Ideas and Events in the Early Cold War The Cold War Ideas and Events in the Early Cold War

1945-1989 Becoming the World’s Leader

Key Concept and Terms By the end of WWII, superpowers emerged whose ideological differences led to competition for power and resources. Key Terms: Communism Capitalism Iron Curtain Domino Theory Containment

Soviet Union v. United States Ideology: Communism Essential Characteristics: classless, stateless; common ownership of the means of production Ideology: Capitalism Essential Characteristics: Private ownership of production; competition for profit

Example 1:“an Iron Curtain has descended across the continent” - Churchill “Iron Curtain:” Need division between East (Communism) and West (Capitalism) behind the Iron Curtain: Poland, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Romania, Bulgaria, Albania and the Soviet Union

Example 2: Domino Theory Belief that if one country falls to Communism, others will [could shift balance of power]

Example 3: Containment Policy The U.S. should limit Communism to certain regions; Goal = STOP Communism

Why Communists were scary 1948: February -- Communist takeover in Czechoslovakia 1948: June 24 -- Berlin Blockade begins 1949: September -- Mao Zedong, a Communist, takes control of China 1949: September -- Soviets explode first atomic bomb "A single death is a tragedy, a million deaths is a statistic." — Joseph Stalin Stalin established a reign of terror that included mass arrests, executions and deportations. He also rallied his troops to beat back a German invasion in some of the bloodiest fighting of World War II. At his death on March 1, 1953, there was a mass outpouring of grief; at a 1956 Party Congress, successor Nikita Khrushchev denounced him as a murderer. The purpose of slides 2 and 3 is to capture that the Soviets had the bomb, were taking aggressive acts after WW2 and that the Communists had some powerful leaders. Slide 4 sends you to a MSN short video clip that tells the Cold War in 2 minutes.

Potsdam Conference – July 1945 As WWII continued in Asia, Allied powers met in Potsdam, Germany to discuss war’s end Key Leaders: U.S. President Truman British Prime Minister Attlee USSR leader Stalin Key Decisions: Create United Nations Divide Germany into 4 occupation zones

Germany: 4 Zones

Division of Germany 1948 – U.S., France & Great Britain combine their zones to form West Germany U.S.S.R. controlled East Germany Berlin, the capital, is split

Berlin Airlift Soviets set up blockade from West Germany to West Berlin US & British airlifted supplies into West Berlin for 11 months Blockade ended in May 1949

Cold War Timeline Aug. 6, 1945 – U.S. drops atomic bomb on Japan March 1946 – British Prime Minister Winston Churchill uses metaphor to describe relationship between US and Soviets/Free and Communist worlds as divided by an “Iron Curtain.” March 1947 – U.S. takes active role in anti-Communist Greek Civil War June 1947 – U.S. announces Marshall Plan to rebuild any European nation that denounces communism February 1948 – Communists take over Czechoslovakia June 24, 1948 – Berlin Blockade begins June 27, 1948 – Berlin Airlift begins May 1949 – Berlin Airlift & Blockade end July 1949 – North Atlantic Treaty Organization formed September 1949 – Mao and Communists take control of China September 1949 – Soviet successfully test first atomic bomb. Arms race starts.

Cold War Timeline February 1950 – Senator Joe McCarthy launches communist witch hunt in U.S. July 1950 – Korean War begins March 1954 – Soviets form KGB 1954 – US helps overthrow governments in Iran and Guatemala July 1954 – French defeated at Dien Bien Phu, US begins aid, Vietnam divided at 17th parallel October 1957 – Sputnik launched. Space race begins May 1955 – Warsaw Pact formed January 1959 – Cuba taken over by Communist Castro September 1959 – Soviet Leader Khrushchev visits U.S. He is denied access to Disneyland May 1960 – US admits that one of its spy planes has been shot down over Russia April 1960 – Bay of Pigs invasion August 1960 – Berlin Wall construction begins October 1962 – Cuban Missile Crisis August 1964 – Gulf of Tonkin incident marks official launch of American troops into Vietnam to fight communism April 1969 – Apollo 11 lands on the moon. America takes lead in space race

End of the Cold War Timeline 1983 – President Ronald Reagan proposes the Strategic Defense Initiative – aka Star Wars 1985 – Iran-Contra Affair secretly and illegally funnels arms to anti-Communist guerrillas January 1989-- Soviet troops withdraw from Afghanistan June 1989 -- China puts down protests for democracy; Poland becomes independent September 1989 Hungary becomes independent November 1989 -- Berlin Wall falls December 1989-- Communist governments fall in Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, and Rumania; Soviet empire ends