1. The Cold War
Pages

2. Objectives Contrast two competing political and economic systems
Trace major events in the Cold War
Identify various ways that nations of the world try to protect themselves

3. Which nations were superpowers after World War II?
United States
Soviet Union

4. What basic differences between the two created tensions between them?
United States: free enterprise and democracy
Soviet Union: communism and totalitarianism

5. United States
Free enterprise: also called a market economy; based on private ownership of land and business
Democracy: government serves the people; people have a say in government affairs

6. Soviet Union
Communism: all property is publicly owned; each person is assigned work; everyone is paid the same
Totalitarian: state holds total authority over the society and seeks to control all aspects of public and private life wherever possible

7. The Cold War
Tensions between the superpowers (United States and Soviet Union) developed into a war
“Cold” War: struggle between two nations without actual fighting

8. The Allies Meet After WWII Ends
The Allies agreed that nations taken over by the Soviet Union would be given the right to choose their own governments
The United Nations was created by the Allies after WWII ended
this is a world organization that would work together to prevent future conflicts
Allies agreed to divide Germany into zones that the Allies would control for a period of time
Why do you think the Allies wanted to occupy Germany?
To form a democracy or to prevent re-arming

9. Stalin Breaks His Agreement
Josef Stalin quickly broke the UN agreement
He refused to remove his troops from neighboring countries
Soviet troops forced those nations to accept communist governments

10. New Alliances
Fearful of Soviet expansion, nations in western Europe and North America formed NATO
NATO = North Atlantic Treaty Organization
They pledged to defend each other if attacked
The Soviet Union and the communist countries of Eastern Europe signed a similar agreement called the Warsaw Pact

12. War in Korea
After WWII, Korea was split into two parts: north and south
North Korea was communist
South Korea was democratic
The United States wanted to prevent the spread of Communism
U.S. sent thousands of troops to help fight the North Koreans, who were aided by the Chinese
War lasted 3 years, with no clear winner
North Korean troops left South Korea and 4 million people were killed

13. Germany after WWII Like Korea, Germany had been split
Soviet Union: controlled Eastern Germany and East Berlin
Britain, France, and U.S.: controlled Western Germany and West Berlin
East Germany = Communist
West Germany = Democratic
**City of Berlin was split in the same way**

14. A young woman talks to her mother on the eastern side, 1961
Split Germany
Thousands of East Germans did not want to live in a Communist nation and moved into West Berlin
August 13, 1961: While the people of Berlin slept, Easter German police built a barbed- wire fence between East and West Berlin
It prevented people from moving between East and West Berlin
The fence turned into a concrete wall over time

15. A Divided City
The Berlin Wall divided backyards, streets, houses, and even churches
Guarded by East German soldiers with machine guns
Escape became very difficult – some travelled in tunnels or hot air balloons
Others crossed the border hidden in coffins or secret car trunks
Short Video Clip:

16. The Berlin Blockade & Airlift
Stalin cut off supplies to West Berlin… people started to stave
United States and Allies provided people with supplies through aircraft
Short Video Clip: om/watch?v=9gpYsK90 aio

17. Nuclear Arms Race
By 1949, the Soviet Union had atomic bombs in their possession
Scientists developed a far more deadly hydrogen bomb
the Soviets also matched this development a year later

18. Sputnik
1957: the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, a satellite that orbited the earth
Western leaders were worried
feared the Soviet Union could use Sputnik to launch nuclear weapons

19. What kind of race developed between the U.S. and Soviet Union?
A nuclear arms race, for each to outdo the other in deadly nuclear power in case of war

20. In what other scientific area did they compete?
In the race for space, to create satellites to operate in space, and possibly launch nuclear weapons

21. Preparing for Disaster
Americans feared a Soviet nuclear attack to begin at any time
Students practiced what to do if a bomb exploded while they were at school
Thousands of families built small bomb shelters in their backyards and stocked them with goods needed for survival
Duck and Cover Video Clip: qXu-5jw60

22. Communist Cuba
1959: Cuba’s Fidel Castro succeeded in establishing the first communist government in the Americas
Castro was supported by Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev (leader in power after Stalin)
President John F. Kennedy tried to end Castro’s government in 1961, but was unsuccessful
1962: crisis arose over Cuba

23. Cuban Missile Crisis Khrushchev sent nuclear weapons to Cuba in 1962
Missiles far more powerful than the atomic bombs used on Japan were now just a 20-minute flight away from the capital of the U.S.
Millions would die if the missiles were fired
Fear swept the United States – Kennedy promised to respond to any attack by bombing the Soviet Union

24. The Crisis Ends
Eventually, Kennedy and Khrushchev reached an agreement
The U.S. promised not to invade Cuba
The Soviet Union agreed to remove its ships and missiles from Cuba
The U.S. removed its missiles that were based in Turkey

25. The world had come dangerously close to a nuclear war…
1963: the two superpowers signed a treaty banning most kinds of nuclear weapons testing
World leaders hoped the treaty would reduce the chance that nuclear weapons would ever be used in war

26. Why do you think that the two superpowers continually came into conflict?
Each side was so intent on making the world safe for its own ideas and values – which were opposite to the other’s – that their peaceful coexistence seemed impossible

27. Checking for Understanding
What factors led to the Cold War?
Soviet expansion and difference between democratic and communist systems
What was the Berlin Wall? Why was the wall such a powerful symbol of the Cold War?
A wall built by East Germany to stop people from escaping to the West; it symbolized communist oppression
How did Cold War tensions affect the relationships between Eastern and Western nations?
Tensions divided nations into the Warsaw Pact and NATO