1. The Cold War

2. Containment US did not trust Soviet Union
Feared they posed a threat to the noncommunist world
Regret decision at the Yalta Conference
Soviets place troops in Eastern Europe

3. Containment
Containment policy which advocated confining/limiting communism to areas it already existed
George Kennan

4. The Iron Curtain
“From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic an iron curtain has descended across the Continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe. Warsaw, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade, Bucharest and Sofia; all these famous cities and the populations around them lie in what I must call the Soviet sphere, and all are subject, in one form or another, not only to Soviet influence but to a very high and in some cases increasing measure of control from Moscow…
The outlook is also anxious in the Far East and especially in Manchuria. The agreement which was made at Yalta, to which I was a party, was extremely favorable to Soviet Russia, but it was made at a time when no one could say that the German war might not extend all through the summer and autumn of 1945 and when the Japanese war was expected by the best judges to last for a further eighteen months from the end of the German war…
Last time I saw it all coming and I cried aloud to my own fellow countrymen and to the world, but no one paid any attention. Up till the year 1933 or even 1935, Germany might have been saved from the awful fate which has overtaken her and we might all have been spared the miseries Hitler let loose upon mankind.

5. The Iron Curtain

6. Truman Doctrine
Greece and Turkey were undergoing post-World War II political and economic upheaval
USSR wants to extend influence into these areas
Under policy of containment, USA cannot let this happen

7. Truman Doctrine Truman Doctrine
Pres. Truman asks Congress for $400 million in aid for Turkey & Greece in 1947
Hoping pumping money into their economies would prevent the turn to communism
By 1950, US gave over $660 million to Greece and Turkey
Truman doctrine represents further movement away from neutrality

8. Truman Doctrine

9. The Marshall Plan Most of Europe in shambles after WWII
Communism seemed to offer a solution to the problems caused by the war destruction and devastation
Sec. of State General George Marshall has an idea…

10. The Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan Send $13 billion in economic aid to help rebuild Europe
Help stabilize European economies
Restarted consumer production in factories

11. Berlin Blockade ( )

12. Berlin Blockade ( )

13. Berlin Blockade ( )
Stalin blockades roads into West Berlin, so Allies cannot get supplies in
Stalin hopes to take complete control of Berlin
Believes US will not fight for Berlin Blockade

14. Berlin Airlift (1948-1949) Allies airlift supplies into West Berlin
After 321 days, Stalin gives up blockade and creates communist East Germany

15. Berlin Airlift (1948-1949) Operation Little Vittles
Drop candy and gum with handmade mini-parachutes for kids in West Berlin

16. NATO & Warsaw Pact
In 1949, US and 11 other nations sign collective security agreement
North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Agreed that if one member were attacked, the others would come to their defense
Coordinated defensive/military arrangements
Today there are 26 members
Warsaw Pact
Soviets later form alliance in response to NATO

19. The Cold War
In 1949, Truman learns that Soviets successfully tested an atomic bomb
Distrust + Military Alliances + Atomic Bomb = COLD WAR
Cold War
What is it?  Period of tense conflict, mistrust & uneasiness between the United States and Soviet Union
Capitalism/Democracy vs. Communism
Period of militarism
Build up of weapons of mass destruction
NO ACTUAL WARS EVER FOUGHT BETWEEN US & USSR