Early Cold War Communism vs. Capitalism Who are they? Superpowers after WWII Who are they? The United States Suffered no destruction during the war Became an atomic power Around 500,000 dead after the war Capitalist Democracy The Soviet Union Nazi-Soviet Pact 1939 Suffered severe losses Communist Dictatorship Wanted to take over Eastern European countries as “puppet governments”

Yalta Agreement Feb. 1945 (prior to the end of WWII) U.S., Britain, and Soviet Union met and agreed to split Germany into zones of occupation controlled by the Allied forces Main allied nations did not trust Stalin’s participation at the conference, but followed a policy “friendly” to the Soviet Union” to help end the war Soviet Union agrees to have “free elections in Poland (they don’t)

Division of Berlin Also divided Berlin into 4 separate parts French sector British sector Soviet sector U.S. sector

More issues between S.U. and U.S.  U.S. and Great Britain keep the Manhattan Project a secret from Stalin He knows anyway  U.S.S.R. wants to control the nations on its borders U.S. wants democracy to spread across Eastern Europe U.S. ends lend-lease to the Soviet Union in Aug. 1945 - U.S. won’t loan $ to them after the war J. Robert Oppenheimer

The “iron curtain” that divided Europe Winston Churchill referred to the barrier between the Soviet Union and its puppet gov’ts and the West as the “iron curtain” Barrier between capitalism and communism Becomes a commonly used term throughout the Cold War to describe the division “From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an ‘iron curtain’ has descended across the continent.” March 5, 1946

Creation of the United Nations June 1945 Union of 50 countries Replaced League of Nations Created for the purpose of: 1) saving future generations from war 2) promote national self-determination 3) respect for individual human rights 4) help nations work together to solve their problems Consisted of the General Assembly and the Security council 5 permanent members: Britain, China, France, the U.S., and the Soviet Union

(Truman Administration) Containment American policy that provided military and economic aid to any country that was fighting to withstand communism/keep it from spreading Truman Doctrine Greece and Turkey (1947): attempt to support resistance to communism U.S. gave $400 million in economic/military aid

Marshall Plan, June 1947 European Recovery Program Proposed by U.S. Secretary of State George Marshall U.S. would give aid to any European country that needed it Provided food, machines, and other materials Congress immediately approved the $12.5 billion plan after the Communists seized Czechoslovakia in Feb. 1948 Comecon (council for Mutual Economic assistance) = policy to do the same for the Soviet puppet governments

1948, France, Britain, and U.S. withdraw from Germany They wanted a unified Germany Soviets do not want a unified Germany They respond by holding Berlin hostage and cutting off all highway, water, and rail traffic into west Berlin (blockade)

Berlin Airlift, June 1948-May 1949 With no supplies going into West Berlin, the city faced starvation American and British officials flew food and supplies into the U.S., Fr. & Br. Sectors planes arrive every 3 minutes bringing everything from food to Christmas presents Soviets admit defeat in 1949 and lift the blockade

More containment… North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) April 1949 Defense pact that allowed for military cooperation among its members To ward off aggression American troops and nuclear weapons would be kept in western Europe In response to NATO, the Soviets developed an alliance system in 1955 known as the Warsaw Pact Included the Soviet Union, Poland, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Albania