Weekly Blogs 4/23-4/27

MONDAY- 

 The Cold War  1945 - 1990 US vs Union of Soviet Socialist Republics 
A political, strategic and ideological struggle between the US and the Soviet Union from 1945-1990 

Socialism - government ran businesses

Capitolism- People ran businesses

Communism - Government controlled, harcore socialism; Founded by Karl Marx  (USSR)

Democracy - Government where people can vote and have a say (US)

Socialism - Government owns vs. Capitalism -  How the economy is ran; People own businesses 

TUESDAY- work day

WEDNESDAY- 

Brief History of the Soviet Union

-Bolshevik Revolution (communist to the soviet union)

-Lenin

-Stalin

Purges - get rid of competition

Collectivization - government would take over farmers 

Nationalization - government would take over businesses

Five Year Plan - USSR want to upgrade their food/economy

-Soviet-German Non-Aggression Pact

-War with Germany 

Soviet Union did not suffer from the Great Depression

-Battle of Berlin -April-May, 1945

Stalin Takes Over -1927

Lenin Dies 

Causes of the Cold War

-different political systems 

-US based on democracy, capitalism, freedom opportunity and hard work

-USSR is based on dictatorship, communism, control and equality

-The Red Scare -1919 (scare of communist taking over)

-Both thought their system was better and distrusted the other intentions

-Stalin despised capitalism

-Distrust during WWII (Stalin making a deal with Germany)

-Stalin breaking his promise to allow free elections at the Yalta Conference

-American fear of a communist attack (2nd Red Scare) & USSR 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

-The "West" - US

-The "East" - Soviet Union

Goals for the 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)

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 border

-Spread communism around the world

Winston Churchill "Iron Curtain" Sppech 1946 - gave speech in US. Said there is an iron curatina that has split Germany into 2

Domino Effect - Eisenhower -1954 - if one country falls under communist, all the others will fall too (Stop it early)

THURSDAY- 

Policy of Containment -1946

Truman Doctrine - help countries that ask because we don't want communist to fall

-In 1947, the British were helping the Greek government fight against communists

-They appealed to America for aid

-Greece received large amounts of weapons and supplies from US

Marshall Plan ($13 billion)

-In 1947, the US announced the Marshall plan

-This was a massive econimic aid plan for Europe to help it recover from WWII

Two Goals:

-helping Europe to recover economically would provide markets for American goods, helping American industry

-Europe would be better able to resist the spread of communism

Brinkmanship -1950's -1960's 

be willing to go the brick of the war but don't go to war (playing chicken with the car)

US acted tough

Soviet Union backed down

US would seem weak or atomic bomb

Massive Retaliation ( one side launches, the other side will launch back ) /Mutual Deterrence ( we can't use them since we're all gonna die) /Mutual Assured Destruction  ( used for defense ) 

-who can get the weapons the closest

NATO 

-In 1949 the Western nations formed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to coordinate their defense against the USSR

-NATO was a defensive alliance

-This was the first peactime alliance in US history

-It consisted of America, Canada, Britain, France, Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Portugal, Denmark, Norway and Italy

-Still around today and has expanded

Warsaw act 1955-1991 (Communist)

NATO - US & Canada

Warsaw - Eastern Europe & Soviet Union 

NATO today - expanded

CIA vs KGB

-Central Intelligence Agency - 1947-present

Stalin Dies -1953

FRIDAY- work day

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