Cold War 1945-1990
What is the Cold War? Conflict between U.S. (and her allies) and the Soviet Union over communism
Cold War Began almost immediately after WW2. Germany gets divided in two East Germany (Communist) West Germany (Capitalist) Soviets build a wall through the center of Berlin (Berlin Wall) Becomes a symbol of the cold war and Iron Curtain Built mainly to keep people on the communist side
What was the Berlin Wall? Everything to the east of the wall is Communist and everything to the west of the wall is Capitalist
What was the Truman Doctrine? The United States and her allies formulate a policy based on the Truman Doctrine to keep Communism from Spreading. We call this the Containment Policy. We try to keep communism from spreading by: Giving at risk nations money Using military force Covert (secret) operations
What is NATO? The United States and her allies form an official alliance called NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) Big players: United States, Great Britain, Canada, France Each member nation agreed to have each others backs if attacked
What was the Warsaw Pact? The Soviet Union tries to duplicate NATO with it’s own alliance called the Warsaw Pact Includes: USSR (Soviet Union), East Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia Each member nation agreed to have each others backs if attacked
What’s up with China and Communism? China Falls to the Communists Competing political movements in China agree to work together to fight the Japanese during WW2 After WW2, those movement begin fighting again (Communist vs Capitalist) Communists win and China becomes communist People blame Truman for allowing China to become communist
What was the Korean War? Much like in China competing political forces wage a war over communism North Korea (Communist) invades South Korea (Capitalist) General MacArthur pushes the communists back past the 38th Parallel. President Truman and General Macarthur disagree about pursuing the war into North Korea MacArthur wants to keep fighting Truman says no MacArthur violates the chain of command Truman fires MacArthur Korean War ends with a North Korea and a South Korea
What is McCarthyism? Persecution of suspected Communists in the United States during the 1950’s Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin gains popularity by accusing people of being communist Many people are too afraid to oppose him lest they be accused of being communist themselves Many Hollywood stars are “black listed” denied work because they are suspected communists.
What was the Arms Race? The build up of nuclear weapons by the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. with the hope of deterring each other from using them Both sides of the cold war began stockpiling (collecting) nuclear weapons. The side with the most weapons would win if ever there was a nuclear war After a while it became apparent that if there ever was a nuclear war, there were so many nuclear weapons that we would blow the entire planet up.
What was the Space Race? The race by the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. to out do each other in aerospace achievements. The U.S.S.R. launches Sputnik, the first man made satellite (1957) The U.S. freaks out because we think they are much more intelligent The U.S. Counters with Explorer (1958) The U.S.S.R. puts the first man in space, Yuri Gagarin, (1961) The U.S. Counters with Alan Shepard three weeks later The U.S. has John Glenn from Ohio orbit the earth 3 times in 1962 The U.S. wins the space race when Neil Armstrong walks on the moon in 1969