Ch. 27, Section 1
The Beginning of
the Cold War
The “Big Three” leaders at the Yalta
Conference near the end of WWII
Winston Churchill (GB), Franklin Roosevelt
(US), and Joseph Stalin (USSR)
February
1945
Three things agreed upon by
the Allied leaders at the
Yalta Conference
• Free elections in Eastern Europe
• The Soviet Union would help with the
defeat of Japan after Germany defeated
• An international organization to solve
world problems would be created (would
become known as the United Nations)
Potsdam Conference
in July 1945 (Near Berlin)
LEADERS PRESENT:
• Winston Churchill and
Clement Atlee (Great
Britain)
• Harry S Truman (US)
• Joseph Stalin (USSR)
Potsdam Conference
in July 1945 (Near Berlin)
Berlin
• The leaders agreed
Germany and the city
of Berlin would be
divided into 4 zones
of occupation
• The US, USSR, Great
Britain and France
each would control
one of the zones
War Crimes
Trials
• Nuremburg Trials – highranking Nazis put on trial
for “crimes against
humanity” in November
1945 by Allied leaders
• 19 Nazi leaders were
found guilty and 12 were
sentenced to death
• Another set of war
crimes trials took place
in Japan and their
wartime leader, Hideki
Tojo, was convicted and
sentenced to death with
7 others
Principle Establish by War
Crimes Trials
• The trials in Germany
and Japan helped
establish the principle
that individuals must
be held responsible
for committing war
crimes, even when
acting on behalf of a
government
Hideki Tojo on trial in Japan →
United Nations
U.N. Meets in New York
• As agreed to at the Yalta
Conference an
international organization
dedicated to resolving
international conflicts was
created – the U.N.
• 5 Security Council nations
with a veto power were:
– United States
– Great Britain
– France
– Soviet Union
– China
U.N. in Cold War and Today
• U.N. unable to resolve
problems of the Cold
War as either the U.S.
or the Soviet Union
would veto any related
action
• Today the U.N. works
to avoid wars and
provides disaster relief,
prevents hunger and
disease, and combats
international terrorism
Palestine Mandate
• Many Jews moved
back to their ancient
homeland after
WWII
• Arab Palestinians
lived there
• One of the UN’s first
actions was to
divide Palestine into
separate sections
for Jews and Arab
Palestinians
Creation
of Israel
• Jewish leaders announced
the creation of the nation of
Israel in May 1948
• The US quickly recognized
the new nation
• 5 neighboring Arab nations
attacked Israel
• With US aid, Israel drove
them back and took more
land than given by the UN
• Other wars have been
fought since, and tensions
have remained high all the
way to the present
• A term originated by
Winston Churchill
which refers to the line
in Europe following
WWII separating the
communist nations in
Eastern Europe from
the democratic nations
of Western Europe
• In the same speech
Churchill warns of
Soviet ambitions to
keep control of the
nations of Eastern
Europe and to force
them to submit to
Soviet control
Iron Curtain
Winston Churchill giving his
“Iron Curtain” speech when
visiting the US in 1946
Iron Curtain
U.S.S.R.
◄ BALTIC SEA
◄ Stettin
◄ Trieste
ADRIATIC SEA ►
“From Stettin
in the Baltic
to Trieste in
the Adriatic
an Iron
Curtain has
descended
across the
continent”
-- Winston
Churchill
The Cold War
Churchill, Truman, and Stalin
at the Potsdam Conference in
the summer of 1945
• A conflict between the US
and the Soviet Union,
without direct confrontation
on the battlefield, that
lasted from after WWII until
1991
• It began as Soviet leader
Joseph Stalin broke his
promise from the Yalta
Conference to have free
elections in Eastern Europe
and instead set up
communist dictatorships in
these nations
• It caused nations of the
world to choose what side
they would be on, and led
to the fear of nuclear war
Sources of Distrust between US
and USSR that led to the Cold War
• Different political and economic
systems (US democratic and
capitalist and USSR communist)
• Disagreement in WWII over
when the US would start a
second front against Germany
• US didn’t tell USSR about our
atomic bomb program
• Soviet Union broke Yalta
Conference pledge to allow free
elections in Eastern Europe
Truman
Stalin
Containment
Telegram from a U.S. State Dept.
official in Moscow, George Kennan,
which described the need to contain
the spread of Soviet influence
• U.S. foreign policy
under Pres. Truman to
stop the spread of
communism to any
places that were not
already communist
during the Cold War
• It meant that the U.S.
would stop the spread of
communism even if it
meant going to war
(which it did in places
like Korea and Vietnam)
Truman Doctrine
• Policy of the U.S. under
Pres. Truman which
promised aid to people
resisting threats to their
democratic freedom
• U.S. aid helped defeat
communist overthrow
attempts in Greece and
Turkey
• Showed other nations
that we would back up
our containment policy
President Truman giving the
speech before Congress in
1947 that outlined his Truman
Doctrine and asked for aid to
help Greece and Turkey
Marshall Plan
Green nations received aid, and
the red bars show how much in
comparison to other nations
• Plan created by U.S.
Secretary of State,
George Marshall,
which sent $13
billion in aid to
western and
southern Europe to
help them rebuild
after WWII
• The plan was to help
our democratic allies
to handle post-war
problems before
communism could
threaten to take over
in their nations
Division of Germany after WWII
• The division of Germany
was first agreed to by
Allied leaders at the Yalta
Conference, and the
exact borders were set at
the Potsdam Conference
after Nazi Germany was
defeated
• Later the British, French,
and American zones
would combine to
become the democratic
nation of West Germany
British zone
Soviet zone
U.S. zone
French zone
Division of Berlin
• The German
capitol city of
Berlin was also
divided into 4
occupied zones
• The French,
British, and
American sectors
of the city
combined and
became known as
West Berlin
West Berlin became a democratic zone
in the middle of communist East Germany
Berlin Airlift
Flight paths to West Berlin during airlift
• After the Soviet Union
blocked access to
West Berlin in 1948,
Truman responded by
airlifting food, fuel, and
equipment to West
Berlin for nearly a year
with non-stop flights
until the Soviet Union
called off its blockade
• Prevented WWIII and
showed U.S. would
uphold containment
◄ C-47s unloading at
Tempelhof Airport in
Berlin. Up to 102 of these
planes were flying during
the first three months of
the Berlin Airlift
West Berlin citizens watch ►
a plane take off from
Tempelhof Airport, which
was the central point of a
massive U.S.-led airlift in
1948 of the city.
North Atlantic Treaty Organization
• N.A.T.O. was the
defense alliance
created in 1948 by the
democratic nations of
Western Europe and
North America to
prevent against Soviet
or communist threats
• As United Nations
couldn’t solve Cold
War problems (as the
Soviet Union would
veto any U.S.-backed
proposals) this alliance
was necessary
Warsaw Pact
• A Treaty signed in
Warsaw, Poland in 1955
that set up an
organization of communist
states in Central and
Eastern Europe.
• The treaty was an
initiative of the Soviet
Union and was in direct
response to West
Germany joining NATO in
1955.
• As such, it was the Sovietsponsored communist
counterpart to NATO
The nations in red above
were members of the
Warsaw Pact communist
alliance
G.I. Bill of Rights
• Returning veterans flooded the
job market
• To assist them, the GI Bill of
Rights was passed by Congress
which provided veterans:
– One year of unemployment
pay
– Four years of college tuition
– Low-interest loans for homes,
farms, or businesses