The Cold War Thaws

Introduction to

the Cold War

The Roots of the Cold War

• Although the United States and the Soviet Union had been

allies during World War II, they soon became rivals in the

Cold War

–This war was “cold” in that, because of nuclear weapons,

the two superpowers never confronted each other directly

in open warfare

Multiple Choice

Why is it called the Cold War?

• Most of the fighting happened in Siberia.

• They did not want to call it World War 3.

• US and USSR didn't directly fight each other.

• US and USSR wouldn't talk to each other at all; giving the cold shoulder.

The Roots of the Cold War

• The roots of the Cold War lay in their competing ideological

systems

–The United States wanted to spread democracy and free

enterprise

–The Soviet Union wanted other countries to adopt

Communism

Multiple Select

What were the two belief systems that made US and USSR become enemies?

• Democracy

• Theocracy

• Socialism

• Communism

The Yalta and Potsdam Conferences

• In early 1945,

President Roosevelt,
British Prime Minister
Winston Churchill, and
the Soviet Union’s
Joseph Stalin met at the
Yalta Conference to
plan the reorganization
of Europe at the end of
the war

The Yalta and Potsdam Conferences

• They agreed on the creation of a United Nations

• They also agreed that Germany would be divided into four

occupation zones

• Finally, they agreed to allow free elections in the countries

liberated from German Rule

• Stalin further pledged free elections in Poland after the war

Open Ended

How did the Yalta and Postdam Conferences help to reorganize Europe?

CHAPTER 16.1: ORIGINS OF THE COLD WAR

I. 1945- A Critical Year

A. American Alliance with the Soviet

Union – ____________– long history of
mistrust

only temporary

Multiple Choice

US and USSR were always allies

• True

• False

B. Differences at Yalta – February 1945

1. Germany divided into

_________________

2. USSR refused to allow Poland to

return to pre-war conditions

a. Poland was an invasion route
b. USSR wanted a government

________________________

3. FDR wanted USSR to declare war on

Japan

occupation zones

sympathetic to Soviet security

C. The United Nations

1.International

peacekeeping
organization -
Stronger than
______________

2. ____________________________

3. April 1945 – 50 nations signed charter in
San Francisco

League of Nations

Congress had approved US joining

Multiple Choice

What was the United Nations previously?

• The League of Nations

• The European Union

• The World Bank

• The International Monetary Fund

D. Truman Takes
Command

1. FDR died
April 12, 1945

2.Truman

Vice-President
for just 82 days

The Yalta and Potsdam Conferences

• When Truman met with Stalin six months later at the

Potsdam Conference in Germany, serious differences began

to emerge among the leaders

• President Truman, despite his relative inexperience in having

just replaced Roosevelt in the Presidency, thought he held the

upper hand in making demands on Stalin

The Yalta and Potsdam Conferences

• At the time, Truman believed the atomic

bomb was solely in the hands of the United
States and would sway the balance of power
in favor of the U.S.

The “Big Three”
at Potsdam:
Churchill,
Truman, and
Stalin

E. The Potsdam

Conference –

F. July 1945

1.Still debated Poland

and reparations

2. Truman claimed

_________________

3._________________

US had new weapon

Stalin already knew

Open Ended

How do you think Stalin knew about the US having a new weapon