Foundations of the Cold War
Post WW2 Now that you’ve seen 2 major world conflicts begin and end (the world wars), think about the causes and effects of those wars. For the following open-ended questions, speak to a neighbor before submitting your response You do not have to have the same response as your neighbor…just talk it out before you submit
Open-ended question 1 WW2 begins: What were the major issues in Europe that led up to WW2? What were various countries mad/concerned about after WW1? I’m looking for Germany being shamed, great depression, Hitler taking land for himself, dictators
Open-ended question 2 WW2 Ends: What do you think should be the goals to keep peace this time? (What should happen to prevent WW3?)
Open-ended question 3 What would cause post-war tension/mistrust between the Soviet Union and the United States? Looking for atomic bomb, communism vs. capitalism, that soviet union was once on same side as axis powers
President Truman FDR dies in April 1944 (Take NoTeS on slides) FDR dies in April 1944 Truman was only his V.P. for a few months before he has to take over Didn’t even know about the atomic bombs! Truman is now in charge of negotiating peace treaties after WW2
Truman and Self-Determination Truman has to pick up the pieces at the end of war – Including making sure the Soviet Union kept its promise to let the countries it occupied make their own election decisions Self-determination: when a nation of people get to freely elect what kind of government they want and determine their own identity Soviet Union breaks promise Banned free elections and democratic parties
Soviet-occupied Europe after ww2
Post WW2 Booming economy Expanded military Atomic bomb technology United States Soviet Union Booming economy Expanded military Atomic bomb technology Position of power to get what they wanted since they helped the Allies win the war in both the European and Pacific theaters Land and people devastated Expanded military Industries doing better Wanted Germany to pay them for damages
Major Differences Besides having different post-war goals for Europe, the Soviet Union and the United States had very different ideas about the government/economy in general
Comparing the Two (T-chart in NoTeS) Capitalism Communism Private ownership of most businesses/factories Free competition – the most deserving company will “win” because people have choice of where to shop and will go with best for their money Tried to correct problems of capitalism (like class divisions – Carnegie vs. his factory worker) No private ownership (encourages greed) Wealth should be equal and gov’t should step in to help make it so
Drawing – symbolic representation of Communism vs. Capitalism
Stalin in Europe Stalin puts Communist governments into place in many Eastern European countries He also states that Communism and capitalism cannot work together and that another war was certain. Satellite Nation – a country that is dominated politically and/or economically by another nation
Terms to Know Containment – the policy of trying to prevent communism control spreading further than it already was (“containing” it) Iron Curtain – The symbolic split between democratic Western Europe and communist Eastern Europe
Iron curtain speech
The Cold War Why Cold? “Cold” because no direct fighting ever occurred U.S. and Soviet Union had tensions and threats that put the world on the brink of nuclear war From the end of WW2 (1945) To the break up of the Soviet Union (1991)
Student Activity Task: Continue taking NoTeS on the Cold War in Europe (taking careful note of the terms) on pages 1584-1586 of the etext