Aim: Define the Cold War

The Cold War Divides the World Conflicts marked the start of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union A cold war is a struggle over political differences carried on by means short of military action or war 1949: the superpowers used spying, propaganda, diplomacy, & secret operations in their dealings with each other 2

Superpowers Form Rival Alliances Berlin blockade heightened Western Europe’s fears of Soviet aggression Result: 1949, ten western European nations joined the US & Canada to form a defensive military alliance Called the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Soviet Union saw NATO as a threat & formed its own alliance in 1955 Called the Warsaw Pact Included the Soviet Union, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, & Albania 1961: East Germans built a wall to separate East & West Berlin Berlin Wall symbolized a world divided into rival camps 3

The Threat of Nuclear War As alliances were forming, the Cold War threatened to heat up enough to destroy the world 1950: President Truman authorized work on a thermonuclear weapon The hydrogen (H) bomb would be thousands of times more powerful than the A-bomb 1952: US test the first H Bomb 1953: Soviets tested their own This willingness to go to the brink or edge of war was known as brinkmanship: Required a reliable source of nuclear weapons & airplanes to deliver them US strengthened its air force 4

The Cold War In The Skies August 1957: Soviets announced the development of a rocket that could travel great distances Oct 4, Soviets used an ICBM to push Sputnik, the first unmanned satellite, above the Earth’s atmosphere 1958: US launched its own satellite 1960: U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) started secret high-altitude spy flights over Soviet territory in planes called U-2’s U-2 incident heightened Cold War tension 5