world history cold war introduction
DESCRIPTION
Overview of the key events and ideas that shaped the Cold War era.TRANSCRIPT
Introduction to the Cold War
What is a Cold War?
• diplomacy versus combat (hot war)
• international chess match
• proxy wars
Cause of the Cold War: Conflicting Goals of the USA and USSR
• Who would be the most influential world super power?
• Buffer Zone vs Self Determination (Atlantic Charter)
• Fear!
• individual vs collective
• competition vs cooperation
• religion vs atheism
• relationship between the government and its people
International
Domestic
Early Strains Between the U.S. and USSR
• Russian Revolution and Civil War
• Warnings--Op Barbarossa
• Berlin
• A-bomb
Impact of World War II
• 6,100,000 from the USSR
• 3,250,000 from Germany
• 360,000 from England
• 291,000 from the United States
• USA spent $296 billion
These stats are for soldiers only:
57 to 70,000,000 military and civilian casualties
The Marshall Plan (June ‘47)• Nations that accepted aid: England, France, Belgium,
W. Germany, Italy, Austria, Norway...
• 13 billion in 1947 = $136,684,540,038.96 in 2007
• When the economy is in the gutter.....
Berlin Airlift
• Soviet blockade of Berlin in June 1948
• 3 Possible moves by the U.S. gov.
• Significance
• link: Colbert Report
Berlin Wall built in 1961
Foundations of U.S. Cold War Policy
• 1) George Kennan’s Long Telegram (Feb. ‘46)
• USSR was an “’aggressive giant’” that was “’uncompromising’” and responsible for most of the world’s disturbances” (Paterson 126)
• 2) Truman Doctrine (March ‘47)
• CONTAINMENT!Contain ‘em!
Foundations of U.S. Cold War Policy
• 3) Formation of NATO (April ‘49)
• protect the Marshall Plan
• USSR forms the Warsaw Pact
• 4) NSC-68 (April ‘50)
• U.S. has the “responsibility of world leadership” (Chomsky 22)
• massive increases in military spending
History of U.S. Defense Spending
Currently, we still spend just over 20% of the budget on defense
Cold War Case Studies
• Asia: China, Korea and Vietnam
• Latin America: Guatemala, Cuba, Chile and Nicaragua
• Middle East: Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan
Impact on the Home Front
• Red Scare!
• bomb shelters
• the pledge of allegiance
• villains