THE COLD WAR

1945-1990

Essential Question: How did the relationship between the U.S. and U.S.S.R. change?

THE YALTA CONFERENCE

As the last days of WW2 were coming to an end the allies held another meeting

They met to talk about what to do with Germany and Europe after the war

The goal was to prevent another world war from taking place

YALTA CONFERENCE

The allied powers agreed to split Germany into four sections

France, Britain, the U.S., and the Soviet Union would split the country

These four countries would also divide up Berlin the same way

THE YALTA CONFERENCE Tensions so begin to

rise between the Soviet Union and the U.S.

The Soviet Union pushed small European countries to become communist

The United States did not agree with communism and did not think it should spread

COMMUNISM VS CAPITALISM

Communism and Capitalism are two different economic systems

Communism: The government controls all business and decides how much people make

Capitalism: Private companies control business and decide pay based on amount of work or difficulty of job

BACK HOME

Many people in America feared another great depression

They knew that Hitler was only able to come to power because of the depression

President Truman believed that Democracy and capitalism were the best ways of keeping the world economy strong

DEMOCRACY AND CAPITALISM

Government leaders believe that democratic countries better protected people’s individual rights

Therefore democratic countries were better suited at preventing another Hitler like leader

The Soviet Union however felt differently

COMMUNISM VS DEMOCRACY Stalin and the Soviets

believed that Germany should pay for the war

The Soviet economy was suffering after WW2

Truman however was against this idea because he feared the German economy was not strong enough and would look to resort to communism

THE COLD WAR

1945-1990

Essential Question: How did the relationship between the U.S. and U.S.S.R. change?

Monday April 30th 2012

Today: Notes on the Iron Curtain

Thursday: Quiz on all

material from after WWII

SAVING GERMANY From 1941 to 1945

the goal of the U.S. was to hurt Germany anyway it could

Now our goal was to save the German economy

Truman knew that if the German economy collapsed all of Europe would be dragged back into peril

Truman and Stalin met at Potsdam, which is in the Soviet Zone

Truman wanted to give aid and build up German industry

The Soviet Union wanted to cripple Germany and use its goods

POTSDAM CONFERENCE

Truman and Stalin vocally opposed each other over the future of Germany

Neither could agree with how to move forward with each others plan for Europe

Truman began to question Stalin's true intentions

POTSDAM CONFERENCE At the conference

Truman also told Stalin America had developed more powerful atomic weapons

Stalin felt that Truman was trying to intimidate the Soviet Union

He felt that Truman was threatening the Soviets if they didn’t agree to help Germany

POTSDAM CONFERENCE Despite Stalin feeling

the U.S. was harassing him he had no choice but to agree to their demands

The U.S. and Britain controlled the industrial heartland

It was also the only way Russia could get some money from Germany

POTSDAM CONFERENCE The Potsdam

Conference is where the relationship between the U.S. and the Soviet Union fell apart

Stalin had respected FDR as a real leader, but felt Truman was weak

In return Truman hated communism and thought Stalin was ruthless

THE IRON CURTAIN DESCENDS

Even though Truman had won the battle over industry he lost other points

The Soviets refused to up hold free elections in eastern Europe

This made many Americans upset and angry with the Communists

THE IRON CURTAIN Stalin ordered his troops to

stay in their wartime posts all across eastern Europe

This ensured that pro-soviet communist governments would be set up in Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungry and Czechoslovakia.

“This war is not in the past. Whoever occupies a territory also imposes his own social system….It cannot be otherwise.”

THE IRON CURTAIN The new Communist

Countries in Eastern Europe became known as satellite states

This is because they were controlled by the Soviet Union even though they were considered separate countries.

This meant that the soviet influence was extending past the Soviet boarder

THE IRON CURTAIN Winston Churchill

came up with a new term to describe Eastern Europe

He said in a speech that an “iron curtain” has fallen over eastern Europe

This iron curtain came to symbolize the “communist threat” and American demanded action.

THE COLD WAR The Potsdam Conference was one of the last places the United States and the Soviet Union would meet to discuss working together

With the Iron Curtain also came the Cold War

For the next 45 years Americans would be ready to go to war at any minute