The Cold War Begins25.1 The Iron Curtain Falls on Europe

Focus Your Thoughts . . .

Who was in charge of the Soviet Union at the end of WWII?

What type of government was in place there?

What does the term ‘iron curtain’ refer to?

The Roots of the Cold War1. World War II Alliances

The U.S. and the Soviet Union may have aligned to defeat Hitler, but they were not ‘friends’

Remember . . . Stalin originally had a non-aggression pact with Hitler, and only ended up opposing him because he invaded the Soviet Union

The U.S. and the Soviet Union bickered constantly about military strategy

Remember Stalin urged an immediate invasion of Europe, and the Allied Forces went to Ethiopia and then Italy first, delaying their engagement with German forces

The Roots of the Cold War

2. The Atomic Bomb

Soviet spies had stolen the plans for producing atomic weapons; they saw the bomb as a threat, and felt they needed one of their own in the event they’d have to defend themselvesReview: What was the name of this top secret project?

The Man of Steel

Joseph Stalin - while only 5’5” - was a feared and powerful dictator

His brutality against his own people was rivaled only by the brutality of Hitler; Stalin was thought to be responsible for millions of deaths in Russia

His last name, Stalin, meant “man of steel”

The Iron Curtain DescendsAfter WWII, the United States and Great Britain were

concerned . . . they feared Stalin would try to take over Eastern Europe – a legitimate fear

Remember, Stalin had promised at the Yalta and Potsdam Conferences that he planned to hold elections in Soviet occupied countries in Europe

In reality, Stalin had no intention of giving up political or economic control; he believed that he could increase the security of the Soviet Union by creating a string of Soviet-sympathizers in Eastern Europe

Communism SpreadsTo achieve his goals, Stalin

outlawed newspapers and political parties that opposed communism

In addition, he rigged elections and jailed/killed any opposition

Communist governments popped up all over Eastern Europe as a result; the only country which was not under direct control of Stalin was Yugoslavia

Yugoslavia

Though Yugoslavia also had a communist government, its leader, Josip Broz Tito, was firmly in control and refused to take orders from the Soviet Union

The Iron CurtainThe United States and Great Britain were

saddened to see Europe fall to another dictator; they were concerned that Stalin would not stop with Europe as well

In 1946, former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill delivered a speech in which he sharply attacked the Soviet Union for creating an ‘iron curtain’A term that reflects the sharp division created

by communism in Europe“Unless Russia is faced with an iron fist and strong language, another war is in the making.”

- Harry S. Truman

Stalin’s ResponseStalin used Churchill’s speech to encourage

animosity for the United States and Great Britain in the Soviet Union

He also used it as an excuse for re-building his military strength, which was greatly depleted after WWII, and slowed the pace of re-building the shattered countryside of Russia

The U.S. RespondsThe United States was one of the two most

powerful nations in the world; the other being an increasingly hostile Soviet Union

We needed a new policy to deal with the situationContainment

George F. Kennan We needed to resist/contain Soviet expansion of

communism through military force and the providing of financial support to countries he attempted to take over

Enter the Truman DoctrineBoth Greece and Turkey were suffering great

pressure from the Soviet Union

Truman issued an urgent request to Congress to provide both countries with immediate relief

The Truman Doctrine argued that financial aid was essential to economic stability and orderly political processesCongress voted in favor of the relief, and the Soviet

Union was unable to take control

The Marshall PlanWWII had left much of Europe in ruins, railroads weren’t

running, factories stood idle, though the fighting was over, people continued to suffer, and hunger and poverty were widespread

If conditions continued to grow worse, it was very likely many more European nations would turn to communism

In June of 1947, George C. Marshall, the former WWII military leader, called for a massive aid program to help re-build Europe13.5 billion dollars to re-build seventeen countries; especially,

Great Britain, France, and Italy

The Impact of the Marshall PlanWhile the Soviet Union refused assistance, the

rest of Europe accepted it with gratitude and began re-building

People went back to work, and began trading once again with the United States, which boosted our economy

In addition, the Marshall Plan helped the United States build strong political support in Western Europe

The Crisis in BerlinThe capital of Germany, Berlin, lay in the

Soviet sector of Germany; but it had also been divided into fourths

Obviously Stalin planned to set up a communist government in his sector, and was not pleased with the United States, Great Britain, and France who were all attempting to set up democratic governmentsHow do you think Stalin will respond?

The Soviets Block Traffic

In 1948, the Soviets announced that they would block any road, rail, or river traffic into West Berlin

2.1 million residents were now cut off from sources of food, coal, and other basic necessities

Unfortunately for Stalin, he hadn’t considered the airstrips

The Berlin Airlift Every day British and American

planes flew an average of 7,000 tons of supplies into West Berlin

This continued day after day, week after week, month after month; a new airstrip was built in the French sector of Germany

In the month of April, nearly 1,400 separate flights took place and nearly 400,000 tons of supplies were delivered

On May 12, 1949, in the face of Allied determination, Stalin lifted the blockade

NATO FormsThe growing conflict with the Soviet Union made many

European nations uncomfortable, they knew they would be no match for the Soviet Union if another war broke out

In April of 1949, the United States, Canada, Denmark, Iceland, Norway, and Portugal united to form the North Atlantic Treaty OrganizationAn attack on a member nation would be considered an attack on

all member nations

In the mid-1950’s, Greece, Turkey, and West Germany joined NATO as wellToday, there are twenty-six member nations; including many

which were formerly communist

NATO summit