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The Cold War

The Cold War. U.S. History. Background. Following World War I (1914-1918) and World War II (1939-1945), the United States was one of two “ superpowers ” in the world, the other being the Soviet Union (modern day Russia). A superpower is a country with a leading position in the world.

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The Cold War

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  1. The Cold War U.S. History

  2. Background • Following World War I (1914-1918) and World War II (1939-1945), the United States was one of two “superpowers” in the world, the other being the Soviet Union (modern day Russia). • A superpower is a country with a leading position in the world. • It has the ability to influence events and its own interests and project power on a world wide scale to protect those interests

  3. Why the “Cold” War? • The Cold War was “fought” between the U.S. and the Soviet Union (1945-1991) • The armies of the two superpowers never fought each other directly...it was more like a game of chess. • Both produced huge stockpiles of weapons, including nuclear arms. • Instead of fighting, they tried to spread • their economic systems (capitalism and communism) and • their “spheres of influence,” or countries that were loyal to them.

  4. Cold War Map

  5. Capitalism vs. Communism • Most view the Cold War as a battle between two distinct economic systems. • Capitalism (U.S., Western Europe)- free markets, class disparity, private ownership, lassiezfaire. • Communism (Soviet Union, Asia, Latin America)- government influence in economy, class equality, common ownership, pure democracy accord. to Marx. • Why did the U.S fear communism?

  6. U.S. Interventions • While the U.S. and Soviet Union never fought each other, the U.S. intervened in foreign countries over 200 times during the Cold War. Some examples: • Korean War 1950-1953 • U.S. supports capitalist S. Korea vs. communist N Korea. • Iran 1953 • U.S. overthrows democratically elected govt., installs dictatorafter nationalizes oil. • Guatemala 1954 • CIA overthrows democratically elected leader because of communist reforms, installs military leader.

  7. U.S. Interventions • Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos 1960-1975 • Cuba 1961-1962 • Failed attempt to overthrow Communist govt., Cuban missile crisis. • Iraq 1963 • Brings Saddam Hussein back from exile to head secret service • Dominican Republic 1965 • U.S. soldiers influence election • Chile 1973 • CIA ousts democratically elected communist president.

  8. U.S. Interventions • Interventions continued from the 1980’s, 90’s to today.

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