US History Standards: SSUSH20 The student will analyze the domestic and international impact of the Cold War on the United States. a. Describe the creation of the Marshall Plan, U.S. commitment to Europe, the Truman Doctrine, and the origins and implications of the containment policy. b. Explain the impact of the new communist regime in China

  FDR, Stalin, and Churchill agreed on the creation of the United Nations (UN) while at Yalta in Feb  Germany and its capital of Berlin would be split into 4 regions – one for the US, UK, USSR, and France  The idea of war reparations was voted down  No one knew what to do about Poland – it was occupied by the USSR and they wanted to keep it as a buffer between the USSR and Germany  Stalin agreed to let the Poles choose their own government after the war Yalta

  July 1945 – the Allies met again to discuss the postwar world, but different Allies met than just 6 months earlier  Churchill was defeated in national elections and the new PM Clement Attlee took his place  FDR died and was replaced by Truman  Stalin attended the meeting as before  Little was decided Potsdam From left to right: Clement Attlee, British Prime Minister Harry Truman, US President Joseph Stalin, leader of USSR

  The US and USSR had not seen eye to eye since the Russian Rev. – WWII was only halftime in their conflict  The US fought the war to bring peace, democracy, and economic opportunity to the world  The USSR was devastated by the war and wanted to make sure it was protected in the postwar world  To do this they would establish satellite nations, countries subject to Soviet domination  They also wanted to spread Communism to the World Different Agendas

  The promised elections in Poland never took place and nearly all political opposition was eliminated  This same strategy was carried out in other areas of Eastern Europe – by 1948 the USSR controlled Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, and East Germany Soviet Control

  In a speech in Fulton, MO, Churchill called for the US to keep Stalin from enclosing any more nations behind the iron curtain of Communist domination and oppression  This set the tone for the Cold War, the competition between the US and USSR for power and influence in the world  The US would try to defend the rest of the world from communism through its policy of containment, its promise to keep communism from spreading outside of Eastern Europe  The US reinforced this idea with the Truman Doctrine – Truman’s statement that the US should help all countries that wanted to be free from communist rule  This is the beginning of containment – the US made it a foreign policy priority to prevent the spread of communism Iron Curtain

  After the war, Europe was destroyed – 21 million were homeless and cities, homes, industry, transportation and farmland throughout Europe destroyed  the US was determined not to make the same mistakes as WWI and began forming aid programs  Marshall Plan was designed to give aid to the nations of Europe to create economic recovery – this was also an effort to create strong democracies in Europe  The plan was named after Sec. of State George C. Marshall  The program allocated $13 billion worth loans and grants to war torn Europe Marshall Plan

  No one knew what to do with Germany after the war  The US, UK, and France merged their zones into West Germany – USSR kept control of East Germany  The city of Berlin had also been divided – Stalin made a play to take over the entire city in June 1948  He cut off all Allied routes into the city – rather than start a war, Truman authorized the Berlin airlift – 20,000 flights to deliver food, fuel and other supplies to the city  Berlin was divided into West Berlin and East Berlin – a concrete wall divided the 2 – The Berlin Wall became a symbol of the Iron Curtain Berlin Airlift