1. The Cold War Era (1945–1991)
Lesson 1 A New Global Conflict

2. Lesson 1 A New Global Conflict
The Cold War Era (1945–1991)
Lesson 1 A New Global Conflict
Learning Objectives
Summarize how the outcome of World War II contributed to the development of the Cold War.
Identify continuing Cold War conflicts in Germany and Eastern Europe.
Explain the growth of the nuclear arms race.
Analyze how the Cold War became a global conflict.
Compare the United States and the Soviet Union in the Cold War.

3. Lesson 1 A New Global Conflict
The Cold War Era (1945–1991)
Lesson 1 A New Global Conflict
Key Terms
superpowers,
Cold War
Truman Doctrine,
containment,
Marshall Plan.
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
Warsaw Pact.
détente
Fidel Castro,
John F. Kennedy
ideology,
Nikita Khrushchev
Leonid Brezhnev

4. Wartime Alliance Breaks Apart
Amid the rubble of war, a new power structure emerged. In Europe, Germany was defeated. France and Britain were exhausted. Two other powers, the United States and the Soviet Union, emerged as superpowers, nations with the economic resources and military might to dominate the globe. The United States abandoned its traditional policy of isolationism to counter what President Truman saw as the communist threat.

5. Wartime Alliance Breaks Apart
Tensions Grow Among the Allies
The Cold War Begins

6. Wartime Alliance Breaks Apart
Churchill, Truman, and Stalin shake hands at the Potsdam Conference, held in Germany in July, Still at war with Japan, the leaders of the wartime alliance hid the growing tensions among them.

7. Soviet Aggression Grows
Stalin soon showed his aggressive intentions outside of Eastern Europe. In Greece, Stalin backed communist rebels who were fighting to overturn a right-wing monarchy supported by Britain. By 1947, however, Britain could no longer afford to defend Greece. Stalin was also menacing Turkey and the vital shipping lane through the Dardanelles.

8. Soviet Aggression Grows
The Iron Curtain
The Truman Doctrine
Marshall Plan Aids Europe
A Divided Germany
The Berlin Airlift
New Alliances
The Propaganda War

9. Soviet Aggression Grows
In a 1946 speech at Westminster College in Missouri, Winston Churchill declared that an “iron curtain” now divided communist Eastern Europe from democratic Western Europe.

10. Soviet Aggression Grows
Germany was divided into two countries after World War II. East Germany was controlled by the Soviet Union. West Germany established a democratic government supported by the Western powers. Analyze Maps Why was it easy for the Soviets to cut off supplies to West Berlin?

11. Two Opposing Sides in Europe
As the Cold War deepened, the superpowers—the United States and the Soviet Union—faced off against each other in Europe and around the world. For more than 40 years, the Cold War loomed over Europe. In general, the superpowers avoided direct confrontation. Yet several incidents brought Europe to the brink of war.

12. Two Opposing Sides in Europe
The Berlin Wall
Revolts in Eastern Europe

13. Two Opposing Sides in Europe
Though some countries remained neutral, in general, Western European nations were part of NATO, while Eastern European nations joined the Warsaw Pact. Analyze Maps Which Warsaw Pact countries bordered NATO nations?

14. Two Opposing Sides in Europe
The Berlin Wall divided East and West Berlin, preventing the residents of East Berlin from escaping to West Berlin.

15. The Nuclear Arms Race
One of the most frightening aspects of the Cold War was the arms race. Each side wanted to be able to withstand an attack by the other. At first, the United States, which had the atomic bomb, was the only nuclear power. By 1949, however, the Soviet Union had also developed an atomic bomb. By 1953, both sides in the Cold War had developed the far more destructive military technology—the hydrogen bomb.

16. The Nuclear Arms Race The Balance of Terror Disarmament Talks
An Era of Détente
Limiting the Spread of Nuclear Weapons

17. The Nuclear Arms Race
The superpowers also competed in a “space race.” After the Soviets launched the first satellite, Sputnik, the United States responded with the creation of NASA and the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo space programs.

18. The Nuclear Arms Race
Analyze Charts Compare the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty of 1963, the SALT II Treaty of 1972, and the START Treaty of How did each of the later treaties advance beyond the treaty that came before it?

19. The Cold War Around the World
The superpowers waged the Cold War not only in Europe, but also around the world. By the end of World War II, the Soviets were helping communist forces in China, Korea, and elsewhere. The United States took action to respond to the global threat of communism.

20. The Cold War Around the World
Establishing Alliances and Bases
Where the Cold War Got Hot
The United States and Latin America
The Communist Revolution in Cuba
The Cuban Missile Crisis

21. The Cold War Around the World
Analyze Maps During the Cold War, many of the world’s nations aligned themselves with either the United States or the Soviet Union. How many communist countries were there in Africa and South America?

22. The Cold War Around the World
The United States had many military bases overseas, and its navy played a vital role in maintaining the U.S. presence around the world.

23. The Soviet Union During the Cold War
Victory in World War II brought few rewards to the Soviet people. Stalin continued his ruthless policies. He filled labor camps with “enemies of the state” and seemed ready to launch new purges when he died in 1953.

24. The Soviet Union During the Cold War
Soviet Communism
Stalin’s Successors
Dissidents Resist

25. The Soviet Union During the Cold War
The Soviet Union celebrated the anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution with this military parade in Moscow in 1969.

26. The United States in the Cold War
The Cold War was not just a military rivalry. It was also a competition between two contrasting economic and political value systems. Unlike the communist countries, the democratic, capitalist countries, led by the United States, gave citizens the freedom to make economic and political choices. These nations valued freedom and prosperity. They held that economic freedom and free market principles helped improve the human condition—especially compared to the command economies of the communist world.

27. The United States in the Cold War
Free Markets
The Cold War at Home

28. The United States in the Cold War
Consumers living in free-market economies make more economic choices than those living under command economies. Analyze Charts Who makes most of the economic decisions in a command economy?

29. The United States in the Cold War
Many people employed in the movie industry were called to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). They were asked to “name names” of supposed communist party members.

30. Quiz: Wartime Alliance Breaks Apart
Without Red Army intervention in postwar Eastern Europe,
A. Soviet-sponsored governments could have been imposed.
B. noncommunist parties could have been elected.
C. Czechoslovakia would not have been divided.
D. rebels in Poland would not have had an ally.

31. Quiz: Soviet Aggression Grows
NATO and the Warsaw Pact were important in maintaining the “balance of power” in Cold War Europe because
A. the member countries could attack each other at will.
B. each superpower had the same number of countries in its military alliance.
C. fear of the other’s military capability kept each superpower from attacking.
D. there were no longer any neutral countries in continental Europe.

32. Quiz: Two Opposing Sides in Europe
One way the Warsaw Pact enforced its authority was by
A. spying on noncommunist members.
B. giving all communist parties equal funding.
C. continually occupying capitals with the Red Army.
D. intervening in revolts.

33. Quiz: The Nuclear Arms Race
Despite the “balance of terror,” why did people still fear nuclear war?
A. The superpowers continued to develop new nuclear weapons.
B. The superpowers had entered into détente.
C. Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) was inevitable.
D. Head-to-head conflict between the superpowers never happened.

34. Quiz: The Cold War Around the World
What types of local conflicts became Cold War conflicts?
A. Only conflicts where a U.S. ally was a participant
B. Conflicts where NATO members were participants
C. Conflicts where the United States and the Soviet Union had competing interests
D. Only conflicts where there was a shared border with a U.S. ally

35. Quiz: The United States in the Cold War
How did America respond to the threat of communism at home and overseas?
A. Americans tolerated communism at home and abroad.
B. The United States outlawed communism at home, while the Warsaw Pact addressed communism overseas.
C. NATO removed communism in the United States, while the Marshall Plan addressed communism overseas.
D. The United States sought to remove communist influences at home and contain communism abroad.