Transcript Cold War
The End of World War II: Impact on World Affairs How did post-war conferences change the U.S.’s role in “policing the world”? In what ways did the use of the Atomic Bomb change diplomacy? What characteristics define a “cold war” and does this accurately describe the early years 1945-1950? Europe: 1943 Things looked bleak for most of “Allied” Europe; Germany had taken over most of the continent • Active resistance to Nazi control The Soviet Union, Japan, and Italy had allied with Germany to form the “Axis Powers” • Hoped to achieve new imperialist aims • Soviet Union would later join Allied Powers after failure to work with Germany’s demands, war aims U.S. Involvement Europeans, involved in the war since 1939, had forces revitalized by U.S. troops; one factor in the Allied victory This was also true of the campaign in the Pacific against the Japanese forces Political negotiations By 1943, The Big 3, Franklin D. Roosevelt (U.S.A.), Winston Churchill (Great Britain) and Joseph Stalin (Soviet Union) will form a union and fight together to defeat the Axis Powers. LOOK AT HANDOUT OF CONFERENCES. End of WWII: Europe The Soviets were the first to discover the Nazi “death camps” and reveal the atrocities of Hitler’s “Final Solution” (the Holocaust) April 30, 1945: Adolf Hitler committed suicide in a bunker during the Battle of Berlin. V-E Day (Victory in Europe Day) was May 7/8, 1945. These are the two days that the unconditional surrender of the Axis Powers in Europe were accepted and signed. The War in Europe was officially over. End of WWII: V-E Day End of WWII: Pacific Front During the war, US spies uncover intelligence that Germany is building an atomic weapon • Race between Axis and Allied powers to create (and use?) the first “A” Bomb • US covert project named Manhattan Project after the first meeting place of the scientists Trials carried out in New Mexico After V-E Day, significant debate over whether to use bomb as a show of force to end the war with Japan End of WWII: Nuclear War In order to bring the war to an end quickly, new President Harry S. Truman decided that a show of extreme force would end the fighting. • Estimates predicted a loss of over 1 million if fighting continued. On August 6, 1945, a B-52 fortress bomber, the Enola Gay dropped the A-bomb nicknamed “Little Boy” on Hiroshima • Japan offered an ultimatum: unconditional surrender or a second nuclear attack. August 9, 1945: second nuclear bomb called “Fat Man” was dropped on Nagasaki. Mass devastation led to surrender and on August 15, 1945, Japan signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender, ending the war. (aka V-J Day) Hiroshima devastation Nagasaki devastation End of WWII: The Rise of Superpowers At the end of the war, two clear “superpowers” emerge: the U.S. and the Soviet Union (U.S.S.R.). • Superpower—country that has the highest level of political influence and military power Despite their alliance during WWII, the US and the Soviets become enemies after the war, largely over the issue of atomic energy and the challenge of communism vs. democracy Yalta, 1945:A Divided Germany At the end of the war it was difficult to decide what to do with Germany: • Accused of starting two world wars • Britain and France feared future invasions • Economic devastation of Europe The (controversial) solution: divide Germany • Eastern (Communist) and Western (Democratic) Germany, divided by a military zone • Specifics were hammered out the following year at the Potsdam Conference Potsdam Conference, 1946 The Soviets lost millions of troops in the war and wanted power in the war’s outcome. U.S. feared the spread of communism in Asia Britain and France wanted a say, but were busy rebuilding themselves Decision to divide Germany into parts governed by major powers End of WWII: East & West Berlin The capital of Germany was Berlin, and once they divided the nation, it fell on the Soviet controlled East Germany side. As a compromise, the city of Berlin was divided into East and West Berlin. Berlin Wall, however, was not constructed until 1961 Cold War: Politics Communism is an economic system and form of government in which the government makes all of the decisions as to what will be produced, how it will be produced, and for whom it will be produced. Capitalism is an economic system in which individuals decide what to produce, how to produce, and for whom to produce. Democracy is a form of government in which the people control the government by voting. Cold War: Politics West Germany developed a capitalist economy, democratic government modeled after the US East Germany developed a communist economy and government modeled after the U.S.S.R. • Not allowed to leave borders of Sovietcontrolled Berlin into the West Beginnings of the “Cold War” Debate over Germany is the first of many problems between the Soviets and US Following the war, the Soviets also developed an atomic bomb—US and USSR in a race to control nuclear power The Cold War was a time (1945-1991) when non-cooperation between the US and Soviet Union caused a fear of communism and nuclear war (“mutual destruction”) • As opposed to a “hot” war or active fighting, this was mainly based on threats and fear Cold War: The World Takes Sides The Berlin Airlift In June 1948, the Soviets decided to seal all land routes into West Berlin; Stalin believed the Western powers were not willing to risk war Truman was faced with tough choices: • Giving up Berlin would compromise containment policy • Negotiations might suggest that the USSR could engineer a crisis to gain power and question American commitment Truman: “We are going to stay, period.” US and Britain began moving massive amounts of food and supplies into West Berlin by air • One supply plane landed in Berlin at the every 3 minutes, saving the city • American planes flew over 4,000 tons of supplies daily in "Operation Vittles” Soviets end blockade in May, 1949 With the two superpowers clearly at odds, the rest of the world felt pressure to take sides • April 1949 • “collective security”– if any one of the member states were attacked, all would retaliate together • US, Britain, France, Italy, Netherlands, Belgium, Canada, Iceland, Luxembourg, Denmark, Norway, Portugal • Despite issues with alliances and militarism during both world wars… Clear division between “democratic” and “communist” nations • Formation of political (and economic) alliances North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Warsaw Pact • May 1955 • Also based on collective security measures Cold War: The Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall became the symbol for the “Iron Curtain” The “Iron Curtain” is the term for the imaginary border between the communist nations and the members of NATO. British cartoonist Illingworth was published in the Daily Mail on 6 March 1946 Cold War: “Proxy Wars” During the Cold War the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. never technically fought each other; however, there were several “almost” events between the two: • 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis • “proxy wars” in the Middle East; proxy war--war instigated by a major power which does not itself become involved These “proxy wars” are the reason nations like Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Afghanistan have the military training and technology that they do today sources http://www.ushistory.org/us/52d.asp Susan Pojer’s US History PowerPoint Palooza