Cold Text – 7-5.1/5.2
Cold Text –The Start of the Cold War
After World War II, the political and economic beliefs of the United States and the Soviet Union were in direct competition with one another, which led to the start of the Cold War. Politically, the United States had a limited government in the form of a democracy, while the Soviet Union had an unlimited government in the form of a communist state. Economically, the United States had a capitalist economy while the Soviet Union had a socialist economy. These political and economic beliefs are polar opposites, and they served as the source of conflict that started the Cold War immediately at the end of World War I1 in 1945. A “cold” war is when two countries are not physically fighting but are in an intense conflict with fear that things may get violent.
1. The beliefs of what two countries were in direct competition with each other after WWII? ______
2. What kind of government did the United States have? ______
3. What kind of government did the Soviet Union have? ______
4. What was the source of conflict of the Cold War? ______
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5. What is a “cold war”? ______
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Even before WWII was officially over, tensions began to develop within the Big Three Allied leaders, Franklin Roosevelt of the United States, Winston Churchill of Great Britain, and Joseph Stalin of the Soviet Union, as they began discussions of the post-war world. Roosevelt and Churchill, representing limited governments, wanted lands freed from control of the Axis Powers to be granted self-rule with elections and the creation governments with constitutions to limit the government’s power and with capitalist economies; Stalin, however, wanted these lands to have the option of becoming communist with socialist economies. Stalin did promise that he would allow elections in the lands in Eastern Europe that the Soviet Union had freed and occupied during the war.
6. What did Roosevelt and Churchill want for lands free of Axis control? ______
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7. What did Stalin want for lands free from Axis control? ______
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8. What promise did Stalin make? ______
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After the war, he broke this promise and set up communist governments in these lands. At the end of the war, this competition over political and economic beliefs led to a complete split between the two sides when deciding what to do with Germany. Since the Soviets had invaded Germany from the east, the Soviet Union occupied a large section or "occupation zone" of eastern Germany at the end of the war. Great Britain, the United States, and France each occupied zones in the remainder of Germany as they had invaded from the west.
9. How did Stalin’s promise turn out? ______
10. What is an “occupation zone”? ______
11. Who occupied the eastern part of Germany? ______
12. Who occupied the western part of Germany? ______
Each side demanded its type of government be used Germany and the United Nations agreed on a division into two countries. Because the League of Nations failed to prevent another world war, it was replaced in 1945 with the United Nations (UN). The purpose of the UN was the same as the League of Nations, which was to serve as an international organization to try to prevent future wars and settle conflicts. The UN was different from the League in few major ways, however. One major difference was that the UN would have the ability to use military force if necessary, and another major difference was that the United States joined the United Nations.
13. What is the United Nations? ______
14. What did the United Nations decide to do with Germany? ______
15. Why was the UN different from the League of Nations? ______
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By 1949 the American, British, and French occupation zones in the western part of Germany joined together to form the democratically governed nation, known as West Germany. Eastern Germany, the Russian sector, had a communist government and became known as East Germany. Berlin, the former capital, was split in half as well, although it was located deep in East Germany. The competition between the two belief systems represented in the division of Germany was shown in the political and economic sides taken in the Cold War: capitalistic-democratic vs. socialist-communist. This competition became the basis for the rising tensions of the Cold War. Countries then began to pick between the two major super powers: the United States of America and the Soviet Union.
16. What kind of government was in West Germany by 1949? ______
17. What kind of government was in East Germany by 1949? ______
18. What happened to the capital city, Berlin? ______
19. Where was the capital city located though? ______
20. Why could the location of Berlin cause potential problems? ______
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21. Who were the two major super powers of the Cold War? ______
The Soviet Union wanted to spread communism, while the United States wanted to stop the spread of communism (containment) and promote democracy. Because the United States was concerned about the spread of communism throughout Eastern Europe, President Harry Truman created a policy based on the containment of communism by giving money to countries so they would not become communist. Called the Truman Doctrine, the strategy was first used to return economic success places and preventing places from becoming communist. The four hundred million United States dollars was used in assistance to countries in Europe proved to be very helpful to countries in Western Europe. The Marshall Plan provided the region with 12.5 billion dollars in reconstruction funds from Congress. Therefore, the Marshall Plan was important in helping to rebuild Western Europe after World War II while preventing the spread of communism in the area. These policies allowed the Unites States to form an alliance with Japan and fix its relationship after WWII.
22. What did the Soviet Union want to spread? ______
23. What did the United States want to do about communism? ______
24. What is containment? ______
25. What did the United States give to countries who would not become communist? ______
26. What was the purpose of the Truman Doctrine? ______
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27. How much money did the Truman Doctrine allow the US to give to nations? ______
28. How much money did the Marshall Plan allow the US to give nation? ______
29. Who was a new ally of the US after these containment policies? ______
The largest problem of the Cold War was its ability to turn "hot" in a showdown between the two superpowers that had the great possibility of using atomic or nuclear weapons that were able to cause world-wide destruction. The first of these "showdowns" occurred during the Berlin Blockade beginning in 1948. The split German capital city, Berlin, became a political "hot spot" after the Soviets blocked access into West Berlin, the section of the city occupied by Americans, British, and French. They wanted to stop democratic influence in West Berlin. The three Western Allies responded by airlifting supplies and food to the people of West Berlin for almost eleven months.
30. What was the biggest problem of the Cold War? ______
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31. What kinds of weapons could be used if the Cold War turned “hot”? ______
32. What was the first major “showdown” of the Cold War? ______
33. What did the Soviets do to start the Berlin airlift? ______
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34. What was their reason behind starting the blockade? ______
35. How did the Western nations respond? ______
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The Soviets were then forced to lift the blockade. After the experience of the Berlin Blockade and the tension and success of the Berlin Airlift, the United States decided it needed to protect itself and other democratic nations. In 1949, the United States, Canada, and ten western European nations formed a military alliance called the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The Soviet Union was threatened by the creation of NATO, and in response built its own military alliance, the Warsaw Pact, which included Poland, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Romania, and Albania.
36. How did the Berlin Blockade end? ______
37. What alliance was formed between the Western Nations? ______
38. What alliance was formed between the Eastern Nations? ______