• Write down at least 3 things you know
about the Cold War?
Warm up
• What was the Cold War?
• What were some of the things that had created
tension between the US and the USSR?
• How did the defeat of the Nazis at the end of
WWII create problems between the US and the
USSR?
• What promises did the Russians make at Yalta?
Quiz
• 1. Which Eastern European country set-up a
communist government independent of the
U.S.S.R.?
• 2. What metaphor did Churchill use to describe
post-war Soviet domination of Eastern Europe?
• 3. When the U.S. gave financial aid to noncommunist forces in the Greek Civil War, it
established a principle that the U.S. would give
aide to any people’s trying to resist communism.
What term is used to describe this doctrine in U.S.
foreign policy?
Quiz 4/25
• 1. How did the Soviets view the Marshall
Plan?
• 2. How did the U.S. respond when Stalin
cut-off access to west Berlin?
• 3. What was the U.S. led anti-communist
European alliance called?
Cold War
Definition & Causes
• Cold War = undeclared hostilities between
US and Soviet Union (Russia).
• Capitalism v. Communism
• Both sides thought the other side was
trying to dominate the world.
History of Tension
• US had sent troops and supplies to help
the “whites” in 1917.
• US and England had not opened a second
front like Stalin wanted early in WWII.
• Communists want to overthrow capitalism.
How it Happened
• During WWII, the US & England began to
disagree with Russia about things that should
happen after the war was over.
• US wants self-determination—that is people
voting on what kind of government they want.
• England wants to preserve its empire.
• USSR wants to control central and Eastern
Europe.
The Yalta Conference
• 1945—City in Russia where Churchill,
FDR, and Stalin met.
• Stalin agreed to help US against Japan 2-3
months after Germany was defeated.
• Stalin wanted territory in China and Japan.
• All 3 leaders agreed on creating United Nations.
• US and Russia disagree on punishing Germany.
• Stalin vaguely agreed to elections in Eastern
Europe (particularly Poland).
Problems with Eastern Europe
• Russia had liberated (freed) the countries
of Eastern Europe from the Nazis during
WWII.
• Russia wants these countries to be
communist like they are.
• But if they allow elections, the people will
probably not choose to be communist.
• So Russians don’t allow free elections.
• Instead, start putting communist people in
power in the countries they control in
Eastern Europe.
• First is Poland—U.S. is mad.
• Truman, who is now President, scolds the
Russians.
The Potsdam Conference
• July of 1945 in City in Germany.
• Truman, Churchill, and Stalin.
Things Decided
• Germany to be divided into 4 zones and people could
get reparations from their zone.
• Demilitarize Germany
• Shift borders of Poland
• Resettle Germans
• Demand unconditional surrender of Japan or they would
face “Prompt and utter Destruction.”
Germans expelled from Eastern
Europe
• Mainly Poland (also Czech. And Hungary)
because of new borders
Divided Germany
The A-Bomb
• At Potsdam, Truman
finds out the A-Bomb
is ready.
• After what the
Russians have done
in Eastern Europe,
the US now DOESN’T
want their help
against Japan.
Arguments About the A-Bomb
• Some people have
argued that the US used
the atomic bombs
against Japan to keep
Russia from entering the
war in the Pacific and to
intimidate them
Stalin’s Speech
• In 1946, Stalin
declared that
capitalism was a
danger to world
peace.
• Said that it was
inevitable there would
be a war between
communism and
capitalism.
Policy of Containment
• Containment became foundation of US Cold
War policy towards communism.
• Put forth by George Kennan.
• Called for preventing the spread of communism.
• Said that if not allowed to spread, that overtime,
communism would collapse on its own.
The “Iron Curtain”
• Winston Churchill gave a speech
at Westminster College in Missouri
(1946).
• He used the metaphor of an “Iron
Curtain” for describing the division
of Europe caused by Soviet
domination of Eastern Europe.
• He called for all of the English
speaking people to join forces
against the Communist threat.
Review
• Why did Stalin get mad at the US and England
during WWII?
• What promise did Stalin make at the Yalta
conference that he later broke?
• What section of Europe did Russia control after
WWII? How come they controlled this area?
• Why did Truman decide that he did not want the
Russians’ help defeating the Japanese after all?
• What was alarming to people in the U.S. about
Stalin’s speech in 1946?
• What is “containment”? Who came up with the
idea?
• Who gave the “Iron Curtain” speech and what
does it mean?
• Besides ending the war without having to invade
Japan, what is another reason (involving Russia)
that historians have argued motivated Truman to
decide on using the atomic bomb?
• What are the “means of production.”
• What is the difference--in terms of
ownership of the means of production—
between communism and capitalism?
• Why do many religious people not like
communism?
More Problems in Europe
• British too weak (and broke) to help
Turkey and Greece from threat of
communism.
The First Test of Containment
• In 1947, there was trouble in Greece and
Turkey.
• Both countries were just south of Communist
controlled Eastern Europe.
• Greece was in turmoil and Greek Communists
were fighting for control of the country.
• In Turkey, the Russians were trying to get
access to the Mediterranean.
The Truman Doctrine
• President Truman wanted to
ask Congress to give $ to
help these countries fight off
Communism.
• His advisers tell him that he
must scare the American
people to get the $.
Truman’s Speech
• “At the present moment, nearly every nation
must choose between alternative ways of life.
The choice is too often not a free one.
• One way of life is based upon the will of the
majority and is distinguished by free institutions,
representative government, free elections,
guarantees of individual liberty, freedom of
speech and religion, and freedom from political
oppression.
• The second way of life is based upon the will of
a minority forcibly imposed upon the majority. It
relies upon terror and oppression, a controlled
press and radio, fixed elections, and the
suppression of personal freedoms.
• Truman went on to say that the US must help all
people who were trying to “resist attempted
subjugation by armed minorities or outside
pressures.”
• The Truman Doctrine = US will help countries
fight-off Communism.
The Marshall Plan
• Proposed by Secretary of State George Marshall in
1947.
• Trying to deal with the problems of Post-War
reconstruction in Western Europe—Lots of rebuilding to
do, lots of poverty, homelessness, and hunger.
• Many of these countries have Communist parties that
are receiving lots of support.
• Marshall calls for massive U.S. aid to help rebuild
Western Europe.
• This plan to give money to rebuild Western Europe is
called the Marshall Plan.
Reasons for Marshall Plan
• 1. To keep Western Europe from going
communist.
• 2. Need a healthy Western Europe to trade with
(need the markets).
• Offered to Eastern Europe as well but rejected
as a plan for the US to take over Europe.
• Gives 17-billion over 5-years and is very
successful.
Warm-Up
• 1. What was the Cold War1.
• 2. How did Yalta lead to the outbreak of the Cold
War?
• 2. What was the Truman Doctrine?
• 3. What was Marshall Plan?
• 4. What was “Containment” and who came up
with the idea?
Berlin Crisis
• US wants a strong Germany to both help
European economy and to help contain
Communism.
• The Russians want a weak, Communist
dominated Germany so they won’t be attacked
again and to extend their influence.
• Unable to agree, the 2-sides begin organizing
the sections of Germany that they control how
they want.
A Divided Germany
• The US, French, and British controlled Western German
Zones (and Western Berlin) start to use a common
currency.
• This outrages the Russians because at Potsdam the
Allies had agreed to treat Germany as one country.
• The Russians then begin a blockade to prevent the US,
French, and Brits. From having access to their areas of
Berlin.
• This leaves over 2-million west Berliners on their own.
The Berlin Airlift
•
1948
•
To avoid war with the Russians by
sending troops to force their way into
western Berlin, Truman decides to
have planes deliver food and
supplies.
•
He does this for 11-months.
•
At the peak of the Berlin Airlift, a
plane was landing every 45-seconds.
• In May of 1949, Stalin
called of the blockade.
• By now, though,
Germany was divided into
2 nations: Western
Germany (Democratic
and Capitalist) & Eastern
Germany (Communist)
NATO
• Berlin crisis convinced the US that Western Europe
needed military as well as financial support to hold of
Communism.
• They formed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
(NATO) as a military alliance against Communism.
• US, Canada, and 10 European countries.
• An attack against one is considered an attack against all.
• The Russians responded in 1955 with the Warsaw Pact,
a defense alliance of the Communist Eastern European
countries.