2. GCSE MODERN WORLD HISTORY INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 1945-1955 ORIGINS OF THE COLD WAR INTERACTIVE WHO WAS TO BLAME FOR STARTING THE COLD WAR?

3. History Interactive Key Stage 4 History ORIGINS OF THE COLD WAR INTERACTIVE These are sample slides. There is no audio, document links or internet links. History Interactive©

4. 6 GCSE Modern World History The Origins Of The Cold War The USA The USSR Communist Capitalist Democracy Strongest country after the war Wanted to contain communism communism Dictatorship Lost 20 million people in the war Wanted to create buffer states buffer states F D Roosevelt Truman American President Joseph Stalin Soviet Leader Two superpowers developed after the Second World War, the USA and the USSR. A superpower is a very powerful country. Both America and the Soviet Union believed that their system was the best and did all they could to spread their ideas and way of life around the world.

5. SOVIET UNION EXPANSION 20 USSR The East Communist countries The West Capitalist countries Poland Czechoslovakia Hungary Romania Bulgaria Albania Yugoslavia East Germany Czechoslovakia 1948 A coalition government was set up and led by the non-communist Benes. Soon, non-communists were arrested. In 1948, communist workers went on strike, the non- communist minister Masaryk committed suicide and Gottwald took over the government. Hungary 1947 The non-communists won the 1945 elections. However, the communist leader, Rakosi, took control of the secret police and executed and arrested his opponents. By 1948, Rakosi had complete control of Hungary. Poland 1947 At Yalta, Stalin had promised to set up a joint communist/non-communist government but then he invited 16 non-communist leaders to Moscow and arrested them. Thousands of non-communists were arrested, and the communists won the 1947 election. Romania 1947 In the 1945 elections, a communist-led coalition was elected to power. The communists gradually took over and in 1947 they abolished the monarchy. East Germany 1945 East Germany was in the Soviet zone of Germany. In 1949, they set up a communist- controlled state called the German Democratic Republic. Albania 1945 The communists immediately took power. Bulgaria 1945 In the 1945 elections, a communist-led coalition was elected, but the communists executed the non-communists. GCSE Modern World History The Origins Of The Cold War Berlin Over the next four years all of Eastern Europe came under Soviet control. Communists took over in Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania straight away. In Poland and Czechoslovakia they shared power for a while and then non-communists were thrown out. Czechoslovakia fell to the communists in 1948. Only Tito, in Yugoslavia, managed to keep a communist government free from Stalin's control. So how did these countries turn communist? Stalin said that expansion into Eastern Europe was to create a group of buffer states to provide protection for the Soviet Union from any future invasion. America saw it as the part of Stalin's plans to take over the whole of Europe. This led to more fear and tension.

6. 24 IRON CURTAIN SPEECH In 1946, Churchill at Fulton, Missouri said: “It is my duty, however, to place before you certain facts about the present position in Europe. From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic an iron curtain has descended across the Continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe.” What was the Iron Curtain? The Iron Curtain was the name given to the border between the Communist East and the Democratic West Europe. The name came from a speech made by Winston Churchill in 1946. He was very worried about Soviet expansion in Eastern Europe. Winston Churchill GCSE Modern World History The Origins Of The Cold War Western Europe Eastern Europe Poland Czechoslovakia Hungary Romania USSR The Soviet Union