Hot War Ends-Cold War Begins

Former Allies Clash Yalta: Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Joseph Stalin met in February 1945 at the Yalta Conference to discuss postwar peace. At the conference they agreed to divide and occupy Germany after the war. Stalin promised free elections for Eastern Europe. The former allies were now bitterly divided based on ideological differences. The Soviet Union wanted to gain territory since they were on the winning side and the non-communist nations wanted to contain the Soviets from spreading. Both sides distrusted and feared each other. Soviets - angry with the U.S. and British for not opening a second front earlier, and with U.S. for keeping the development of the atomic bomb a secret. U.S. – angry with Stalin for having signed a treaty with Hitler before WWII

United Nations April – June 1945, the United Nations (UN) is established with hopes of promoting world peace. Instead, the UN became a place where the two superpowers (the U.S. and Soviet Union) competed and tried to influence other nations.

Tensions Mount In July 1945, the big three (Truman=United States, Stalin=Soviet Union, and Attlee= Great Britain) met at a final wartime conference at Potsdam near Berlin. The Soviet Union it was clear did not plan to keep its promise of free elections. Stalin set up communist governments in the Eastern European nations occupied by the Soviets. These nations became satellite nations, countries that depended on and were dominated by the Soviet Union. Stalin claimed they needed a buffer of friendly nations around them to protect them from their former allies, United States, Great Britain, and France. Former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill said that an iron curtain had been drawn across Europe. This name came to represent the ideological differences between Communist and non-Communist nations.

Cold War Began after World War II Rivalry between United States and the Soviet Union

Cold War in Europe France, Great Britain, and Germany were devastated from the war. But when the war ended two new super-power nations emerged – the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic Ideologically opposite. The USSR was a communist country and the U.S. was a democracy. The former allies were now wary enemies of each other based on social and political ideology. The rivalry between these two countries began what is called the Cold War, a state of hostility between two superpowers without military action. It lasted more than forty years and drove the economy and foreign policy of both nations.

The Truman Doctrine The Truman Doctrine 1947 offered military or economic aid to any European nation threatened by Communism. It marked the beginning of containment (preventing the spread of communism) that became the dominant foreign policy until the collapse of Communism. The Doctrine was used to successfully prevent Communism from taking over Greece and Turkey.

The Marshall Plan A. After the surrender of Germany in 1945 European economies were in shambles. U.S. Secretary of State George C. Marshall warned that the United States needed to help European countries rebuild or else Communism would spread. B. The European Recovery Plan or Marshall Plan was a turning point in American foreign policy. Eastern European nations under Communist control were offered aid, but were forbidden by communist leaders to accept it. C.Just as the New Deal Policies changed American domestic policy the Marshall was significant because it marked the beginning of new foreign policy. The Marshall Plan of giving economic aid to other countries set a lasting standard in foreign policy. The United States continues to send aid to countries in times of natural disasters and civil wars.

Marshall Plan for European Recovery

Struggle over Germany By June 1948, the non-Soviet zones of Germany were recovering In hopes of isolating West Berlin and taking over the entire city, the USSR blockaded the roads, rivers, and all land access to Berlin. The British and Americans countered with the Berlin Airlift, an effort to fly supplies to West Berlin The Berlin Airlift was successful, and forced the Soviets to ended the blockade in The next Soviet move was to build a wall dividing western-held Berlin from communist-held Berlin. The Soviets began by building a barbed wire fence. The barbed wire eventually became a concrete wall complete with guard watch towers

Berlin Airlift June 1948-May 1949

The Growth of the Berlin Wall

Alliances Just as on the eve of World War I, nations again sought means to make sure that if they were attacked someone would come to their aid. The United States, Canada, Iceland and the non-communist European nations formed a military alliance called the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). NATO was a military alliance comprised of countries who agreed to defend each other if one was attacked by the USSR The Soviet Union countered with the Warsaw Pact. An alliance with its satellite nations in The United States had come full circle from the period of isolation and non entangling alliances that George Washington had warned against in his farewell address to become a world leader in the twentieth century.

NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization