Cld War03 Begins Web

The Cold WarThe Cold War

• By 1946 wartime Allies now hostile– Distrust so great that US &

USSR talked openly of threat of war between the two countries

– Propaganda war developed w/ each side denouncing policies of the other

– The term ‘Cold War’ began to be used

– Cold War lasted from late 1940s to 1991

The cold War Begins

Write your own definition of the term ‘Cold War’ as it might appear in a historical document

Mr. Grinch, from the 1966 Dr. Seuss cartoon-story, How The Grinch Stole Christmas

What point is the cartoonist making about the alliance?

Why was the USA so worried about Communism?• Wartime alliance due to common

enemy, not mutual friendship– FDR & S got along well, but not countries– < WWII each had distrusted the other

greatly– US troops sent to fight Reds in Russia

(1918-21)– Before war US citizens trusted USSR less

than Nazi Germany– USA appalled @ Nazi-Soviet Pact– (E) & US delay @ 2nd front always angered

S

• Differences too great to be overcome easily

Russia USA

Righteous Brothers’ You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’ from their Best Of … album

Fact File: USA compared to USSR

• Democracy: gov’t chosen by the people

• Capitalist: Businesses & property privately owned

• World’s wealthiest country, but extremes of rich & poor

• Americans believed freedom from gov’t control more important than economic or social equality

• Americans believed other countries should run ‘the American way’

• Many Americans bitterly opposed to atheist communism

• Communist one-party state: elections held, but only party candidates could run

• Economic superpower because of 5-year plans, but standard of living much lower than USA. Still, unemployment low, and extreme poverty almost non-existent

• Communists believed rights of individuals less important that society as a whole, so OK to tightly control peoples’ lives

• Soviet leaders believed in Communism

• Many people in USSR bitterly opposed to ‘decadent’ capitalism

ComparisonsElections Industries Individual Rights

USSR - Communist

USA – Capitalist & Democratic

CommunistCommunist

DemocratRepublican

State-Owned

Private Property

• On the left is a reconstruction of Norman Rockwell’s Four Freedoms poster promoting the causes for which the USA was purporting to fight WWII (you have already seen this)

… freedom of speech … freedom of worship

… freedom from want … freedom from fear

Ours to fight for …

• Which of these freedoms do you think the Soviet Union would also believe in? Explain.

• Which would it think unimportant? Explain.

• What might be an equivalent poster (with four freedoms Soviet-style) for the USSR in WWII?

• Differences existed in 1920s, ’30s w/o Cold War

• 1940s differences more significant– > WWII both were only superpowers left– (E), (F), (G) (J) now 2nd rate powers

• USA now willing to take on respons-ibilities as only democratic superpower– ‘Til 1930s USA was isolationist … no more!– Not willing to repeat mistakes of the past– No more appeasement of dictators– Every Communist action would meet strong

American response

• ‘[America] will have to take responsibility for world collaboration or we shall have to bear the responsibilities for another world conflict’– FDR to Congress, March 1945, after Yalta

Why was the USA so worried about Communism?

Kate Smith performing God Bless America. To many Americans, she owned this song!

Focus Task: How did the USSR gain control of Eastern Europe?

• It is 1948. As a high-ranking member of the State Department’s Europe Bureau, produce a briefing paper to update President Truman on the situation in Eastern Europe. Your report should mention:– The Communist successes in Eastern

Europe between 1945 & 1948 and the reasons for them

– Stalin’s plan for Eastern Europe– The methods being used by Stalin to

control Eastern Europe– Whether you think the USA should be

worried and whyTears for Fears’ much maligned hit, Everybody Wants To Rule The World

Fin

PSDs for the Cold War • Unless Russia is faced with an iron fist and strong language another

war is in the making. Only one language do they understand – ‘how many [army] divisions have you got?’ … I’m tired of babying the Soviets.– President Truman, writing to his Secretary of State in January 1946