THE WESTERN WORLD: AN OVERVIEW

Chapter 33, Section 1

EUROPE: THE COLD WAR AND AFTER

For more than 40 years, the Cold War divided Europe into two hostile military alliances.

The communist nations of Eastern Europe, dominated by the Soviet Union, formed the Warsaw Pact.

The western democracies, led by the United States, formed NATO.

The superpowers avoided direct confrontation in Europe, but some issues brought the continent to the brink of war.

The Berlin Wall Berlin was a focus of

Cold War tensions. The city was split into democratic West Berlin and communist East Berlin. In the 1950s, West Berlin became a showcase for West German prosperity.

Thousands of low paid East Germans, discontented with communism, slipped into West Berlin.

The Berlin Wall To stop the

exodus, East Germany built a wall in 1961 that separated the two sectors of the city.

When completed, the wall was a massive concrete barrier, topped with barbed ware and patrolled by guards.

The Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall

was an ugly symbol of the Cold War and an embarrassment for Soviets. It showed that workers, far from enjoying a communist paradise, had to be forcibly restrained from fleeing.

US Secretary of Justice Robert Kennedy and West Berlin

Mayor Willy Brandt (second from right) visited the Berlin Wall on February 23, 1962

The Nuclear Threat The Cold War triggered an

arms race, with both sides producing huge arsenals of nuclear weapons.

Critics argued that a nuclear war would destroy both sides. Yet the superpowers claimed that they dared not stop.

Each side wanted to have the power to deter the other from launching its nuclear weapons.

The result was a “balance of terror”.

The Nuclear Threat

The Nuclear Threat

The Nuclear Threat During the arms race,

both superpowers spent huge sums of money on weapons. Such spending meant cutbacks in other areas. In 1953, President Dwight Eisenhower warned Americans about the impact:

“Every gun that is made, every warship launched…signifies…a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.”

Disarmament and Detente

To reduce the threat of nuclear destruction, both sides met at disarmament talks. Although mutual distrust often blocked progress, they did sign some agreements, such as the 1963 Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.

By the 1970s, American and Soviet leaders promoted an era of détente, or relaxation of tensions.

End of the Cold War By the 1990s, economic

and foreign policy troubles threatened the Soviet Union. A new Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, eased the Soviet grip on Eastern Europe.

One by one, communist governments collapsed.

Communism even fell from power in the Soviet Union, which broke up into separate independent republics.

End of the Cold War When the Cold War

ended, nations in Western and Eastern Europe sought normal relations.

Germany was reunited. The Warsaw Pact dissolved.

NATO, originally formed to defend the West against communism, had to redefine its role in a post-Cold War world.

President Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev after signing the Intermediate Range

Nuclear Forces Treaty in 1987.

ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL TRENDS

In the 1950s, Western Europeans recovered quickly from World War II. With Marshall plan aid, their economies boomed. They rebuilt industries, farms, and transportation networks destroyed by the war. Destroyed Warsaw, after WWII

ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL TRENDS

Meanwhile, right-wing parties were discredited because they had supported fascism. Communists and socialists, who had resisted the Nazis during the war, enjoyed growing support.

As a result, postwar government in France, Italy, and Germany adopted many policies favored by the left.

The Oil Shock In 1973, the West

suffered an economic shock when OPEC cut oil production and raised prices.

Because most Western European countries used imported oil to fuel industries, the higher oil prices caused inflation and slowed economic growth.

The Oil Shock

In 1979, OPEC again raised prices, triggering a severe recession, in which business slowed and unemployment rates rose.

In 1973, oil prices in the U.S. quadrupled as OPEC blocked the

sale of oil

Economic Shifts For 200 years, most

manufactured goods came from factories in the West.

By the 1980s, that pattern had changed.

Japan’s industrial economy boomed after WWII. Other countries, such as China and India, also expanded their industries.

TOWARD EUROPEAN UNITY In 1957, France,

West Germany, Belgium, Italy the Netherlands, and Luxembourg formed the European Community (EC), or Common Market.

The Common Market gradually ended tariffs on goods and allowed workers and capital to move freely across national borders.

European Union In the 1980s and

1990s, the Common Market expanded further and took the name European Union (EU).

The EU pushed for greater economic and political unity. It replaced national passports with EU passports and ended most tariffs.

European Union In 2002, many

Europeans turned in their different national currencies for euros, a single currency for member nations.

With the EU controlling about 20 percent of world trade, Europe was able to compete with economic superpowers like the United States and Japan.

Euros currently exchanging at €1.09 = $1 (April 5, 2015)

Partner Questions, Chapter 33, Section 1

Explain how the European Union acts as a unifying force for Europe.

Tell how each of the following affected western economies: 1973 oil crisis and global shifts in manufacturing.

THE WESTERN WORLD: AN OVERVIEW

Chapter 33, Section 1