THE COLD WAR

THE BEGINNINGS OF THE COLD WAR

TENSIONS GREW BETWEEN THE U.S. & THE SOVIET UNION AFTER WWII

During WWII, the U.S. & the Soviet Union worked together as members of the Allied Forces. As the war ended,
however, the uneasy alliance between the 2 powers began to crumb le. Their very different beliefs & goals would
lead to a decades-long Cold War.

During the 2nd year of the war, Adolf HItler launched a major attack on Germany's former ally, the Soviet Union. The U.S. agreed to lend
June 1941: aid and weapons to the Soviot Union
Germany invades
Soviet Union

After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the U.S. quickly declared war on Japan. Soon, the U.S. officially joined the Allied forces of
December 1941:
Great Britain, France, and the Soviet Union.
U.S. joins Allies

The Yalta Conference was arranged for the Allied leaders to discuss how Europe should be organized after the war ended. At Yalta, U.S.
president Franklin D. Roosevelt asked Soviet leader Joseph Stalin to allow free elections in the Eastern European countries the Soviets
February 1945: occupied. When Stalin agreed, Roosevelt believed that the 2 countries could remain allies in the postwar era.
Allies meet at Yalta

At the Potsdam Conference, another meeting of the Allied leaders to discuss postwar issues, new U.S. president Harry Truman
confronted Joseph Stalin over his failure to honer his promise to hold free elections in Easter Europe. The leaders managed to reach a
July 1945: Allies compromise on control of Germany and Poland, but negotiations were tense.
meet at Potsdam

The U.S. brought WWII to an end by dropping atomic bombs on Japan. Soviet leader Joseph Stalin was angry that the U.S. hadn't
revealed the existence of these powerful weapons earlier. After the war ended, Stalin greatly increased funding for Soviet weapons
August 1945: WWII programs to allow the Soviet Union to develop its own atomic weapons.
ends

Although the they had united to defeat a common enemy, the U.S. & the Soviet Union had fundamental political &
economic differences. And even though their visions of the perfect society were very different, both wanted to
become the world’s next great superpower. Many people saw the rivalry between the 2 powers as a battle
between communism & capitalism for control of the world.
 Communism
Inspired by ideas set forth by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, the Soviet Union's economic system
was based on government control of production. According to communist ideology, the government
could set prices, and property was shared.

Dictatorship
Although communism supposedly allowed the people to have a voice, the Soviet Union was a harshly
authoritarian state, ruled by one of history's most ruthless dictators. Under Joseph Stalin, the
average Soviet citizen might be able to vote, but he or shee would choose between candidates
preapproved by the Communist Party.

Capitalism
Also referred to as the free enterprise system, American capitalism is based on the idea that the
market, not the government, should control production. Capitalists stress the importance of private
ownership of businesses, free competition, and prices based on supply and demand.

Democracy
As a representative democracy, the U.S. allows average citizens to vote for leaders to represent them
in the legislature. The rights of American citizens are protected by the U.S. Constitution.

The wartime alliance between the Soviet Union & the U.S. was marked by secrets, suspicions, & broken promises.
As the war came to an end, that alliance crumbled into a struggle for global dominance.

In 1946, former British prime minister Winston Churchill described the Soviet Union's actions in Eastern Europe by
saying that "an iron curtain has descended across the Continent." The term Iron Curtain came to represent the
Western fear that communist nations in Europe were controlled by the central powers in Moscow.

As the Soviet Union expanded its power, U.S. and British leaders became increasingly concerned about the spread
of communism. Europe was divided into two segments—the communist Eastern bloc and the capitalist Western
bloc—that would become increasingly at odds during the Cold War.

In the years after the war, U.S. leaders pledged to stop the global spread of communism. President Harry Truman
outlined an aggressive new foreign policy that became known as the Truman Doctrine. To keep communism
contained to the Eastern bloc, the doctrine promised aid to any country fighting communist forces. This policy of
containment led to the escalation of the Cold War.

1947: The U.S. Sends Aid to Greece
The Greek government had been waging a civil
war against communist rebels since 1946.
Although the Greek communists were not
officially affliated with the Soviet Union,
Truman wanted to prevent the spread of
communism in the eastern Mediterranean. The
U.S. government set aside $300 million to
support the Greek government, which would
defeat the communist ebels in 1949.
1947: The U.S. Sends Aid to Turkey
Since the late 1930s, the Soviet Union had been
pressuring Turkey to allow Soviet ships to travel
freely through the Turkish Straits to the
Mediterranean Sea. When Turkey refused, the
United States backed its decision and sent $100
million in aid to ensure the country could
defend itself. Truman stated, "It must be the
policy of the United States to support free
peoples who are resisting attempted
subjugation by armed minorities or by outside
pressures."
1948: The Soviet Union Blockades
West Berlin
The divided capital of Germany was a major
cause of Cold War tension. In an attempt to
gain control of the city, Soviet leader Joseph
Stalin blocked traffic to West Berlin. However,
the United States refused to abandon the
Western territory and improvised an airlift to
fly millions of tons of food and supplies to West
Berliners. The airlift was a success, and in May
1949, Stalin lifted the blockade.

As the former Allied countries in Western Europe struggled to recover from World War II, a brutal winter caused
starvation and further economic instability. President Harry Truman believed that the United States should help its
allies rebuild their economies and ensure they had enough food—which would also limit the possibility of
communism taking hold. Under the Marshall Plan, proposed by Secretary of State George Marshall, the United
States began sending aid to Europe in 1948. The United States would eventually spend $13 billion to stabilize the
economies of these Western bloc countries.