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Objectives
• Examine how friendships among the Allies broke
down after the war.
• Discover how the United States tried to limit the
spread of communism.
• Learn about three new international
organizations.
• Understand how the events of 1949 shook
America’s confidence.
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Chapter
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Terms and People
• iron curtain– a barrier to understanding and
information
• satellite– a country ruled by another nation
• containment– President Truman’s policy of
limiting Soviet expansion
• airlift– to send supplies on cargo planes
• veto– to reject
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How did the United States respond to
the early stages of the Cold War?
After World War II, the Allies’ wartime alliance
was replaced by the Cold War, a struggle
between Communist and non-Communist
nations.
The United States took measures to stop the
spread of Communism.
Roots of the Cold War
Chapter
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Differences arose among the wartime Allies
even before the war had ended.
Russia
U.S.
Britain
Josef
Stalin
Franklin
Roosevelt
Winston
Churchill
Josef Stalin had promised to hold free elections in
the parts of Eastern Europe under his control.
Instead, he set up Communist governments in
these nations.
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Stalin wanted to
protect the Soviet
Union by
surrounding it
with a ring of
friendly countries.
Winston Churchill
referred to this
threat as the iron
curtain.
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The Cold War began at a time when many
Americans worried about the nation’s leadership.
President Franklin Roosevelt died
suddenly in April 1945.
Vice President Harry S. Truman
took over as President.
Harry S. Truman
Truman’s leadership had not yet been tested.
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President Truman soon faced several Cold War
challenges.
A Communist-led
revolt in Greece
Soviet threats
to Turkey and
Iran
Truman declared that the U.S. would block
the spread of Communism, a principle known
as the Truman Doctrine.
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Military force alone would not contain Communism.
European
countries needed
money to repair
damages from
the war.
Communists said
the capitalist system
was too weak to
make these repairs.
Communist parties gained strength in nations
including Italy and France.
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To meet this crisis, the United States developed
the Marshall Plan.
The U.S. loaned 16
European countries
more than $12 billion.
The plan was a success.
It helped France, West
Germany, and Italy
recover from the war.
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The focus of the Cold War next shifted to Germany.
The Allies had split Germany into four zones after
the war.
Germany
American
Zone
Soviet
Zone
French
Zone
British
Zone
Germany’s
capital, Berlin,
lay inside Soviet
territory.
In 1948, the Western Allies wanted to reunite
Germany.
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Stalin opposed the reunification of Germany.
The Soviets set
up a blockade
around Berlin,
preventing food
from reaching
residents.
The Allies
responded with a
massive airlift
to bring supplies
to the people of
Berlin.
The Soviets called off the blockade in May 1949.
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Germany was partially reunified in May 1949.
The Western Allies
combined their zones
to form West Germany.
The Soviet zone became
East Germany.
Berlin was also
divided. The
Soviets kept
control of East
Berlin.
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A divided Germany and Berlin remained a focus of
Cold War tensions.
Thousands of East
Germans fled to West
Germany.
In 1961, the East German
government built a wall
around West Berlin.
The Berlin Wall stood for 28 years.
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Cold War threats led the United States to join
two international organizations.
The U.S. helped
form the United
Nations to maintain
world peace.
The U.S. joined
NATO for
protection against
an attack from the
Soviets.
These actions signaled a turn away from U.S.
isolationism.
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The United States played a leading role in
creating the United Nations, or UN.
Maintain peace.
The UN
had two
main
goals.
Settle international
disputes.
The UN has two parts: the General Assembly and
the Security Council.
Each country in the General Assembly gets one
vote.
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The fifteen countries on the Security Council hold
most of the power.
All UN nations are
supposed to follow its
decisions.
The five permanent
members (U.S.,
Russia, China, Britain
and France) can veto
UN proposals.
The UN has been successful in fighting hunger
and disease and improving education.
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In 1949, the U.S.
and other Western
nations established
the North Atlantic
Treaty Organization
(NATO).
NATO nations
agreed to protect
one another against
a Soviet attack.
The Soviets and their satellites formed their own
alliance, the Warsaw Pact.
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In 1949, two events shook America’s
confidence.
The Soviet Union
exploded its own
atomic bomb.
China fell under
the control of the
Communists.
Now, the Cold War
seemed much more
deadly.
The most populous
nation was now
Communist.
Americans were haunted by Cold War fears, but
held hopes for a better life.
Roots of the Cold War
Chapter
25 Section 1
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