Roots of the cold war Part i

Defining “Cold” War Handout: Roots of the Cold War chart Write this definition in the space provided “The political, ideological, and military conflict between the United States, the Soviet Union, and their allies, which began at the end of WWII and continued until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991…never involved direct engagement or full-scale war between the US and the USSR…whew!”

Why and How We Fought Essential question: why and How did We Fight the Cold War? Focus: causes of the Cold War, methods of fighting, and how the conflict incorporated much of the world Chart it - & keep in SAFE! you will be given 5 events to synthesize. Given the size and complexity of the conflict…you will benefit from Synthesizing the information on your causes worksheet. When and where things happened Who was involved How actions in one part of the world often resulted in a strategic response from others

Comparing American & soviet wartime Experience 1st – background information – a reading 2nd – Wartime experience chart: Groups of two or three One set of events for each group; one blank chart Organize the events & information to describe the appropriate superpower (US or ussr) Use your phones if you need to look something up Take a photo for your notes when it is done (& correct!) Discussion: what is the significance of the information in the chart? Students should recognize how much more the soviets sacrificed in terms of soldiers, civilians, resources, and moral, and how that likjely impacted their perspective at the end of the war vis a vis their desire for buffer states.

Comparing American & soviet wartime Experience 3rd: Yalta & Potsdam conferences Read the yalta and Potsdam conferences handout Use the wartime experience chart you just completed and the major decisionS made at each conference from the reading to consider the impact of wwii on the us and the ussr. Answer the prompt with your group… “based upon their wwii experiences, what should be the top three foreign-policy goals of the us in 1945? What about the soviet union?” Write your own 150 word response (about 10 sentences) on a separate sheet of lined paper, title it ‘yalta & Potsdam’. Students should recognize how much more the soviets sacrificed in terms of soldiers, civilians, resources, and moral, and how that likjely impacted their perspective at the end of the war vis a vis their desire for buffer states.