THE END IS IN SIGHT! 4 TH QUARTER WORLD HISTORY STUDIES

1. THE END IS IN SIGHT!4TH QUARTER WORLD HISTORY STUDIES PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER FROM THE COLD WAR TO THE WORLD TODAY

2. GETTING STARTED:THE COLD WAR BEGINS AFTER WW II • WHAT WE KNOW… • Even as the Allies celebrated victory, the appalling costs of WW II, began to emerge. The war had killed as many as 50 MILLION people around the world. In Europe alone, over 30 million people had lost their lives, more than half of them civilians. The Soviet Union suffered the worst casualties, with over 20 million dead. However, numbers alone did not tell the story of the Nazi nightmare in Europe or the Japanese brutality in Asia.

3. The United Nations is created after the League of Nations failed. • In April 1945, delegates from 50 nations convened in San Francisco to draft a charter for the United Nations. The UN would play a greater role in world affairs than did its predecessor, the League of Nations. Under the UN Charter, each of the member nations has one vote in the General Assembly. A much smaller body called the Security Council has greater power. Each of its five permanent members – the United States, the Soviet Union (today Russia), Britain, France, and China – has the right to veto any council decision.

4. The Cold War emerges! • A new power struggle emerges!!!! Amid the rubble of war, a new power structure emerged. In Europe, while Germany was defeated, France and Britain were exhausted. Two other powers, the United States and the Soviet Union, emerged as the new world leaders. The United States abandoned its traditional policy of isolationism to counter what President Truman saw as the communist threat.

5. A time of contradictions… • An age of contradiction ensued and many would argue continues to today. On the one hand, it was a time of great hope. India gained its independence in 1947 thereby encouraging nationalist movements elsewhere (especially in Africa) to seek independence from colonial rule. On the other hand, there was much fear, distrust and uncertainty as the Cold War raged in this new “Nuclear Age.”

6. ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS… • WAS THE U.S. A “PROTECTOR OF FREEDOM” OR A “MANIPULATOR FOR POWER” DURING THE COLD WAR? EXPLAIN.

7. ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS… • SHOULD THE UNITED STATES HAVE BEEN MORE ISOLATIONIST DURING THE 20TH CENTURY? EXPLAIN.

8. ESSENTIAL QUESTION: • IS IRAQ ANOTHER VIETNAM?

9. ESSENTIAL QUESTION: • DID THE CONCLUSION OF THE COLD WAR MAKE THE WORLD A SAFER PLACE? • IN OTHER WORDS, WAS THE WORLD SAFER BEFORE OR AFTER THE COLD WAR?

10. FINALLY… • WHAT ROLE SHOULD THE UNITED STATES PLAY IN THE POST COLD WAR ERA? • SHOULD WE BE THE “WORLD’S POLICEMAN” OR NOT? EXPLAIN.

11. LOOKING AHEAD KEY COLD WAR TERMINOLOGY • SUPERPOWER • UNITED STATES • SOVIET UNION • NATO • WARSAW PACT • BERLIN WALL • SEATO & CENTO

12. MORE KEY TERMS • JOSEPH STALIN • NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV • FIDEL CASTRO • CUBA • MAO ZEDONG • CHINA • KOREA • 38TH PARALLEL

13. MORE KEY TERMS… • VIETNAM • CONTAINMENT • DOMINO THEORY • MIKHAIL GORBACHEV • GLASNOST • PERESTROIKA • BERLIN WALL

14. THE COLD WAR… Let’s get started!!!!!!!!!!!!!!