Transcript Chapter 27, Section 1 - Union Endicott High School

Chapter 28, Section 1:
The Cold War Begins
Main Idea: After WWII, distrust between
the US & USSR led to the Cold War.
The Cold War [1945-1991]:
An Ideological Struggle
US & the
Western
Democracies
Soviet &
Eastern Bloc
Nations
GOAL  “Containment”
of Communism
GOAL  spread
Communism world-wide
METHODOLOGIES:
1. Espionage [KGB vs. CIA]
2. Arms Race [nuclear escalation] & Space Race
3. Division of Europe [“Iron Curtain”: NATO
(Democratic) vs. Warsaw Pact (Communist)]
4. Competition for Third World peoples [Communist
govt. vs. democratic govt.]  “proxy wars”
Understanding Capitalism vs. Communism
COMMUNIST THEORY
CAPITALIST THEORY



Businesses, farms and industry are privately
owned by individuals who profit from the
sale of goods produced.
Individuals pay for the labor based on the
efficiency and the skill of the worker. This
system creates a social and economic class
system (rich, middle & poor).
Promotes competition between privatelyowned businesses.



Workers, as a community, own and run all
businesses, industry and farms. Economically
all people would benefit equally.
Socially this creates a classless society with
great freedom where all people would be
considered equal (everybody is in the “working
class”).
Promotes cooperation with government- owned
businesses.
Communism: From Theory to Practice
Marxism
Karl Marx publishes the Communist
Manifesto, promising a workers’ paradise &
creating the Communist theory.
Leninism
Vladimir Lenin seizes control of agrarian
Russia (WWI), imposing limited liberty.
Stalinism
Joseph Stalin takes control of Russia &
forces industrialization on the agrarian society.
He centralizes power & takes away most freedoms.
He takes control of Eastern Block countries
A. Origins of the Cold War
Growing Distrust

Cold War – a state of constant tension
between nations w/out actual fighting
– US & USSR were allies during WWII,
but after the war they become bitter
rivals for the next 50 years (distrust).
– USSR (East) = Communism/Socialism
vs. US (West) = Democracy/Capitalism
Broken Promises

The Soviets drove Germany through
Eastern Europe during WWII, then left
their troops in those countries after the
war. These 8 nations became “satellite
nations,” with harsh communist
dictators controlled by the USSR.
The “Iron Curtain”

British leader Winston Churchill coined
the term “iron curtain” to describe the
separation of the communist nations of
Eastern Europe from the democratic
countries of Western Europe.
– Expansion (USSR) vs. Containment (US)
The Beginning of the Cold War
B. The U.S. Responds

Truman’s US Cold War policy is called
containment, meaning to keep communism
from spreading beyond its current borders.
The Truman Doctrine

Truman Doctrine – The US pledged
to help (money & weapons) nations
threatened by communist expansion
– successful in Greece & Turkey ($400mill)
The Marshall Plan


Marshall Plan – Secretary of State
George Marshall feared that the wardamaged countries of Western Europe
were vulnerable from weak economies
The US pledged over $12 billion to
rebuild European economies damaged
by WWII, so that they would not turn
to communism as a solution to their
problems. (If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!)
Soviet
Communist
Threat To US &
Western Europe
Following WWII
Western European
Conditions After WWII
 HUNGER
 POVERTY
 DESPAIR
May cause Western
Europeans to vote
leaders into office who
would align their
country with the Soviet
Union, thus causing the
spread of communism.
The Marshall Plan
PURPOSES
– Provide Europeans with an
attractive option to communism
– Make the U.S. look good by
giving Europeans hope by
providing for immediate needs
of the people
– Provide financial opportunities
for the U.S. to later trade with
European nations
– Cause Stalin (Soviet Union) to
put up a “wall” dividing Europe
which aided containment of
communism
– Cause friction between Stalin
and satellite countries by
forbidding acceptance of U.S.
aide
U.S. and WESTERN EUROPEAN
TRADE
U.S. gives
grants to
Western Europe
W. Europeans
continue to trade
with the U.S.
U.S. economy
flourishes
W. Europeans
rebuild
W. Europeans
have money to
purchase goods
to rebuild
U.S. companies and
farmers sell
goods to Europe
* The U.S. gave over $12 billion in aid to European
countries between 1948 and 1952, helping to improve their
economies and lessen the chance of communist revolutions.
Step on
it, Doc!
Marshall Plan
C. Crisis Over Berlin

After WWII, Germany was divided into
4 zones occupied by the US, Britain,
France & the USSR. Berlin was also
divided, but was located in Soviet zone.
– 3 zones combined to form the democratic
West Germany, while the Soviet zone
became East Germany, a communist country.



Stalin closed all land routes to West
Berlin, cutting it off from the rest of the
world so that the USSR could control it.
Berlin Airlift
The Berlin Airlift – for almost a year,
the US flew supplies into W. Berlin to
keep it going. Stalin reopened the routes
(big psychological victory for the US).
Berlin Wall
Berlin Wall – Soviets built a wall
across the city of Berlin in Aug. 1961 to
prevent East Germans from fleeing to
West Berlin, and then West Germany
(embarrassing). It will stay until 1989.
– Soviets send troops & tanks to Czech. in
1968 to end proposals of freedom there.
Yalta Conference:2/45 Potsdam Conference: 7/45
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FDR wants quick Soviet entry

into Pacific war.
FDR & Churchill concede Stalin

needs buffer, FDR & Stalin

want spheres of influence and

a weak Germany.

Churchill wants strong Germany
as buffer against Stalin.
FDR argues for a ‘United Nations’.
Churchill
Roosevelt
Stalin
FDR dead, Churchill out as
Prime Minister during conf.
Stalin only original.
The US has the A-bomb.
Allies agree Germany to be
divided into occupation zones.
Poland moved around to suit
the Soviets.
P.M. Clement
Atlee
President
Truman
Joseph
Stalin
The “Big Three”
Winston Churchill, Franklin Roosevelt, Joseph Stalin
Occupation zones after 1945.
Berlin is the multinational area
within the Soviet zone.
In June of 1948, the French, British and
American zones were joined into the nation of
West Germany after the Soviets refused to
end their occupation of Germany.
The Division of Germany:1945 -1990
Berlin Blockade & Airlift (1948-49)
Total length around West Berlin 91 miles
Border between East and West Berlin 27 miles
Number of watch towers 302
Number of bunkers 20
Concrete wall height 11.81ft
The Berlin Wall Goes Up (1961)
Ich bin ein Berliner! (1963)
President Kennedy tells
Berliners that the West
is with them!
D. New Alliances
Cold War Alliances
1.
2.
North Atlantic Treaty
Organization (NATO) -1949 –
made up of democratic countries
from Western Europe & North
America (The US & Canada)
The Warsaw Pact - 1955 – made
up of communist countries (The
USSR & the satellite nations)
United Nations

United Nations (UN) - 1945 – new
international peacekeeping
organization (51 original members)
– General Assembly - every member
– Security Council – only certain members
– Most successful in fighting hunger &
disease & improving education
• Food, medicine & supplies for famine & other
natural disasters. Relief in war-torn countries.
North Atlantic Treaty
Organization (1949)
 United
States
 Belgium
 Britain
 Canada
 Denmark
 France
 Iceland
 Italy
 Luxemburg
 Netherlands
 Norway
 Portugal
 1952:
Greece &
Turkey
 1955: West
Germany
Warsaw Pact
(1955)
}
U. S. S. R.
}
East
Germany
}
Albania
}
Bulgaria
}
Hungary
}
Czechoslovakia
}
Poland
}
Rumania
The Bipolarization of Europe
E. 1949: Year of Shocks

The USSR successfully tested an atomic
bomb in September. The US is no longer
the only country with atomic weapons
– We lost the “upper hand.” Did spies help them?

Mao Zedong led the Chinese Communists
to victory over Chiang Kai-shek, who was
backed by the US, in a Chinese civil war.
– China is now the People’s Republic of China.
– Mao’s victory meant that the largest nation in
Asia was now communist. Along w/ the USSR,
they made up about ¼ of the land on Earth.

Even though the communist leaders of
China & the Soviet Union often disagreed
with each other, this news contributed
heavily to Americans’ fears of communist
revolutions in other places around the
world.
Chinese poster saying: "Chairman
Mao is the Red sun of our hearts."
Growing Interest in China
People’s Republic of China:
• In the 1940’s, China was embroiled in a civil war.
Nationalists
Led by Chiang Kai-shek
Communists
Led by Mao Zedong
•U.S. gave Chiang Kai-shek
millions of dollars, but the
communists won the war.
China became a communist
country, & Chiang Kai-shek
& his forces fled to Taiwan.