Describe the picture. Who is responsible for the creation of the Iron Curtain? Which superpower s perspective is this cartoon from?
Write and respond to the following questions in complete sentences. What is the overall message of the cartoon? Do you think the cartoonist supports the Marshall Plan? Use evidence from the cartoon to support your answer.
Soviet s major goal after WWII: shield from another invasion from the West Countries btwn Germ. and USSR were deemed necessary to be a buffer zone/wall of protection Recall: What did the USSR agree to RE: East Euro. Countries gov ts at the Yalta Conf.? Soviets ignore Yalta Conf.; install Comm. Gov t in these countries
July 1945 Truman (new Prez.), Churchill, and Stalin meet to discuss post-war decisions made @ the Yalta Conf. Truman pushed Stalin to permit free elections in East Euro. Stalin refused Early 1946 Stalin declared that communism and capitalism could not exist in the same world
To offset the growing Soviet threat to East Euro. Truman adopted foreign policy of containment Directed at blocking Soviet influence & stopping the expansion of communism Included forming alliance and helping weak countries resist Soviet advances
One way of life is based upon the wall of the majority, and is distinguished by free institutions... The second way of life is based upon the will of a minority forcibly imposed upon the majority. - Truman in speech to Congress, 1947 Truman Doctrine support countries that rejected communism
Provided food, machinery, and other materials to rebuild West Euro. TPS: what was Truman s major reason for offering aid to other countries? Many West Euro. countries received aid, including Comm. Yugoslavia once it broke away from Soviet control
After WWII, Germany was divided into 4 zones of occupation US, UK, France, & USSR Germany s capital, Berlin, was also divided into 4 zones In 1948 the US, France, and UK decided to remove troops & allow their occupation zones to form one nation TPS: Why didn t the Soviets want the occupied zones of Germ. to be reunited?
In response to the unification of West Germ., the USSR held West Berlin hostage Soviets cut off highway, water, and rail traffic into Berlin s western zones Stalin hoped that Allies would surrender West Berlin or give up the reunification idea
Am. and Brit. officials instead flew cargo planes filled with food and supplies into West Berlin for nearly a year TPS: Why did the Allies not just give up Berlin? In May of 1949, the USSR admitted defeat and lifted the blockade Blockade heightened West Euro. fears of Soviet aggression
NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization alliance btwn US, Canada, and 10 West Euro. nations Stated that an attack on any NATO member would be met with armed force by all member nations Warsaw Pact Soviets saw NATO as a threat so created its own alliance the Warsaw Pact In 1961 East Germ. built a wall to separate East and West Berlin Berlin Wall symbolized the division of the world into two camps the Iron Curtain was real in Berlin!!
US had atomic bombs as seen at end of WWII 1949 the Soviets successfully explode its own atomic bomb Pres. Truman was determined to develop a more deadly weapon b4 the Soviets do TPS: How did the arms race help prevent war btwn the superpowers?
Hydrogen bomb (H-bomb) developed in 1952 in US; the Soviets explode their own in 1953 Thousands of times more deadly than A-bomb When Eisenhower became pres. in 1953, he est. a foreign policy of brinkmanship Willingness to go to the brink of war Required a reliable source of nuclear weapons as protection Soviets responded with their own mil. buildup
Aug. 1957 the Soviets announced the development of an ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile) sent Sputnik into Earth s atmosphere Am. poured $$ into science & tech. education to catch up 1960 U-2 was shot down in USSR A secret high-altitude spy plane from CIA flying over USSR These tech. advances con t to heighten Cold War tensions
Why was Berlin a likely location for trouble to develop during the Cold War?