1. Two Superpowers Face Off
Chapter 17, Section 1

2. Former Allies Diverge
Before the end of WWII the alliance between the USA and USSR began to unravel
The USA was upset that the Soviets signed a nonaggression pact with Hitler in 1939
The Soviets blamed the Allies for delaying their invasion of Europe

3. A Joint Postwar Plan
February 1945 (WWII is not over) the Allied nations of USA, Britain, and USSR met at Yalta
They discussed what to do after the war
Germany would be divided into “zones” controlled and occupied by the Allies
Germany would also pay the USSR $
Stalin said that Eastern Europe would have “free elections”

4. Creation of the United Nations
June 1945, 48 nations came together and created the United Nations
This was an international organization intended to protect member nations against aggression
Each nation would have a vote on action to be taken
11 members had the real power for action
There are 5 permanent members
Britain, China, France, USA, and USSR
Any of these could veto any action

5. Differing US and USSR Goals
Richest country in the world
Almost 50 times more dead
400,000 deaths
Cities destroyed
Cities and factories (fine)

6. Differences USA USSR Wanted democracy Wanted communism
Gained new markets and goods
Rebuild its economy
Control Eastern Europe
Rebuild European gov
Keep Germany divided
Reunite Germany

7. Soviet Union Corrals Eastern Europe
USSR was always concerned with an invasion from the west
They build a “wall” of Satellite Nations
When they pushed the Nazis back they controlled the countries between Russia and Germany
Stalin set up pro communist governments in
Albania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Poland, and Yugoslavia

9. Building the Wall Harry Truman took over after FDR died
Truman was more confrontational with Stalin
When Stalin put in these governments (especially in Poland) Truman saw this as a clear violation
They meet in Potsdam, Germany and Truman demanded that Stalin allow free elections
Stalin refused later stating that “communism and capitalism could not exist in the same world”

10. The Iron Curtain Divides East and West
Europe now divides East and West
Germany was split in two
The Soviets held the Eastern half that held Berlin
Churchill coined the phrase “iron curtain” and it symbolized the division between mostly democratic Western Europe and Communist Eastern Europe

11. US Counters Soviet Expansion
Relations between the US and USSR became worst from
The US wanted to counter the Soviet threat in Eastern Europe
Truman issued the policy of containment
Meant to block Soviet influence and prevent communist expansion
Containment policies created alliances to resist Soviet advances

12. Truman Doctrine
Any country that rejected communism would receive US help under the Truman Doctrine
Some people stated that it was “interfering” in other nations affairs
Others felt the US could not burden the cost of crusading against communism
$400 million went to aid in Turkey and Greece alone

13. Marshall Plan
George Marshall, Secretary of State, want to rebuild and strengthen Europe with aid ($)
They would give aid to any country that needed it
$12.5 billion went to this program after the USSR took control of Czechoslovakia in Feb 1948
It was a highly successful program

14. The Berlin Airlift Germany is the first clash of titans
The USA, France, Britain all left west Germany and allowed it to become an independent nations
USSR was not happy so they held west Berlin hostage

15. Berlin Airlift Berlin was chopped into four zones as well
Berlin was in USSR held Germany
They cut off all access to the capital

16. Berlin Airlift
To help the people of West Berlin the Americans and British flew in supplies
11 months
Planes took off and landed every 3 minutes
May 1949 the blockade was lifted

17. Cold War Divides the World
Cold War – state of diplomatic hostility that developed between the two superpowers
Spying
Propaganda
Diplomacy
Secret operations
All nations will feel the effects

18. Rival Alliances
After the Berlin Blockade the western European nations are terrified
Ten nations align with Canada and USA to form a defensive alliance known as NATO
If any member of the group is attacked the rest would jump in a fight

19. Rival Alliances
The Soviet Union was mad about NATO so they formed their own alliance
Warsaw Pact – same idea as NATO
Countries:
Soviet Union, Poland, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Albania

20. Nuclear Threat 1949 USSR now has a nuclear bomb
1952 USA creates the Hydrogen bomb about 1,000 times more destructive the Atom bomb
Dulles, the new secretary of state, told the USSR if they attacked any allied nation the US would respond with a nuclear attack

21. Nuclear Threat
This willingness to go to the brink of world destruction was termed brinkmanship
The USA and USSR are now locked in an arms race
Each country needs to build more weapons then the other
If you have more, you can destroy more
But it gets totally out of hand

22. Cold War in the Skies
Great leaps in science and technology came out of the Cold War
ICBM – intercontinental ballistic missile
The Soviets designed the first one in 57 and launched an unmanned satellite into space
This made Americans uneasy
The US gov funnels lots of $ into the sciences and math that will “catch us up”

23. Cold War in the Skies
Eisenhower wanted to have an open skies policy with the USSR
Basically we could fly over each others territories looking for intel
Stalin refused so… the CIA conducted high altitude flights to spy on the Soviets
May 1960 the USSR shot down a U2 spy plane
This betrayal by the USA caused even more mistrust between the two Superpowers