The Cold War

1. The Cold War Beginning Tensions

2. Soviet Sphere of Influence • Tensions escalated as the Soviet Union annexed countries such as Estonia, Latvia, & Lithuania following WWII • Other countries became Soviet satellites, which means they were controlled militarily & economically by the USSR • Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, & Albania • The US feared the influence would move into the Mediterranean region next

3. Promoting Democracy • The term iron curtain soon became symbolic of the political division between western & eastern Europe. • In 1947, American diplomat George F. Kennan proposed a policy of containment. • Included both economic support & military aid to vulnerable countries as a way to prevent them from falling under Communist rule. • Later that year, President Truman announced the Truman Doctrine, based on Kennan’s theory. • It guided America’s foreign policy for the next 4 decades.

4. Partition of Germany

5. Marshall Plan • To aid Europe’s recovery, in 1947, Secretary of State George Marshall proposed a massive relief plan. • The US provided European countries with funds needed to purchase supplies to rebuild their economies. • Allowed Europe to rebuild itself

6. Unification of West Germany • June 1948, France, Great Britain, and the U.S. announced their plan to unify their occupation zones in western Germany, plus those of Berlin, the capital, located deep within Soviet-held eastern Germany. • Almost immediately following the USSR declaring East Germany communist, thousands of people fled to West Berlin hoping to make their way to freedom.

7. Berlin Blockade • In response to the unification of West Germany, Stalin sent troops to blockade the western border of Berlin, halting vital supplies to 2 million people. • In a countermove, British & American cargo planes began an all around-the-clock airlift of food, fuel, & other essentials to West Berlin. • The Berlin Airlift lasted until Stalin ended the blockade 10 months later. • Soon after, the country officially divided into West & East Germany.

8. NATO • In1949, an alliance between the U.S., Canada, Great Britain, France and many other countries created the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). • Members agreed to mutual military assistance if any member was attacked. • The Communist nations formed a similar alliance with the Warsaw Pact.

9. Nuclear Arms Race • The fear of a nuclear attack was a direct result of the Cold War • Soon after the USSR developed their own atomic bomb, the two superpowers embarked on an arms race that enormously increased both the number & the destructive power of weapons • The development of the H-Bomb was a response to the Soviet’s a-bomb • They estimated that such a bomb would have the force of 1 million tons of TNT (67 times the power of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima).

10. Cuban Revolution • Communism was spreading across the world, not only just to Asia & East Europe – Cuba had its own Revolution from 1953-59. • Fidel Castro led a rebel army that sought to overthrow the corrupt government of Fulgencio Batista, Cuba’s self-proclaimed dictator. • Batista fled in 1959 & Cuba became a Communist country supported by the USSR, the first country in the Western hemisphere backed by the Soviets.

11. Bay of Pigs • In 1961, the US sponsored an invasion of Cuba by Cubans who had fled and were living in the U.S. • This invasion was known as the Bay of Pigs – it failed, and was an embarrassment for President John F. Kennedy.

12. Cuban Missile Crisis • In 1962, the Soviets installed missiles in Cuba that could reach the United States. • The U.S. launched a naval blockade of Cuba – at the time, it appeared as though the two countries would go to war over the Soviet missiles. • After an intense standoff, the Soviets removed the missiles & the U.S. Navy withdrew. • This was the closest the two countries ever came to making the cold war, hot.

13. Practice Questions • The policy of containment was introduced as America’s foreign policy with the • A) the Tet Offensive • B) the Truman Doctrine • C) the Berlin Airlift • D) the Marshall Plan

14. Practice Questions • What prompted the Cuban Missile Crisis? • A) the Tet Offensive • B) the Cuban Revolution • C) the discovery of Soviet missiles in Cuba • D) the interest in overthrowing Fidel Castro

15. Practice Questions • The Truman Doctrine stated that • A) the US would not tolerate Communists in high levels of US government • B) the US would not hesitate to intervene to help foreign nations resist communism • C) the US would not cross the 38th parallel during the Korean War • D) the US would not support Mao’s revolution in China