1. Introduction To The Cold War

2. BACKGROUND
Time period: end of WWII (1947) to fall of Soviet Union (1991)
Primarily a struggle between the 2 “superpowers” (USA & USSR)
Didn’t involve direct armed conflict between USA & USSR
The Cold War was “fought” over 3 key issues:
ideology
economics
military supremacy
Note: end of Cold War did not mean the end of communism, but it did mean an end to the specific conflict between USA and USSR. Communism is still the form of government in China, North Korea, Cuba and other nations.

3. 1. IDEOLOGY Communism vs. Democracy
Communism: authoritarian government where equal distribution of wealth is the end goal
Democracy: government in which power lies with the people who elect their representatives
USSR pursued a worldwide Communist Revolution
USA pursued a policy of containment aimed at stopping the spread of communism
American domino theory: if one country fell to communism, neighbouring countries would follow

4. 2. ECONOMICS Communism vs. Capitalism
Communism: a state controlled planned economy
Capitalism: a laissez-faire free market economy
Trade blockades based on political alliances were a prominent feature of the Cold War

5. 3. MILITARY SUPREMACY
Arms Race: USA & USSR stockpiled nuclear weapons & built up their militaries.
Space Race: They raced to develop new space technology (e.g. satellites)
Alliance System:
USA would align itself with democratic nations like Canada, UK, France, West Germany & South Korea
USSR would align itself with communist nations like Cuba, Vietnam, North Korea & China
USSR would be first in space with Sputnik satellite, but USA would put first man on the moon
Space technology was considered the new frontier in military tech (e.g. spy satellites, weapons in space)
Countries in Europe that were part of the Soviet sphere of influence were said to be behind the “iron curtain”

6. THE IRON CURTAIN
USSR also established 6 satellite states in East Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania & Bulgaria.
The Soviets had complete control in these supposedly independent communist countries.
The term Iron Curtain comes from a speech given by Winston Churchill that discussed the divide between the Western powers and countries under the Soviet sphere of influence
The Soviet satellite states and Soviet allies in Eastern Europe are said to be behind the Iron Curtain
Satellite states were a new idea in the Cold War