THE COLD WAR
Struggle between the
World’s Superpowers
Think About It…
• What is the difference between
a “hot” war and a “cold” war?
• It has nothing to do with weather!
– A “hot” war/conflict: when there is
actual fighting going
– A “cold” war/conflict: when there is
great tension and the potential for
war, but no direct fighting yet
What was THE “Cold War”?
• 46 years (1946-1991)of tense relations
between world’s superpowers after WWII
• Tension existed between the communist
USSR (& its allies) and the democratic
USA(& its allies) to control and influence
the rest of the world
West v. East
• The two powers never directly fought
each other, so the conflict was not “hot”
But there were other world conflicts…
We’ll talk
about those later!
1945 – The Division of Germany
• After WWII, the Allies (US, Britain,
France and the Soviet Union) split
Germany into 4 military occupation
zones
• Berlin was also split into four zones
even though the city was entirely in
the Soviet occupied zone
The Berlin Crisis(June 1948-May 1949)
•
• Germany? I’m glad you
asked……………………
• The USSR refused to give up their Zone,
and this would divide Germany into East
and West. The city of Berlin was divided
4 ways too. When the Soviets closed off
their section, the US had to Fly in all the
supplies and needs of the people. This is
the Berlin Airlift.
• For 11 months, 277,000 flights brought in
2.3 tons of supplies.
• The west wanted the east to rejoin, but Stalin
feared it would hurt Soviet security.
• In June 1948, Stalin decided to try to gain
control of West Berlin which was deep inside the
eastern sector.
• Stalin cut off road, rail and canal links with West
Berlin, hoping to starve it into submission.
• The west responded by airlifting in the
necessary supplies to allow west Berlin to
survive.
• In May 1949, Russia admitted defeat and lifted
the blockade.*
Berlin Blockade & Airlift
(1948-49)
Soviet Goals After WWII
• To prevent future attacks from the
Germans by creating a “buffer zone”
(protective area)
• To spread communism around
Europe and the world
• Think geographically… How can the
USSR accomplish both goals?
The “Eastern Bloc”
• Countries of eastern Europe that
were put under the Soviet “sphere of
influence”
• Including: Eastern Germany, Poland,
Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia,
Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary
• USSR forced these countries to
become communist after WWII
Sphere of Influence
When a strong
nation exerts its
control or influence
over a weaker
nation or region
Eastern
Bloc
Iron Curtain –
A term used by
Winston Churchill
to describe the
separating of
Those communist
lands of East
Europe from the
West.
The “Iron” Curtain
• Name coined by British Prime Minister
Winston Churchill in 1946
• Referred to the ideological division in
Europe after WWII between the eastern
communist countries dominated by the
Soviet Union and the Allied western
democratic countries
Why call the division iron?
Churchill's Iron Curtain Speech
THE BERLIN WALL
Berlin Wall-1961
The Berlin Wall Goes Up (1961)
Checkpoint
Charlie
Berlin is cut in half. The
wall surrounds the city,
and both protects and
locks in members of the
city
Brandenberg Gate and
Checkpoint Charlie
Ich bin ein Berliner!
(1963)
President Kennedy
tells Berliners
that the West is
with them!