The most important question of 1945 was…

What should be done after the war?

The Big Three(the first time around, in Yalta)

UK:

Winston Churchill

USA:

Franklin D. Roosevelt

USSR:

Josef Stalin

Yalta Conference, Feb. 4-11, 1945

The Big Three(the second time around, in Potsdam)

UK:

Clement Atlee

USA:

Harry S. Truman

USSR:

Josef Stalin

Potsdam Conference, Jul. 17 – Aug 2, 1945

What did they decide?• The Big Three agreed that Germany should

be divided into 4 occupation zones after the war, overseen by the US, UK, France, and the USSR

• The United Nations was created – Tried to avoid the problems of the League of

Nations– The US joined and they agreed to establish the

UN Security Council, which could use force against an aggressor

The “Iron Curtain” Speech

• Given by Winston Churchill in 1946

• Proclaimed that the world was then ideologically divided into two opposing camps: Democratic (the West) and Communist (the East)

Truman Doctrine (1947)

• The US must take responsibility for defending “free peoples” throughout the world

• Designed to contain communism by giving economic and military aid to countries resisting its spread– 1st countries: Greece and

Turkey

• Why so significant?

Containment• Truman Policy based on:

Containment Policy– George F. Keenan

• The policy of the US towards the USSR– Firm resistance to Soviet

aggression to prevent its spread in the hope the system would eventually change from within

Marshall Plan (1947)

• European Recovery Program– Written by George

C. Marshall

• Plan to rebuild and strengthen the European economies destroyed by WWII

Map of Cold-War era Europe and the Near East showing countries that received Marshall Plan aid. The red columns show the relative amount of total aid per nation.

Molotov Plan (1947)

• USSR rejected the US plan put forth by Marshall

• Created Molotov Plan in response

• Plan to rebuild Eastern European nations’ postwar economies

But, what about Germany?

• Germany was once again blamed for the war– Nuremberg Trials, 1945-1949– Presided by Allied Powers: 22 Nazi leaders were tried

for war crimes; 12 sentenced to death

• To prevent their ability to strengthen themselves, Germany was divided into 4 zones– Basically, the democratic US, UK, and France against

the communist USSR

• The capitol, Berlin, was also divided into four zones

Berlin, Germany

A divided Germany

The Problem• When the western powers decided to unite

their regions, the USSR felt threatened• In response, the USSR stopped all rail and

street access by the American, Brits, or French to West Berlin; they even cut off the electricity to some regions of West Berlin– Blockade of Berlin: 1st act of the Cold War

• Without access to the outside, how would the West Berliners survive?

The Solution: The Berlin Airlift

                           

          

1949: A Busy Year 1

2

3

4

Arms Race• Around 1950, the Soviet Union successfully tested

their first atomic bomb• Began the arms race – a “race” between the US

and USSR to stockpile the most atomic bombs• Mutual Assured Destruction: the belief that the

best way to prevent total nuclear destruction is for both sides to have access to nuclear weapons– Huh? How does that work?– By knowing that you and your enemy have an equal

ability to wipe each other out, nobody will make the first strike

China• Communists win the

Chinese Civil War and take over the country in 1949

• Mao Zedong • Jiang Jieshi (Chiang

Kai-shek) and the Nationalist Party flee to Taiwan

NATO• North Atlantic Treaty Organization• Formed on April 4, 1949• An alliance of nations stating that an “attack

against one… shall be considered an attack against them all”

• Original members were: US, Canada, Britain, France, Iceland, Portugal, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Denmark, Norway, Switzerland, Italy

Climate of Fear

• Fearful of a communist takeover and the constant threat of an nuclear war, American society was consumed with a “climate of fear”

• Came to be known as the Red Scare• Watch: Duck and Cover

Korean War (1950-53)

• North Korea invades South Korea to establish a Communist regime

• US sends troops to South Korea

• Stalemate– DMZ at 38th Parallel

• What is the significance?

Stalin dies (1953)

• Replaced by Nikita Krushchev

Warsaw Pact (1955)

• Alliance signed by communist countries in response to NATO

• With the USSR as leader, member nations pledged to defend each other in case of attack

A Series of Crises (1956)• Suez Canal: seized from Britain and France

by Nasser of Egypt– British and French forces attack, start Suez War

• Hungarians declare independence from USSR on Nov. 1, 1956– USSR attacked Budapest on Nov. 4

Sputnik (1957)

A new race is on… the Space Race!

Berlin Wall

• Problem: East Germans are escaping Soviet control through West Berlin!

• On Aug. 17, 1961, construction began on a wall to surround West Berlin

• Became the symbol of the Cold War

You are the President of the United States, and a spy plane has just brought back this photo

from a run over Cuba—what do you do?

Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)• The Soviets supplied Cuba (a recent convert to

Communism) with missiles that could hit the US

• Kennedy and Khrushchev succeed in defusing the situation through letters and a naval blockade

• VERY tense moment in the Cold War

So, based on all of this information, can you come up

with some characteristics of the Cold War?