1. The Cold War

2. The Cold War After WWII, there was a new kind of war
Countries fought this war with words and ideas, not weapons
Even though the Soviet Union and the US worked together in WWII, their beliefs later drove them apart- this was known as the Cold War

3. Soviet Union vs. the US
The US believed in capitalism which is when ordinary people and businesses control the production of goods and services
The US economy is called a market economy where individuals and businesses make decisions

4. Communism In the Soviet Union, people lived under communism
In communism, the government controls production and owns all the country’s resources
The government tells people where to live and work
The government also commands what will be produced

5. SU vs. US cont.
The US has a democracy where people vote for their leaders
In the Soviet Union, people had no control of who their leaders were
Under communism, citizens had few rights and little freedom
The government arrested people who spoke against communism

6. The Iron Curtain
After WWII, the Allies shared control of Germany (US-western/ SU-eastern)
Berlin, Germany’s capital was also divided (SU- East Berlin/ US- West Berlin)
SU set-up communist governments
US set-up democracies
It was said that Europe was divided by an “iron curtain”- the curtain was a symbol of the differences between communism and non-communism

7. The Iron Curtain

8. NATO: North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Truman decided to help other countries protect themselves against communism
Leaders of the United States, Canada, Britain, and most other non-communist countries of Europe formed an alliance called NATO
They hoped the treaty would keep the SU from forcing communism on other countries

9. The Conflict Continues…
The SU tried to take over the entire city of Berlin
They blocked off all roads that led to West Berlin and hoped it would make the Allies leave the city
The Allies refused to leave!
To get supplies into the city, they used planes
This was called the Berlin Airlift

10. The Berlin Airlift

11. The Berlin Wall
Many people tried to escape from East Berlin to go to the western part of the city
Communist leaders tried to stop them!
The Soviets closed the entrances to East Berlin and began to build the Berlin Wall
This wall divided the communist part of Berlin from the rest of the city

12. The Berlin Wall

13. Communism Spreads
As you know, Americans were very worried about the spread of communism
The Soviets gave money and supplies to a communist army in China and they succeeded in taking over the country
Now the SU and China were BOTH communist

14. Nuclear War
The Soviet Union had built their own bomb and the US was scared
The US worked to develop bigger and better nuclear weapons
We were in an arms race!
People feared a nuclear war that could destroy all life on earth
People in the US prepared for attack by building bomb shelters

15. Bomb Shelters and Drills

16. The Anti-communism Movement
A movement to stop the spread of communism
Senator Joseph McCarthy was a strong anti-communist
He made many accusations that secret communists worked in the gov’t and were spying for the SU
Although most of the claims were false, some were actually true!

17. Anti-communism Members of Congress began to search for communists
Hundreds lost their jobs
A few were found guilty, but most were wrongly accused

18. Nikita Khrushchev A Russian politician who served
as the general secretary to the
Communist Party
Served as the leader of SU after Stalin
Tried to make living better for the people in SU
Was leader during the building of the Berlin Wall and the Cuban Missile Crisis which you will learn about next unit

19. The UN The United Nations formed after WWII led by the US
More than 50 nations joined to try and keep peace in the world
One of the UN’s first challenges was with Korea
Korea was divided into two parts- South Korea was a republic supported by the US; North Korea was communist supported by the SU

20. The Korean War In June 1950, North Korean troops invaded South Korea
The US thought that the SU was helping them
The US convinced the UN to help defend South Korea
UN troops succeeded in pushing them out
Then communist China sent troops to help

21. And the war drags on… Thousands of American soldiers died
In 1953, both sides agreed to stop fighting
Korea remains divided today

22. About 6 years later in Cuba…
Communists had power in Cuba after Fidel Castro led a revolution aided by Nikita Khrushchev
The US discovered that the USSR was secretly sending powerful missiles to Cuba
Why would we be worried about that?

23. Cuban Missile Crisis These missiles could easily reach us
They were large enough to carry a nuclear bomb
JFK feared a surprise attack and ordered a blockade on Cuba
Our warships surrounded the island and prevented the delivery of more missiles

24. Stand-off The Soviets refused to take their missiles out of Cuba
Nuclear war seemed very possible
Finally, Khrushchev decided to remove the missiles
In return, JFK promised not to attack Cuba

25. The Vietnam War
The country of Vietnam was split like Korea- the North was communist and the South was non-communist
In the 1960’s, a group of communists in South Vietnam (the Vietcong) tried to overthrow the non-communist government
At first the US only sent supplies to help South Vietnam fight back, but then…

26. The Vietnam War We sent American troops to help
We had advanced technology working for us like tanks and bombers- we attacked a lot from the air
However, the Vietcong were fast-moving, tricky, and practiced guerilla warfare
As the war raged on, many Americans were unhappy with our involvement

27. Combat

28. The Vietnam War Many of our soldiers were dying
The war was also costing us billions of dollars
America was split over whether or not we should continue fighting in the war
Some thought we should stay out of a war that is not ours
Some thought it was our job to help stop communism

29. Anti-War Protests

30. War comes to an end
Nixon became president in 1969 and started to bring our troops home from Vietnam
We also reduced our bomber attacks
Finally, in 1973, a cease-fire was signed
Once all the US soldiers were home, North Vietnam attacked again and succeeded in taking over the country two years later