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The Cold War, spanning from 1946 to 1989, was marked by intense political, military, and economic rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union. Rooted in mutual distrust and ideological conflict, the period saw events such as the Berlin Blockade, the Marshall Plan, and the arms race. Both superpowers sought to exert their influence globally, leading to military alliances like NATO and the Warsaw Pact. Key figures, including Churchill and Stalin, played significant roles in escalating tensions. Ultimately, the Cold War reshaped international relations and set the stage for contemporary geopolitics.
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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.
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
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!
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
The Iron Curtain – Winston Churchill • Enclosing the satellite nations.
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
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
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.
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.
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.
What did Truman do about the Iron Curtain? • The Marshall Plan • The Berlin Airlift • The Truman Doctrine • NATO
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
The Marshall Plan • Austria, Belgium, Denmark,France, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, England, Western Germany
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.
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
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
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
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”
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
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.
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
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.
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.
The Peenemunde scientists launched • Weapons Race • MAD • Mutual Assured Destruction • Space Race
