Transcript The Cold War

The Cold War: 1947-1991
Clash of communist Soviet Union and
democratic United States
Post World War II
United Nations- formed after WWII
An international peacekeeping association formed in
1945 to provide international security
USA, USSR, Britain, China, France, etc. (50
countries)
The Cold War
The Big 3 (Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin) met
to determine the make-up of post-WWII Europe
at the Yalta Conference in USSR in 1945
USSR was given control of E. Europe until
free elections could be held
Germany was divided into U.S., France,
England & USSR zones
Results of the Yalta
Conference
E. European nations
became satellite
states of USSR
Germany was split
into East (communist)
and West
(democracy)
East and West Germany 1945-1990
Iron Curtain
Term coined by Churchill
Used to described the division of Europe
East and West Berlin 1945-1990
Berlin was
divided into
East (Commie)
and West
(Democracy)
Stalin and Eastern Europe
He created “buffer
states” between
USSR and the West
Cold War Policy of US and the West
Soviets (totalitarianism
and communism)
Vs
US and West (democracy
and capitalism)
US saw Soviets as a
threat to spread
communism
throughout Europe
Containment
Policy of US and West was to
“contain” (stop) the spread of
Communism: Truman
Doctrine
1947 – Pres. Truman’s economic
and military aid program to help
people resist communist
aggression
Domino Theory
If one country “falls” to
communism, soon after
its neighbor will also
become communist
Then the next neighbor
will “fall” … and so on
This was used to justify
U.S. involvement in
Europe
The Marshall Plan
US feared poor
countries of Europe
would come under
Soviet control
MP offered eco aid to
“any country that
needed it” to lessen
appeal of communism
North Atlantic Treaty Organization
(NATO)
Includes US, Canada and most of W Europe
Warsaw Pact – Defensive alliance between the
Soviet Union and its satellites
Formed in response to NATO
NATO
(Green)
and
Warsaw
Pact
(Red)
Berlin – The Wall
After the split of
Germany and Berlin,
thousands of
Germans fled to W
Berlin to escape
communist E
Germany
1961 – E Germany
built a wall to stop the
flow
The wall symbolized
the Cold War
“Checkpoint Charlie”
Brinkmanship
US Pres. Eisenhower
threatened to
“retaliate instantly” to
any Soviet aggression
This led to an arms
race
Both sides
threatened to use
all-out nuclear war
Bay of Pigs
Unsuccessful action by a CIA-trained force of
Cuban exiles to invade southern Cuba
An attempt to overthrow the Cuban government
of Fidel Castro
The rebels were defeated and taken as
prisoners
Important Results:
Gave Soviets the feeling that the US couldn’t
stop them in the Western Hemisphere
This will eventually lead to the Cuban Missile
Crisis
Cuban Missile Crisis
A thirteen-day confrontation between the Soviet
Union and Cuba on one side and the United
States on the other
JFK vs Nikita Khrushchev
The Cuban and Soviet governments began to
build bases in Cuba for medium-range and
intermediate-range ballistic nuclear missiles
(MRBMs and IRBMs) with the ability to strike
most of the continental United States.
On the brink of a nuclear war for many days
Confrontation ended when Soviets decided to
remove missiles from Cuba and US privately
removed their missiles from Turkey and Italy and
pledged to not invade Cuba
Gorbachev
Leader after Kruschev during the Reagan years
Glasnost- liberalized political landscape
Gov’t should be more honest
Perestroika- allowed for more private ownership
of land, make socialism more effective
Cold War Thaws
Gorbachev and Reagan begin meeting at the
“Geneva Summits”
Allows the Cold War to eventually end
Symbol- destruction of the Berlin Wall