The Cold War: Understanding History and Misunderstandings

1. Today’s Outcomes: --What was “The Iron Curtain?” --What are some key Cold War terms? --What was Europe like at the end of World War II? HW: Western Europe’s “Renaissance” 993-97 Test makeups: Later in class.

2. What might typical Americans think about this group of men?

3. The man behind the anti-aircraft gun… • …was Ahmad Shah Massoud. He was an Afghan revolutionary. • He was on our side. • Al-Qaeda assassinated him two days before 9/11.

4. Why is she smiling?

5. She could be talking about the death of her mother. • In Japanese culture, a person may smile when talking about something unpleasant—it’s a subtle way of apologizing. • Or, she may have blurted out something stupid. She’s embarrassed.

6. Typical Overachieving Little League Coach… • …His player is deaf.

7. A World War II German. What image comes to mind? • A World War II German, 1945.

8. We sometimes misunderstand others, don’t we? • And sometimes we stereotype them. • Ahmad Shah Massoud, for example, may have been the greatest friend we had in Afghanistan.

9. In World War II, during a battle for the island of Saipan, hundreds of Japanese civilians leaped off this cliff to commit suicide. Misunderstanding can be tragic.

10. They were terrified of the U.S. Marines. • They were told the Marines would torture prisoners before killing them. • Here is one Marine on Saipan, with a Japanese prisoner. • Here are two more, later, on Okinawa. They took care of this little boy until he was reunited with relatives who had survived that battle.

11. It was misunderstanding that generated so much fear during the Cold War—the years after World War II

12. Popular culture in the 1950s reflected Cold War fearfulness.

13. But anti-communism isn’t something that began in the 1950s U.S.A. • This is a paper towel ad from the 1930s.

14. The propaganda went both ways: Here’s what Russian kids learned about our schools: • A Soviet student. • An American student.

15. A North Korean view of American soldiers.

16. Our view of Uncle Sam… • …And a Cold War Chinese view of the old guy.

17. Remember the meeting at the Elbe River in 1945? • Why did the American-Soviet friendship—we defeated Nazism together—fall apart?

18. While World War II ended in 1945… • …This excerpt from the Academy-Award winning film Patton, shows that it didn’t mean everyone is “happy.” Amazon.com: Patton: Frank Latimore, George C. Scott, Karl Malden, Michael Strong: Amazon Instant Video

20. Gen. George Patton… • …was a Californian, and he was born into a very wealthy family. • Why would an American of his background almost automatically stereotype—and dislike Russian communists?

21. Ironically, the ONLY factor that had made Americans and Russians “friends…” • Was now dead. • So, the end of World War II marks the beginning of…

22. The Cold War:1945-1991 Look to today’s notes handout. Let’s define a few terms first.

23. What’s “The Cold War” mean? • “Cold War” refers to the era of hostility—1945-1991-- between the U.S. and its allies and the Soviet Union and its allies.

24. Some Cold War vocab…

25. Iron Curtain • Winston Churchill invents this term in a speech he gives at Fulton, Missouri, in 1946.

26. What did Churchill mean? • “Iron Curtain” is a metaphor—Churchill meant the invisible line that divided communist Europe and (mostly) democratic Europe

27. Iron Curtain • Those nations behind the Iron Curtain—Poland, Hungary, East Germany, etc.—were called satellite nations • All these nations had communist governments. All were loyal to the Soviet Union.

28. How did the two sides interpret the “Iron Curtain?” • Reading: Excerpt from the “Iron Curtain” speech, Stalin’s reply. Read ‘em pretty rapidly and briefly answer the two study questions.

29. So, why did the “Iron Curtain” exist? • In this cartoon, Churchill tries to peek.

30. Churchill and other Western leaders suspected this: • Stalin was doing what Hitler had done: He was building an empire.

31. Modern historians suggest another explanation for the Iron Curtain. Stalin hints at it in his reply to Churchill.

32. Look at this map. If there was going to be a World War III, where wouldn’t it be fought? Why not?

33. These radically different views of the “Iron Curtain” helped to start the Cold War.

34. More Cold War vocab…

35. Containment • To stop the spread of communism, President Truman promises aid to any nation in danger of communist revolution. • (Similarly, Lincoln had wanted to containslavery--keep it from spreading to the West. The Civil War made that policy obsolete.)

36. “Containment” was first applied… • In 1947, in Greece and Turkey. The U.S. provided loans and military advisors to those nations.

37. “Client Wars” • The two sides fight indirectly in third countries: • Korea (1950-53) • Vietnam (the 1960s) • Afghanistan (the 1980s)

38. Flashpoints—areas of crisis

39. BERLINNotice where it’s located—right in the middle of communist East Germany!

40. CUBA

41. East Asia. Korea (left), Vietnam

42. Each side spent huge amounts of money on military technology—including nuclear weapons—in constant game of “one-upsmanship.” There was an Arms Race

43. There was also a space race—but the same rockets that sent satellites and astronauts into space also could carry nuclear weapons deep into the nations involved in the Cold War.

44. And the threat of nuclear weapons made the Cold War terrifying.

45. We knew what these weapons could do. The “Project Able” test, July 1946

46. Hiroshima

47. The Bomber: An American B-29

48. The bomb: “Little Boy”

49. 8:16 a.m., Aug. 6, 1945: A man’s wristwatch

50. Bomb Damage