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"The seeds of totalitarian regimes are nurtured by misery and want." Harry S. Truman

Explore the origins of the Cold War and the division between the East and West after World War II. Learn about the United Nations and its role in maintaining peace. Understand the suspicions and tensions that arose between the Soviet Union and the United States, leading to the Iron Curtain and the policy of containment. Discover the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan as strategies to combat communism and rebuild Europe.

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"The seeds of totalitarian regimes are nurtured by misery and want." Harry S. Truman

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  1. "The seeds of totalitarian regimes are nurtured by misery and want." Harry S. Truman In 1986, Russia had 45,000 nuclear weapons.

  2. The Cold War The Split Between the East and the West

  3. Life After WWII: The U.N. • During the Yalta Conference, the Allies had agreed to replace the ineffective League of Nations with the much stronger United Nations to act as a permanent peace-keeping force in the world. • The U.N.: • Guaranteed the security of its member nations • Foster good relations among nations through equal rights and self-determination • It encouraged global coop. on econ., cultural, and humanitarian problems. • In the post-war years the U.N. resolved many crises, however, it was powerless to resolve disputes b/w Am. and the S.U. (permanent members w/ veto power).

  4. Soviet Suspicions • Throughout WWII, the Soviets suspected that the other Allied powers had decided to let Russ. bear the brunt of the war effort and to become involved only at the last minute so they could influence the peace settlement and dominate Euro. • The U.S. and the S.U. emerged from WWII as the world’s two superpowers. No other countries were equal to them in military power or political influence. • Misconceptions b/w Russ. and Am. that began during the Potsdam Conference created tensions between the Allied powers and would eventually lead to a “Cold War.”

  5. Allies Turned Arch Enemies • After WWII, the W. Allies felt the best way to achieve global peace/security was through strengthen demo. and the econs. in Euro. • The Soviets, however, had a different perspective: • Historically, Russ. had been a target for invasion and this fear led Stalin to: • Est. pro-Soviet govs. in E. Euro. and expand his empire. “Expand I say!”

  6. The Iron Curtain • “From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic and iron curtain has descended across the continent of Europe.” • Winston Churchill www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/history/mw...

  7. The Iron Curtain www.johndclare.net/Word%20documents/Cribsheet...

  8. The Iron Curtain • In Albania and Yugoslavia, Communists came to power w/ little Soviet help. • In Poland, Romania, and Bulgaria, where Soviet troops were in full command, the S.U. made sure that government ministries included Communists. • By 1947, most of the nations in E. Euro had become Soviet satellites: controlled by the S.U. • Stalin’s actions in E. Euro. convinced President Truman that the U.S. had to resist further Soviet moves and contain communism.

  9. The Truman Doctrine • Policy of Containment: holding back the spread of communism by keeping the S.U. w/in its existing borders. • How?: The situation in Greece provided the opp. • In Greece, local Communists were fighting a guerrilla war against the pro-W monarchy. • The guerillas were aided by Communists from Albania and Yugoslavia.

  10. The Truman Doctrine • Prior to this, Britain had historically been the protector of the Mediterranean, but due to war debt they were no longer able to do so. • Truman asked Congress for the U.S. to assume this responsibility, this was approved this request along w/ $400,000,000 dollars in aid for Greece and Turkey. • This approval became known as the Truman Doctrine: The U.S. took on intl. responsibilities as the leaders of the W. world and Am. military aid would now be available to any nation threatened by Communism.

  11. The Truman Doctrine • “I believe that it must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures…. We must assist free peoples to work out their own destiny in their own way.”

  12. The Marshall Plan • Conditions in Euro. posed immediate and long-term challenges for the U.S.: WWII had severely weakened Euro. econs. • The Truman admin. feared that an econ. collapse would open Euro. to communism. • It believed that the military and econ. security of the U.S. depended on a strong and democratic Euro.

  13. The Marshall Plan • In order to combat Communism in Euro., the U.S. gov. devised a new approach to aid Euro: The Marshall Plan. • Its purpose was to restore “the confidence of Euro. people in the econ. future of their own countries.”1 • With the help of the Euro. countries to determine where aid should go the Marshall Plan became a great success: • 13 billion dollars from 1947-1951: • Euro. countries worked together to boost productivity • Trade barriers were reduced • Resources were used efficiently

  14. The Marshall Plan • By 1951, W. Euros econs. were prospering, and Communist prospects in these countries had declined. • The Marshall Plan extended Am. influence in W. Euro. and helped to unite the region into a single econ. group to counter the Soviets. • The S.U. had refused aid despite its great need for it and it forced its E. Euro. allies to do the same; as a result, the S.U. and its E. Euro. allies lagged economically behind the W. countries who accepted Am. aid. • In 1949, the S.U. set up a rival plan known as the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON).

  15. The Marshall Plan U.S. Sect. of State George C. Marshall

  16. A Divided Germany

  17. A Divided Germany • In 1945, Germ. and Berlin were divided into four zones of occupation among Fr., Brit., Am., and the S.U. • In the post-war years, the W. Allies and the Soviets could not reach an agreement on a final peace treaty for Germ.: • The Soviets stripped their zone of industrial resources and equipment while the W. Allies aided their zones for econ. recovery and free elections for local govs. were held. • The Result: • The W. Allies agreed to combine their sectors of Germ. to create W. Germ. and they combined their sectors of Berlin to make W. Berlin.

  18. The Berlin Blockade • In June 1948, the Soviets tried to block the planned merger of the W. Allies by cutting all land access from the W. into W. Berlin. • 2 million Berliners depended on the W. allies for all their food, fuel, and other needs. • Instead of using force, the U.S. and the other W. countries came up with a plan to airlift needed supplies to the isolated city: The Berlin Airlift

  19. The Berlin Blockade • To keep the city alive, at least 4,000 tons of supplies were needed every day; airplanes surpassed this goal by landing every 3 minutes at W. Berlin’s 2 airports: 13,000 tons were landed every day for the next 11 months. • The success of the Berlin Airlift eventually forced the Soviets to lift the blockade in May 1949 • In the same month, the W. Allies went ahead w/ their plans to create an independent W. Germ. state. • Fall 1949: A constitution is approved for the 10 W. Germ. states – the Federal Republic of Germ. (W. Germ.) is proclaimed. • The Soviets countered by est. the German Democratic Republic (GDR) (E. Germany). • Germ. is now divided into 2 separate countries.

  20. The Berlin Airlift

  21. The Berlin Airlift • U.S. Air Force pilot Gail Halvorsen, who pioneered the idea of dropping candy bars and bubble gum with little handmade miniature parachutes to the Germ. children. • This later became known as Operation Little Vittles

  22. Berlin Airlift

  23. New Alliances • In Feb. 1948 (just before the Berlin blockade), Czechoslovakia was taken over by the Communists and incorporated into the Soviet system. • With greater concerns for military defense the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was formed by the U.S., Brit., Fr., Belgium, the Neth., Luxem., It., Portugal, Denmark, Iceland, Norway, and Can. in April of 1949. • Greece and Turkey (1952); W. Germ. (1955). • Members of this military alliance agreed that an attack on one would be considered an attack on all. • In response to NATO, the S.U. and its E. Euro. allies singed a military agreement known as the Warsaw Pact in 1955.

  24. NATO concise.britannica.com/ebc/art-54614/To-stren...

  25. NATO Seal news.bbc.co.uk/.../newsid_2749000/2749323.stm

  26. Warsaw Pact

  27. Warsaw Pact Seal

  28. NATO vs. Warsaw

  29. America vs. Soviet Union • Atomic bomb: • Am. – 1945; S.U. – 1949 • W/ the detonation of a Soviet A-bomb, the arms race begins. • Hydrogen bomb: • Am. – 1951; S.U. – 1953 • Space: • S.U. Sputnik– 1957, 1st man in space April 12, 1961; Am. July 20, 1969 1st man on the moon. • Government and economy: • Am. - Democracy and Capitalism; S.U. - Communism

  30. Sputnik

  31. New Moon

  32. Yuri Gagarin: 1st Man in Space

  33. April 12, 1961

  34. Neil Armstrong: 1st Man on the Moon The Apollo 11 crew portrait. Left to right are Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Buzz Aldrin.

  35. July 21, 1969

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