Essential Question: What are the origins of the tensions between the Soviet Union and the western world.

 Between › WWI › Collapse of old Euro. dynasties › Russian Rev. › Fascism and Nazism › WWII › Nuclear Bomb › End of colonial empires › Rise of commie in China

 Only 2 countries left standing › USA – unscathed, economically strong, atomic bomb › USSR – 20 million dead but controlled all of eastern Europe  Super Powers › Continental land giants › Had enormous resources › Overshadowed all other states VS.

 USSR › All capital owned by State › Given to people as needed › Public authority controlled all production and interchange  Not really commie, but world called it that  Weaknesses › Lack of freedom › Stifling of initiative

 USA › Capital owned by private persons › Private people choose channels of investment  Availability of jobs › Not purely capitalist either › Weaknesses  Periodic economic crises

 Ideological tension  Clash of interests › Diplomatic › Geopolitical › Ideological › Fall short of open or direct military conflict

 Truman’s foreign policy › containment –stopping the expansion of communism  Truman Doctrine – (1947) Speech to Congress Truman promises to support countries that rejected communism (i.e. Turkey & Greece)  Congress authorizes Truman $400 million to aide Turkey & Greece President Harry Truman

 Turkey › USSR mass troops on Turkish border  Greece › Civil war raged ( ) › Communists vs. royalists  Yugoslavia › Tito  Communists  Supports Greek communists

 WWII – Most of Western Europe lay in ruins  1947 U.S. Secretary of State George Marshall proposed that the U.S. give aid to needy countries  Marshall Plan  Provided food, machinery and other materials to rebuild Europe  Plan spectacular success encourages countries not to go communist

 Stalin ignores Yalta Agreement and builds a buffer by installing communist governments in Eastern Europe › Violated free elections  Makes Truman mad  Had agreed at Yalta  Euro. Now divided between east and west › Churchill's phrase “ Iron Curtain ” came to represent Europe's division (1946)

Churchill and the iron curtain

East = Commies West = Capitalists

 Against Japan 1945 › Invades Manchuria › In position to help Chinese Communists  Korea › Soviets liberate North › USA liberate South  Leads to Korean War ( )  Iran Soviet troops in Korea

 Leads to Korean War ( )  Iran › Iran occupied by USA, British, and USSR  To stop Nazi take over › But Soviets refuses to leave when war over  Wanted oil concessions  USA and Brits already had Soviet troops in Korea

 No intern’l reg. of Atomic weapons  Everyone scrambles to create own atomic weapon  1949 Soviets have atomic bomb  1952 both superpowers have Hydrogen bomb  Both nations begin arms race – develop more nuclear weapons and new ways to deliver them › Brinkmanship – go to the brink or edge of war

 World shudders  Post-war contest to produce more nukes and better delivery systems  A 3 rd world war was unthinkable › End of the world

 After WWII  Germany in Ruins  Split into 4 pieces and occupied › USA, Brits, USSR, France  Soviets want to keep Germany weak and divided  By 1948 France, Britain and U.S. decide to withdraw from Germany and allow it to form one nation  Allies agreed Germany should pay reparations › Soviets took the most  Allies limited Germany’s productive capacity

  Soviets hold West Berlin hostage › Soviets cut off highway, water, and rail traffic  Berlin faces starvation until U.S. and British flew food and supplies into West Berlin › for nearly 11 months  May 1949, U.S.S.R admits defeat and lifts blockade

› NATO – North American Treaty Organization (1949)  U.S., Canada & 10 Western Europe Countries (England, France, etc.) › Warsaw Pact – Soviet Union, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Albania (1955 )

 1961 Germans build Berlin Wall › Symbolizes a world divided into two camps  Some Countries stay neutral › China – largest communist country but distrust Soviets › India

 1957 Soviets launching Sputnik, first human made satellite  Americans feel Soviets were ahead in science and technology  U.S. increases spending to improve science education and land on moon first ( Space Race )

 Closing of the skies › Soviets refuse to let U.S. fly over Soviet Skies › U.S. CIA starts secret high altitude spy flights called U-2s to monitor Soviet Nukes › May 1960 Soviets shoot down U-2 plane and its pilot, is captured  HEIGHTENS COLD WAR TENSIONS