back bravely suffering
more than 20 million deaths
Russia felt Western allies
intentionally delayed opening of 2nd
front to cause Russian suffering
US developed atomic bomb
independently and did not tell their
allies: Russia
Russia occupied most of eastern
europe after war and was
determined to keep it as a cushion
Russia explodes own atomic bomb
in 1949
Key events of the Cold War
Berlin Wall – last days
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1945, Yalta & Potsdam
conferences
Soviet expansion in E.
Europe
1946, Iron Curtain
1947, Truman Doctrine &
Marshall Plan
1949, NATO (North Atlantic
Treaty Organization)
1955, Warsaw Pact
1961, Berlin Wall
1962, Cuban Missile Crisis
Cuban Missile
Crisis