Unit 6 – Post War Boom

 One of your vocab words is austerity  Most countries were on austerity plans for many years after WWII including the US. Britain was not done with rationing until the 1970's.  The austerity of the depression and war years and those that followed fueled the consumer revolution of the 50's.

 Pent up demand leads to consumption.  Austerity is the context for cultural and governmental attitudes and policies that exemplify the post-war world.

 The austerity of Europe after the war and the depression could draw Europeans to communism for two reasons:  1. Communism preaches of a society where everyone is equal. Poor countries would be drawn to this  2. Poor countries could be too weak to resist communists taking over

 Soviet Union ( ) – Russia and the areas it controlled

 The Nazis were defeated largely due to the repulsion of the German invasion of Soviet territory  Soviet forces attacked from the East while the US and Great Britain attacked from the West  In the end, the Soviet Union and the US were the two remaining world powers

 The US and the Soviets competed with each other for influence in the world  Both countries felt their cultures and economies were the best model and used propaganda to say so  The US said the Soviets had a totalitarian government

 Because of the rivalry between the US and the Soviet Union, the association of the Soviet Union as the enemy led to US propaganda that Communism was the enemy

 To be an international organization that could resolve conflicts peacefully  The big 3 post war powers were having trouble resolving certain issues of the post war world  The Soviet Union wanted to control areas of Europe and Asia

 The Soviets were not allowing Germany to be united  In Eastern Europe free elections were not being held and Soviets were establishing communist “satellite states” that Russia controlled  The British and US governments feared Soviets taking over the world

 The policies said that the US would give money to countries in order to prevent the spread of communism  To respond to communists trying to take over Greece  It shows that the US government’s main goal was to fight communism and that they would give money so poor countries didn’t turn communist

 They were creating a communist v. free conflict  The Soviet Union did not accept aid and the countries they controlled could not accept aid  The result of these plans led to people starving in Europe, particularly in Berlin  Soviets stopped food from being brought in

 People feared an eventual armed conflict between the Soviet Union and the US  The two groups were alliances  The Cold War was becoming global because more than just Russia and the US were involved now