1. Cold War: Superpowers Face Off
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Cold War: Superpowers Face Off
The opposing economic and political philosophies of the United States and the Soviet Union lead to global competition.
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2. 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
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3. 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
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4. 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 . . .
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5. 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
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6. 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 . . .
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7. 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
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