Chapter 18, Section 1: Things to Know What best describes the underlying cause of the Cold War? Why was the conflict between the Soviet Union and the US described as a “Cold” war? Who spoke first of the “iron curtain”? What was the Truman Doctrine? Who was the American diplomat who stressed the need to contain communism within its current borders? What is containment? What was the Marshall Plan? What was the one main goal of the Marshall Plan? In order to try to gain control over West Berlin, what did the Soviet Union do? What is NATO? What was the Warsaw Pact? What were NATO and the Warsaw Pact examples of? In response to NATO, with whom did the Soviet Union form the Warsaw Pact?

Chapter 18: The Cold War Section 1: The Cold War Begins Churchill, Roosevelt, Stalin at the Yalta Conference

Why It Matters In the 1930s, the policies of isolationism and appeasement had contributed to the rise of dictatorships and the outbreak of global war. After World War II, US leaders viewed these past policies as mistakes. They sought new ways to keep the United States safe and to protect its interests around the world.

Roots of the Cold War The US was a capitalist democracy. We believe in free elections, economic and religious freedom, private property, and respect for individual differences. The Soviet Union was a dictatorship. It was ran by the Communist Joseph Stalin, which made all key economic, political, and military decisions. They could not worship as they pleased, own private property, or express their views freely. What best describes the underlying cause of the Cold War? Basic political and economic differences between the US and the Soviet Union. When FDR died in April 1945, the nation was at a critical point. The US was still at war and relations with the Soviet Union were beginning to break down. The US and the Soviet union had little in common other than their wants and need to defeat the Nazi Germany.

Roots of the Cold War The Allies were also having a hard time of deciding the fate of Eastern Europe. Soviet troops already occupied much of Eastern Europe by the war’s end. Stalin wanted to keep Germany weak and divided, and under the control of the Soviet Union. The US and Britain wanted a stronger, united Germany and independent nations in Eastern Europe. Stalin agreed to establish representative governments in Eastern Europe and to only divide Germany temporarily. The Eastern Europe countries of Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria, as well as the eastern portion of Germany, became satellite states, controlled by the Soviet Union. After “Stalin agreed” – Despite Stalin’s promises, nearly all of the lands occupied by the Soviet Red Army in the spring of 1945 remained under Soviet control after the war.

Roots of the Cold War Stalin and Truman began to clash, as Stalin refused to make a commitment to allow free elections in Eastern Europe. Truman left Potsdam believing the Soviet Union was planning world conquest and that the alliance with the Soviet Union was falling apart. The stage was set for a worldwide rivalry between the US and the Soviet Union. Why was the conflict between the Soviet Union and the US described as a “Cold” war? The two sides did not engage each other directly in a military conflict.

Meeting the Soviet Challenge Truman was not the only leader that believed that Stalin was planning world domination. Churchill also spoke out forcefully against the Soviet Union. Who spoke first of the “iron curtain”? Winston Churchill. He described this “iron curtain” as being dropped across Europe and has divided the continent. East of that curtain the Soviet Union was gaining more control by installing communist governments and police states and by crushing political and religious dissent. Churchill feared that the Soviets would try to spread communism to Western Europe and East Asia.

Meeting the Soviet Challenge Truman shared the same beliefs as Churchill. In 1947, communism was spreading fast across the world. European and Asian countries were struggling against communist movements supported by the Soviets. Greece and turkey needed aid, and in 1947 the US was the only country with the resources to help them.

Meeting the Soviet Challenge To oppose the Soviet spread of communism, Truman presented Congress with the Truman Doctrine. What was the Truman Doctrine? The US policy to assist countries struggling against communist movements. On March 12, 1947, President Truman addressed both the House and Congress. He voiced his emotions about the plight of the Greek and Turkish people. He said the fight they were waging was the fight that all free people had to confront. Truman requested money from Congress to support the Greek and Turkish people. - At end - He also warned that if the US retreated into isolationism, the peace of the world and the welfare of the nation would be in danger.

Containing Soviet Expansion Who was the American diplomat who stressed the need to contain communism within its current borders? George F. Kennan. What is containment? It is the US policy to limit communism within its existing borders. Kennan was the main spokesman for containment policies. In July 1947 in an issue of Foreign Affairs magazine, a writer who called himself “X” published an article titled “The Sources of Soviet Conduct.” Kennan published this article while he was an American diplomat and a leading authority on the Soviet Union.

Containing Soviet Expansion Kennan contended that while Stalin was determined to expand the Soviet empire, he would not risk the security of the Soviet Union for expansion. He said that the Soviet Union would only expand when it could do so without serious risks and that he would not chance war with the US to spread communism. The US would stand behind its containment policies when it came to communism and the Soviet Union.

Containing Soviet Expansion The containment policy’s first great success was in Western Europe. After WWII, people there confronted severe shortages in food, fuel, and medical supplies, as well as brutally cold winters. Secretary of State George C. Marshall came up with a recovery plan for Europe. It was called the Marshall Plan.

Containing Soviet Expansion What was the Marshall Plan? It was the US policy giving massive loans and grants to Western Europe. What was the one main goal of the Marshall Plan? To make European countries strong enough to start buying American goods. It gave them nearly $13 billion and provided them with food to reduce famine, fuel to heat homes and factories, and money to jump-start economic growth. This provided a prime example of how US aid could serve the ends of both economic and foreign policy. The good relationships that the aid created worked against the expansion of communism

The Cold War Heats Up The front lines of the Cold War were in Germany. The zones that were controlled by France, Britain, and the US were combined to form West Germany. West Germany was bordered on the east by the Soviet-controlled East Germany. The Allies controlled the western part of Berlin, a city tucked deep inside communist East Germany. In order to try to gain control over West Berlin, what did the Soviet Union do? Set up a total blockade cutting off that section of the city. The US began airlifting in goods to the Soviet blockaded area of West Berlin. This showed West Berlin, the Soviet Union, and the world how far the US would go to protect noncommunist parts of Europe and contain communism.

The Cold War Heats Up In May 1949, Stalin was forced to acknowledge his failure to attempt to blockade West Berlin. This was a proud moment for Americans and Berliners and a major success for the policy of containment. The Berlin airlift demonstrated that Stalin could be contained if Western nations were prepared to take forceful actions.

The Cold War Heats Up What is NATO? It was the military alliance of the US and countries in Western Europe. It stands for North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It was consisted of twelve Western European countries and North American nations that agreed to act together in the defense of Western Europe. They agreed that an armed attack on one or more of them shall be considered an attack against all of them. This is called collective security. What was the Warsaw Pact? The military alliance of the Soviet Union and its satellite states. It was created in 1955 in response to NATO.

The Cold War Heats Up What were NATO and the Warsaw Pact examples of? Military alliances made for “collective security.” In response to NATO, with whom did the Soviet Union form the Warsaw Pact? Eastern European nations that were considered the Soviet Union’s satellite states. The only Eastern European nation not a part of the Warsaw Pact was Yugoslavia. Members of the Warsaw Pact agreed to defend one another if attacked. Although on paper they agreed not to interfere in one another’s internal affairs, the Soviet Union continued to exert firm control over its Warsaw Pact allies.