Brrr… It’s the Cold War

Setting the Stage for Conflict At the end of the war conferences were held by the BIG THREE Two conflicting superpowers rose out of World War II at these conferences Yalta Potsdam

What is the Cold War? The hostile relationship between the competing ideas of communism and capitalism Officially lasted from 1945 - 1990 The Soviet Union and the United States were the dominant opponents These two Superpowers never directly went to war, but “battled” over expanding their “spheres of influence” Numerous “conflicts” arose between the superpowers

Understanding Capitalism and Communism Let’s take a test to see if you understand the differences between these philosophies After thinking about the statement, rank your opinion, SA is strongly agree, A is agree, N is neutral, D is disagree, and SD is strongly disagree

Political Beliefs Survey Individual rights and freedoms are more important than responsibilities to help others. Income and wealth should be divided much more equally than it is in the us today. I support private education – Private Schools. All People should receive Healthcare, elderly should receive social security, and laid off workers should receive unemployment. People who work hard should receive material riches.

Political Beliefs Survey I Support public education – Public Schools. Religion is very important to society. Taxes should be structured so wealthy people pay larger percentage of their income taxes. Providing health care insurance is an individual’s responsibility not the governments. (Seems strange, but will explain later) Economic equality is more important than religion.

Scoring the Survey For the odd numbers, SA is 5 down to SD is 1 For the evens, SA is 1 up to SD is 5. Low score 10-16 would be a strong communist, up to socialist 17-22, 23-27 is a liberal, mixed economy 28-34, to conservative 35-42, and strong capitalist 43+

Capitalism Stresses private ownership. Encourages individualism and self-determination in citizens. Great range of wealth between rich and poor. Individuals expected to watch out for themselves. Encourages religion. Differences in wealth between citizens is good.

Communism Stresses public ownership. Encourages citizens to think of themselves as members of a group. Encourages hard work to help the group and the country. Rewards for hard work are self-satisfaction and recognition by group. All receive much the same income. All taken care of by government regardless of income Officially scorns religion as foolish. Believe that class differences result in discontent, conflict and war.

What does this mean? The distinct lines between capitalism and communism may not be always clear. Most societies have elements both. After World War II until today, many do not see shades of grey in political beliefs.

Yalta and Potsdam Conferences United States Minimal loss of life, democratic society Cause of Wars Worldwide Depression led to fascists, like Hitler WW I Treaty of Versailles humiliated and angered Germany Soviet Union (USSR) Tremendous loss of life, one-party rule Cause of Wars German Aggression in World Wars I and II German industrial strength

Why did the Soviet Union want a “buffer zone”? Estimates run as high as 26 million war deaths - 14 per cent of the population http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:World_War_II_Casualties.svg See p. 747 in text They also believed in their form of government - Communism

Conflict Results from WWII Experiences United States Reactions to Cause Occupation of aggressive nations NO Reparations German economy must be rebuilt Soviet Union (USSR) now Russia Reactions to Cause - Need physical security from the Germans - Desire Reparations - Poland key to USSR security

Yalta Agreements Governments in Eastern Europe to be reestablished - Germany would be split East and West divided among allies Berlin, the capital, would be further divided Poland and other nations would hold free elections United Nations would go forward

Yalta “betrayels” Soviet Union did not follow the Yalta agreements, especially in Poland This officially started the Cold War

The Iron Curtain

Federal Government Spending http://home.att.net/~rdavis2/outgdp10a.jpg

The former Soviet Union is now many other countries http://indistinctunion.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/eastern_european.gif

Does the Cold War still chill relationships? North Korea Cuba Health Care Reform

Assignment Please read pp. Do questions