Cold War After WWII only the U S

Cold War

• After WWII, only the U. S. and the S. U. were superpowers. All the European countries needed to re-build after the war.

• The Cold War was a 50 year time period where the U. S. hated the Soviet Union and they hated us.

• We competed over EVERYTHING to prove which was the better country. –SPACE RACE-race to the moon –ARMS RACE-race to invent better weapons (nuclear)

• The big fear from the Cold War was that the two most powerful countries in the world would start a nuclear war and destroy the planet.

• Most countries took sides. They were either on our side (NATO) or the Soviet side (Warsaw pact). • The “IRON CURTAIN” was the border between the communist and capitalist countries in Europe.

• The following places are “Hot Spots” during the Cold War: – Germany – Cuba – Korea – Vietnam – Afghanistan

• Germany: We split the country of Germany and the city of Berlin in half. A wall was put up to mark the territory controlled by the S. U. and the U. S. People would get shot if they tried to switch sides.

• When the Berlin Wall eventually came down in 1989, the Cold War was just about over.

• Cuba: Fidel Castro, a Communist dictator, was able to get control of Cuba with the help of peasant farmers.

• Having a communist country so close to the U. S. made us nervous. CUBAN MISSILE CRISESclosest U. S. and Soviet Union came to direct war (1962)

• In both the Korean and Vietnam wars, both the U. S. and the S. U. backed one side.

• Afghanistan tried to remain neutral in the Cold War, but when the S. U. started getting pushy, they turned to US for help. We gave them advanced weapons and trained them how to use them (to defend themselves against the Soviets).

• Once the Taliban took control of the country, they had the weapons we had given them!

• The U. N. was created to see that there would never be a WWIII (after all the death and destruction of WWII). And, there hasn’t been! There has never been a nuclear war.

• However, in recent years, both North Korea and Iran have developed nuclear capabilities. So, we have to be watchful!

• The number one rule of terrorism is we DO NOT NEGOTIATE WITH TERRORISTS!

TERMS

• Capitalism-When individuals control and make decisions about the economy (US) • Communism-When the government controls and makes decisions about the economy (SU)

• Containment-policy where we tried to stop Soviet influence from spreading • Domino Theory-Fear that when a country turned communist it would make its neighbor communist. Soon all the capitalist countries would fall to communism

• Marshall Plan-US giving money and assistance to Western Europe to rebuild • NATO-Countries loyal to the US during Cold War • Warsaw Pact-Countries loyal to the SU during the Cold War