The Cold War

1. The Cold War 7-5.1 Compare the political and economic ideologies of the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War. 7-5.2 Summarize the impact of the Truman Doctrine, the Marshall Plan, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the United Nations, and the Warsaw Pact on the course of the Cold War. 7-5.3 Explain the spread of communism in Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America, including the ideas of the satellite state containment, and the domino theory. 7-5.4 Analyze the political and technological competition between the Soviet Union and the United States for global influence, including the Korean Conflict, the Berlin Wall, the Vietnam War, the Cuban missile crisis, the “space race,” and the threat of nuclear annihilation. 7-5.5 Analyze the events that contributed to the collapse of the Soviet Union and other communist governments in Europe, including the growth of resistance movements in Eastern Europe, the policies of Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan, and the failures of communist economic systems.

2. The World During the Cold War

3. What was the Cold War? • The Cold War was a war of words and threats that fortunately didn’t result in direct military action between the United States and the Soviet Union. • Politically, the United States and the Soviet Union had very different governments. • The United States had a democracy, or a limited government in which the people choose the leaders through voting. • The Soviet Union had an unlimited government in the form of a communist state in which the government held all of the power.

4. What is Communism? • There are three main characteristics of a Communist society. • Classless Society—no rich, middle class, or poor • No ownership of private property—all property is owned by the government • Economy is strictly controlled by the government • All farms, factories, mines, etc. are run by the government • Individuals cannot earn profit from businesses • Prices and wages are set by the government • Government decides what and how much to produce

5. What is Democracy? • In a democracy, the citizens choose their own governments. • There are social classes, and in many cases, a very large middle class. • The people control the economy by owning their own businesses and competing with each other. • The government has no control over the economies of democracies.

6. Economies of the US and USSR • Economically, the US and Soviet Union had very different ideas. • The US had a capitalist economy (From Unit 1) • People can own their own businesses and make a profit. • The Soviet Union had a socialist economy (From Unit 3) • People cannot own their own businesses and the government controls all production and then will “distribute” the wealth.

7. Europe After WWII

8. When did the Cold War begin? • The Cold War began as soon as WWII was over in 1945. • Tensions/problems began even before the war was over. • Franklin D. Roosevelt (USA), Joseph Stalin (Soviet Union), and Winston Churchill (Britain) began discussing what would happen once the war was over. • Churchill and Roosevelt represented limited governments, and they wanted lands freed from control of the Axis Powers to have self-rule with elections, limited governments, a capitalist economies.

9. Joseph Stalin wanted these lands to have the option of becoming communist with socialist economies. • Stalin promised to have elections in the lands in Eastern Europe that the Soviet Union had freed and occupied during the war. • Stalin broke this promise and set up communist governments with no elections.

10. What did they do with Germany?

11. The Yalta Conference

12. Germany • Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin also disagreed on what to do with Germany. • These three leaders met at Yalta in the Soviet Union to decide how to divide Germany. It became known as the Yalta Conference. • After Germany surrendered, the two sides of the Cold War were set: those countries that supported a democracy and those countries that supported a communist nation.

13. Since the Soviet Union had invaded Germany from the east, the USSR occupied a large occupation zone of Eastern Germany. This became known as communist East Germany. • Great Britain, the US, and France each occupied a zone in the rest of Germany that they had invaded from the west. This became known as democratic West Germany. • Berlin, the former capital of Germany, was located deep in East Germany. • Berlin was split up just like the nation of Germany: democratic West Berlin and communist East Berlin.

14. Containment • At the end of WWII, the Soviet Union was trying to spread communism. • The US was trying to spread democracy and stop the spread of communism. • Because the United States was concerned about the spread of communism, President Harry Truman started a foreign policy known as containment. • Containment-attempting to stop the spread of communism by giving money to countries so they wouldn’t become communist

15. The US wanted to give money to countries being influenced by communism because it was believed that poorer nations turned to communism. • The Truman Doctrine gave $400 million to countries in Europe to help countries (Greece and Turkey) fight off communist rebels. • The Marshall Plan provided Western Europe with around $13 billion in reconstruction funds to rebuild areas damaged by WWII. • Both helped prevent the spread of communism.

16. The United Nations • Because the League of Nations had failed to prevent another war, it was replaced in 1945 by the United Nations (UN). • The purpose of the UN was to be an international organization to try to prevent future wars and settle conflicts worldwide. • The UN was different from the League of Nations because: • It had the ability to use military force. • The United States joined the United Nations.

17. NATO and Warsaw Pact • The largest problem of the Cold War was its potential to turn “hot”, meaning it would result in a war between the US and the Soviet Union. • People knew that this meant nuclear war that would potentially cause worldwide destruction. • The first time this occurred was in Berlin in 1948. • The Soviet Union blocked access to democratic West Berlin (which was located in communist East Germany) to keep British, French, and American influences out.

18. Britain, France, and the US began airlifting supplies and food to the people of West Berlin for 11 months. This was called the Berlin Airlift. • The Soviet Union lifted the blockade. • This proved to the US that it needed to protect itself and other democratic nations. • In 1949, the US, Canada, and 10 Western European nations formed a democratic military alliance known as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). • The Soviet Union felt threatened by this, so they formed the communist military alliance called the Warsaw Pact that included Eastern European nations.

19. Communism Spreads • The US had tried to stop the spread of communism as much as possible throughout Europe. • However, the Soviet Union was successful in setting up communist governments and not allowing elections. • These countries were called satellite nations because they were clustered around the Soviet Union and their political and economic policies “orbited” within Soviet influence and control.

20. The Soviet Union also tried to spread communism in Asia, Africa, and Latin America by looking in areas were revolutions were taking place. • The Soviet Union would offer money or military support to these nations in exchange for them setting up a communist government. • The Soviet Union would also send representatives to nations in these regions and explain the benefits and successes of communism and would allow people from those areas to visit the Soviet Union and see their success.

21. Communism in China • China was the first big nation to turn to communism in Asia. • The Chinese Civil War actually began before WWII, but each side was forced to unit to fight the Japanese together. • The Chinese Civil War was the Communists vs. the Noncommunist Nationalists. • The Communists were led by Mao Zedong who successfully used guerilla warfare against the Japanese.

22. The Nationalists were led by Chiang Kai-shek, who had a large army and controlled most of southwestern China. • After the Japanese surrendered, the Chinese Civil War began again. • It ended in 1949 with a Communist victory. • China was renamed the People’s Republic of China and Mao Zedong was the leader.

23. Communism in Korea • At the end of WWII, Japan was forced to give up all of its colonies. • Korea was a Japanese colony and gained independence. • The Soviet Union supported a communist government in Korea while the United States supported a democracy. • The US policy for dealing with this was called the domino theory. • The domino theory is the idea that if one nation fell to communism, the other nations around the country would also fall like dominos.

24. The US used the policy of containment to try to stop the domino effect in Asia. • In order to avoid a civil war in Korea, it was divided into two parts at what was called the 38th parallel: communist North Korea and democratic South Korea.

25. Korean War

26. The Korean War • The Korean War began in 1950 when North Korea invaded South Korea with the hope of uniting the region under communism. • The US was led by President Harry Truman and the United Nations sent in troops to support South Korea. • The Soviets assisted the North Koreans by giving them money and weapons and the Communist Chinese also helped North Korea by sending in troops.

27. The US and the Soviet Union never actually fought against each other in this war. • The war ended in 1953 with a stalemate (nobody won). • Once the cease-fire agreement was signed, Korea remained divided and the 38th parallel was a demilitarized zone (no militaries are allowed at the border).

28. French Indochina

29. Communism in Vietnam • After WWII, Vietnam wanted independence from France (It used to be called French Indochina). • The Soviet Union sent representatives to Vietnam and the US backed democratic leaders. • These struggles led to the Vietnam War.

30. Vietnam War

31. The Vietnam War • After WWII ended, France wanted to take over French Indochina again. • The Vietnamese Nationalists, led by Ho Chi Minh, wanted to keep Vietnam free. • The United States gave France money to fight the Communists because the US was afraid the domino effect would come true. • Ho Chi Minh and his Communists defeated the French and won their independence in 1954.

32. After France was defeated, Vietnam was split into two regions at the 17th parallel. • The north was Communist and led by Ho Chi Minh. • The south was non-communist and led by Ngo Dinh Diem. • The south’s government was corrupt and people didn’t trust them. • Ho Chi Minh was very popular in the north. • The Vietnam War began when the north invaded the south to unite Vietnam under Communist rule.

33. The United States began sending weapons and advisors to South Vietnam in the 1950s to contain communism. • In the 1960s, President Lyndon Johnson started sending American troops to help the South Vietnamese. • The Communists were successful in using guerilla warfare against the United States. • The South Vietnamese government didn’t have support from the people and the US realized they couldn’t achieve victory. • The US withdrew and the Communists took over South Vietnam and united the country under Communism in 1975.

34. Communism In Other Parts of Asia • The nations of Cambodia and Laos also became communist. • The US fear of all Asian countries falling to communism like dominos never occurred.

35. Communism in Africa • In Africa, nations had been under imperial rule since the 1800s. • They saw WWII as a way to finally gain their independence from European nations. • The Soviet Union again provided support to nations that would set up communist governments and the US did the same to contain communism and set up democratic governments.

36. The Soviet Union would offer educational scholarships to the youth of Africa to convince them to adopt communist ideas. • The US and democratic European nations tried to prevent the spread of communism in Africa and prevent the domino effect by providing military support and money.

37. Communism in Latin America • Cuba was the first nation in Latin America to become communist. • Their leader was Fidel Castro, who took over Cuba with the help of the Soviet Union. • Castro also helped spread communism in Latin America, but the US did try to prevent it. • Once again, the Soviet Union and the US were providing money and military support to spread their ideas.

38. The Cuban Missile Crisis

39. The Cuban Missile Crisis • The Cuban Missile Crisis began in the early 1960s, an American spy plane flew over Cuba and took pictures of Soviet missiles being assembled on the island. • President John F. Kennedy feared the Soviet Union would use these weapons on the US. • Kennedy started a naval blockade of Cuba and told the Soviets to remove the missiles. • Two weeks of intense negotiations occurred at the United Nations between the US and Soviet Union.

40. The world feared nuclear annihilation (destruction), but both sides compromised. • Soviet missiles were removed and the US agreed to remove missiles in Turkey. • A war was avoided between the two superpowers and the Cuban Missile Crisis was over.

41. The Iron Curtain

42. The Berlin Wall • The Soviet Union dominated Eastern Europe during the Cold War. • Europe was basically split into two regions: democratic Western Europe and communist Eastern Europe. • Winston Churchill came up with the term “iron curtain” to describe the division between the two areas in Europe.

43. The Berlin Wall

44. There were major differences in the living conditions between East and West Berlin and East and West Germany. • The communist areas were run down and the democratic areas were industrialized. • Many people began “defecting” or moving, from the East to the West. This occurred the most in Berlin. • In 1961, the Soviet Union built the Berlin Wall to stop people from moving to West Berlin. • The Berlin Wall symbolized the iron curtain that separated the democratic west from the communist east.

45. Space Race and Arms Race • The US and Soviet Union also competed through arms and space races. • After NATO and the Warsaw Pact were formed, both superpowers strengthened their militaries, increased their armaments (weapons), and focused on building up more nuclear weapons. • Both countries developed hydrogen bombs in the 1950s. • The Soviet Union launched the first satellite, Sputnik, in 1957.

46. In response to Sputnik, the US established more math and science programs and created the NASA space program. • The US launched a satellite shortly afterwards. • The Americans landed on the moon first in 1969. • The arms and space races continued until the end of the Cold War.

47. Communism Becomes Unpopular • Communist governments began falling out of power in the late 1980s/early 1990s. • The citizens desired more rights and this led to these countries protesting their governments. • Communism didn’t work in these nations and people were poor and goods were not being produced. • These countries saw other free nations having freedoms and they desired the same thing.

48. Poland and Hungary • In Poland, the labor union group Solidarity opposed communist rule. • Solidarity was led by Lech Walesa. • Free elections were held in Poland in 1989 and Lech Walesa became president. • In Hungary, citizens began moving to Western Europe in 1989 by cutting a hole in a fence that separated Hungary from democratic Western Europe. • The Communist party of Hungary was overthrown in 1989.

49. The Berlin Wall Comes Down… “Mr. Gorbechev, tear down this wall! “ -Ronald Reagan

50. The Berlin Wall Comes Down • In November 1989, the Berlin Wall began to be torn down, removing the symbol dividing communism and democracy. • East and West Germany were reunited into one democratic Germany.