Transcript Response
The Cold War Chapter 38 WAR TIME ALIANCES BEGIN TO ERODE United States Soviet Union Truman wanted to allow Eastern Stalin’s decisions were driven by European nations to determine security concerns their own form of government Stalin wanted a buffer zone of Truman believed that countries friendly communist states to would choose democracy if protect the Soviet Union given free choice Stalin claimed Eastern Europe as a Soviet sphere of influence The U.S. and the USSR Count Up theUnited Costs of War States Soviet Union About 290,000 U.S. Soldiers died. Civilian casualties were limited to those killed or wounded at Pearl Harbor No fighting took place on US soil, no cities were bombed and no farms or factories were destroyed The U.S. economy boomed during the war As many as 20 million Soviet citizens died including 7 million soldiers Soviets starved when the Nazis invaded, stripping the countryside and torching farms and villages The Nazis leveled several Soviet cities, including Stalingrad and Kiev Differing Ideologies Shape the U.S. and the USSR United States Soviet Union The American System was based The Soviets believed in on a belief in democratic communism, which viewed governments and capitalist capitalism as an unjust system economies Communism revolves around In capitalism, individuals and single-party rule of politics and private businesses make most government control of the economic decisions economy Most property, factories, and equipment are privately owned The state owns most businesses and decided what will be produced 38.3 Key terms • Superpowers • Containment • Atomic Energy • UN Atomic Energy Commission • A nation that is so powerful that it influences or controls less powerful states. • After WW2, the US foreign policy practice of attempting to restrict the expansion of Soviet influence around the world. • The power released by a nuclear reaction • A panel established by the United Nations in 1946 to propose ways to control atomic energy and restrict the development of nuclear weapons. Section 38.3 Challenge Response Challenge Read the section introduction, Tensions Rise Between Two Superpowers,” and “New Nuclear Technologies Raise the Stakes for Both Sides,” and answer these questions: How did the two superpowers view each other in 1946? Why was the possibility of a superpower conflict a frightening one? Response Read the rest of Section 38.3, and answer these questions: What plan did the United States propose to control nuclear weapons? How did the Soviet Union respond this plan? Section 38.3 Challenge In 1946, Stalin declared that peace was impossible as long as capitalism existed. The United States feared that the USSR planned to spread communism beyond Eastern Europe to other parts of the world. The possibility of conflict between these two superpowers was frightening because of the invention of the atomic bomb. Response The United States proposed the Baruch Plan to the UN Atomic Energy commission. The plan suggested a ban on future bomb making, but it allowed the United States to retain its small nuclear stockpile. The USSR was strongly opposed to the plan. The Soviets wondered why the United States should be allowed to keep its atomic bombs while denying the USSR the right to develop its own weapons.