Transcript Soviet Perspective PPT

SOVIET UNION
PERSPECTIVE
The Cold War
TODAY’S OBJECTIVE
• After today’s lesson, students will be able to…
• Discuss the beginning of the Cold War from the Soviet perspective by analyzing
primary source documents.
• Essential Skill:
• To consider multiple points of view
2014 Figures
U.S. Spent $32.2
Billion on
Humanitarian Aid
U.S. AID TODAY
• Considering the current state of the world (US War on Terror), what should the
priorities of the United States in providing foreign aid? Consider each of the following
forms of aid and rank them from most (1) to least (6) important
• Humanitarian aid (food, clothing, medicine, etc.) to nations experiencing droughts, earthquakes, civil
wars, and other disasters
• Cash grants to poor developing nations
• Loans to poor developing nations
• Civilian advisors to provide assistance in building the economy and democracy in poor developing
nations
• US military bases and troops in strategic countries around the world
• Military arms and equipment to countries threatened by terrorists
WINSTON CHURCHILL’S
“IRON CURTAIN”
• German fascist threat replaced by Soviet
communist threat
• Authoritarian, communist dominated
governments – Soviet proxies
• Soviet (communist) expansion will test the
resolve of America (democracy/free will)
DOCUMENTS
• Working with your partner analyze the primary source documents and
answer the coinciding questions
• Where indicated take the perspective of KGB specialist and create a
response
• Keep in mind, the USSR had lost 30 million men in WWII. Stalin felt
security for his country was best obtained by creating a barrier between
the USSR and Western Europe
TRUMAN DOCTRINE
• “It must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples
who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by
outside pressure.”
- President Truman
MARSHALL PLAN
• Collective European effort (financed by the U.S.) to rebuild war-torn
Europe
• $13 billion in economic aid to sixteen Western European nations
• Provide humanitarian aid
• Prevent worldwide economic depression
• STOP THE SPREAD OF COMMUMISM
THE MARSHALL PLAN AIDED
WESTERN EUROPE
• Marshall Plan proved to be a great success
• Within 4 years, countries receiving aid saw a 41% higher industrial
production than on the eve of WWII
• Countries were stabilized and exports were rising rapidly
THE MARSHALL PLAN AIDED
WESTERN EUROPE
• US Benefited
• U.S Government bought foods and goods from farms to be sent to Europe
• U.S. farms and factories raised production to record levels.
• U.S. economy continued its wartime boom without faltering
• W. Europeans became great consumers of American exports.
THE “X” ARTICLE
• State Department official George Kennan using the pseudonym “Mr. X,”
publishes an article
• The article focused on Kennan’s call for a policy of containment toward
the Soviet Union and established the foundation for much of America’s
early Cold War foreign policy.
NSC-68
• National Security Council Report 68 (NSC-68)
• Top secret policy paper issued on April 14, 1950
• Largely shaped U.S. foreign policy in the Cold War for the next 20 years
• Involved a decision to increase the pressure of Containment against global
Communist expansion a high priority
• It rejected the alternative policies of friendly Détente or aggressive rollback
AMERICA’S COLD WAR
STRATEGY
• Brinkmanship:
• Flexing of military “muscle” in response to Soviet threats
• Containment:
• Prevent the further spread of communism to more countries around the world
• Economically
• Politically
• Socially
• Military
REFLECTION
• How might the United States’ Cold War foreign policy initiatives been
interpreted by the Soviet Union?
• How might the US’s foreign policy documents furthered the tensions
of the Cold War?