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The Cold War Era 1945-1989. The Soviet Union. The United States. Communism. Capitalism & Democracy. VS. Comprehension Questions. What is the purpose of the United Nations? What happened in Eastern Europe? Who controlled Germany after the war? What was containment?.
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The Cold War Era1945-1989 The Soviet Union The United States Communism Capitalism & Democracy VS
Comprehension Questions • What is the purpose of the United Nations? • What happened in Eastern Europe? • Who controlled Germany after the war? • What was containment?
The United Nations1945-Present • Was created in April of 1945, when representatives from 50 nations met in San Francisco, California. • Its purpose is to provide peaceful resolutions to the world’s problems.
United Nations (cont.) Security Council of the United Nations
Beginning of the Cold War • The Cold War was a struggle for power between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. • The U.S.wanted to spread democracy and capitalismwhile the Soviet Union wanted to spread communism.
Beginning of the Cold War (cont.) • After WWII, the Soviet Union forced the countries in Eastern Europe to become communist. • Winston Churchill called Stalin’s communist Eastern Europe an “Iron Curtain.” It described the invisible wall that surrounded these communist countries. It divided Europe.
Communist Eastern Europe Although he had promised the Allies free elections in Eastern Europe, Joseph Stalin decided to install communist governments.
The Berlin Airlift • After WWII, Germany was divided into four parts each one controlled by a different superpower: the U.S., Great Britain, France and the Soviet Union. • In 1948, the U.S., Britain and France united their part of Germany into one nation: West Germany.
Berlin: Division of the City • Germany’s capital, Berlin, which was in the Soviet-controlled part of Germany, had also been divided into four parts.
The Berlin Airlift (cont.) • The Soviet Union decided to NOT allow supplies going to West Berlin from West Germany to cross their part of the country by trucks or trains. • The U.S. and Britain decided to fly in all the supplies needed into West Berlin. They did this for one year until the Soviet Union gave up their blockade. • West Berlin remained a democratic city inside of communist East Germany.
The Berlin Airlift (cont.) • Planes flew in and out of West Berlin every minute of the day.
U.S.’ Policy Against Communism • The U.S. policy against communism was outlined in the Truman Doctrine; it was called “containment” (to stop something from spreading). • Containment meant that the U.S. would help nations that were fighting to remain free from communism. • The U.S. decided to help the rest of Europe reconstruct so that they would have strong economies and they would not turn to communism.
Comprehension Questions • What two events happened in 1949? • What was the arms race? • What were the two major wars the United States fought during the Cold War? • What was the Cuban missile Crisis?
Arms Race • In 1949, the Soviet Union exploded its first nuclear bomb. This began a race between the USSR and the US to make the most amount of bombs. • While the US led the race the entire time, by the 1970s both countries had made more nuclear bombs than what they could really use.
Red China • In 1949, after a civil war, the communist party won in China. • China became an ally of the USSR and helped spread communism. • The US did not work with or recognize the communist Chinese government until 1978.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization • NATO was an alliance started in 1949 by the United States and Western European countries to protect themselves, mainly from communism. • In 1955, the Soviet Union formed an alliance with the communist Eastern European countries called The Warsaw Pact.
The Wars of the Cold War • While the United States and the Soviet Union never actually fought, many wars did happen over spread of democracy and capitalism. • The United States fought two major wars in the name of containing communism: The Korean War, 1950-1953 Vietnam War, mid-1950s to 1975
The Korean War, 1950-1953 • The Korean War started when communist North Korea invaded South Korea. The United States and The U.N. sent troops to help South Korea. • In the end, the North Koreans were forced to retreat and South Korea remained democratic. Over 38,000 U.S. soldiers died in this war.
Vietnam War, 1950s-1975 • In the 1950s, a struggle happened between communists and non-communists in South Vietnam. The United States slowly began helping the non-communists. • By the mid to late 1960s, the US had thousands of troops in Vietnam fighting communist North Vietnamese.
Vietnam War (cont.) • The U.S lost the fight in Vietnam. By 1975 Americans were tired of the war. Vietnam became communist. Over 58,000 Americans were killed in this war.
Vietnam War Protest Many Americans disagreed with the war because they didn’t think we needed to be there: much like the war in Iraq today.
The Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962 This was the closest the US and the USSR came to war. The USSR was attempting to install nuclear weapons in Cuba. The US quarantined the island threatening to to destroy any Soviet ships that tried to enter Cuba. The USSR finally agreed to remove them.
President Nixon’s Détente • President Richard Nixon’s Cold War policy was called détente, a French word meaning “relaxation of tension”. • 1972 SALT (Strategic Arms Limitation Talks): an agreement between the US and the USSR that limited their offensive weapons to those they already had or were producing. • 1979 SALT II: limited the number of missiles and long-range bombers each nation could build.
SDI (Strategic Missile Defense) SDI (Strategic Defense Initiative): In 1983, President Ronald Reagan increased military spending and proposed SDI as the next step in defense. It would use satellites and lasers to shoot down incoming missiles. It would cost billions of dollars and many scientists were skeptical about it working.
End of the Cold War • Several events in the 1980s began unraveling the Cold War in 1989, one major event was when Germans in Berlin began taking down the wall and the Soviet army did not stop them. • Soon after, former Soviet countries had free elections and became democratic, including Russia.
