Download - COLD WAR
COLD WAR1945 TO 1991
POST WORLD WAR IIGERMANY JAPAN
Nuremburg trials: Began November 1945 and was an international military court
Witnesses testified of Nazi atrocities, 12 sentenced to death, 7 went to prison and 3 were acquitted
Potsdam Conference: Allied leaders agreed to split Germany into four areas and they divided Austria into 4 areas
The main goal was to help rebuild Germany
US occupied Japan from 1945 to 1952
US helped rebuild Japanese economy
Destroyed militarism and established democratic government
US helped Japanese write a new constitution in 1947 that included voting rights for women, freedom of religion, it abolished the military, gave land to farmers and got rid of monopolies
UNITED NATIONS Created in 1945 to
promote World Peace Provides for a General
Assembly and a 15 member Security Council that has Veto Power
The first problem that the UN had to deal with was Palestine and the creation of Israel in 1948
COLD WAR WAS A POLITICAL CONFLICT BETWEEN DEMOCRACY AND COMMUNISM
NATO WARSAW PACT North Atlantic Treaty Organization
, created in 1949 to protect Democracy throughout Europe
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/winstonchurchillsinewsofpeace.htm
Stalin had created a “buffer zone” that Winston Churchill called the “Iron Curtain”
These Eastern European countries became known as the Satellite countries and all supported the Soviet Union
COLD WAR POLICIES Containment: Inspired by
George Kennan, the idea of using diplomacy and the military to “contain” communism and not allow it to spread
Truman Doctrine: This was an extension of the Monroe Doctrine and the Roosevelt Corollary that stated the US must support people fighting oppression throughout the world
COLD WAR POLICIES Marshall Plan 1947:
Secretary of State George Marshall believed that if the US helped rebuild Europe they would oppose Communism. $17 billion went to Europe, the Soviet Union declined because Stalin believed it would undermine Communist Rule
COLD WAR POLICIES In 1948 the zones controlled by
the US, France and Great Britain united and became West Germany
West Germany was booming as result of the Marshall Plan. As a result the Soviet Union blockaded West Berlin
This prompted the Berlin Airlift, where allies flew 2 million tons of food and supplies into Berlin
The Berlin airlift was successful and very embarrassing for the Soviet Union
In 1961 the Soviet Union created the Berlin Wall that would become a symbol of Cold War Divisions for nearly 40 years
COLD WAR POLICIES Brinkmanship: The
idea that you use the threat of Nuclear Weapons to get to the verge of going to war
Détente: President Nixon utilized this technique which helped to ease tensions between the US and Soviet Union
KOREAN WAR In 1948 the Korean Peninsula was
divided at the 38th Parallel. North Korea was Communist and South Korea was Democratic
In 1950 North Korea invaded South Korea
The US encouraged the UN Security Council to call for a cease fire and pledge support to South Korea. 15 nations pledged support, but the US and South Korea did most of the fighting
The fighting lasted until 1953 with the US losing 54,000 and another 103,000 wounded, not to mention the nearly 1.5 million Chinese and Korean casualties and deaths
The outcome was that Korea was divided at the 38th parallel with the North being communist and the South democratic
RED SCARE: MCCARTHYISM Throughout the 1950’s
many believed that Communists had infiltrated American Institutions
Actors known as the Hollywood 10 were blacklisted, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were found guilty of espionage, HUAC and Hoover were investigating many Americans.
Senator Joseph McCarthy from Wisconsin played on these fears and told everyone that he had a list of communists that had infiltrated the government and military
People were scared, did not know who to trust and many lost jobs, houses and reputations
Eventually it was proven that McCarthy did not have any evidence and he was censured and his political career ended
SPUTNIK Technology was a huge
aspect to the Cold War There was an intense
competition to have the best weapons and this carried over to the Space race.
Millions of dollars were spent on NASA and then the Soviet Union launched Sputnik in 1957
The US feared that Soviet technology was surpassing us and that could only lead to defeat
CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS In October of 1962 U-2 spy planes
took pictures of Soviet workers building Nuclear silos in Cuba
This began a 13 day period of intense fear and threat of nuclear war
President Kennedy had 3 options: invade Cuba, bomb the missile sites or blockade Cuba
On October 22, President Kennedy went on TV and announced a blockade of Cuba and that the US would fire on any ships that attempted to pass the blockade
Soviet ships approached the blockade on October 24 but stopped.
An agreement was reached and the Soviets removed missiles from Cuba and the US removed missiles from Turkey and promised not to invade Cuba
END OF THE COLD WAR In the early 1980’s the
Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan and they began to use too many resources that their economy struggled
President Reagan increased the defense budget from $150 billion to $250 billion because he new the Soviet Union would try and keep up, they could not
New technology like the Star wars was being developed and the Soviet Union was losing the support of its people
Mikhail Gorbachev to control in 1985 and instituted Glasnost and Perestroika. Glasnost was designed to create more freedom for the people and Perestroika was designed to increase trade and reduce military spending to help the economy
END OF THE COLD WAR Gorbachev and
Reagan were working together and signed the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) that eliminated medium range nuclear weapons
In 1989 Gorbachev announced the Soviet Union would not intervene in Eastern Europe any more
This prompted revolutions and free elections to take place in Romania, Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia and finally in the Ukraine. The Iron Curtain had fallen
SYMBOLIC END TO THE COLD WAR
The Berlin Wall was the symbol of the divide between Communism and Democracy for nearly 40 years
In the fall of 1989 thousands flocked to the Berlin Wall and began to protest, when the wall was finally opened in November of 1989 many began to tear it down