Unit 7 The Cold War 1940’s Cold War

Yalta Conference February 1945 The U.S. Britain and USSR met to set their post war goals. 1. Divide Germany into occupation zones 2. Free elections in Eastern Europe nations.

Superpowers In the Post WWII world two nations were the new superpowers! The United States and the Soviet Union (USSR). Capitalism vs Communism Democracy vs Totalitarianism

The United Nations Created in 1945 with the goal of being a more effective international peacekeeping organization than the League of Nations. 193 member nations in the General Assembly. Home to the International Court of Justice to settle disputes.

UN Security Council Five permanent members with veto power (U.S. Britain, France, Russia, China) and ten nonpermanent. The UN Security Council can order military action to maintain international peace. (Korean War & 1st Gulf War)

The Iron Curtain Churchill’s phrase “Iron Curtain” came to represent the division between a democratic and free Western Europe and a Communist and totalitarian Eastern Europe.

Containment President Truman adopted a foreign policy of “containment”. A policy of preventing the expansion of communism. This would be accomplished by creating a system of alliances and helping weak countries resist Soviet advances. Containment Video

Truman Doctrine Truman’s pledge of foreign aid to any nation that was rejecting communism. Greece and Turkey were immediately given $400 million in aid. Both nations remained free and noncommunist. Truman Doctrine Video

Marshall Plan Europe lay in ruins after WWII. Record unemployment, destruction, snow, food shortages and economic & political turmoil. Congress created a $12.5 billion program to provide food and rebuild Western Europe. We wanted its economy to recover so people would have jobs and not turn to communism!

Berlin Germany had been divided into two nations, East and West Germany. The capital city of Berlin was in East Germany. The western half of the city was controlled by the U.S. and Britain. A small spot of freedom behind the Iron Curtain……..

Berlin Blockade The first showdown of the Cold War between the superpowers would be over Berlin Germany. Berlin was located in German controlled East Germany. Stalin didn’t want the freedom and prosperity of West Berlin in communist East Germany.

Berlin Airlift In 1948 Stalin ordered all transportation to West Berlin blocked. West Berlin faced starvation if they didn’t surrender and join East Germany. American and British planes flew food and fuel into the city for 11 months. No Appeasement! Only Containment! Berlin Video

Berlin Wall Later in 1961 the Berlin Wall was built. It became the symbol of communist oppression during the Cold War. Berlin Wall Video

The Cold War The Cold War was from 1949 to 1989. Superpowers would use spying, propaganda, alliances, diplomacy and proxy wars in developing countries. Who will win…Capitalism or Communism? Democracy or Totalitarianism?

NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization! A defensive alliance of 10 European nations, Canada and the U.S. An attack on one is an attack on all! NATO / ISAF is in Afghanistan

Warsaw Pact Warsaw Pack, the opposite of NATO was organized by the USSR. The world seemed to be divided into rival factions along Cold War lines with the threat of nuclear war looming….

Hydrogen Bomb 1945 the U.S. dropped the atomic bomb 1949 the USSR built the A-bomb 1952 the U.S. built the hydrogen bomb a thousand times more powerful than the A-bomb. 1953 the USSR built a H-bomb….The arms race had begun. Duck & Cover Video

Chinese Civil War After WWII China resumed its civil war between the Nationalists and the Communists. The U.S. backed Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalists with $2 billion in aid. The Communists under Mao Zedong promised land for the peasants and forced the Nationalists to retreat to the island of Taiwan.

Mao Zedong When Mao Zedong won the civil war the most populated country in the world was “lost to the communists”. To many people it was a defeat of Truman’s containment policy. Mao ordered all land to be seized by the government and peasants were forced to work on the new collective farms.

The Great Leap Forward In 1958 China Mao ordered “The Great Leap Forward”. People were forced to work, eat, and live in communal dormitories and farms with no private property. With no incentive to work famine killed about 20 million people.

Chinese Cultural Revolution In 1966 Mao urged China’s young people to “learn revolution by making revolution”. Millions of students responded by joining Red Guard units. These units targeted anyone they felt betrayed the ideals of the revolution.

Korea At the end of WWII Korea was a divided nation. North of the 38th parallel was controlled by the USSR, the south was protected by American troops.

Korean War In June of 1950 North Korea invaded South Korea. To most of the world this invasion looked like a repeat of Nazi / Japanese aggression from the 1930’s. The UN authorized the use of force to defend South Korea and the15 nation force was placed under the command of Douglas MacArthur. Korean War Video

Inchon When American forces made a surprise landing at Inchon the route of North Korea’s army was on!

Chinese Intervention Unfortunately China felt threatened and invaded to defend North Korea. Hundreds of thousands of Chinese soldiers attacked.

General MacArthur General MacArthur publicly argued with President Truman about his desire to drop atomic bombs on China. Truman fired the popular General for insubordination. MacArthur Video

The 38th Parallel After two years of brutal fighting and cold winters a cease-fire agreement was signed in 1953. The DMZ border between the two Koreas at the 38th parallel became one of the most heavily defended places on earth. Four million soldiers and civilians were killed including over 40,000 Americans.

The Cold War: an ideologically-driven political and economic competition from 1947-1991 between two military and economic superpowers - the democratic capitalist United States and its allies and communist Soviet Union and China and their allies

Sources World History -McDougal Littell 2003 Let’s Review: Global History and Geography 5th Edition