Cold War Basics

 Germany is now divided into 4 occupations controlled by Britain, France, Soviet Union & US  Disagreement over occupation marks beginning of the Cold War  Britain, France & US agreed in governing W. Germany & unified their zones without the Soviet zone  Federal Republic of Germany (W Germany)  German Democratic Republic (E Germany)

Iron Curtain  Speech made by Winston Churchill in the Spring of 1946  He foresaw the fact that Europe was being divided between democracy and communism.  The phrase stuck, and it came to symbolize the divide

 Western part of Berlin, capital of Germany, was located in Soviet zone & Stalin cut off all access to it  Roads blockaded  Hopes this would force western powers out of Berlin  Berlin Blockade became symbol of Cold War  Western powers began airlifting supplies West Berlin needed  A year later (1949), Soviet ended blockade

Marshall Plan and Truman Doctrine  The Truman Doctrine established that the United States would provide political, military and economic assistance to all democratic nations under threat from external or internal authoritarian forces  The Marshall Plan was an initiative to aid Europe, in which the United States gave billions in economic support to help rebuild European economies after the end of World War II (including Germany).

Berlin after the war

 Containment was the U.S. policy of stopping the spread of communism by influencing other countries to be friendly to the democratic U.S. and not the communist Soviet Union. Containment

 In April 1949, the US and 11 other western nations signed a collective security agreement call the North Atlantic Treaty  Binding nations together, a common defense  Defense arrangements were coordinated through North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)  Soviet Union responded by created the Warsaw Pact  Opposing alliance with several Eastern European nations

Tense Periods of Cold War  Berlin Airlift ( )  Korean War ( )  Vietnam War ( )  Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)  Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan ( )

End of Cold War  In 1985, a détente, or lessening of tensions (between the U.S. and the USSR) was announced by the Soviet Union as their empire began to collapse economically and politically. By 1991, the USSR was no more and became divided into many different nations.