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The Cold War (1945-1991)

As WWII Ends the Cold War Begins

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SWBAT: Analyze the effects of WWII and its aftermath.

Do Now: Is a Cold War actually ‘Cold’ ?

What does the phrase Cold War mean?

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Tensions between the US and China:

Ex. Banning Tik Tok (A Chinese Company).

Tensions between the US and Russia:

Ex. US sending aid to Ukraine in its war with Russia.

Definition of Cold War: A Cold War is tension between countries involving threats, propaganda, and other actions short of open warfare.

Do you have an example of a Cold War?

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How did the World Arrive at a Cold War after WWII?

World War II ended with an Allied - Soviet (or USSR) Victory
May 8th 1945 V-E Day - Germany Surrenders
August 15th 1945 V-J Day - Japan Surrenders

However, as WWII was closing up, the seeds of the Cold War were being planted:

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The Yalta Conference February 1945:

The Big Three Plan the Post-War World

Who are the Big Three in the picture?

Why a Conference? What’s the Point?

Avoid the mistakes made after WWI
Get all the most powerful countries to agree to one common plan for after WWII ends.

Yalta is in the Crimea

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What were the Results of the Yalta Conference?

Division of Germany into 4 occupation zones (USSR, US, British, and French)
The Establishment of the United Nations (UN)
Free Elections in the nations liberated by the allied nations (including the USSR)
The USSR will join the allies in the Pacific War

An occupation zone is a place where a country stations military troops to enforce peace.

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Do you think the allies (The Americans, British, and Soviets) left the Yalta Conference happy with the results?

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Tensions between the Allies (Americans, British, and etc.) before and after Yalta conference:

Set up a Communist system.

The allies didn’t trust Stalin to keep up with his word from the Yalta Conference.

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The Cold War (1945-1991)

Tensions Between the Two Superpowers

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SWBAT: Understand the reasons for tensions between the US and USSR that led to the Cold War.

Do Now: Name 1 of the 2 reasons from yesterday that would explain the tensions between the Soviet Union (USSR) and Allies (Americans/British) before WWII ended?

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Answers to the Do Now:

Implementing a Communist economic system.

Allied mistrust of Soviet intentions for the nations they ‘liberated’ from the Nazis.

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Directions: The class will be divided into groups of 4 and each given a primary source reading representing an economic system (socialism, capitalism, or communism). You are responsible to read about and later answer a series of questions related to the readings:

You will take 5-7 minutes to read your assigned primary source and annotate it to help you understand the content.
After reading your primary source, you will take 2-3 minutes to use your notes to answer 2 questions (1 multiple choice & 1 short answer).
Once you finish the reading and the questions, spend 6-7 minutes working together with your to help each other complete the other readings and summative questions at the end.
Lastly, a representative from your group will spend 1-2 minutes sharing your group’s answer to the summative question.

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Exit Ticket Time:

How do the social and economic systems of capitalism, communism, and socialism end up against each other?

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Capitalism

Communism/Socialism

People have the freedom to work hard and earn their keep in society.

Positive

1

Wants equality for everyone, no more hierarchy based on money.

Supports democratic government in the country, i.e. freedom of choice.

Positive

2

Everyone in society is taken care of, so no poverty.

Tends to create societies that are very unequal or has a lot of poverty.

Negative

3

Communist governments tend to be authoritarian.

Capitalism V.S. Communism Battle Royal:

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The Cold War (1945-1991)

The Strategies Behind the Cold War

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SWBAT: Understand the strategies and goals foundational to the United States and Soviet Union at the start of the Cold War.

Do Now: What is the historical context for the difference between the economic systems we reviewed yesterday?

Karl Marx

Adam Smith

Wealth of Nations

Communist Manifesto

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The Iron Curtain Falls over Europe:

What do we mean by Iron Curtain?

The borders separating Soviet controlled (Communist Bloc) or Communist countries from the Capitalist West.
Eastern Europe was Communist and Totalitarian.

Ex. East Germany, Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Romania, and Bulgaria.
Yugoslavia - not behind the Iron Curtain

Western Europe was Capitalist and Democratic.

Ex. Italy, West Germany, France, Belgium, Britain, and the Netherlands

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In the view of the Soviets:

The Iron Curtain was a Soviet ‘Sphere of Influence’
The Soviet Union wanted to have a area where other major nations wouldn’t be allowed to interfere.

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Origins of the Phrase Iron Curtain:

“From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic an iron curtain has descended across the Continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe. Warsaw, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade, Bucharest and Sofia, all these famous cities and the populations around them lie in what I must call the Soviet sphere, and all are subject in one form or another, not only to Soviet influence but to a very high and, in some cases, increasing measure of control from Moscow.”

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Six Major Themes (repeating actions) of the Cold War:

Proxy Wars

6

A war in which opposite sides use third parties as substitutes for fighting each other directly

Propaganda

5

Information used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view.

Alliances

4

The US and Soviet Union wanted to gain allies to help promote their interests all over the world.

Foreign Aid

3

The US and the Soviet Union would send help to developing countries to gain allies.

Espionage

2

The US and Soviet Union would send spies to steal top secret information from the other nation to get an advantage.

Brinkmanship

1

A negotiation strategy where a country pushes a situation to the point of disaster without going to war.

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Directions: Match the Cold War goals with the country that the goal best aligns with:

Goals of the US Goals of the Soviet Union

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Goals for the US during the Cold War

Promote ‘open markets’ or Capitalism around the world
Makes allies with countries around the world to ‘contain’ (Containment) the USSR.
Prevent the spread of Communism (Domino Theory) around the world.
Promote Democracy around the World

Goals for the USSR during the Cold War

Encourage friendly governments in countries that border the Soviet Union
Create a ‘buffer’ zone between Soviet borders and the West to prevent more losses due to the trauma of millions (30 million) dead during WWII.
Create a sense of security for the country.
Spread communism around the world to gain more allies to counter the US and the West.

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Characteristics of the Cold War:

Conflict and Competition between the Superpowers for global influence.
Nuclear Arms Race or Mutually Assured Self-Destruction (M.A.D.)
The Struggle between Capitalism and Communism

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The Cold War (1945-1991)

Timeline of Events from 1945 to 1960

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SWBAT: Understand the goals and tensions associated with the Superpowers during the Cold War.

Do Now: Use a characteristic of the Cold War we learned about yesterday and explain why it's important?

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Ex. The threat of nuclear war is important because if the US or USSR went to war it could lead to the destruction of the world (MAD).

What an answer to the Do Now should look like:

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Early Cold War Timeline

The Truman Doctrine