The Cold War

The Cold War How do you define this period of history? The Cold War was the period of conflict, tension and competition between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies from the mid-1940s until the early 1990s. Throughout the period, the rivalry between the two superpowers was played out in multiple arenas: military coalitions; ideology, psychology, and espionage; sports; military, industrial, and technological developments, including the space race; costly defense spending; a massive conventional and nuclear arms race; and many proxy wars. There was never a direct military engagement between the US and the Soviet Union, but there was half a century of military buildup as well as political battles for support around the world, including significant involvement of allied and satellite nations in proxy wars.

Some questions to consider… Who won WW II? At the end of April, 1945, the American and Russian troops met in Germany. The Russians came from the east and the American/allies from the west. Hitler committed suicide on April 30, 1945 in Berlin. 2 days later, the Soviets controlled the city. On May 7, 1945, the Germans formally surrendered to General Eisenhower. What was a fundamental difference between the the Soviet Union and the other main Allied powers?

The Scene after WW II Towards the end of the war, the Allies met to decide how the areas formerly controlled by Germany would be ruled. Germany would be split into four sections.

Berlin The capital city of Berlin would be divided as well. Berlin was within the borders of East Germany

Eastern Europe would fall under the influence of the Soviet Union.

What countries in Eastern Europe fell under Soviet control? These countries were called the Warsaw Pact countries

The Iron Curtain “From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent.” Winston Churchill 1946

After the war, the United States becomes increasingly concerned with keeping communism from spreading. An important piece of philosophy to remember: part of the ideal of communism was that it should spread throughout the world.

From ABC-CLIO: “Marx did not invent the idea of communism, but he did give it new meaning. In a communist society, the community owns political and economic power, and the wealth is distributed among the people according to need. Marx went one step further. He said that communism was destined to take over the nations of the world based on his reading of history, and he called for the ‘workers of the world to unite’ to overthrow their capitalistic enslavement.”

Containment Describes the policy that the United States adopts after WW II to keep communism within its existing borders.

I. Truman Doctrine President Truman delivers speech in 1947 to drum up financial support for anti-communist forces in Greece and Turkey His policy of containing communism Provides the blueprint for future US policy towards communism

"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.” President Harry Truman, 1947

Compare On Dec. 31, 1946, President Truman declared an end to the period of World War II hostilities. Early in 1947 the British said they could not support the Greek government after March 31. Many diplomats feared that the Soviet Union would then spread its power throughout the Middle East. President Truman met the problem by asking Congress for 400 million dollars to aid Greece and Turkey. Congress appropriated the money. This policy of aid, popularly known as the Truman Doctrine, was an American challenge to Soviet ambitions throughout the world. The United States responded with the Truman Doctrine, the name given to a speech Truman gave to Congress in the spring of 1947, in which he asked for $400 million in military and economic aid to Greece and Turkey. Truman said the U.S. must help "free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures." In fact, the biggest outside pressure was the United States. The Greek rebels were getting some aid from Yugoslavia, but no aid from the Soviet Union. Is there a difference in perspective in these 2 accounts?

Town in Holland flooded after the dam that protected it was destroyed in WW II

Post-war destruction in Norway

II. Marshall Plan Named for Secretary of State George Marshall Plan to give financial aid to countries of Europe trying to recover from World War Two Beyond philanthropy, the plan was meant to establish US influence in the area, rather than Soviet influence

Cartoon drafted after Marshall made his speech proposing that the US give financial aid to Europe. Congress had not yet approved the funding.

Video Clip http://www.worldhistory.abc-clio.com/Search/Display.aspx?categoryid=33&searchtext=truman+doctrine&type=simple&option=all&entryid=344766&issublink=true&fromsearch=false Question: Does it seem as if this policy of economic aid was guided by any particular lesson of history?

New Alliances As the Western powers consider how to contain communism, they join together militarily.

NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization Formed in 1949 United States and most Western European Countries sign a pact to defend each other in case of attack by the Soviet Union

NATO 1952: USA, Great Britain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, Canada, Portugal, Italy, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Greece, Turkey 1955: West Germany Today: a number of former Soviet controlled countries have joined

Warsaw Pact In response, Soviets join with Eastern Europeans to form a military alliance.