The Beginning of the Cold
War
Agenda
Bell Ringer: Finish Holocaust Film. Examine photos (10)
1. Notes: Beginning of the Cold War (20)
2. Compare and Contrast Truman Doctrine and the
Marshall Plan. (10)
3. Duck and Cover Analysis (15)
4. The H-Bomb Analysis, what changed from Hiroshima?
(10)
6. NATO vs. Warsaw Pact Map (5)
The Soviet Union vs. the United
States
• After the war, Germany is
annexed into territories
occupied by different
forces.
• Soviets take East
Germany, US and the
Allies occupy West
Germany.
• Berlin is divided in half.
• Churchill claims an “iron
curtain has divided East
and West.
Containment
• Communism was spreading
after World War II ended.
Truman wants to stop it.
• The Soviets wanted more
territory, and China became
communist under Mao Zedong.
• Greece and Turkey were
nearly taken by Communist
forces.
• Truman Doctrine added that it
“must be the policy of the
United States to support “free
people” that are resisting
Communism.
Marshall Plan
• Aid in the economic
reconstruction of Europe.
• Marshall’s idea was to
provide economic
assistance to ALL that
would join in drafting a
program for recovery.
• Of course the Soviets
refused, but it allowed
Western Europe to rebuild
major centers by 1950 and
increase trade.
Berlin Airlift
• Occupation forces left
West Germany by 1948,
but Stalin wanted to keep
Germany weak.
• Blocks off Western Berlin,
cuts off supply lines.
• American and British
forces launch the airlift,
sending supplies to West
Berlin for 11 months.
• Soviets lift blockade in
May 1949.
The Cold War Begins
• Diplomatic Hostility
between Soviet Union
and United States.
• The United States
wanted to stop the
spread of Communism
through containment.
• 1949, Soviets have an
atomic weapon, and
nuclear age begins.
NATO vs. Warsaw Pact
• North Atlantic Treaty
Organization.
– Defensive military
alliance that promised
to attack anyone that
messes with a NATO
country.
• Soviets, feeling
threatened begin the
Warsaw Pact.
Nuclear Threats
• The Soviets get the Hbomb in 1953.
• Brinkmanship- the ability
to go to the edge of war.
• Mutually Assured
Destruction- If a nuclear
attack was launched, it
was guaranteed the world
would be destroyed.