The Cold War

1945-1993
 Intro.
The Soviet Union was created by Communist
revolutionaries after they took over the Russian
Empire in 1917. The United States and the Soviet
Union were allies during WWII. Immediately after
1945, however, they became rivals in a Cold War.
The war was “cold” only in the sense that the two
superpowers never fought one another directly in
open warfare. However, their global competition
led to frequent crises and conflicts on every
continent.
 The Roots of the Cold War
The roots of the Cold War lay in the differences
between two political and economic systems – the
democratic, capitalist system of the United States,
and the dictatorial communist system of the Soviet
Union. When WWII ended, the United States and
the Soviet Union each sought new opportunities to
spread its system and way of life. Each country
looked with suspicion and alarm at attempts but
the other country to spread its beliefs. Many
Americans became convinced that communists
were trying to take over the world.
 Features of Capitalism
• Private Property. People have a right to own
property(possessions, factories, farms,
businesses) and to use their property as they
see fit.
• Free Enterprise. People are free to open any
business and to buy or sell any legal product.
Businesses can do anything legal to attract
customers – lower their prices, provide better
quality, advertise, etc.
 Features of Capitalism
• Profit Motive. The ability to make profits
(what remains after the costs of businesses
are paid) is an important reason why people
risk their money to start a new business.

• Supply and Demand. The forces of supply and

demand eliminate less efficient producers,
and end the production of goods that people
do not want to buy. (The Invisible Hand)
 The Features of “Ideal” Communism
• Role of Government. Decisions about
production, distribution and use of resources are
made by the government for the good of all
workers and not by consumer demands.

• No Private Property. After a revolution

overthrows the elite, private property is
abolished. Common ownership of the means of
production (factories, farms, mines) is shared by
all workers.
 “Ideal” Communism continued
• Cooperation. Communism is based on
cooperation, in which workers in society labor
together and share equally in the benefits.

• Major Goal. The main goal is a classless

society – total equality among all workers , no
matter who they are or what job they
perform. Then the government will “wither
away.”
 The Reality of Communism
In reality, the Soviet government was a
totalitarian dictatorship controlling all aspects
of life; the workers never owned the factories,
benefits were not shared equally, no opposition
was allowed and the rights and freedoms of the
people were crushed.
 Wartime Allies Become Cold War
Enemies
In 1945, President Roosevelt, British Prime Minister
Winston Churchill and Premier Joseph Stalin of the
Soviet Union met at Yalta ( a city in the Soviet
Union) to plan for the future of Europe after the
war.
They agreed that Germany would be divided into
four separate zones, and that the troops of the
United States, Soviet Union, Britain and France
would each occupy one zone.
They also agreed to hold free elections in all the
countries liberated from Nazi rule.
 Wartime Allies Become Cold War
Enemies cont.
Stalin gave his pledge to withdraw Soviet troops
and to allow free elections in Eastern Europe
after the war.
Soon after the war ended, a second conference
of allied leaders was held at Potsdam, Germany.
Even though the U.S. and the Soviet Union had
fought on the same side, serious differences
between them began to develop at the Potsdam
Conference over the future of Eastern Europe.
 Who was to blame for starting the
Cold War?
The American Viewpoint:
American leaders felt that Eastern European countries
wanted to become democratic like the United States, but that
the Soviet Union was preventing this.
They also believed that it would be a mistake for them to turn
their back on European affairs as they had done after World
War One.
Americans felt that Stalin could not be trusted, since he had
promised elections in Poland and other countries in eastern
Europe and seemed to be backing away from his promise.
Communism was seen as a dangerous system that needed to
be stopped before it spread.
 Who was to blame for starting the
Cold War?
The Soviet Viewpoint
Soviet leaders believed they had a right to control
Eastern Europe. They felt that just as the U.S. controlled
Latin America thought the Monroe Doctrine, the Soviet
Union should have the final say over its eastern European
neighbors.
Stalin believed that the Western powers had no direct
interests in Eastern Europe and should not interfere.
Soviet leaders also believed they could not trust the U.S.
and other Western countries because they had delayed
the invasion of France during World War II, resulting in
heavy losses suffered by the Soviet Union.
 The Iron Curtain Falls on eastern
Europe
In 1946, Stalin refused to allow the promised
elections in Poland. The United States also refused
to share the secret of the atomic bomb, and the
Cold War began in earnest. The Soviet army had
occupied Eastern Europe while fighting Germany
and now Stalin refused to withdraw these troops.
In stead, Soviet officers placed local communists in
power in all the governments of Eastern Europe,
making these countries “satellites” of the Soviet
Union. Puppet governments.
 The Iron Curtain Falls cont.
Trade and communications between Eastern and
Western Europe were cut off. It seemed that an
Iron Curtain had fallen, closing off eastern Europe
from the democracies of the West. Travel and
contact between East and West was limited , and
Eastern European leaders followed the dictates of
the Soviet government. The Iron Curtain remained
in place for the next forty years. At various times,
Soviet troops were sent to crush democratic
uprisings in Hungary, Czechoslovakia and other
nations in Eastern Europe.
The Iron Curtain