Today we discussed the Cold war. We also discussed types of countries I guess. Communism vs. Democracy and Socialism vs. Capitalism.
We talked about the Causes of the Cold war.
- Stalin breaking his promise to allow free elections at the Yalta Conference
- American fear of a communist attack (Red Scare) and USSR's fear of a US attack
- USSR's fear of the atomic bomb
- USSR's actions in their German zone
- USSR's goal to spread communism around the world
- This feeling of suspicion lead to mutual distrust and this did a great deal to deepen the Cold War.
Post WWII/Cold War Goals for US
- Wanted to promote open markets for US goods to prevent another depression
- Promote democracy throughout the world, especially in Asia and Africa
- Stop the spread of communism
Post WWII/Cold War Goals for the USSR
- Wanted to create greater security for itself
- lost tens of millions of people in WWII and Stalin's purges
- Feared a strong Germany
- Establish defensible borders
- Encourage friendly governments on its borders
- Spread communism around the world
Yalta Conference
- February 1945
- Before the end of WWII, Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt met at Yalta to plan what should happen when the war ended. They agreed on many points:
- The establishment of the United Nations
- Germany to be divided into four zones.
- Free elections allowed in the states of eastern Europe.
- Russia promised to join the war against Japan.
Key Terms
- Perestroika - was a political movement for reformation within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union during the 1980s.
- Iron curtain Speech - Speech given by Churchill in 1946 about how Europe was split between communism and democratic.
- Domino theory - If something bad like communism happens to one country it will happen to others.
- Policy of containment - U.S. trying to stop the spread of communism. George Kennan
- Truman Doctrine - Truman saying that the U.S. would back up Greece and Turkey financially and military
- Marshall Plan - Secretary of State - Spent millions of dollars on European recovery plans.
- Brinkmanship - Pushing the military to the brink of war without going to war.
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- Massive Retaliation - Retaliate with nuclear force
- Mutual Deterrence - Trying to prevent something from happening
- Mutual Assured Destruction - Everyone dies due to nuclear war.
- NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organization - The US, Canada, and western Europe to defend themselves from comunism
- Warsaw Pact - Soviets wanted to be protected from invasions by us.
- CIA - Central Intelligence Agency - Gathering information by spying on other countries.
- KGB - Soviet equivalent to the CIA
- Peaceful coexistence - A policy of peace between countries. You don't have to like each other but you have to get along and not go to war with one another
- De-Stalinization - They realized that Stalin wan't that good of a leader. Tried to get rid of the iconized leader.
- Detente -
- Nuclear Test Ban Treaty 1963 - Banned Nuclear testing
- Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty 1968
- Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (Treaty) 1972
- Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty 1972 -
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