The Cold

War:
1945-1960
 Big Idea
What were the causes and effects
of the Cold War?
Make Mine Freedom (1948)
 • Based on the ideas of Karl
Marx.
• Abolished private
property, public
ownership of the means
of production,
dictatorship of the
proletariat.
• Vladimir Lenin dies, power
moves to Joseph Stalin in
1924.
• Economy is centrally
planned by powerful
What is government.

Communism?
 • Based on
Enlightenment ideas
What is Capitalism? of freedom and
markets.
• Laissez-Faire (Hands
off) economy, private
property is respected,
economy is based on
market forces.
• Growing government
and the New Deal
creates mixed
economy with certain
regulations on the
market.
The Great Debate

• Can the two exist together? Why or why not?

• Why do you think communism was such a threat to the American way of life?
• Which makes more sense? Communism or capitalism? Perhaps somewhere in
between?
The Nuclear Age

22. Use of atomic weapons changed the nature of war, altered the
balance of power and began the nuclear age.
 The Soviet Union
Joins the Nuclear Age
• After the use of atomic bombs at Hiroshima
and Nagasaki, other nations, including the
Soviet Union, began to develop nuclear
programs.
• In 1949, the Soviet Union successfully
detonates a nuclear bomb, prompting an
arms race.
• Since 1945, 2,056 nuclear bombs have been
detonated.
North Atlantic Treaty
Organization

• As a response to the Soviet Union’s

development of nuclear power, several
nations joined together in 1949 as an answer
to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
• This group was called the North Atlantic
Treaty Organization (NATO).
• Nations in NATO: Belgium, Canada, Denmark,
France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the
Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United
Kingdom, and the United States. Greece and
Turkey joined in 1952
Warsaw Pact

• As an answer to the
creation NATO, all
nations in the Soviet
Union joined in the
Warsaw Pact in 1955.
• The purpose of the
Warsaw Pact was to
create mutual
assistance between
communist militaries.
The Nuclear Age At Home
Nuke Map

• Click this link to

go to Nuke Map
to test the
damage of
nuclear weapons:
• https://nuclearse
crecy.com/nukem
ap/
Big Bombs, Big Questions

• How have nuclear weapons changed warfare?

• Do you worry about the existence of nuclear weapons?
• How effective are nuclear weapons as a tool of war and as a tool of preventing
war?
• What are the upsides and downsides to the nuclear age?
• How did the introduction of nuclear weapons change American life?
 Combating
Communism

23. The United States

followed a policy of
containment during the
Cold War in response to
the spread of
communism.
25. The Cold War and
conflicts in Korea and
Vietnam influenced
domestic and
international politics.
 • The United States believed that communism would act as a Domino Theory.
• If a nation fell to communism, surrounding nations would also fall to
Domino Theory communism until it had taken over the entire world.
• When there is a successful communist revolution in China in 1949, the U.S.
believes we must contain communism.
Containment

• President Harry Truman commits

to a policy of containment.
• The U.S. would do everything
within their power to stop the
spread of communism, short of
military intervention.
• The Truman Doctrine proclaimed
the U.S. would help nations
through financial aid.
The Marshall Plan

• Putting the Truman Doctrine to work,

Secretary of State George C. Marshall
sent billions in aid to European
countries to help rebuild after the
destruction of World War II.
• The Marshall Plan was created to
help struggling countries rebuild to
avoid communist sentiment.
Stalin Puts Up an Iron
Curtain

• To counter aid to struggling

nations, Stalin proposed an iron
curtain to politically and
economically separate
communist Eastern Europe from
capitalist Western Europe.
 Problems in Berlin

• After World War II, Berlin was

separated into four zones, one
for each of the allied nations.
• The U.S., U.K., and French
sectors made up West Berlin
and the Soviet Sector was in
East Berlin.
• Since Berlin was on the other
side of the iron curtain, aid was
cut off to the American, French,
and British sectors in West
Berlin.
Berlin Is Cut Off

• The blockade of West Berlin by the

Soviets meant that the U.S. must
break through the iron curtain to
provide supplies to West Berlin.
• Risking warfare, the U.S. flew supplies
and dropped them into Berlin in the
Berlin Airlift.
• Facing international pressure, the
Soviet Union lifted the blockade.
 The Cold War Turns
Hot

• After World War II, the U.S. and

the Soviet Union split Korea
into two parts along the 38th
Parallel.
• When communist North
Koreans invaded South Korea in
1950, the U.S. stepped in using
its military to drive the North
Koreans back.
• Communist China sent troops
to help the North Koreans,
leading to an escalation to the
Korean War.
A War Hero Takes Over
• In 1952, there is an election for a new
president.
• Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower wins
by a landslide, becoming the first
Republican president since the Great
Depression.
• Eisenhower is dedicated to ended the
war in Korea.
 • In 1953, the United
States, China, North and
South Korea agreed to
separate the two
countries along the
original 38th Parallel but
the war technically
ended in a stalemate.
• To this day, relations
between North and
South Korea and North
Korea and the United
States are tense.
Korean Stalemate
The Marshall Plan Explained
What changed?

• What policies and actions were used by the United States to stop the spread of
communism and how effective do you think they were?
• What were the strengths and weaknesses of America’s foreign policy during the
1950s?
• What do you think were some of the long-term results of America’s actions?
• How did the events of the early Cold War connect to one another?
• How does the election of 1952 show a change in mentality among the American
people?
 The Red Scare
24. The Second Red Scare and McCarthyism reflected
Cold War fears in American society.
Fear of Communism
at Home

• The fear of communism spreading

affected everyday American life.
• Similar to the first Red Scare, the
Second Red Scare was an immense
fear of communism and left-wing
ideas.
• The fear of communism was so
intense that people believed it was in
the media and the government.
McCarthyism
• Republican Senator Joseph
McCarthy claimed to have
information on communists within
the State Department of our
government.
• Without evidence, McCarthy led a
political vendetta against
suspected communists, called
McCarthyism.
• Over time, it was realized that
many of his charges were baseless
and it ruined his political career
until his death in 1957.
McCarthyism
HUAC
• Although McCarthyism faded out, the
House Un-American Activities
Commission was established to
investigate and charge suspected
communists.
• Hollywood established a blacklist of
personalities suspected of being
communists. Some supported them,
others acted as enforcers to ensure
they were not hired for movies.
The Cold War in Hollywood
• As American moved into the Golden Age of Film,
many of the films reflected the concerns of the
time.
• Movies such as Them! (1954), The Day the Earth
Stood Still (1951), and The Fly (1958) reflected
fears of science and war.
• Movies like Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
and The Manchurian Candidate (1962) reflected
fears of communists in the U.S.
• Meanwhile, other movies like westerns and war
movies showed American as exceptional and
unbeatable.
 Movies of the Cold War
Invasion of the Body The Searchers (1956) Them! (1954)
Snatchers (1956)
 Civil Liberty or
Safety?

• As during times of great

fear, civil liberties of
Americans were limited
during the Second Red
Scare.
• Is safety worth having your
rights limited?