Potsdam
Conference
Yalta
Conference
 Misunderstanding
 Different


USSR takes Eastern Europe – worries US
US in Western Europe – worries USSR
 Truman


and Stalin
Stalin a victim of Germany – NEVER AGAIN
Truman – no appeasement – hard stance
 Arms

Ideologies
Race
USSR scared of A Bomb – want their own
 Both
feared an attack from one another


USA wanted….
Soviets were a threat to
their way of life.




Self determination
Access to raw materials
and new markets
Rebuild European
Governments
Reunite Germany


USSR wanted…
Thought they had won
WWII. Want spoils of
war

Encourage Communism
in Europe




No free elections –
Stalin breaks promise
Rebuild its economy by
using Eastern Europe
Control Eastern Europe
to balance US’s
influence
Keep Germany Divided
TRUMAN INFORMS STALIN OF THE
ATOMIC BOMB – MISTRUST
At Potsdam, as elsewhere, the secret of the atomic bomb was
kept closely guarded. We did not extend the very small circle
of Americans who knew about it. Churchill naturally knew
about the atomic bomb project from its very beginning,
because it had involved the pooling of British and American
technical skill.
On July 24 I casually mentioned to Stalin that we had a new
weapon of unusual destructive force. The Russian Premier
showed no special interest. All he said was that he was glad to
hear it and hoped we would make “good use of it against the
Japanese.”
Source: Memoirs of Harry S. Truman: Volume I, Year of Decisions
(New York: Doubleday, 1955), p. 416.
STALIN’S REACTION TO THE ATOMIC
BOMB
Stalin said tersely: “Roosevelt clearly felt no need to put us in
the picture. He could have done it at Yalta. He could simply
have told me the atom bomb was going through its
experimental states. We were supposed to be allies.”
It was noticeable that, even though Stalin was annoyed, he
spoke calmly. He continued: “No doubt Washington and
London are hoping we won’t be able to develop the bomb
ourselves for some time. And meanwhile, using America’s
monopoly, in fact America’s and Britain’s, they want to force us
to accept their plans on questions affecting Europe and the
world. Well, that’s not going to happen!” and now, for once, he
cursed in ripe language. A broad grin appeared on the face of
my good friend Gusev.
Source: Andrei Gromyko, Memories, Translated by Harold Shukman (London: Century
Hutchinson,
Ltd., 1989), pp. 108–109.
 Who
does Billy Joel
blame for starting
the Cold War
 Based on the song,
is Joel for or
against the Cold
War.
 WHO STARTED THE
COLD WAR???
“Containment”
Truman Doctrine
Berlin Airlift
Stalin installs Communist
Governments in Albania,
Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia,
Hungry, Romania, Poland
From Stettin in the Balkans, to Trieste in the Adriatic, an
iron curtain has descended across the Continent.
Behind that line lies the ancient capitals of Central and
Eastern Europe.
-- Sir Winston Churchill, 1946

Winston Churchill


Strong alliance between
USA and GB
Henry Wallace –
Secretary of Commerce

USSR has the right –
“Getting tough never
brought anything real and
lasting for the schoolyard
bullies or world powers.
The tougher we get, the
tougher the Russians will
get”
 List
the pros and cons of each plan
 Who would you have supported? Explain
 Why did “Containment” win out? How will
this affect America in the future?

Reasoning



Communist influence
in Turkey and Greece
Cant support
themselves
Britain cant do it
either
Financial aid “to
support free peoples
who are resisting
attempted
subjugation”
 $400 million in aide
to Turkey and Greece

 Berlin
Blockade
 Berlin Airlift
 NATO
 Warsaw Pact
 Include…..




Brief summary (including key dates)
Key causes
Major effects on cold war
Major arguments in defense of U.S. and Soviet
actions (Cause and Effect)
 “European
Recovery Program”
 Provide aid to ALL countries
 Not
against any country or doctrine,
but against hunger, poverty,
desperation, and chaos.
 12.2 Billion in aid to Western Europe
USSR refuses
 Western Europe Helped



1948 – US, GB, and
France merge their
parts of Germany
together
USSR blocks access to
Berlin.
The U.S. began a
massive airlift of
supplies that lasted
almost a year. (7,000
tons a day)
 Stalin eventually stops
this
 East Germany is
created

NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY
ORGANIZATION (NATO) 1949
 United States
 Luxemburg
 Belgium
 Netherlands
 Britain
 Norway
 Canada
 Portugal
 Denmark
 1952: Greece &
 France
 Iceland
 Italy
Turkey
 1955: West Germany
 1983: Spain
WARSAW PACT (1955)
}
U. S. S. R.
}
East Germany
}
Albania
}
Hungary
}
Bulgaria
}
Poland
}
Czechoslovakia
}
Rumania
Russia detonated its
first atom bomb in
1949.
 Truman ordered
construction of the
hydrogen bomb.

 How,
if at all, do you think communication
problems and ideological prejudice
contributed to the cold war?
 Why
were the Berlin blockade and resulting
airlift such dramatic and important events in
the cold war?
 Evaluate
Truman’s actions during the early
parts of the Cold War