Transcript Cold War

1
Background:


After WW II, the US and USSR (Communistic
Russia) emerged as rival superpowers.
Each nation was strong enough to greatly
influence world events.
2
Potsdam Conference
July 1945


Final Wartime Conference
Big Three




England = Attlee
USA = Truman
USSR = Stalin
Stalin (USSR) promised to
allow free elections in
Eastern Europe
3
Satellite Nations…



Stalin never allowed truly
free elections.
Instead, communist
governments were
installed in many Eastern
European nations.
Main Purpose?

Iron Curtain – Russia said it
was to Protect USSR from
invasion from the West
4
The Iron Curtain



Winston Churchill coined
this term Iron Curtain
describing the IMAGINARY
line that separated
Communistic East and
Democratic Western
Europe.
Famous speech on March
5, 1946 at Westminster
College, in Fulton, Missouri.
CLICK for text and video of
speech
5
Churchill’s Warning…

Churchill felt that
behind the Iron
Curtain, the USSR
was planning to
attack and conquer
Western Europe.
6
Containment Policy



George Kennan, career
Foreign Service Officer
US would not get rid of
communism, but would not
allow it to spread.
US would “contain”
communism where is
already existed.
7
8
Division of Germany


The Allies decided to
divide Germany into 4
zones after the war.
Also, the capital of
Berlin was divided into
4 sectors.

SEE next 2 slides
GERMANY
POST WWII
9
10
Problem with Berlin?

Berlin was in the
Soviet Section.

Stalin was not happy
with a “small piece”
of democracy in
Eastern Europe.

What did he do?
11
Berlin Blockade


June 1948, Stalin attempts to starve West
Berliners into submission.
All rail and street access was blocked.
12
13
Operation “Little
Vittles”


During the Berlin Airlift
a group of pilots
decided to help boost
the spirits of the
German children.
They organized a
mission to drop candy
to the children using
parachutes made of
handkerchiefs.
14
Berlin Airlift
American and
British planes flew
food and supplies
into Berlin for 327
days.
 Stalin lifted the
Blockade by May
1949.

15
North Atlantic Treaty
Organization



NATO was established by a treaty in 1949
Alliance against Communism spreading.
Original members were:


United States, the United Kingdom, Canada,
France, Denmark, Iceland, Italy, Norway, Portugal,
Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg.
Greece (1952), West Germany (1955) join also
16
The Warsaw Pact

Communist Response to NATO.



Signed on May 1, 1955 in Warsaw, Poland
Alliance if any communistic country was
attacked.
Original Members:

Albania, Bulgaria, Hungary, East Germany,
Poland, Rumania, the USSR, and the
Czechoslovak Republic.
17
18
Cold War in Asia
19
China Becomes
Communistic

Mao Zedong wanted China
to become a communist
state after WW II.

Chang Kai Shek fought
to stop the communists
but was unsuccessful.
20
Communist China
1949
1 Billion
People!
21
Intermission!!

Quick Questions:




Why the scare over Communism?
What did countries like the USA fear?
Do you think it was a legitimate fear?
Do you think we still fear communism today?
22
Cold War in America
(1945-1960)

Was there reason to be
concerned? YES!



Soviet domination of
Eastern Europe
China turned Communist
– 1 billion people!
Estimated 80,000
Americans members of
Communist party
23
Spy Cases Shock the
US

During the late 1940s
and early 1950s,
America was rocked
by sensational stories
of Americans spying
for the Soviet Union.
24
The Rosenbergs
American Communists
who were found guilty
of espionage passing
information on the
American nuclear
bomb to the Soviet
Union.
 The couple were
executed on June 19,
1953.

25
Change in Leaders



The early 1950s saw a
change in leaders in
both the US and USSR.
USA = Dwight
Eisenhower wins the
election of 1952.
USSR = Nikita
Khruschev takes over
when Stalin dies in 1953.
26
Hydrogen Bomb

US exploded the 1st
H-bomb on
November 1, 1952 in
South Pacific.


That bomb completely
destroyed one island
and left a crater 175 feet
deep.
Russians exploded
one in August of 1953.
27
28
Brinkmanship


Defined as willingness to
push nation to the “brink”
of nuclear war to keep
peace.
Policy advocated by John
Foster Dulles; Secretary
of State.
29
Quick Question

Why could
Brinkmanship be a
dangerous tactic?
30
Central Intelligence
Agency - CIA


Used spies to gather
information abroad
Began to carry out
covert operations to
weaken or overthrow
governments
unfriendly to the
United States.
31
Space Race



On October 4, 1957 the
Soviet Union
successfully launched
Sputnik I.
The world's first
artificial satellite was
about the size of a
beach ball.
Orbited the earth in 98
minutes.
Race to control space
was on!
32
U-2 Incident


U-2 was designed to be high altitude
reconnaissance (spy) plane.
CIA used these to spy on USSR and one was
shot down on May 1, 1960.
33
Francis Gary Powers



Recruited by CIA to fly
spy missions.
Shot down in U2 over
USSR and convicted of
espionage.
Exchanged for a KGB
colonel the US had
captured.
34
Cuban Missile Crisis



Moving into the 1960’s, the
Cold War was really
starting to heat up with no
end in sight.
Cuba Agrees to allow
Russia to use their land
(Cuba) to place and
possibly fire nuclear
weapons at the United
States.
Plan was avoided.
35
The Cuban Missile Crisis
36
1960’s










1960: November -- John F. Kennedy elected
President
1961: April -- Bay of Pigs invasion
1961: August 13 -- Berlin border closed
1961: August 17 -- Construction of Berlin Wall
begins
1962: -- U.S. involvement in Vietnam increased
1962: October -- Cuban Missile Crisis
1963: November -- President Kennedy
assassinated in Dallas, Texas
1964: August -- Gulf of Tonkin incident
1965: July -- Announcement of dispatching of
150,000 U.S. troops to Vietnam
1969: July 20 -- Apollo 11 lands on the moon
37
1970’s
1970: April -- President Nixon extends
Vietnam War to Cambodia
 1973: January -- Cease fire in
Vietnam between North Vietnam and
United States
 1974: August -- President Nixon
resigns
 1975: April 17 -- North Vietnam
defeats South Vietnam

38
1980s










1985: -- Mikhail Gorbachev ascends to power in Soviet Union
1986: -- Gorbachev ends economic aid to Soviet satellites
1986: October -- Reagan and Gorbachev resolve to remove
all intermediate nuclear missiles from Europe
1986: November -- Iran-Contra Affair revealed to public
1987: October -- Reagan and Gorbachev agree to remove all
medium and short-range nuclear missiles by signing treaty
1989: January -- Soviet troops withdraw from Afghanistan
1989: June -- China puts down protests for democracy;
Poland becomes independent
1989: September -- Hungary becomes independent
1989: November -- Berlin Wall falls
1989: December -- Communist governments fall in
Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, and Rumania; Soviet empire ends
39
1990s






1990: March -- Lithuania becomes independent
1990: May 29 -- Boris Yeltsin elected to presidency
of Russia
1990: October 3 -- Germany reunited
1991: April -- Warsaw Pact ends
1991: August -- End of Soviet Union Cold War
Ends
http://library.thinkquest.org/10826/timeline.htm
40
Conclusion

Write a paragraph summarizing what the
Cold War was all about.
41