1. Term 1: Grade 12 CAPS History
Topic 1: The Cold War
Term 1: Grade 12
CAPS History

2. Topic 1: The Cold War (Overview)
How did the Cold War period shape international relations after the Second World War?
The Origins of the Cold War (SB Questions)
- Why did the Cold War Develop?
- The creation of Spheres of Interest
- Containment and Brinkmanship (Cuba)
Extension of the Cold War (Essay Questions)
Case Study: Vietnam ( )

3. The Creation of Spheres of Influence

4. The USA’s Policy of Containment:
US President Truman was determined to stand up to any Soviet intimidation. The Truman Doctrine in March 1947
“I believe it must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation (conquest/ overthrow) by armed minorities or by outside pressure.”
Why? Triggered by British withdrawal of support for anti-communists in Greek civil war. Fear of a ‘Domino Theory’
It signalled the end of USA’s “isolationst” policies.
US would now follow a policy of Containment

5. Origins of the Cold War Why did the Cold War Develop? THE USA
and Allies
INCREASING
TENSIONS
THE USSR
Capitalism and Democracy
Conflicting political and economic systems of government
Communism and Dictatorship
West mistrusted USSR
eg: Nazi-Soviet Pact dividing Poland (1939)
Had developed Atomic bomb without telling USSR
Mutual mistrust had grown since 1917
USSR mistrusted West
Eg: Stalin believed that Britain and USA had left USSR to fight Hitler alone for too long.
Feared USA would use Atomic bomb to gain world power.
Supported democracy.
Wanted free and fair elections and to restore Germany as a trading partner.
Conflicting aims in Central and Eastern Europe in 1945
Wanted to ensure that governments in East Europe supported USSR.
Wanted to keep Germany weak.

6. Opposing Military Alliances
North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) (1949)
WARSAW PACT
A defensive alliance:
NATO would fight only if attacked. An attack on one member was to be regarded as an attack on all.
Members:
USA, Britain, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Greece (from 1952), Turkey (from 1952) west Germany (From 1952)
A defensive alliance.
The Warsaw Pact members were to support each other if attacked.
Joint command structure set up but with a Soviet supreme commander.
Members:
USSR, Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Rumania.

7. Containment and Brinkmanship: The Cuban Missile Crisis
Refer to separate Powerpoint on Cuban Missile Crisis for more details.

8. Who was to Blame for the Cold War?
An American Viewpoint
A Soviet Viewpoint
“Communism, in reality is not a political party, it is a way of life, an evil and hateful way of life. It reveals a condition similar to a disease that spreads like an epidemic and, like an epidemic, quarantine is necessary to keep it from infecting this nation.’ (J.Edgar Hoover, Head of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation. March 1947)
“It is becoming more and more evident to everyone that the implementation of the Marshall Plan will mean placing European countries under the economic and political control of the United States and direct interference by the latter in the internal affairs of those countries…Moreover this Plan is an attempt to split Europe into two camps…” (Andrei Vyshinsky, Deputy Minister of USSR in a speech to the United Nations in 1947)