Origins of the Cold War
WWII and Cold War
Yalta Conference (Feb 1945) US needs Russian
help in Japan Eastern Europe’s
fate left unclear Truman and the
Bomb Potsdam Conf. (July
1945)
A-bomb Hiroshima &Nagasaki Reasons to Drop atomic Bomb
Japanese fight to the death US estimates more than 1 million casualties to capture mainland
Japanese did not respond to peace offers Hiroshima August 6, 1945
City of 350, 000 70-80,000 die Japanese do not respond
Nagasaki August 9, 194570,000 are killedJapanese surrender September 2, 1945
Allies Become Enemies United Nations June 1945
General Assembly a larger group representative of the world built for peace keeping
Security Council able to investigate problems and take actions 5 Permanent members China, US, USSR, Britain, and France
Soviets tired of invasions WWII losses about 25 million Seek secure border Demand buffer zone
Battle of Stalingrad
Cold War Heats Up
Stalin wants to create a buffer zone or a wall of protection to avoid future invasions from Europe
Germany was split into two sections one controlled by USSR and the other controlled by US, Britain, and France. Berlin the former capital though in the Soviet Zone was divided between Soviets and GB, US, and France
Iron Curtain taken from a Churchill speech came to represent Europe’s division between mostly democratic western Europe and Communist Eastern Europe
The Iron Curtain
Cold War Heats Up
Truman Doctrine (1947) US supports countries that
reject communism Containment policy goal to
stop the spread of Soviet influence and communism
Marshall Plan (1947) Provides food money,
equipment and materials to rebuild western Europe
Undermines conditions for communism
Cold Divides the World
NATO 1949 North Atlantic Treaty
Organization 10 countries pledge an attack
on one is an attack on all
Warsaw Pact 1955
Soviet Union, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Albania
The Berlin Wall is built becomes a symbol of the split
Berlin Airlift
Berlin Airlift
Berlin Airlift
Stalin gambled that the GB, France, and US would not risk war to fight for Berlin
1948 Stalin cut off all land and rail access to Berlin city faced starvation
Allies responded by flying over 2.3 million tons of food and supplies into Berlin
After 11 months Stalin reopened the City 1949
Berlin Airlift
Korean War
Korean War
On June 25, 1950 North Korea invades the South UN sends troops from 15 nations under Douglas Macarthur UN Police Action forces North Koreans back north past 38th to
Yalu river and the border with China Oct 1950 China sends 300,000 troops storming into N. Korea
they drive UN forces back south of the 38th parallel Macarthur wanted to Nuke the Chinese is fired for his views
Stalemate in 1952 By 1952 the UN forces had fought back to the 38th parallel In 1953 North and South Korea signed a cease fire and
established the DMZ at the 38th parallel Results
Korea remained divided, creations of theDMZ, over 4 million people lost their lives
Map of Vietnam
France had started colonizingThe area in 1836.
By 1907 controlled either Directly or indirectly all of The regions on this map
Vietnam War French Indochina
France had controlled most Southwest Asia since since the 1900’s
Ho Chi Minh was a nationalist he fought against the Japanese. After the war he expected to gain independence. He turned to communism for help in his struggle for independence after the war
France is defeated in Vietnam. Domino theory US becomes involved fearing that if they allowed Vietnam to fall to communism the entire regain would become communist
Results Korea remained divided, DMZ, over 4 million people lost their
lives
The Atom Bomb and Nuclear Arms Race
The New Look
Eisenhower and Massive Retaliation Use of high tech and
aversion to ground troops
CIA Covert operations and
the Third World
Initial Reactions
Anxiety, Fear, and Elation Sense of doom Atomic sales Atomic bomb ring
Cold War and the Bomb
Civil Defense Greenbrier Bunker
Russians detonate first atomic bomb in 1949
“How to Survive an Atomic Bomb”
Bomb shelters
Cold War Science Fiction FilmAmbivalence and Anxiety over
the Bomb
1950s Invasion Films
China falls to Communism
-Mao Zedong communist leader recruits from the peasant population. Promises land reform or giving land back to the farmers. Backed by the USSR
-Jian Jieshi capitalist backed by the US his army was ineffective because of terrible corruption. US provided over 2 billion in aid, most squandered by corrupt generals
-Moa wins and begins his communist reforms in China to include the Great Leap Forward which created communes for farms very unsuccessful abandoned after terrible famines
Cold War Science Fiction FilmAmbivalence and Anxiety over
the Bomb