Unit 5 sec.1 World War II Ends and the Cold War Begins

The United Nations (UN) Created in 1945 Established to promote peace throughout the world Comprised of 50 nations Served as a forum for the US and USSR to spread their influence over other nations

US Adopts Containment Policy in February 1946 President Truman announces that he is going to stop “babying the Soviets” Containment Policy involves taking actions to prevent the spread of communism to new nations

U.S. and U.S.S.R. Relations Cool The two superpowers have very different political and economic systems Without Germany as a common enemy, their forced friendship falls apart They view each other with suspicion and fear

COLD WAR Called the COLD WAR This starts the period of a state of tension between the Soviet Union and the Unites States without actual war. Called the COLD WAR

Iron Curtain Speech Delivered in 1946 Winston Churchill’s speech describes a strongly divided Europe States the new threat to democracy is from Moscow Describes Stalin as having drawn an “iron curtain” across the eastern half of Europe.

Stalin has drawn an Iron Curtain from the Baltic Sea to the Adriatic Sea with his satellite nations

The Truman Doctrine March 12, 1947 “…it must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures.” --Harry S. Truman ~ The World will be the “global policeman” and provide major aid to Greece and Turkey to oppose communism and outside pressure. This unilateral declaration effectively transformed the United States into a global policeman facing an almost limitless confrontation with the Soviet Union and its allies. It laid the foundation for American Cold War Policy that would endure for the next four decades.

The Marshall Plan June 1947 Secretary of State George Marshall Provides economic aid to war ravaged Europe Designed to end the economic devastation in Europe before they can be exploited by communist revolutionaries Sixteen countries receive $17 billion in aid over 5 years

This map shows the countries that were part of the Marshall Plan This map shows the countries that were part of the Marshall Plan. Almost all European nations outside the Soviet bloc were members of the plan from the beginning. The two exceptions were Spain, which as a dictatorship under Franco was not invited to participate, and West Germany, which was under Allied occupation and did not become a full member until 1949, after a significant measure of self-government had been restored. Graphs on the map compare agriculture, industry, and foreign-trade levels in 1950, the midpoint of the Marshall Plan, with prewar production in 1938.

Conflict Arises Over Germany World War II divided Germany into 4 zones occupied by America, France, Britain and the Soviet Union 1948 America, France and Britain combine zones In June, Stalin closes all highway access to Berlin

Berlin Airlift Saves the City Berlin has enough food and fuel for its 2.1 million residents to last 5 weeks America and Britain begin flying in supplies around the clock May 1949, Soviets lift the blockade but Western Europeans are fearful of future aggression The Candy Bomber

NATO Established April 1949 Fear of a Soviet invasion of Western Europe unites 8 Western European Nations with the U.S. and Canada Becomes the first U.S. military alliance during peacetime North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

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Interpreting Political Cartoons That’s not funny! I don’t get it! Ask yourself: What is the subject? Who are the main characters? What symbols are being used? What does the caricature tell you? What is the cartoonists message?

June 5, 1942

Can He Block It? ~ 1947

March 14, 1948

Ronald Reagan Commercial

Ringer #1 America saw Communism as a terrifying threat. What exactly was America afraid of?