Cold war: a war fought using words or ideas
After WWII At the end of World War II, America and the Soviet Union were the strongest countries left standing. The Soviet Union was a communist country, where the government controlled the economy, and was ruled by a brutal dictatorship. The United States was a democratic country with a free economy.
Friends or Not? USA and Soviet Union remained friends…at first But soon after WWII The Soviets began imposing communism on other countries.
And so it begins… In 1947, U.S. President Harry Truman announced that America would help the countries of Greece and Turkey fight attempts to turn them into communist countries and allies of the Soviet Union. Viewed as the beginning of the Cold War. Even though the main struggle was between the Soviet Union and America, they never engaged in a direct, all-out "hot war" from the beginning until the end in 1991.
Command economy- government decides what will be produced United States Soviet Union Communism- government controls production, where people should live & work Command economy- government decides what will be produced People have no say in government Capitalism- people control production of goods. Market economy- individuals make economic decisions Democracy- vote for leaders
Iron Curtain Following Germany’s defeat, the Allies divided the country. The US, Great Britain, and France governed sections of western Germany which became a free democracy. The USSR governed eastern Germany which became a communist state. The Allies also divided the German capital of Berlin even though it was in the Soviet sector of Germany. Winston Churchill described Europe as being divided by an “Iron Curtain.” On the west side of the Iron Curtain were the democracies of Western Europe and on the East side were the communist nations.
Iron Curtain
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) U.S., Canada, most non-communist countries in Europe joined together to stop communism Wanted to protect smaller non-communist countries from being forced to turn communist
Berlin Wall Berlin was in East Germany (communist). After WWII, Allies had West Berlin. Soviets had East Berlin. Soviets built a wall to separate two sections of Berlin.
Berlin Airlift Joseph Stalin wanted the western Allies out of Berlin. Soviets used a blockade to prevent any supplies getting into Western Blockade. Allies used airplanes and dropped supplies to the people for a year. Not wanting a war, Stalin finally gave up. The Berlin Airlift only made the two sides angrier with one another.
Scare in United States Joseph McCarthy- American Though secret communists work in United States and were spying for Soviet Union Many government workers, teachers, writers were fired
Cold War Conflicts Cuban Missile Crisis Korean War Vietnam War
Cold War Conflicts Vietnam War Korean War Korea split into 2 countries- one communist, one non-communist Vietnam split into 2 different countries-one communist, one non-communist Vietnam War Korean War Communist Vietcong try to take over South Vietnam NATO helps non-communist country Communist North Korea invades South Korea.
Korean War North Korea: communist South Korea: non-communist North Korea invades South Korea NATO supports South Korea 38th parallel- the majority of fighting took place around this area. Border between 2 countries continually changed around this area during fighting.
Vietnam War 1950s- Vietnam seperated North Vietnam- communist South Vietnam- non-communist 1960s- Communist people (called Vietcong) tried to take over non-communist South Vietnam United States sent soldiers and supplies to help South Vietnam
Unpopular War People began to have strong feelings about war: War supporters- did not want communism to spread Anti-war feelings- the United States shouldn’t be involved with other countries’ problems; many US soldiers dying