Unit 1 Checkpoint 4 Notes

Unit 1: Russia

Checkpoint 4: The Cold War

What was the Cold War? (1947-1991)

A global struggle for power between the United States and Soviet Union. It was called the “Cold War” because the two nations never fought openly in “hot” action. Instead, they used spying, economic pressure, nuclear threats,  and the use of proxy nations to fight each other.

The Cold War

•  Post-WWII

  • The Soviet Union and the United States won WWII together. After the war their situations were much different, causing them to become enemies.

     

    United States	Soviet Union
    Promoted Capitalism (free market)	Promoted Communism (command economy)
    Suffered 400,000 deaths in WWII	Suffered 20 million deaths in WWII
    Cities were intact	Many cities were demolished
    Limited risk of future invasion	Feared another future invasion

The Cold War

●The Iron Curtain

○After WWII, Stalin kept troops in Eastern
Europe. He feared being invaded again

■He put communist governments in
those countries

○This led to a divide between Western
European countries and Eastern European
countries.

■This dividing line became known as
the Iron Curtain

The Cold War

●The Berlin Crisis

○Germany and Berlin (its capital) were divided into
East and West after WWII

■U.S. Britain and France supported West
Germany and Berlin

■Stalin remained in control of East Germany
and Berlin.

●Stalin feared Germany becoming
powerful

●Built a wall separating East and West
Berlin

The Cold War

●The Berlin Crisis

○In 1948 Stalin held West Berlin hostage

■Stalin cut off all transportation to
West Berlin

■This became known as the Berlin
Blockade

The Cold War

○The U.S. began flying
supplies into West Berlin

■Flights landed every
three minutes with
food, clothes and
supplies

■This became known
as the Berlin Airlift

​After World War II, what actions did the Soviet Union take in Berlin?

The Cold War

●Stalin’s Death

○Stalin died in 1953 of a stroke

○Nikita Khrushchev took over

The Cold War

●The Space Race, 1957-1975

○1957 The Soviets developed ICBMs, rockets that could travel
great distances

■They used an ICBM to launch Sputnik, the first satellite
into space.

○U.S. realized they fell behind the Soviets in science and
technology, raced to catch up.

■The Space Race was really about dominance of the
skies, and being able to spy effectively on the other

Soviet Propaganda

Sputnik Satellite

The Cold War

●Cuban Missile Crisis

○Fidel Castro led a Communist revolution in Cuba

■Supported by Soviet Union

■Fidel quickly became a totalitarian dictator

○Khrushchev began building secret missile sites in Cuba

■U.S. President Kennedy ordered them removed

○Tense nuclear standoff between U.S. and Soviets

■Ended peacefully with Soviets withdrawing their
missiles.

■Closest the world has ever been to nuclear war

The Cold War

●Soviet-Afghan War (1979-89)

○War between the Soviet Union and Afghanistan

■Soviets tried to set up a communist government in
Afghanistan

●Afghan rebels, called Mujahideen, fought back.

●U.S. supplied Mujahideen fighters with weapons

■Soviets withdrew in 1989

Map Instructions

●Draw a map of Post-WWII
Germany

●Make sure it includes:

○East/West Germany

○All four Zones

○Major Cities

○Close up view of Berlin

○Key/Legend with color coded
occupation zones

●3-5 sentence description of the
map that explains

○How Germany was divided

○Why it was divided