Cold War: Superpowers Face Off 17.1 Cold War: Superpowers Face Off The opposing economic and political philosophies of the United States and the Soviet Union lead to global competition. NEXT

Allies Become Enemies Yalta Conference: A Postwar Plan February 1945: Big Three meet divide Germany into zones of occupation Stalin to allow free elections Creation of the United Nations June 1945: United Nations—international organization • All members in General Assembly; 11 on Security Council • Five permanent members have Security Council veto power NEXT

Soviets Build a Buffer to control Europe U.S: superpower after WWII U.S.S.R.: massive war casualties, destroyed cities Soviets Build a Buffer to control Europe install Communist governments Refuse free elections 1946: Stalin says capitalism and communism cannot co-exist Iron Curtain Churchill’s name for the division of Europe East Germany: Communist West Germany: Democratic NEXT

United States Tries to Contain Soviets Containment—U.S. plan to stop the spread of communism Truman Doctrine—support countries that reject communism Greece, Turkey Marshall Plan—assist Western European countries Congress approves after Communist coup in Czechoslovakia Continued . . . NEXT

The Berlin Airlift 1948: U.S., Britain, France withdraw forces from West Germany occupation zones form one country Soviets oppose—cut off supplies to West Berlin faces starvation U.S., Britain fly in supplies for 11 months until the blockade ends NEXT

The Cold War Divides the World Cold War—U.S. vs. USSR using means short of war Superpowers Form Rival Alliances 1949: NATO created—U.S., Canada, & Western Europe North Atlantic Treaty Organization, defensive military alliance 1955: Soviets, Eastern European nations sign Warsaw Pact 1961: Soviets build Berlin Wall Continued . . . NEXT

The Threat of Nuclear War 1949: USSR’s first atomic bomb U.S. and USSR both develop more powerful hydrogen bomb Brinkmanship—policy of willingness to go to the edge of war Increasing tensions lead to military buildup by U.S. and Soviets Space Race 1957: Soviets launch Sputnik, first unmanned satellite 1960: U-2 incident Soviets shoot down American spy plane, increasing tensions NEXT