Unit 8: The Cold War

- Causes of the Cold War

- Cold War Competitions
- Cold War Events In
*
*
*
*

Europe
Asia
Cuba
SE Asia/Vietnam

- End of the Cold War

VS
.

Focus #1: Causes & Competitions of

the Cold War

- Analyze how and why the

Cold War began.
- Explain how the Arms Race
and Space Race represented
Cold War tension between the
US and USSR.

Cause of the Cold War

Soviet Union (USSR) and US were allies
in WWII but never really trusted each
other especially after USSR was slow to
attack Japan in Aug. 1945
After WWII, USSR and US each wanted to
be the worlds super power country

 Cold War

The Cold War

Competition for power between USSR & US

1945-1990
Cold because created tension but no actual
battles fought directly between USSR and US
Fight between Communism (USSR) and
Democracy (US)
NATO: North
Atlantic Treaty
Organization
= US alliance
Warsaw Pact
= USSR
alliance

Arms Race
USSR and US
competed to develop
more and stronger
nuclear weapons
1945-1990
MAD (Mutually Assured
Destruction): neither
side used nuke
because they knew it
would lead to
destruction of both
ICBM: Intercontinental Ballistic
sides

Space Race
From 1957-1975
USSR and US competed
to develop superior space
technology
Goals:
Send satellites into space
Send people into space
Use space technology to
spy and fight wars (???)

Laika: the first animal to be launched

into orbit, (from USSR in 1957)

Sputnik
1957 USSR became first country
to launch a satellite into space
US panicked Actions taken
Americans blamed lack of
education in US
President Eisenhower and
federal government increased
math & science requirements in
school
President Eisenhower and
federal government funded
interstate highways to assist with
evacuations and transporting
military supplies
US created NASA in 1958 (National
Aeronautics and Space Administration)

Measured atmospheric
pressure and temperature,
sent data to Earth via radio
signals

Checking for Understanding #1:

Causes & Competitions of the Cold War

1. How did WWII lead to the

Cold War?
2. Why did the Cold War begin?
3. How did the Arms Race and
Space Race represent Cold
War tensions?

Focus #2: Cold War Events Around

the World

Analyze how the Cold War

affected each of the following
regions
Europe
Asia
Cuba
SE Asia/Vietnam

Marshall Plan
Europe needed to be
rebuilt after WWII
US wanted to help Europe
before USSR could get a
chance
Marshall Plan: (19471951)
US sent $13 billion to
rebuild economies of
European countries
US wanted to benefit
American trade but also

Truman Doctrine
Idea of President
Truman, started in 1947
Truman said US would
provide economic &
military aid to countries
threatened by
communism
Ex: Turkey and Greece

Started policy of
containment (stop
spread of communism)

Chinas Communist
Revolution

Communist Party in China

criticized weakness of
Nationalist Party in WWII
Chinese Civil War 19461950
USSR supported
Communists
US supported Nationalists
Communists won control
Nationalists fled to Taiwan

Mao Zedongleader of
Communist
Party

Korean War

Conflict in North and South

Korea 1950-1953
Communist North Korea
invaded Democratic South
Korea
Fought to gain control of
entire Korean peninsula
USSR supported North
Korea
US supported South Korea
Ended without territorial
changes, but it was a hot

38th
paralle
l

Cuban Revolution
Fulgencio Batista ruled
Cuba in 1950s
Cuba prospered as center
for organized crime and
gambling
Gap between rich and poor
increased
1959 Fidel Castro
overthrew Batista and
made Cuba communist
US scared to have
communist country 90

U-2 Spy Plane Incident

US developed U-2 spy
planes
U-2 spy plane was shot
down while spying on
USSR in 1960
Captured plane and
pilot
US denied it but later
admitted their plan
Increased tension
between US and USSR

Bay of Pigs Invasion

US trained Cuban exiles to fight and
funded invasion of Cuba in 1961
Goal: Invade Cuba and overthrow Fidel
Castro
Outcome: invasion failed, some exiles
killed while 1,200 were put on trial for
treason
Increased tension between US and Cuba

Cuban Missile Crisis

USSR put nuclear missiles
(ICBMs) in Cuba in 1962
US spy plane photographed
missile sites
Tense confrontation between
US and USSR as US tried to
convince USSR to remove
missiles
Cold War almost became
a hot war
Conflict ended after a
terrifying 2 weeks

Vietnam War

Conflict between North

Vietnam (Communist) and
South Vietnam (NonCommunist military regime)
USSR supported North Vietnam
US supported South Vietnam
Controversial war in US
Lasted from 1959 to 1975
North eventually wins after US
withdrawals troops

Tet Offensive
Largest offensive attack
during Vietnam War
80,000 Communist troops
attacked 100 cities in South
Vietnam in 1968
Militarily South Vietnam won
but made many Americans
believe war was getting out
of control
Decreased American support
for the war
Later led to withdrawal of US
troops by President Nixon

Vietnamization

President Richard Nixon (1968-1974) promised

to withdraw American troops from Vietnam
Vietnamization = Nixons plan to end US
involvement in Vietnam War by giving control of
Vietnam War to South Vietnamese troops
Many Americans agreed with Nixons plan
(helped him get elected in 1968)
American involvement in Vietnam ended in
1973, but Vietnam War didnt end until 1975

Checking for Understanding #2:

Cold War Events Around the World

1. How did the US try to contain

communism in Europe?
2. How did the US try to contain
communism in China, Korea,
and Vietnam?
3. How did the US confront
communism in Cuba? Why?

Focus #3: Conclusion of the Cold

War

- Explain why Cold War tension

decreased in the

1970s.

- Explain how the Cold War

ended in the late
early

1990s.

1980s and

Dtente in the 1970s

Cold War Tension

Cold War cost US & USSR lots of money, time, and

energy Neither country could afford to keep up with
arms race so dtente began in 1970s
Dtente: decreasing tension between US and USSR
How was this done?
- Treaties signed by President Richard Nixon and
Brezhnev (leader of USSR) limited number of nuclear
weapons a country could have and where nuclear
weapons could be tested
- Nixon visited other communist nations like China to

Cold War in the 1980s

Cold War tension increased during
1980s
President Ronald Reagan planned
to out spend the USSR in the Cold
War
Reagan increased defense budget
by $12 billion in early 1980s
Money spent on
Missiles
research for Strategic Defense
Initiative (Star Wars)
Reconnaissance
Gaining/Defending allies

Placed additional cruise missiles

in Europe to target USSR

Berlin Wall Destroyed

East (communist) and West
(democratic) Germany had
been separated since 1945
after WWII
Berlin Wall separated East
(communist) and West
(democratic) Berlin since
1961
1989 protestors tore down
Berlin Wall
East and West Berlin were
reunited and later East and
West Germany became one
country Germany

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fK1MwhEDjH

http://www.history.com/videos/history-rocks-the-berlin-wall#history-rocks-the-berlin-

Collapse of the Soviet

Union
USSRs leader (Mikhail
Gorbachev) attempted to
modernize USSR but could not maintain massive
defense budget for Cold War
Gorbachev removed military support from satellite
nations in Soviet Union
communist governments of satellite nations were
overthrown
satellite nations became independent countries from
USSR
this ended the USSR and the Cold War in 1991

Checking for Understanding #3:

Conclusion of the Cold War

1. Why did Cold War tension

decrease in the

1970s ?

2. How did the Cold War end?

Use events from

1991
answer.

1989 to

to explain your