Origins of the Cold WarThe Tension is Building!!!

Rebuilding the Post War World• Although soldiers on both sides wanted

friendships to be strong between the US and USSR, problems had been building between the two nations before and during the war

• Main problems– The two countries political and economic

systems were incompatible– Resentment had been building up over

past events

Former Allies Clash

Soviet system of communism

– State controlled all property and economic activity

– Totalitarian government where opposing parties are not allowed

American system of capitalism

– Private, individuals controlled property and economic activity

– People elected president and congress

Former Allies Clash• U.S. was furious that Stalin signed the non-

aggression pact with Hitler and although they become Allies when Hitler breaks the pact they often did not see eye to eye

• Stalin had wanted the Allies to invade Europe earlier than 1944 and their delay in doing so made Stalin distrust them

• U.S. kept atomic bomb development a secret furthering the tension between the two

Former Allies Clash• Hopes for peace were high at the end

of the war especially with the establishment of the U.N.

• However both sides are going to use the U.N. as an arena to spread their influence over other countries

• Wait there’s more conflict to come…

Former Allies Clash• Potsdam Conference

– Big Three Meet (Truman, Stalin and Churchill)

– At Yalta Stalin had agreed to hold free elections in Poland and other European countries after the war

– In 1945 the Soviets prevented free elections in Poland and banned democratic parties leaving Poland in the hands of a pro-Soviet government

Former Allies Clash• Soviets refusal to allow free and open

elections was a violation of the citizens rights of self-determination

• With the Soviets occupying Eastern Europe there was little the West could do

• This event leads the U.S. to confirm that the U.S. and Soviets goals are different

• Truman strongly believed in spreading democracy and that nations had the right of self-determination guaranteed by free elections

Name three reasons that led to the build up of tension between the U.S and the

U.S.S.R after WWII

Former Allies Clash• Stalin also wanted to strip Germany of

all its industry, using the equipment to rebuild his war torn economy

• U.S. and G.B. opposed this, at Potsdam it was agreed that each country could only take from their section of Germany

• U.S. had an economic stake in spreading democracy…

Former Allies Clash• Economic Stake in Spreading Democracy

– In contrast to the war-torn countries of Europe and Asia the U.S. had no ruined factories or bombed out cities

– U.S. industry boomed during the war making the U.S. the economic leader of the world

– To continue growing, American businesses wanted access to raw materials in Eastern Europe and they wanted to sell goods to Eastern European countries

Former Allies Clash• Soviets felt justified in staying in

Eastern Europe• Suffered 20 million deaths and

extensive damage during WWII and felt vulnerable to attack from the West and wanted to be surrounded by communist countries

Former Allies Clash• Satellite Nations

– Countries dependent upon and dominated by the Soviet Union

– Stalin installed communist governments in Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, and Romania

– Stalin seized the industrial assets of these countries to rebuild his own

Former Allies Clash– Stalin announces that communism and

capitalism were incompatible and another war was inevitable so he would focus on producing weapons

– U.S virtually takes this as a declaration of war

– Faced with the threat of communism Truman says:

“It’s time to stop babying the Soviets!”

Former Allies Clash• 1946 George F. Kennan Establishes

Containment Policy– effort to block the Soviets’ attempts to

spread their influence by creating alliances and supporting weaker countries

– This policy will guide the Truman administration

Former Allies Clash• Churchill travels to the U.S and gives a

speech which will be known as the Iron Curtain Speech

“A shadow has fallen upon the scenes so lately lighted by Allied victory… An iron curtain has descended on the continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the

ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe… All those famous cities and the

populations around them lie in the Soviet sphere and all are subject in form or another, not only to Soviet influence but a very high and increasing control

from Moscow.”

Iron Curtain

Iron Curtai

n

What were satellite nations and how did the U.S. respond

to this?

The Bipolar World

What Both Sides Wanted• United States wanted to

– Encourage democracy in other countries to prevent the rise of new totalitarian governments

– Rebuild European governments to ensure stability to create new markets for American goods

– Reunite Germany believing that Europe would be more secure if Germany were productive and not bitter about defeat

What Both Sides Wanted…• The Soviets Wanted…

– To encourage communism in other countries as part of the worldwide struggle between workers and the wealthy

– Transfer industrial equipment of Eastern Europe to the Soviet Union to help rebuild its war torn economy

– Control Eastern Europe to balance the U.S. influence in Western Europe

– Keep Germany divided and weak since the Germans had waged war against Russia twice and had caused 20 million deaths in WWII

So What Is Going On??You Tell Me

Describe the situation after World War II.

What did both sides (U.S. and U.S.S.R.) want out of the postwar world?

Group Activity• With your group create a 2-3 minute

presentation on your assigned topic

– Truman Doctrine– Marshall Plan– Containment Policy and Domino Theory– NATO and Warsaw Pact– Berlin Airlift