1. Warm Up Question
Prompt: Given the fact that WWI and WWII can be classified as “hot” wars, how should we define this period known as the Cold War?
Please write the prompt & respond in complete sentences!

2. Warm Up Question
Describe the picture. Who is “responsible” for the creation of the Iron Curtain? Which superpower’s perspective is this cartoon from?

3. Cold War

4. Allies Become Enemies During WWII the US and USSR were allies
American Goals
Soviet Goals
Minimal loss of life, cities intact
Wanted to avoid future conflict by forming an int’l body to settle disputes
Recall: what was that 1st int’l body?
3 foreign policy goals: free trade, open access to the seas, and self- gov’t
1 in 4 Soviets wounded or killed in WWII
Cities demolished
Lenin’s Bolshevik ideals still important
Proletarian internationalism – supporting class struggles around the world
Peaceful co-existence with capitalist countries
During WWII the US and USSR were allies
But not very friendly allies
Even by the end of WWII, the friendship started to crumble
US leader: FDR then Harry Truman
USSR leader: Josef Stalin (still)
US did not like that Stalin has a previous alliance with Germ.
USSR did not like that other Allies (US, etc) did not invade Europe until 1944
Very different goals

5. Yalta Conference: A Postwar Plan
Feb – the war isn’t over, but the leaders of USSR, US, and GB met in Yalta – the Soviet Black Sea resort
Agreed to divide Germ. into zones of occupation controlled by Allied mil. Forces
Germ. would pay Soviets to compensate for loss of life and property
Soviets joined war against Jp. and promised to allow E. Euro. to have free elections

6. Creation of the United Nations
TPS: What made this time a good time to found the UN?
June 1945 – US, USSR, and 48 other countries formed the United Nations (UN)
Int’l organization intended to protect the members against aggression
General Assembly – each UN nation could cast a vote on issues presented
Security Council – power to investigate and settle disputes
5 permanent members: US, USSR, GB, Ch., & Fr.
Can veto S.C. actions

7. Cold War Europe

8. Containment Potsdam Conference
July 1945 – Truman (new Prez.), Churchill, and Stalin meet to discuss post-war decisions the Yalta Conf.
Truman pushed Stalin to permit free elections in East Euro. Stalin refused
Early 1946 – Stalin declared that communism and capitalism could not exist in the same world
To offset the growing Soviet threat to East Euro.  Truman adopted foreign policy of containment
Directed at blocking Soviet influence & stopping the expansion of communism
Included forming alliance and helping weak countries resist Soviet advances

9. Truman Doctrine
“One way of life is based upon the wall of the majority, and is distinguished by free institutions The second way of life is based upon the will of a minority forcibly imposed upon the majority.”
- Truman in speech to Congress, 1947
Truman Doctrine – support countries that rejected communism

10. Marshall Plan
Provided food, machinery, and other materials to rebuild West Euro.
Many West Euro. countries received aid, including Comm. Yugoslavia once it broke away from Soviet control

11. Germany Divided
TPS: Why didn’t the Soviets want the occupied zones of Germ. to be reunited?
After WWII, Germany was divided into 4 zones of occupation – US, UK, France, & USSR
Germany’s capital, Berlin, was also divided into 4 zones
In 1948 – the US, France, and UK decided to remove troops & allow their occupation zones to form one nation

12. Berlin Blockade TPS: Why did the Allies not just give up Berlin?
In response to the unification of West Germ., the USSR held West Berlin hostage
Soviets cut off highway, water, and rail traffic into Berlin’s western zones
Stalin hoped that Allies would surrender West Berlin or give up the reunification idea

13. Berlin Airlift
Am. and Brit. officials instead flew cargo planes filled with food and supplies into West Berlin for nearly a year
In May of 1949, the USSR admitted defeat and lifted the blockade
Blockade heightened West Euro. fears of Soviet aggression

14. Alliances Divide the World
NATO
Warsaw Pact
North Atlantic Treaty Organization – alliance btwn US, Canada, and 10 West Euro. nations
Stated that an attack on any NATO member would be met with armed force by all member nations
Soviets saw NATO as a threat so created its own alliance – the Warsaw Pact
In 1961 – East Germ. built a wall to separate East and West Berlin
Berlin Wall symbolized the division of the world into two camps – the Iron Curtain was real in Berlin!!

15. Threat of Nuclear War
TPS: How did the arms race help prevent war btwn the superpowers?
US had atomic bombs – as seen at end of WWII
1949 – the Soviets successfully explode its own atomic bomb
Pres. Truman was determined to develop a more deadly weapon b4 the Soviets do
Hydrogen bomb (H-bomb) developed in 1952 in US; the Soviets explode their own in 1953
Thousands of times more deadly than A-bomb
When Eisenhower became pres. in 1953, he est. a foreign policy of brinkmanship
Willingness to go to the brink of war
Required a reliable source of nuclear weapons as protection
Soviets responded with their own mil. buildup

16. Space Race
Aug – the Soviets announced the development of an ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile) – sent Sputnik into Earth’s atmosphere
Am. poured $$ into science & tech. education to catch up
1960 – U-2 was shot down in USSR
A secret high-altitude spy plane from CIA flying over USSR
These tech. advances con’t to heighten Cold War tensions

17. Summary Question
Why was Berlin a likely location for trouble to develop during the Cold War?