Origins of the Cold War

1. The Cold War
Part 1:the nature of the conflict

2. Tensions between the USA and
USSR
• After WWII, the USA and USSR
were considered to be the only
superpowers left in the world.
• Despite being allies during WWII, the
two sides had a hostile relationship
due to a number of reasons.
• The two sides would never directly
engage each other in war, but rather
resist each other in small conflicts
spread around the world.
• The long standing tension between
the two sides became known as the
Cold War. These tensions would last
from 1945-1989.

3. Policy Differences between USA
and USSR
• The different economic systems of
Communism and Capitalism were a
large source of conflict between the
two sides.
• Communism (USSR):
– Government ownership of industry,
Government control of economy
– Equal distribution of wealth
• Capitalism (USA)
– Private enterprise
– Economy run on basis of supply and
demand
Communism
Capitalism

4. Democracy vs. Dictatorship
• Another source of conflict
came from political
differences between
democracy and dictatorship.
• America always valued
democracy and personal
individual freedoms (speech,
religion, voting etc)
• Soviet Union limited the
freedoms of its people.
Those who criticized the
government were punished
and imprisoned. Free
elections were not held.
A French political cartoon
criticizing the USSR.

5. The Yalta Conference: 1945
• Origins of the Cold War could be seen at
the Yalta conference.
• The Yalta Conference was held early in
1945 when it seemed apparent that
Germany would lose the war.
• Winston Churchill (UK), Franklin
Roosevelt (USA), and Josef Stalin
(USSR) met to discuss the post war
settlement.
• At Yalta, Stalin was resistant to moving
his troops out of the areas that he had
taken from Nazi Germany. The Allies
decided to allow him to keep influence
over those areas in exchange for help
with defeating Japan and support for the
new UN.

6. The Iron Curtain
•Stalin used his influence over
these areas to install communist
“puppet” governments in several
countries to the west of the Soviet
Union. These countries basically
did whatever Stalin and other
leaders of the USSR told them to
do.
•Upset at this development,
Winston Churchill gave a famous
speech in which he declared that
an “iron curtain” had descended on
E. Europe and the people living
east of the Iron curtain were being
shut off from the light of democracy
and capitalism.
•The “Iron Curtain” was not an
actual physical barrier, but a
metaphor for the division of Europe
between Capitalism and
Communism
USSR
1
2
3
4
5
6
The Iron Curtain (1. E. Germany, 2 Poland,
3. Czechoslavakia, 4. Hungary,5 Romania
6. Bulgaria) were all newly communist
countries under the influence of the USSR.)

7. Nuclear Weapons
• The Soviet Union was
able to develop a nuclear
weapon by 1949, and the
possession of nuclear
weapons had an
enormous influence on
the conflict.
• Nuclear weapons made
each side fear the other’s
power and caused
tension, but in many
cases it also led to
cooperation between the
two sides as they knew
they could not risk direct
conflict.
The Bravo H-bomb on Bikini Atoll
was the largest US above ground
nuclear test. The blast was
measured at 10-15 megatons. It
was over a thousand times more
powerful than the bombs dropped
on Japan.

8. The Theory of Deterrence
• The theory of deterrence
suggested that you should
show strength in order to
prevent or deter your enemy
from attacking.
• Each side built up their
nuclear arsenal in an attempt
to show the enemy that any
attack would be met with a
counter-attack.
• This theory is sometimes
referred to as Mutual Assured
Destruction (MAD). MAD
helped keep peace between
the two sides,
The Three delivery systems for nuclear
weapons made deterrence possible
Submarine
Bomber
ICBMs

9. Containment
• Even before the USSR developed
nuclear weapons, the US feared a
direct conflict believing it would be a
long and deadly war.
• Instead the US adopted the policy of
containment, deciding that it was
safer to try and prevent communism
from spreading than to try and
overthrow current communist
governments.
• This policy was first put to use under
US President Harry Truman as he
gave money and military supplies to
defeat communist revolutions in
Greece and Turkey. In a statement
known as the Truman Doctrine,
America declared that containment
would be their foreign policy in
dealing with the Soviets.
The Truman Doctrine
helped define
America’s role in post
war Europe.

10. Alliances
• The Cold War did not just
involve the US and USSR.
• In order to prepare for a
possible war between the
two sides, alliances were
formed.
• NATO (North Atlantic Treaty
Organization) was formed in
1949 and consisted the US
and its allies (W. Europe and
Canada).
• In response, the USSR
formed its own alliance
known as the Warsaw Pact
in 1955. The Warsaw Pact
contained the USSR and E.
European countries.

11. Cold War Alliances
NATO
• USA
• UK
• France
• Canada
• Belgium
• Denmark
• The Netherlands
• Italy
• W. Germany
• Norway
• Greece
• Turkey
Warsaw Pact
• USSR
• Poland
• Czechoslovakia
• E. Germany
• Hungary
• Romania
• Bulgaria