The Cold War Pages 556-561

Objectives Contrast two competing political and economic systems Trace major events in the Cold War Identify various ways that nations of the world try to protect themselves

Which nations were superpowers after World War II? United States Soviet Union

What basic differences between the two created tensions between them? United States: free enterprise and democracy Soviet Union: communism and totalitarianism

United States Free enterprise: also called a market economy; based on private ownership of land and business Democracy: government serves the people; people have a say in government affairs

Soviet Union Communism: all property is publicly owned; each person is assigned work; everyone is paid the same Totalitarian: state holds total authority over the society and seeks to control all aspects of public and private life wherever possible

The Cold War Tensions between the superpowers (United States and Soviet Union) developed into a war “Cold” War: struggle between two nations without actual fighting

The Allies Meet After WWII Ends The Allies agreed that nations taken over by the Soviet Union would be given the right to choose their own governments The United Nations was created by the Allies after WWII ended this is a world organization that would work together to prevent future conflicts Allies agreed to divide Germany into zones that the Allies would control for a period of time Why do you think the Allies wanted to occupy Germany? To form a democracy or to prevent re-arming

Stalin Breaks His Agreement Josef Stalin quickly broke the UN agreement He refused to remove his troops from neighboring countries Soviet troops forced those nations to accept communist governments

New Alliances Fearful of Soviet expansion, nations in western Europe and North America formed NATO NATO = North Atlantic Treaty Organization They pledged to defend each other if attacked The Soviet Union and the communist countries of Eastern Europe signed a similar agreement called the Warsaw Pact

War in Korea After WWII, Korea was split into two parts: north and south North Korea was communist South Korea was democratic The United States wanted to prevent the spread of Communism U.S. sent thousands of troops to help fight the North Koreans, who were aided by the Chinese War lasted 3 years, with no clear winner North Korean troops left South Korea and 4 million people were killed

Germany after WWII Like Korea, Germany had been split Soviet Union: controlled Eastern Germany and East Berlin Britain, France, and U.S.: controlled Western Germany and West Berlin East Germany = Communist West Germany = Democratic **City of Berlin was split in the same way**

A young woman talks to her mother on the eastern side, 1961 Split Germany Thousands of East Germans did not want to live in a Communist nation and moved into West Berlin August 13, 1961: While the people of Berlin slept, Easter German police built a barbed- wire fence between East and West Berlin It prevented people from moving between East and West Berlin The fence turned into a concrete wall over time

A Divided City The Berlin Wall divided backyards, streets, houses, and even churches Guarded by East German soldiers with machine guns Escape became very difficult – some travelled in tunnels or hot air balloons Others crossed the border hidden in coffins or secret car trunks Short Video Clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwQsTzGkbiY

The Berlin Blockade & Airlift Stalin cut off supplies to West Berlin… people started to stave United States and Allies provided people with supplies through aircraft Short Video Clip: https://www.youtube.c om/watch?v=9gpYsK90 aio

Nuclear Arms Race By 1949, the Soviet Union had atomic bombs in their possession Scientists developed a far more deadly hydrogen bomb the Soviets also matched this development a year later

Sputnik 1957: the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, a satellite that orbited the earth Western leaders were worried feared the Soviet Union could use Sputnik to launch nuclear weapons

What kind of race developed between the U.S. and Soviet Union? A nuclear arms race, for each to outdo the other in deadly nuclear power in case of war

In what other scientific area did they compete? In the race for space, to create satellites to operate in space, and possibly launch nuclear weapons

Preparing for Disaster Americans feared a Soviet nuclear attack to begin at any time Students practiced what to do if a bomb exploded while they were at school Thousands of families built small bomb shelters in their backyards and stocked them with goods needed for survival Duck and Cover Video Clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IK qXu-5jw60

Communist Cuba 1959: Cuba’s Fidel Castro succeeded in establishing the first communist government in the Americas Castro was supported by Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev (leader in power after Stalin) President John F. Kennedy tried to end Castro’s government in 1961, but was unsuccessful 1962: crisis arose over Cuba

Cuban Missile Crisis Khrushchev sent nuclear weapons to Cuba in 1962 Missiles far more powerful than the atomic bombs used on Japan were now just a 20-minute flight away from the capital of the U.S. Millions would die if the missiles were fired Fear swept the United States – Kennedy promised to respond to any attack by bombing the Soviet Union

The Crisis Ends Eventually, Kennedy and Khrushchev reached an agreement The U.S. promised not to invade Cuba The Soviet Union agreed to remove its ships and missiles from Cuba The U.S. removed its missiles that were based in Turkey

The world had come dangerously close to a nuclear war… 1963: the two superpowers signed a treaty banning most kinds of nuclear weapons testing World leaders hoped the treaty would reduce the chance that nuclear weapons would ever be used in war

Why do you think that the two superpowers continually came into conflict? Each side was so intent on making the world safe for its own ideas and values – which were opposite to the other’s – that their peaceful coexistence seemed impossible

Checking for Understanding What factors led to the Cold War? Soviet expansion and difference between democratic and communist systems What was the Berlin Wall? Why was the wall such a powerful symbol of the Cold War? A wall built by East Germany to stop people from escaping to the West; it symbolized communist oppression How did Cold War tensions affect the relationships between Eastern and Western nations? Tensions divided nations into the Warsaw Pact and NATO