1. The Cold War begins 1945 Key issues:
Why did the wartime alliances fall apart?
What were the major points of difference
The importance of Yalta and Potsdam conferences
The roles of Stalin and Truman

2. The chronology and narrative
Major point: The USSR lost around 25 million people in WW2
Stalin was determined to make the USSR secure in the future
By contrast GB lost around 390,000 and the USA lost 495,000 people.
KEEP THIS IN MIND

3. Comparison Soviet Union 25,568,000 China 11,324,000 Germany 7,060,000
Casualties WWI
Casualties WWII
Soviet Union 25,568,000 China 11,324,000
Germany 7,060,000
Poland 6,850,000
Japan 1,806,000
France 810,000
USA 495,000
Italy 410,000
Great Britain 388,000
TOTAL 59,000,000
Germany 1,800,000
Soviet Union 1,700,000 France 1,385,000
Great Britain 947,000
Japan 800,000
Italy 460,000
USA 137,000
TOTAL 11,000,000

4. The rise of the superpowers
Before WW2 there were a number of countries which could have claimed to be superpowers – USA, USSR,GB, France, Japan, Germany.
The damage caused by the war to these countries left only two countries with the military strength and resources to be called superpowers….USA and USSR.

5. What they believed
Don’t forget USA was capitalist and USSR was communism
They were complete opposites
They had allied against Fascism (WWII) ….. Now the common enemy had been defeated the reason for co-operation was gone
Differences soon emerged

6. Europe at the end of WW2
After the war who would lead the countries and form new governments?
The USSR favoured the communist groups, the USA favoured the non-communists

7. TASK Two conferences were held in 1945 at Yalta and Potsdam
The aim was to discuss the future and to create the UN for peacekeeping
Churchill (England), Roosevelt (US), Stalin(USSR) below at Yalta

8. Potsdam Atlee (England), Truman (US), Stalin (USSR) Wanted Japan to
surrender
unconditionally

9. What to do with Germany’s leaders after the war?
Nuremberg Trials
Persecute leaders and war criminals after the war

10. Truman Doctrine
Examples would be Greece and Turkey which would be the cause of tension between the superpowers
How do you think the US convinced these nations not to become communist nations?

11. What would happen to the occupied countries after liberation, especially those of Eastern Europe?

12. How to end the war with Japan
How to end the war with Japan? (Soviet and US invasion)Create a timeline of events on your paper
1945 (July 26) Potsdam-ultimatum demanding Japan surrender unconditionally or face destruction (Japan will not)
Aug Bomb dropped on Hiroshima
Aug 8 Japanese ignore Russian warning - Russia declares war on Japan - attacks Japanese forces in China. (For years the Russians claimed the reason the Japanese surrendered was that Russia had entered the war with Japan for the first time.)
Aug 8 warned of another bomb to be dropped
Aug Bomb dropped on Nagasaki
August 15, 1945 Japanese surrender (VJ Day)

13. Atomic Cafe http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rh5Xv89eLdo

14. How to build a lasting peace? The United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization founded in 1945 after the Second World War by 51 countries committed to maintaining international peace and security, developing friendly relations among nations and promoting social progress, better living standards and human rights.

15. The UN has 4 main purposes
1. To keep peace throughout the world;
2. To develop friendly relations among nations;
3. To help nations work together to improve the lives of poor people, to conquer hunger, disease and illiteracy, and to encourage respect for each other’s rights and freedoms;
4. To be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations to achieve these goals