Cold War

Causes of the Cold War

• The Cold War, which lasted from 1945 to 1991,
resulted from the rivalry between two global
superpowers, the United States and the Soviet
Union, that emerged after World War II

• These two countries did not directly fight against

each other in combat; instead, they competed
for dominance in power and worldwide
influence. The United States supported
democracy, while the Soviet Union supported
communism

• The Soviet Union established communist

governments in nations throughout Eastern
Europe. Together, these nations formed a barrier
known as the Iron Curtain and divided Europe in
two, the communist countries in the east and
the democratic countries in the west Democratic countries Communist countries Iron Curtain
The Fight Over Germany
• After World War II, the United States, Great Britain, and France
decided to combine their German territories into a single nation
known as West Germany; this decision was disliked by the Soviets,
who occupied East Germany

• Berlin, the capital of Germany, was located in Soviet-controlled

East Germany and was also divided between the Allies and the
Soviets, with the Allies occupying West Berlin and the Soviets
occupying East Berlin

• The Soviet Union enforced a blockade around West Berlin in order

to cut off supplies to the city’s 2 million residents

• The U.S. and British militaries launched the Berlin Airlift mission,
which allowed them to use planes to provide supplies to the
citizens of West Berlin without invading the surrounding Soviet
territory

• The mission continued for almost a year; planes airlifted supplies

hourly until the Soviets finally gave up and lifted the blockade
 Foreign Policy
• In 1945, an international peacekeeping
organization called the United Nations, or UN,
was created by the United States, Great Britain, Com
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• The United States adopted a foreign policy of e r w no
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containment, which focused on stopping the
spread of communism

• In an effort to continue spreading communism,

the Soviet Union tried to take over Greece and
Turkey

• President Truman introduced the Truman

Doctrine, which stated that the United States
would support any country threatened by a
communist regime, and soon began providing
aid to Greece and Turkey
Foreign Policy

• The U.S. Congress passed the Marshall Plan to

provide financial assistance to Western European
countries so they could rebuild their economies
after the devastation of World War II

• To protect themselves from potential attacks by the

Soviet Union, the United States and several
democratic European countries formed a military
alliance known as NATO, or the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization

• To counter NATO, the Soviet Union and its

communist Eastern European allies created the
Warsaw Pact
 The Korean War
• In 1948, the Korean Peninsula was divided
into two parts—North Korea, which
established a communist government, and
South Korea, which adopted a democratic
government

• In 1950, North Korea invaded South Korea

with the goal of reuniting the two countries
into one nation under communist rule

• In response, the United States led a UN

military intervention to help South Korea
and contain the spread of communism
Fighting in Korea
• Prior to the Korean War, President Truman issued
Executive Order 9981 to desegregate the U.S. military,
which was a major civil rights victory for minorities

• U.S. General MacArthur and his UN troops drove the

North Korean army out of South Korea and then
invaded North Korea

• The U.S. advancement was halted by thousands of

Chinese troops that were assisting North Korea. The
fighting eventually reached a standoff, where neither
side could gain ground

• The Korean War ended in 1953 with an armistice

agreement, which kept Korea divided into two
countries along the 38th parallel. The armistice marked
a successful containment of communism in the region
 The Red Scare
• While the U.S. military was working to
contain the spread of communism around
the world, some Americans feared that
communists had infiltrated the United
States

• The House Un-American Activities

Committee, or HUAC, believed communist
propaganda was being secretly introduced
to the American public through movies

• The HUAC contributed to the climate of fear

by launching investigations into alleged
communists in Hollywood
McCarthyism

• At the peak of the Red Scare, U.S. Senator Joseph

McCarthy led a campaign to expose alleged
communists within the U.S. government

• His aggressive accusations were often based on

little to no evidence and ruined the lives and
careers of many people

• Americans became increasingly paranoid that

they were surrounded by communists and began
turning in their neighbors and family members
 Arms Race

• A few years after the United States

developed the atomic bomb, the Soviet
Union revealed it had created one as well

• This sparked a competition between the

two nations to build the most powerful
weapons. To stay ahead in the arms race,
the United States increased spending on its
Air Force and expanded its nuclear arsenal

• The rapid expansion of the two

superpowers’ nuclear arsenals heightened
Americans’ fear of a nuclear attack
Space Race

• In 1957, the Soviets successfully launched the

first satellite, Sputnik I, into space; this began the
space race between the Soviet Union and the
United States

• To keep up with the Soviet Union, the United

States increased funding for math, science, and
technology education in hopes of creating a new
generation of engineers

• America also established and invested money

into a federal agency devoted to space
exploration, which later became NASA
 The Space Program

• John F. Kennedy was elected president

in 1960 and set the ambitious goal of
landing an American on the moon by
the end of the decade

• In 1969, the United States achieved its

goal when Neil Armstrong and Buzz
Aldrin became the first humans to land
on the moon
New Technologies
• Massive government funding for research and
development in NASA's aerospace program has
had a significant impact on technology worldwide

• NASA’s satellite, originally created to map Earth,

contributed to the military’s development of the
GPS, a Global Positioning System that is used for
navigation by both the U.S. military and civilians
• The U.S. military first used GPS during the Cold
War to locate submarines carrying missiles and
continues to use this technology today in different
ways
• Later, GPS became available to civilians and is
mainly used for directions, weather forecasting,
and communication
 New Technologies
• Other aerospace innovations originally
designed for space travel are now used
by people around the world, greatly
improving their quality of life
• Wireless devices
• Insulation
• Imaging
• Sensors

• The U.S. economy has received a boost

through the creation of new industries
based around these aerospace
technologies
 Bay of Pigs
• In 1959, Fidel Castro, an ally of the Soviet
Union, led a revolution in Cuba that
overthrew the government and established
a communist regime

• In 1961, the United States attempted to CUBA

remove Castro and his communist
government through the Bay of Pigs
invasion

• The invasion failed, and the Soviet Union

saw this as a sign of weakness in President
Kennedy’s leadership and used it as an
opportunity to send nuclear missiles to
Cuba
Cuban Missile Crisis
• Tensions between the United States and the
Soviet Union escalated when a U.S. spy plane
discovered missile bases being built to house
nuclear weapons being shipped to Cuba

• In response, President Kennedy ordered a naval

blockade of the island to stop future shipments of
Soviet missiles

• With the world watching anxiously, the Cuban

Missile Crisis was resolved through diplomatic
negotiations; the United States and the Soviet
Union agreed to a peaceful solution instead of
going to war
 Economic Prosperity During the Cold War
• The GI Bill, officially known as the Servicemen’s
Readjustment Act of 1944, provided benefits to
support veterans as they transitioned back to civilian
life
• Tuition support for college or vocational education more
than doubled the number of veterans that graduated
• Low-interest loans allowed millions of veterans to own
their own homes

• In the 1950s, consumer spending and consumption

increased as the middle class expanded through job
opportunities, economic prosperity, and financial
assistance for veterans

• The baby boom, along with veterans who were able to

easily finance homes, caused a surge in housing
demand, which led to the growth of suburbs and
development of highway systems

• As the population grew, more land was needed for

housing and farmland, which disrupted natural
environments, habitats, and ecosystems
A Changing Society
• Jonas Salk was a scientist who developed the first
safe and effective polio vaccine, which laid the
foundation for preventing the spread of many
other infectious diseases

• The Beat Generation was a group of writers and

artists in the 1950s who challenged traditional
values and helped spark a cultural shift toward
greater individual freedom and self-expression

• Rock and roll, a new music genre with roots in

African American, country, and gospel music,
brought people from diverse backgrounds
together. It also caused young generations to
rebel against their parents, who argued it was
disruptive and challenged traditional values