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Summary Cold War
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Summary of the Cold War in English including the Vietnam War for the ninth grade.
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Chapter 4, The Cold War Era-paragraph 1 The aftermath of World War II
Consequences for Germany
When Germany was about to lose the war, the Yalta Conference was held in February 1945.
Who were present?
-British Prime Minister Churchill
-US President Roosevelt
-Stalin
What was decided?
-Germany shall be divided into 4 occupation zones.
-All freed European countries shall be turned into a democracy.
The Soviet Union and Eastern Europe
Before WWII there was some tension between the USA and the SU. During the war, this had
somewhat disappeared, because they were fighting the same enemy. At the end of the war there
was tension again:
Stalin wanted to turn the Eastern European countries his Red Army had liberated into satellite states.
(meaning the country is officially independent, but is under political, economic and military control of
another country) He wanted this for the following reason:
-Both WWI and WWII were fought on Russian land, causing the SU to have huge losses. Stalin
believed the SU needed those satellite states as a buffer against new European attacks
The Allied Powers were unable to make the SU leave the so-called Eastern Bloc, causing East and
West Europe to split. There was now a border called the Iron Curtain, made out of barbed wire and
watchtowers.
The United States and Western Europe
The USA was scared that more countries would go communist, so in 1947 President Truman
launched a policy called the Truman Doctrine (which was the start of the Cold War):
-The USA would give economic and military support to countries threatened by communism.
Some months later George Marshall came with the Marshall Plan which became cooperative in 1948:
-Marshall thought that poverty would lead to communism, so the USA gave 12 billion dollars to
Western Europe, to boost the economy. He also offered Stalin this, but he refused.
, East vs West
Germany was divided into 4 occupation zones: a French, American, British and Russian zone. Berlin
was also divided into these 4 zones. In 1948, the West of Germany decided to unite, because they
were all capitalistic. (So France, America and Britain became 1 zone.) They did the same with Berlin.
Stalin tried to take over West Berlin by the Berlin Blockade:
-Stalin blocked all traffic entering West Berlin, causing no food and supplies entering.
How did the USA respond?
-They started an airlift; airplanes would fly to West Berlin and supply them with food and fuel.
Eventually the blockade was lifted. After this crisis, the USA and Western Europe formed the NATO,
an organization in which they agreed to support each other if one of them was attacked. The SU
responded to this by making the Warsaw Pact, a similar pact but with the SU and the Eastern Bloc
countries.
Two German States
In 1949, the Allied forces gave the control back to the inhabitants. On 23rd May 1949 West Germany
became the Federal Republic of Germany (or just West Germany), with Bonn as capital.
- It had a free market economy which was very strong.
On 7th October 1949 East Germany became the German Democratic Republic (or just East Germany),
with East Germany as capital.
- It had a weaker communist planned economy
Construction of the Berlin Wall
Even though the zones had borders, there was a ‘hole’ for workers. Many people used this to flee
from East to West. On 13th August 1961 the Berlin Wall was placed to prevent this.
Yalta Conference The meeting of US President Roosevelt, the
British Prime Minister Churchill and Stalin in
February 1945, where they discussed Europe’s
post-war reorganization.
Satellite state A state that is officially independent but is
under heavy political, economic and military
control of another country.
Iron Curtain Political, military and ideological barrier created
by the Soviet Union to block itself and its
satellite states from open contact with the
West.
Truman Doctrine USA policy to stop Soviet expansion during the
Cold War by supporting countries threatened by
the Soviet Union.
Cold War Threat of a nuclear war between the Soviet
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