Origins of the Cold
War
Contributions to the Cold War
The World War II alliance between
the Soviet Union and the United States contributed to the
Contributions to the Cold War
First, tensions
were high
Contributions to the
Cold War
The communist Soviet government
believed in socialism, one-party rule, and the social goal of equality.
The United States valued capitalism,
Contributions to the Cold War
Second, both
countries had their own ideas of how postwar Europe should be set up politically.
▪ The United believed in democracy and
wanted
self-determination for the countries.
▪ Stalin, however, wanted to create a buffer in Eastern
Contributions to the
Cold War
As a result, the alliance between the
Soviet Union and the United States during World War II quickly
Contributions to the
Cold War
It became increasingly clear that
postwar Europe would be divided into two spheres of influence—East and West—which paralleled the
Economic and Military
Alliance in Europe
Post WWII Alliances
The economic and military alliance in
Europe after WWII contributed to the development of the Cold War for
several reasons:
First, the economic alliances formed
under the Marshall Plan and the Molotov Plan hardened the divisions between the East and West in Europe and increased tensions between the two superpowers.
Post WWII Alliances
To the United States economic aid to
Europe was essential to keep
communism from spreading beyond the Soviet’s borders.
To the Soviet Union, the economic
alliances formed under the Marshall Plan only served American interests and undermined Soviet power in
Post WWII Alliances
THE MARSHALL PLAN
President Harry S. Truman, feared that the entire
continent of Europe—devastated by war—was on
the brink of an economic collapse, leaving European countries vulnerable to a socialist or even a Soviet-style Communist government.
Therefore, in 1947 the US introduced the Marshall
Plan which:
Post WWII Alliances
THE MARSHALL PLAN AND THE MOLOTOV PLAN
The Soviets , however, perceived it as a cunning
attempt to support American capitalism.
According to the plan, when accepting American loans
European countries agreed to purchase American products, strengthening the US economy.
The Soviet Union refused to let Eastern European
nations accept loans from the Marshall Plan.
Instead, the Soviet Union developed an economic pact
Post WWII Alliances
Second, the military alliances
formed by the NATO and the Warsaw Pact introduced the possibility of
Post WWII Alliances
NATO AND THE WARSAW PACT
In 1949 the United States joined western nations such as
Canada, France, Great Britain, Italy, and the Netherlands to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
NATO’s members formed a military alliance to protect
each other from Soviet aggression.
In 1955 the Soviet Union formed a similar military alliance
Communists
Communist Rebellion
The Communist rebellions in Greece
and Turkey contributed to the development of the Cold War.
First, the rebellions inspired the Truman
Communist Rebellion
HISTORY BEHIND THE TRUMAN DOCTRINE
In early 1947 the government of Greece and Turkey
were fighting off Communist rebellions.
Great Britain had been supporting the Greek
government in its fight against Communists.
However, British funding soon ran dry and Britain
appealed to the United States for help.
As a result, March 12, 1947 President Truman made
Communist Rebellions
The Truman
Doctrine is a set of principles of U.S.
foreign policy
declared by President Harry Truman.
It is known as the
framework for
American Foreign
Communist Rebellions
In a 1947 address
Communist Rebellions
As a result of the Truman Doctrine,
Truman asked and received $400
million to provide assistance to both countries.
Due to the US’ aid, Greece and Turkey
Communist Rebellions
Second, the rebellions in Greece
Communist Rebellions
Any tensions between communist
Nuclear Weapons
The development of nuclear weapons
also contributed to the development of the Cold War.
The history of nuclear weapons…
On July 16, 1945, the United States
successfully tested the world’s first atomic bomb, or A-bomb, in New Mexico.
In August, the US dropped atomic bombs
Nuclear Weapons
In 1947 President Harry S. Truman’s
National Security Council drafted NSC 68, a secret document that would be, a
“blueprint for American policy in the Cold War.”
This document warned that the Soviet Union
was increasing their nuclear power and the US had “no alternative but to rapidly increase its atomic capability.”
▪ As a result, Truman increased US military spending
Truman meets with the
National Security
Nuclear Weapons
The development of nuclear weapons
contributed to the Cold War by:
First, the Soviet Union’s development of
nuclear weapons positioned them to compete with the US as a military
superpower.
In 1949 the Soviets
perfected their nuclear
technology and developed a nuclear weapon of their
Nuclear Weapons
Second, the Soviet Union and the
United States each amassed more
and more nuclear weaponry to keep the other “in check,” fueling an arms race that increased fear and
suspicion on both sides.
Third, the Soviet Union and the
United States knew that a direct
Nuclear Weapons
Therefore, both
countries chose to fight each other
indirectly by providing economic and military aid to rivaling nations.
In this way, the Soviet
Union and the United States avoided direct conflict while
simultaneously
escalating hostilities.
The Berlin Crisis
The Berlin crisis
contributed to the development in
The Berlin Crisis
First, Berlin was
located in the Soviet-controlled German territory.
Soviets felt that they were entitled to full control over the
German capital. As a result, Soviets
resented the western countries and was
The Berlin Crisis
The Allied Control
Council, also known as the Allied Control Authority and the Four Powers was a military occupation governing body of
the Allied Occupation Zones in Germany
The Berlin Crisis
Second, the western countries’
exclusion of the Soviet Union in matters of German national import and the
following Berlin blockade deepened the poor relationship between the Soviet
Union and the West.
The Soviet’s blockade shocked many in the
The Berlin Crisis
All this happened as a result when
France, Great Britain, and the United States announced plans to introduce a new form of currency in Germany in 1948.
This caused the Soviet Union to
The Berlin Crisis
When the new currency was
introduced in West Berlin, the
Soviets protested by instituting a
formal blockade of Berlin on June 24, 1948.
The blockade consisted of:
Closing all road, rail, and water routes to
and from the city.
Stalin later cut off the inhabitants of
The Berlin Crisis
Meanwhile,
America began airlifting
supplies to Berlin in an
The Berlin Crisis
After almost a year, Stalin reopened
all routes into Berlin on May 12, 1949.
However, Berlin remained a divided
The Berlin Crisis
Finally, the Berlin
Wall reinforced the division between
East and West, both literally and
symbolically.
The wall became a
lasting testament to the Cold War
between the Soviet Union and the
The Korean War
The Korean War
contributed to the development of the Cold War
because it
confirmed the
growing American belief that the
spread of
The Korean War
In 1949, Mao Zedong
successfully led the
Communist Revolution in China.
Mao’s Communist
government quickly allied itself with the Soviet Union, and
both countries signed a mutual defense and economic aid
The Korean War
The United States began to look upon China’s
alliance with the Soviet Union with alarm and hostility.
This was because during WWII, China and the US had
been allies during the Pacific War against Japan.
The US had also supported the Chinese nationalist
government defeated by Mao during the Communist Revolution.
However, in 1950 the Korean War increased
The Korean War
After WWII, the
northeast Asian
country of Korea was divided at the 38th
parallel into two countries: North
Korea, supported by the Soviet Union, and South Korea
supported by the
The Korean War
On June 25, 1950, with
arms provided by the Soviet Union,
Communist North Korea invaded South Korea.
The United Nations
quickly condemned the invasion and authorized sending troops to the region under the
The Korean War
Following the
planned
amphibious (land and water)
invasion,
MacArthur's troops pushed the North Koreans northward almost to the
The Korean War
At this point, the Chinese sent 1
million “volunteers” into the fighting.
US troops were pushed back into
South Korea, even losing Seoul, the southern capital.
General MacArthur called for all-out
The Korean War
Although MacArthur felt that an
all-out war was necessary, President
Truman advocated for a limited war.
Truman feared that the Soviets might
be drawn into the fighting
eventually starting a third world war.
MacArthur was fired for taking his
The Korean War
In July 1953, the Korean War ended
in a stalemate.
The Soviet Invasion
Winston Churchill of Great Britain
visited the United States in the spring of 1946 and delivered his famous Iron Curtain speech.
His main focus was the Soviet Union’s
attempts to draw an “iron curtain” around itself and by ruling Eastern Europe through force and repression.
This increased the American belief that
The Soviet Invasion
In 1956 Hungarian
citizens began rioting and
demanded more freedom from their Communist
government and threatened to return to
parliamentary
The Soviet Invasion
The new Soviet
leader, Nikita Khrushchev,
quickly dispatched the Soviet Red
Army with tanks to Hungarian capital of Budapest.
The army then
The Soviet Invasion
During the Soviet
crackdown,
Hungarians sent radio pleas to the United
States begging for support.
However, President
Dwight D. Eisenhower did not consider
sending US troops into Hungary for fear of
The Soviet Invasion
Within a few days, the Hungarian
uprising was brutally crushed, and Hungary was returned to a Soviet-style Communist nation.
In 1968 the Soviet Union stopped a
similar uprising in Czechoslovakia.
Most of Eastern Europe stayed firmly
