Transcript 33-1-Superpowers-Face-Offx

The United States and the Soviet Union vie
for superiority, and both countries extend
their control over other nations.
The Red Guards:
China’s Teenage
Police Force
Between 1966
and 1976,
students in China’s
Red Guard
waged a Cultural
Revolution on
teachers and
professionals that
left a million
people dead and
the country in
chaos.
Red Guards holding
Mao’s “Little Red Book”
of his sayings during the
cultural revolution.
The opposing economic and political
philosophies of the United States and
the Soviet Union lead to global
competition.
• Yalta Conference: A
Postwar Plan
• In February 1945, British,
American, and Soviet
leaders meet at Yalta
• They agree to divide
Germany into zones of
occupation when WWI
ends
• Soviet leader Stalin
agrees to allow free
elections in Eastern Europe
• Creation of the United Nations
• June 1945, 50 nations form the United Nations—
an international organization
• All members are represented in the General
Assembly; 11 nations are on the Security Council
• Five permanent members have Security Council
veto power
• Differing U.S. and Soviet Goals
• U.S. and Soviets split sharply after WWII
ends
•U.S. is world’s richest and most powerful
country after WWII
• Soviets recovering from high war casualties
and had many destroyed cities
The Ideological Struggle
Soviet &
Eastern Bloc
Nations
[“Iron Curtain”]
GOAL  spread worldwide Communism
METHODOLOGIES:
US & the
Western
Democracies
GOAL  “Containment”
of Communism & the
eventual collapse of the
Communist world.
[George Kennan]
 Espionage [KGB vs. CIA]
 Arms Race [nuclear escalation]
 Ideological Competition for the minds and hearts
of Third World peoples [Communist govt. &
command economy vs. democratic govt. & capitalist
economy]  “proxy wars”
 Bi-Polarization of Europe [NATO vs. Warsaw Pact]
• Soviets Build a Buffer
• Soviets control Eastern European countries after
World War II
• Stalin installs Communist governments in several
countries
• Truman urges free elections; Stalin refuses to
allow free elections
• In 1946, Stalin says capitalism and communism
cannot co-exist
• An Iron Curtain Divides East and West
• Germany is divided; East Germany is
Communist, West Germany democratic
•Iron Curtain—Winston Churchill’s name for the
division of Europe
Churchill, Truman, and Stalin at the Potsdam Conference
Fence along the East/West Border in Germany
The nations on the eastern
side of the “Iron Curtain”
were known as the
Eastern Bloc
Preserved section of the border between East
Germany and West Germany called the "Little
Berlin Wall" at Mödlareuth
• Containment
• Containment—U.S. plan to stop the spread of
communism
• The Truman Doctrine
• Truman Doctrine—U.S. supports countries that
reject communism
• Congress approves Truman’s request for aid to
Greece and Turkey
• The Marshall Plan
• Much of Western Europe lay in ruins after World War II
• Marshall Plan—U.S. program of assisting Western European countries
• Congress approves plan after Communist takeover of Czechoslovakia
• The Berlin Airlift
• In 1948, U.S., Britain, and France withdraw forces from West
Germany
• Their former occupation zones form one country
• Soviets oppose this, stop land and water traffic into West
Berlin
• West Berlin, located in Soviet occupation zone, faces
starvation
• U.S. and Britain fly in supplies for 11 months until the
blockade ends
Berlin Blockade & Airlift (1948-49)
• The Cold War
• Cold-War—struggle of U.S. and Soviet Union
using means short of war
• Superpowers Form Rival Alliances
• In 1949, U.S., Canada, and West European
countries form NATO
• NATO—North Atlantic Treaty Organization—is a
defensive military alliance
• In 1955, Soviets and Eastern nations sign the
Warsaw Pact alliance
• In 1961, Soviets build the Berlin Wall to separate
East and West Berlin
NATO
Warsaw Pact
and
Non-aligned nations
• Note: Federal
People’s Republic
of Yugoslavia is
forced out of the
Warsaw Pact in
1948
• The Threat of Nuclear War
• Soviet Union explodes its first atomic bomb in
1949
• U.S. and Soviet Union both develop the more
powerful hydrogen bomb
• Brinkmanship—policy of willingness to go to the
edge of war
• Increasing tensions lead to military buildup by
U.S. and the Soviets
• The Cold War in the Skies
• In 1957, Soviets launch Sputnik, first
unmanned satellite. THE SPACE RACE
BEGINS!
• In 1960, Soviets shoot down American spy
plane (a U-2), increasing tensions
A replica of Sputnik 1
U-2 spy plane similar to the one shot down over the U.S.S.R.
Francis Gary Powers with a model of a U-2 spy plane.
Wreckage of Gary Powers’ U-2