1. The Cold War Continues
1940’s and 1950’s

2. The Reign of Stalin WWII had devastated the SU
The people of the SU had it bad
Severe housing shortage
An average family lived in a one room apartment
Stalin continued to be a totalitarian ruler
Anti-intellectual campaign
Govt. decreed that all literary and scientific work must conform to the political needs of the state
Political terror came w/ this campaign

3. Forming West Germany
US, Britain, and France merge their zones of Germany ( )
Allow the Germans to have their own govt.
New nation – Federal Republic of Germany, known as West Germany
Independent, except not allowed to have a military
Keep economy separate from SU zone

4. East Germany and Berlin
The SU zone of Germany b/c known as East Germany
Regarding Berlin…
SU zone of Berlin = East Berlin
US, French, and British zone of Berlin merged together = West Berlin
Both sections of Berlin located in the SU zone of Germany = East Germany

5. Berlin Crisis
Creation of West Germany convinced SU they would never get the reparations they wanted
SU cut all road and rail traffic to West Berlin
Truman sends long-range bombers w/ atomic weapons to bases in Britain
The challenge
Keep West Berlin alive w/o starting war w/ SU

6. Berlin Air Lift
June Truman ordered the Berlin Air Lift to begin
For more than 10 months cargo planes supplied West Berlin w/ food, medicine, and coal
Stalin finally lifted the blockade on May 12, 1949
America was determined to stand by Berlin

7. NATO (1949) April 1949 – North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
Mutual defense alliance - agreed to come to the aid of any member who was attacked
Alliance of anti-communist nations
NATO…
1st time America had committed itself to maintaining peace in Europe
Allowed West Germany to rearm themselves and join the organization
Makes the SU mad!!!

8. Warsaw Pact (1955) SU was upset by the actions of NATO
SU responds by organizing the Warsaw Pact
Alliance b/w Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, etc
Now Europe was once again divided into hostile alliances

9. The Khrushchev Era 1953 Stalin died  Khrushchev enters
Khrushchev tried to undo some of the worst features of Stalin’s regime
Known as de-Stalinization
Khrushchev condemned Stalin for…
His administrative violence
Mass repression
Terror

10. The Khrushchev Era Khrushchev’s Soviet Union…
Loosened govt. controls on literary works
Increased agricultural output
Was not successful and damaged his reputation w/ the Communist Party
Increased military spending
Hurt the economy
Industry b/g to decline
Last straw  he decided to put missiles in Cuba (Cuban Missile Crisis)
Soviet leaders voted him out of office

11. The H-Bomb 1949 – SU had their own atomic bomb
Truman is determined to have a more deadly weapon than the SU
1952 – US successfully tests H-bomb
H-bomb = hydrogen bomb
Thousand times more powerful than the atomic bomb
1953 – SU had their own H-bomb

12. The Red Scare in the US Red Scare – fear of communist subversion
Subversion – the effort to secretly weaken a society and overthrow its government
Led by Senator Joseph McCarthy
McCarthy heightened everyone’s fear by…
Accusing hundreds of supposed communists and SU spies in high govt. positions
This created a massive “Red Scare” in the US
Conducting irrational investigations
Like a witch hunt, he had no evidence

13. McCarthy Goes Down
Finally, McCarthy was condemned by the Senate when he b/g attacking alleged communist conspirators in the US Army
The America public also b/g to lose faith in him once his trials were shown on TV
They saw him badgering witnesses and not allowing them to respond
Everyone got to see how irrational McCarthy and his trials were!

14. Arms Race
Arms race – building up a countries armies and weapons (bombs, planes, etc.)
B/w the US and the SU
This arms race will continue for 4 decades
Deterrence – policy that huge arsenals of nuclear weapons on both sides prevented war
B/l neither side would launch a nuclear attack b/c the other side would be able to strike back w/ devastating power

15. ICBM 1957 the SU announced the development of an ICBM
ICBM – intercontinental ballistic missile
ICBM – a rocket that could travel great distances
The SU would use their ICBMs to push Sputnik above Earth’s atmosphere

16. Sputnik 1957 – SU sent up Sputnik 1 into space
First unmanned satellite to orbit the earth
Sends the US into PANIC MODE!!!!
Did the SU have a massive lead in building missiles???
US starts pouring money into science and education
1958 – US launches its own satellite into space

17. Space Race
US and SU competed for dominance not only on Earth, but also in the sky
Both superpowers had…
ICBMs to deliver nuclear warheads
Aircraft that could be used for spying missions
They began to develop technology that could be used to explore and ultimately control space
After two decades and a lot of money invested the two superpowers began to cooperate with each other in space exploration