Unit 9: Cold War Responses

Dividing Germany (Four Zones) After the war, Germany was divided into four zones. The zones were controlled by U.S., Britain, Soviet Union, and France The zones controlled by the U.S., Britain, and France were combined to form West Germany. The Soviet zone became East Germany. Britain Soviet Union France United States

Berlin, four zones Berlin was also divided. The zones controlled by the U.S., Britain, and France were combined to form West Berlin. The Soviet zone became East Berlin. However, Berlin was located deep within East Germany.

The Berlin Blockade West Berlin was controlled by the Allies…

The Berlin Airlift The airlift cost the U.S $350 million; the UK about 17 million pounds and Western Germany 150 million Deutschmarks Berliners received an average of 2,300 calories a day which was higher than the UK food rationing system provided at the time At the height of the operation, on April 16 1949 an allied aircraft landed in Berlin every minute May 1949: USSR admit defeat, lifted bloackade The Soviet blockade lasted from June 1948 to May 1949 but the airlift continued for several more months

NATO: North Atlantic Treaty Organization In 1949 North American and Western European nations formed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to co-ordinate their defense against USSR. It originally consisted of: The United States France Belgium Holland Britain Italy Canada Luxembourg Denmark Norway Portugal Since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991,some former Soviet republics have applied for membership to NATO. NATO flag

Greatest extent of Warsaw Pact Warsaw Pact: organization of communist states in Central and Eastern Europe Established May 14, 1955 in Warsaw, Poland USSR established in in response to NATO treaty Founding members: Albania (left in 1961 as a result of the Sino-Soviet split) Bulgaria Czechoslovakia Hungary Poland Romania USSR East Germany (1956) Greatest extent of Warsaw Pact

Suez Crisis As Cold War tensions intensified Egypt’s president Gamal Abdel Nasser tried to use the U.S./Soviet rivalry to his advantage Nasser wanted to construct a dam on the Nile River at Aswan. The United States and Britain initially offered to fund the project, but when Nasser recognized the communist People’s Republic of China and opened talks with the Soviet Union, the Eisenhower administration withdrew its offer. In response, Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal, placing it under government control. The canal had originally been managed by a British- French company and was protected by British armed forces. Nasser’s action threatened the flow of Middle Eastern oil to Europe.

Suez Crisis Without consulting with Eisenhower, Britain, France and Israel plotted to get the canal back into Western hands. Britain and France used the Suez crisis as an excuse to seize control of the Suez Canal. President Eisenhower was outraged by these actions. Rather than support his Western allies, Eisenhower criticized them and refused to supply them with U.S. oil. The three nations had counted on Eisenhower’s support, and when it did not come, they were forced to withdraw their troops from Egypt.

Eisenhower Doctrine In response to Soviet influence in the Middle East (and elsewhere) Eisenhower issued a statement in January 1957 that became known as the Eisenhower Doctrine. The United States would use force to help any Middle Eastern nation threatened by communism. This gave the president the power to send in troops—without having to ask Congress to declare war. Eisenhower used his doctrine in 1958 to justify sending troops to Lebanon to put down a revolt against its pro- American government.

Arms Race Begins On September 2, 1949 instruments in an American B-29 aircraft flying over Alaska detected unusual atmospheric radiation. The radiation cloud was drifting eastward from the direction of Siberia. American nuclear scientists analyzed the data that the aircraft had gathered. They then reached an inescapable conclusion: The Soviet Union had set off an atomic bomb.

Arms Race Increases News that the Soviets had ‘the bomb’ –followed by China’s fall to Communism—led to an increase in Cold War tension. Three months after we discovered they had the bomb, Truman ordered the Atomic Energy Commission to produce a hydrogen bomb Predicted to be 1,000 times stronger than the A-bomb

Arms Race Leads to M.A.D During the next 4 decades the US and the USSR developed more and more powerful nuclear weapons The idea of this “Arms Race” led to the US having a foreign policy of deterrence A foreign policy in which a nation develops a weapons arsenal so deadly that another nation will not dare attack Both the US and USSR hoped this threat of mutually assured destruction (MAD) would prevent either side from actually using a nuclear weapon The threat of nuclear destruction seemed to hang over the world

The Arms Race Intensifies Tensions In the 1950s, personal nuclear bomb shelters became popular throughout the United States. They were equipped with beds, food, and other necessities designed to help a family survive a nuclear attack. Duck and Cover