It is a compilation of powerpoint presentations based on the works of: Fatima Al Mansoori and Sara Al Jassmi
Grade: 9c. An overview of the cold war
by Patricia Guzman, Head Teacher at ISFD Nº 1097 on Sep 16, 2013.
Cold war part_2_crises_of_the_cold_warby k0socha on Apr 24, 2013
This is mashup presentation by Xolisiwe Zondi
The Cold War: Beginnings
Done by: Fatima Al Mansoori and Sara Al Jassmi
Grade: 9c
The cold war was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension and economic competition between the communist world and the western world.
Truman doctrine is a policy set forth by president Truman in a on march 12, 1947 stating that the U.S. Would support Greece and Turkey with economic and military aid to prevent those countries falling into the soviet sphere. Often consider it as the start of the cold war.
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, stateless society based on common ownership of the means of production.
Terms
satellite state − small country controlled by a more powerful neighbor
iron curtain − imaginary barrier separating Soviet-controlled countries and the free world
containment − American policy to keep communism contained within its existing borders
Marshall Plan − U.S. aid program to help Western Europe rebuild after World War II
Berlin airlift − operation in which the U.S. and Britain broke the Soviet blockade of West Berlin
Terms
Differences between Russia and America
The United States was a capitalist
democracy. Its citizens believed in
free elections, economic, and
religious freedom, private property, and respect of individual
differences.
The Soviet Union was a
dictatorship. The Communist Party
made all key economic,
political, and military
decisions.
The nations of Eastern Europe and the eastern part of Germany became satellite states of the Soviet Union, separated from the free world by an “iron curtain.”
With the Truman Doctrine, the U.S. promised to support nations struggling against communist movements.
President Truman responded to Soviet domination of Eastern Europe
Truman Doctrine
Money was sent to Greece and Turkey to provide aid to people who needed it.
Its relative prosperity and freedom stood in contrast to the bleak life of East Berliners.
Stalin was determined to capture West Berlin or win other concessions from the Western allies.
In June 1948, Stalin stopped all highway, railway, and waterway traffic from western Germany into West Berlin. Without any means of receiving aid, West Berlin would fall to the communists.
For almost a year, the US and Britain supplied West Berlin through a massive airlift. Food, fuel, medical supplies, clothing, toys-everything the residents of West Berlin needed was flown into the city.
The causes and results of Stalin’s blockage of Berlin
Stalin
President Truman
Crises Of the Cold War
The Cold War and Containment The Cold War featured the US and the
USSR, two SUPERPOWERs with completely different political systems
(Capitalism v Communism) competing for influence around the
world. The presence of nuclear weapons held by both sides made the stakes of the cold war very high, as a
direct total war between the two sides would have resulted in a nuclear war, killing millions of
civilians. Neither side wanted to provoke the other into resulting to a
nuclear attack.The US under President Truman
decided they could not remove communism where it existed but
instead focused on containing it and stopping its spread .
Truman knew containment was our best option in stopping communism
while avoiding nuclear war.
Europe DividedEurope had been divided
along communist and Capitalist lines following WWII and this continued
throughout the Cold War. The US made an Alliance
known as NATO (the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization) with many countries, promising that
an attack on those countries would be
regarded as an attack on the USA .
The USSR formed their own alliance, the Warsaw
Pact to counter NATO. This alliance included the Iron
Curtain countries, the “satellite” communist
states in Europe .
Europe divided: Capitalist and Communist
NATO and the Warsaw
Pact. Map includes
how much US aid $
each received
under the Marshall
plan .
Berlin One Cold War Crisis
occurred surrounding the city of Berlin.
Berlin (along with the rest of Germany) had been divided amongst the 4 allied powers of WWII.
West Berlin was controlled by the US, UK, and France
while East Berlin was controlled by the USSR .
Berlin though was totally surrounded by the Soviet portion of Germany, and the USSR (led by Stalin)
resented having an enclave of capitalism in its zone.
Stalin looked to remove the US support from the city
and take over W Berlin.Defending W. Berlin
became the frontline and first test of the US policy of
containment.
West Berlin was in the heart of Communist East Germany.
Berlin AirliftIn 1948, Stalin decided he
would try to blockade the roads that led to West Berlin, this
would cut off their supplies and hopefully get the west to
abandon its stake in the city. He figured the US would not
risk a conflict and confrontation trying to go through the
blockade .The US and Britain developed a
different plan and responded by airlifting all supplies needed for W. Berlin. The US also put their
army on full alert, basically daring the USSR to try and stop
the airlift.Stalin chose not to shoot down
US planes and instead reopened roads to the city in 1949 after a year of supplies
being airlifted into the city .
For a full year, American and British troops airlifted supplies to the
blockaded W. Berliners
Nikita KhrushchevJosef Stalin died in 1953 after
almost 30 years in power as ruler of the USSR.
He would eventually be replaced by a man named Nikita
KhrushchevKhrushchev sought to “de-
Stalinize” the Soviet Union.He openly stated the atrocities
that Stalin had committed and had numerous monuments to
Stalin destroyed.However, Khrushchev was still a
communist and sought to lead his country to victory in the Cold
War.Khrushchev wanted to move the
USSR away from Stalin’s brutality
Berlin as an escape routeWest Berlin had
become a prosperous capitalist city, while
East Berlin did not see such a quick recovery under the communist
system.Many of the well-
educated in East Berlin started use West Berlin as their way to escape
communism and flee to the Western World .
In addition as long as people had access to
West Berlin, they would be able to see the
success of the capitalist system and would desire to leave
communism.
Berlin WallIn 1961, wanting to
prevent the “brain drain” of skilled people leaving
communist East Germany, the BERLIN WALL, a concrete and
barbed wire wall around W. Berlin, was put in
place to keep people from leaving the communist
system.The US was prepared to
defend W. Berlin’s freedom but did not
destroy the barrier out of fear of starting a nuclear war. It would divide the
city until 1989. Its significance was that it
served as a physical symbol of the division of
Europe .
CubaCuba was the site of another major
cold war crisis.In 1959 under a revolution led by
Fidel Castro, Cuba became a communist country. The US had vital economic interests in Cuba
(casinos, hotels) and lost them when Cuba became communist .
The US tried and failed to remove Castro from power in an invasion
known as the Bay of Pigs, and the CIA tried and failed to assassinate
him. The US was worried as they faced a potentially hostile neighbor
only 90 miles off of the coast of Florida. This was a failure of the
policy of containment as communism had now spread.
Cuba: Role in Cold WarThe USSR had fallen
behind in the nuclear arms race with the US.
They did not possess the long range missile
capability or the number of missile sites
that the US did.However, the USSR
supported Cuba and desired to use this
country as a valuable ally in the Cold War. Since it was close to
the US it represented an area from which the USSR could potentially
attack the US from.
Castro and Khrushchev became allies
Cuba is only 90 miles off of Florida’s coast
Missile SitesKhrushchev decided to
secretly build missile sites in Cuba that he could hit the US with.
US spy planes spotted the missile sites in
October of 1962.President John Kennedy
declared that the presence of missiles in
Cuba was unacceptable.He ordered a blockade
of Cuba, to prevent any new missiles from being
delivered and demanded that the missiles in Cuba be
removed .A U-2 spy plane identified the
missile sites
Tensions Increase
Khrushchev renounced the blockade.
Meanwhile, Kennedy prepared a large force
to invade Cuba.He also announced that
any attack on the US or country in Western
Hemisphere would be met with a direct attack
on Cuba or the Soviet Union.
The Two powers appeared to be headed
for Nuclear War.
Nuclear War was a real possibility during the crisis
The Crisis EndsThe Crisis finally broke
after two weeks of tension, when Soviet ships decided
to stop and not resist the US blockade.
The 2 sides negotiated a settlement where the
USSR would remove the missiles from Cuba and
the US would promise to never invade Cuba in the
future and remove some of its missile sites in Turkey
(although this 2nd condition was not made public).
Finally the crisis reached a peaceful end .
Negotiations at the UN and direct communication between President
Kennedy and Khrushchev thankfully helped the Crisis end
peacefully
ConclusionThe Cuban Missile crisis was the height of
tensions between the US and USSR, and the closest the war came to being a “hot”
war.Sadly, President Kennedy was shot and
killed the next year.The USSR viewed the crisis as an
embarrassment and Khrushchev was replaced as the head of the Soviet Union a
few months later.Still, the Cold War would continue for
another 25 years .
An overview
of the Cold War
How can a war be ‘cold?’
What were the Hotspots of the Cold
War?
After World War 2 the Cold War began and caused tension throughout the world.
The USA and the USSR were the two world
Superpowers.The USA was a capitalist
society with a democracy.
The USSR was a communist country with
a dictatorship.Both wanted to be the
most powerful nation in the world.
Nuclear tensionsThe USA had shown its atomic power when
it exploded the A-bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War 2.
The USSR was also developing atomic weapons/bombs.
The USA and the USSR were in competition with each other to have the best, most
powerful weapons in the world – this was called the Arms Race.
After World War 2, the world changed!
Many countries became communist after World War 2 including:
-Czechoslovakia (1948)-Poland (1947)-Hungary (1947)-China (1949)-Cuba (1959)-North Korea (1945)
Germany - dividedGermany, which had been
ruled by the Hitler and the Nazis until their defeat in
1945 was split in two.The western side became
West Germany and the eastern side became East
Germany.East Germany became
another communist country.
The domino effectThe USSR had a lot of influence over many
of the new communist countries (especially those in Europe).
The USA was very worried that the USSR’s influence over these countries was making the USSR and communism more powerful.
The USA did not want communism to spread any further – they were worried about the
domino effect (one country becomes communist, then another, then another etc)
Cold War?The tension and rivalry between the USA
and the USSR was described as the Cold War (1945-1990).
There was never a real war between the two sides between 1945 and 1990, but they were often very close to war (Hotspots).
Both sides got involved in other conflicts in the world to either stop the spread of communism (USA) or help the spread
(USSR).
The Korean War 1950-1953
The Berlin Wall 1961
The Cuban Missile Crisis 1962
The Vietnam War c.1963-1975
Cold war part_2_crises_of_the_cold_warby k0socha on Apr 24, 2013. URL :
http://www.slideshare.net/k0socha/cold-war-part2crisesofthecoldwar?qid=cb579f13-35c4-4969-a62a-ad19386566a0&v=qf1&b=&
from_search=2Fatima Al Mansoori and Sara Al Jassmi
Grade: 9c. URL :An overview of the cold war
by Patricia Guzman, Head Teacher at ISFD Nº 1097 on Sep 16, 2013 URL: http://www.slideshare.net/guzpat/an-overview-of-the-cold-war-26238921?qid=de01238e-2f38-4989-b2e8-0d19431536dd&v=qf1&b=&from_search=8
Reference list
