Week of April 25-29

Monday: We talked about forum posts, and then we continued with the cold war. 

Tuesday- Wednesday: Cold War Power point.

Thursday- Friday: Worked on decades project.

Causes of the Cold War

  • different political systems
    • US bades on democracy, capitalism, and freedom
    • USSR is based on dictatorship, communism and control
  • The Red scare-1919
  • Both thought their system was better and distrusted the others intentions
  • Stalin despised capitalism
  • Distrusted during WW11
  • Stalin breaking his promise to allow free elections at the Yalta Conference
  • American fear of a communist attack and USSR's fear of a US attack
  • USSR's fear of atomic bomb
  • USSR's actions in their German zone
  • USSR's goal to spread communism around the world

Yalta Conference- February 1945

  • Before the end of WW2, Stalin, Churchill, and Roosevelt met at Yalta to plan what should happen when war ended
    • The establishment of United Nations
    • Germany to be divided into four zones
    • Free elections allowed in states of eastern Europe
    • USSR would join war to fight Japan

  • The "West"
    • democratic
  • The "East"
    • communist

Post WW2/ 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 
    • policy of containment

Post WW2/Cold war goals for USSR

  • wanted to create greater security for itself
    • lost ten of millions of people in WW2 and Stalin's purges
    • feared a strong Germany
  • establish defensible borders
  • Encourage friendly gov't on its borders
  • spread communism around the world
  • Winston Churchill "Iron Curtain" Speech 1946
    • Missouri 
    • an iron curtain split Europe
      • you had the West and the East
  • Domino Effect - Eisenhower-1954
    • one country became communist and a bunch of others followed 
    • Soviet Union was mastermind behind it 
    • led to Containment factors
  • Policy of Containment-1946
    • year after WWII ends, we know Soviet Union has a problem and we need to stop it
  • Truman Doctrine
    • In 1947, the British were helping the Greek government fight against communist guerrillas
    • They appealed to America for aid and awe responded with the Truman Doctrine
    • Greece received large amounts of arms and supplies, and by 1949 had defeated the communists
  • Marshall Plan
    • In 1947, US Secretary of State Marshall announced the Marshall Plan
    • This was a massive economic aid plan for Europe to help it recover from the damage caused by the war
    • There were two motive for this:
      • Helping Europe to recover economically would provide markets for American goods, benefiting American industry
      • A prosperous Europe would be better able to resist the spread of communism 
  • Brinkmanship - 1950's-1960's
    • Massive Retaliation
    • Mutual Deterrence
    • Mutual Assured Destruction 
  • NATO
    • in 1949 the Western nations formed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to coordinate their defense against Russia
    • NATO was a defensive alliance
    • This was the first peacetime alliance in US History
    • America, Canada, Britain, France, Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Portugal, Denmark, Norway, and Italy 
  • Warsaw Pact 1955-1991
  • CIA vs KGB
    • Central Intelligence Agency-1947-Present
    • Komitet Gosudarstvennnoy Bezopasnosti
      • Committee for State Secretary 
      • 1954-1991
  • Stalin Dies 1953
    • Nikita Khrushchev - came to power (1953-1964)
    • Peaceful Co-existence after 1953
    • De-Stalinization - after 1953
    • Detente- 1970's
  • Mikhail Gorbachev comes to power in USSR - 1985 
    • ultimately brought an end to the Soviet Union
  • Perestroika and Glasnost - 1985
    • Perestroika- Restructuring of the Soviet economy and political system 
      • more democracy
      • free elections
    • Glasnost-More openness of the Soviet government and for it's people 
      • free speech and press
  • USSR's First  Atomic Test 1949
  • Nuclear Powers of the World
    • -Russia -1949
    • -United States -1945
    • -China -1964
    • North Korea
    • Great Britain 
    • -United Kingdom -1952
    • -France -1960
    • India
    • Pakistan
    • Israel ?
    • Iran ? developing
  • Nuclear Power Treaties/Organizations
    • Nuclear Test Ban Treaty-1963
    • Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty- 1968
      • "Prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology"
      • "Promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy"
      • "Further the goal of achieving nuclear disarmament and general and complete disarmament" 
    • SALT I Treaty- 1972
      • Richard Nixon
        • President of US
      • Nikita Khrushchev 
      • Leonid Brezhnev 
        • General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU
      • SALT II was signed but never ratified by Congress
        • Due to Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan in 1979
      • Froze the number of strategic ballistic missile launchers at existing levels 
      • Limited new submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM)
    • Anti-Ballistic Missile - 1972-US/USSR
      • Limited weapons that would seek out and destroy nuclear weapons once launched
      • In the 1980's, President Ronald Reagan announces the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI)
      • US withdraws in 2001 under George W. Bush
        • Withdrew due to missile defense system 
    • The Ballistic Missile Defense System 
      • Missile Defense Agency
        • Program is designed to counter many nuclear missile attack on the US or allies 
    • Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty 1996
      • signed by President Bill Clinton
      • Not ratified by the Senate
      • "A ban on testing would damage the safety and reliability of America's existing nuclear arsenal, and it would be impossible to guarantee the cooperation among all countries
    • International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) - 1957
      • Weapon inspectors that investigate and supervise to make sure countries are following the rules after signing 
    • INF Treaty - 1987
      • Eliminated nuclear and conventional ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with intermediate ranges (300-3,004 miles)
      • USSR/US
    • The START Treaties
      • Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty
        • START I (1991)
        • Largest and most complex arms control treaty in history
        • Resulted in the removal of about 80% of all strategic nuclear weapons in existence
        • The START I Treaty expired in 2009
    • SORT - 2003
      • Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty
        • Between US and Russia
        • Stockpile of both deployed and reserve nuclear weapons was to be cut in half by 2012
        • The goal was achieved in 2007 for US
        • Lasted from 2003-2011 when New Start took its place 
    • New START- 2011
      • Signed by President Obama and former Russian President Medvedev
      • The number of strategic nuclear missile launchers will be reduced by half
      • A new inspection and verification system will be established 
      • Lasts until 2021
    • United Nation 1945- Present 
      • World Wide peace keeping organization that most countries are part of 
      • Replaced the League of Nations
      • Has military force that can wage war
    • The First Berlin Crisis (June 1948- May 1949)
      • In 1948, the three western controlled zones of Germany's (US, France, UK) were united, and grew in prosperity due to the Marshall Plan
      • The West wanted the East to rejoin, but Stalin feared it would hurt Soviet security
      • In June 1948, Stalin decided to try and gain control of West Berlin which was deep inside the eastern sector 
      • Stalin cut road, rail and canal links with West Berlin, hoping to starve it into submission 

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