Post World War II

Cold War1945 - 1989

Atlantic Charter – Review

Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill agreed to seek no territorial gain from the war

FDR and Churchill pledged to support the “right of all peoples to choose the form of government under which they will live.” (self-determination)

The Charter called for a “permanent system of general security,” such as an organization like the League of Nations (United Nations)

Post WWII

United Nations June 26, 1945 Keep the peace Gather food & supplies for needy nations Homes for war victims Help developing nations with problems of

health, farming, and education

Cold War 1945 – 1989

Ideological conflict Fought with words & ideas

Primarily between U.S. and Soviet Union Communism vs. democracy Dominated world politics

Cold War 1945 – 1989

Truman (like FDR) believed in self-determination U.S. demanded free elections be held

throughout Eastern Europe Much was occupied by the Soviet Union

Stalin promised to allow free elections, but went back on his word after WWII He wanted military security for the

Soviet Union, and for his country to be the dominant world power

Cold War 1945 – 1989

“A freely elected government in any of the Eastern European countries would be anti-Soviet, and that we cannot allow.”

– Josef Stalin

By 1948, the government of every Eastern European country was under communist control.

Cold War 1945 – 1989

Winston Churchill Warned Americans of

the Soviet threat in a speech at Westminster College in Fulton, MO, March 1946

An “iron curtain has descended across the continent”, walling off Soviet-dominated nations from the rest of the world

Cold War 1945 – 1989

Truman Doctrine March 1947

Containment of Soviet Communism

Cold War 1945 – 1989

Marshall Plan June 1947 Proposed by Secy. of State George Marshall Provided money to help European

nations rebuild after WWII Factories, schools, hospitals, railroads,

bridges, farms Huge success

1948-1951, U.S. loaned >$12 billion to 16 Western European countries

Cold War 1945 – 1989

Germany & Berlin Divided into 4 parts

East Germany – Communist Soviet Union

West Germany – Democracy Great Britain France U.S.

Cold War 1945 – 1989

Cold War 1945 – 1989

Cold War 1945 – 1989

Western powers decided it was time to reunite Germany in 1948, but Stalin was opposed

June 1948, Soviets set up a blockade around Berlin and prevented delivery of Allied supplies

Berlin Airlift Cargo planes delivered tons of food and supplies

to 2M people in West Berlin >200,000 flights from June 1948 – May 1949

Cold War 1945 – 1989

Berlin Airlift

Cold War 1945 – 1989

A divided Germany and Berlin remained a focus of Cold War tensions

Between 1949 and 1961, thousands of East Germans fled to West Berlin, then into West Germany

Berlin Wall Built in August 1961 Separated East and West Germany Stood for 28 years as a symbol of a divided

Germany and Europe

Berlin Wall

Berlin Wall

Berlin Wall

Westminster College

Fulton, MO

Cold War 1945 – 1989

State of Israel May 14, 1948

an independent nation

Cold War 1945 – 1989 International Organizations

United Nations

NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) April 1949 U.S. and other Western nations Military alliance – collective defense against a

Soviet attack Warsaw Pact

1955 Soviet Union and Communist countries

Cold War 1945 – 1989