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The Cold War: 1946 - 1989

The Cold War: 1946 - 1989. East v. West Communists v. Capitalists Soviets v. America. What is a Cold War?. Competition between the US and the Soviet Union for power and influence in the world. Political tension Economic conflict Military tension HOT WAR – direct military action.

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The Cold War: 1946 - 1989

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  1. The Cold War: 1946 - 1989 East v. West Communists v. Capitalists Soviets v. America

  2. What is a Cold War? • Competition between the US and the Soviet Union for power and influence in the world. • Political tension • Economic conflict • Military tension • HOT WAR – direct military action.

  3. What caused the Cold War? • Churchill and Stalin hated one another. • Stalin betrayed the Yalta agreement and forced his totalitarianism on other countries. • The Iron Curtain • Containment Policy / Domino Theory • Peenemunde / The Bomb • Weapons Race • Space Race

  4. Personality Clashes • Churchill and Stalin only pretended friendship in front of the cameras in WWII. • Both respected Roosevelt. • Everyone behaved. • Truman didn’t trust Stalin • Allies became 2 against 1 • FOR GOOD REASONS!

  5. Yalta: Stalin’s Betrayal of the Allies • Remember the MARSHALL PLAN for rebuilding Germany? • Russia punished instead of rebuilding. • The Soviet Union made Eastern Europe into Satellite Countries. • Puppet Regimes

  6. The Iron Curtain – Winston Churchill • Enclosing the satellite nations.

  7. What was Stalin doing that was so bad in Eastern Europe? • Show Trials • Purges • Concentration camps • Stripping other countries economies to support the Soviet Union. • Slave labor made of Nazis and political prisoners. • Ethnic Cleansing

  8. What was Stalin doing in Eastern Europe? • Lack of freedom • Lack of choices • No freedom of movement. • Only one source for information • Stalin and the Soviets • Communism spreads

  9. The Berlin Blockade: 1948 • Clear Stalin wasn’t going to reunify Germany. • West Germany – Democracy and Capitalist • East Germany - Totalitarian • Berlin was in the Russian zone – but Berlin had been divided like Germany. • American, French, British zone that joined to be West Berlin.

  10. The Berlin Blockade: 1948 • Most people escaping Stalin went to East Berlin, passed to West Berlin and into freedom. • Stalin closed the escape route in 1948. • Blocked roads so food and aid couldn’t get to 2.5 million West Berliners.

  11. The Berlin Airlift • 15 months British and American military aircraft flew in aid to West Berlin. • 1949 – Russia abandoned the blockade • BUT Berlin remained a focal point for the Cold War.

  12. What did Truman do about the Iron Curtain? • The Marshall Plan • The Berlin Airlift • The Truman Doctrine • NATO

  13. The Marshall Plan • Created by General George Marshall • To stop future Hitlers, to stop Stalin – rebuild the war-ruined countries of Europe. • 13 Billion dollars • Get people jobs • Restore electricity, water, medical, roads, police / fire • Schools, homes

  14. The Marshall Plan • Austria, Belgium, Denmark,France, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, England, Western Germany

  15. Stalin and the the Marshall Plan • Stalin would not let the Marshall Plan into any area he controlled. • Thought it only spread capitalistic propaganda. • Wanted to keep punishing people.

  16. The Berlin Wall • Too many Berliners in the Soviet section wanted to live in freedom. • The Soviets built a wall, manned it with machine guns to keep the people in. • 1960

  17. Truman Doctrine: 1947 • Communism had to be “contained”. • Any time there is a threat of Communism, the US had to stand up to it. • The US was the best country to lead the world. • Not as damaged by WWII

  18. The Domino Theory and Containment • Like dominos, one falls, the others in the region will fall too. • Used to justify US involvement in Vietnam in 1960s. • Used to justify US involvement in Central America / South America 1960-1970s. • Europe and Africa

  19. NATO: North Atlantic Treaty Organization • 1949: US joined European countries to create an alliance. • Armed attack on one – considered an attack on all. • Meant to keep Soviet Union “contained”

  20. Stalin’s Response? • Warsaw Pact: Protect against a NATO invasion. • Eastern Europe was militarized – so they’d be a buffer to protect Russian soil. • No choice for Eastern Europe countries on joining. • EXCEPT: Yugoslavia

  21. Don’t Forget the role of technology in creating the Cold War • Did Stalin know about the A-bomb? • Was he or wasn’t he scared that NATO might drop the bomb on Russia? • Russia felt they needed an A-bomb to counter the Americans.

  22. Peenemunde: Also a cause of the Cold War • Peenemunde: Germany’s secret island developing weapons. Their version of Los Alamos. • Jet engines • A-bomb • V1 and V2 guided missiles • Guided Rockets • Plasma weapons

  23. Dividing up the scientists after WWII • The US took half and the Soviets took the other half. • Developed weapons for their new countries. • Russia had bomb by 1948. • Russian Sputnik program – 1957.

  24. Werner Von Braun: Our German Scientist • Created our NASA program. • We launched the astronauts in Gemini and the Apollo programs because of his Nazi technology.

  25. The Peenemunde scientists launched • Weapons Race • MAD • Mutual Assured Destruction • Space Race

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