Cold War
The Iron Curtain
NATO
Rise of Super
Powers
The Berlin Wall
The Berlin Airlift
The Cold War 1947-1989…
1.What is it?
• Constant global confrontation between the
Soviet Union and United States.
• Avoidance of direct armed conflict between the
two “Superpowers”.
The Cold War begins 1945 -1948
Key issue:
• Why did the wartime alliance fall apart?
• What were the major points of difference?
• The importance of Yalta and Potsdam
conferences
• The roles of Stalin and Truman
YALTA (in the USSR)
Date: Feb 1945
Present: Churchill,
Roosevelt and Stalin
War Time Allies-The Big Three
Joseph
Stalin
Winston
Churchill
Franklin Roosevelt
POTSDAM (Germany)
Date: July 1945
Present: Churchill,
Truman and Stalin
3. From Allies to Enemies
Following victory the
allies could not agree
over the spoils of war.
The U.S. wanted to
establish democracy in
war torn Europe, while
the U.S.S.R. hoped for
communism. They
agreed to occupy
Germany with the Allied
Control Council. The
Soviets had 2.5 million
troops in Eastern
Europe.
Potsdam July 1945
4. The Iron Curtain
• Winston Churchill
– Speech at Westminster College in Fulton,
Missouri on March 5, 1946.
• “An iron curtain has descended across the
Continent.”
• Describes Soviet sphere of influence and
control in eastern Europe.
An Iron Curtain
The "Iron Curtain"
speech defined postwar
relations with the Soviet
Union for citizens of
Western democracies.
Although it initially
provoked intense
controversy in the
United States and
Britain, criticism soon
gave way to wide public
agreement to oppose
Soviet imperialism.
Winston Churchill
5. NATO
North Atlantic Treaty
Organization
Established in 1949.
– President Truman’s response to the closing off of Eastern Europe
• He wanted to strengthen the nations of Western Europe
– Military Alliance between U.S., Canada, and western Europe with
a formal command structure.
– They promised to help each other if there was an attack by the
Soviet Union.
…KEEP THIS IN MIND
• Major point: The USSR lost around 20
million people in WW2
• Stalin was determined to make the USSR
secure in the future
• By contrast GB lost around 370,000 and the
USA lost 297,000 people.
5. The rise of the superpowers
• Before WW2 there were a number of
countries which could have claimed to be
superpowers – USA, USSR,GB, France,
Japan, Germany.
• The damage caused by the war to these
countries left only two countries with the
military strength and resources to be called
superpowers…USA and USSR.
from www.SchoolHistory.co.uk
What they believed
• Don’t forget USA was capitalist and USSR
was communist
• They were complete opposites
• They had allied against Fascism ….. Now
the common enemy had been defeated the
reason for co-operation was gone
• Differences soon emerged
Europe at the end of WW2
• After the war, who would lead the countries
and form new governments?
• The USSR favoured the communist groups,
the USA favoured the non-communists
• Examples would be Greece and Yugoslavia
• This was one cause of tension between the
superpowers
8. THE BERLIN WALL 1961-1989
Berlin Wall
• A wall built to separate West Berlin &
East Berlin
– East Berlin:
• Soviet Control (Communist)
– West Berlin:
• US Control (Capalist)
Berlin Airlift
• In June 1948, the Soviets stopped all traffic
into western Berlin.
– No food or Electricity was allowed in the city
– Stalin hoped this would cause ALL of Berlin to
fall under Communist control.
• Americans & British would not leave West
Berlin to Starve & Freeze
– Airplanes flew in with Fuel & Food
– Blockade ended in May 1949, but the city
stayed divided.