The

COLD WAR
UNIT 7
 CAUSES OF
THE COLD WAR
 Causes of the cold war
• At the end of WWII, the two
main powers left in the
world were the United
States and the Soviet Union
(USSR)
• Because these were the
two most powerful nations
in the world, they were
known as superpowers
 Causes of the cold war
These countries had conflicting ideologies
and feared one another
Type of government Type of economy

USA Democratic Republic Capitalism

USSR Socialist Republic Communism

Causes of the cold war

• How are Smurfs like

communists?
• Would you like to
live like a Smurf?
• What do you think
might scare
Americans away
from living the
Smurf life?
Causes of the cold war

• To help Europe repair from WWII, the

United States proposed the Marshall Plan
• Marshall Plan – US plan to loan nations
money to help them rebuild after WWII in
1947
• Why do you think the United States would
do this?
• How do you think the USSR might react to
it?
 Causes of the cold war

JOSEPH WINSTON HARRY

STALIN CHURCHILL TRUMAN
Soviet Dictator British Prime Minister American President
Let his son die in a Nazi Made the “Iron Curtain” Made the decision to
prison camp during speech drop the Atomic
WWII Bombs
 Causes of the cold war
The Division of Germany
• Following WWII, Germany was split
into two separate nations (1945)
• East Germany was ruled by a
socialist/communist government
backed by the USSR
• West Germany was ruled by a
democratic/capitalist government
backed by the US, UK and France
Causes of the cold war

• Berlin, Germany’s capital,

was also split into
democratic and communist
zones
• Since Berlin was in East
Germany, Stalin feared
democratic ideas spreading
to the rest of East Germany
 Causes of the cold war

• Berlin Blockade:
Attempt by the
USSR to block all
supplies to West
Berlin by
democratic nations
in 1948
Causes of the cold war
• In response, the US, UK
and France began to
send aircraft to drop
supplies by parachute to
West Berlin
• This became known as
the Berlin Airlift and
ended the Berlin
Blockade in 1949
 REVIEW
• What were some of the differences between
the US and USSR?
• What was done with Germany’s borders after
WWII?
• Which conflict arose because of this?
• How did the US promote democracy and
capitalism after WWII?
 Causes of the cold war
• By the 1960s, 3.5 million East
Germans had fled to West
Berlin
• In 1961, the USSR built a
wall around West Berlin to
keep East Germans from
leaving, called the Berlin
Wall
Causes of the cold war

• East of Germany,
all nations
liberated by the
Soviet Union
were forced to
adopt a
communist form
of government
Causes of the cold war
• The ideological
dividing line
between
communism and
democracy in
Europe was called
the Iron Curtain
Causes of the cold war

• Who coined the term

“iron curtain”?
• What is the iron
curtain (in your own
words)?
• What caused the idea
of the iron curtain to
form?
 FEAR & pARANOIA
• In order to protect against the spread of
communism, Western European nations,
along with the US and Canada formed an
alliance called NATO in 1949
– NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)
• To counter this move, the USSR established a
similar alliance with its satellite nations,
called the Warsaw Pact
 FEAR &
PARANOIA
 REVIEW
• What were some of the differences between the US and
USSR?
• Why did those differences lead to a global conflict?
• What was done with Germany’s borders after WWII?
• How did the US promote democracy and capitalism after
WWII?
• What was meant by the “Iron curtain”?
• Describe life in the 1950s
• What was the red scare?
 Dot game

• To begin, you’ll get a slip of paper. It

will either be blank or have a red dot
on it. Quickly look and hide it in your
pocket.
 Dot game
Winning
• Non-dots win by forming the largest
group of students who are ALL
non-dots
• Dots win the game by being the ONLY
dot in a group
 Dot game
Procedure
• Once the game starts, you will have 5 minutes
to form groups
– You can ask others if they have a dot or not,
but no one is allowed to show their paper
– You can only be a member of the group if
you’re accepted by all
– If you suspect someone is a dot, report to me
and I’ll deal with it
 Dot game
Tips
• During the game, you will have to ask
classmates whether they are dots. Since
everyone will deny it, look for classmates who
act suspiciously
• If you are a dot, try to draw suspicion away
from yourself and onto others
 Connecting the dots
● How did this game make you feel?
● There was no award for winning. What if the stakes
were raised? Would your feelings change or be
amplified?
● What cues did you look for to determine whether or
not someone was lying?
● If you were unsure about someone’s answer, did you
assume they were probably telling the truth, or did
you err on the side of caution?
 Connecting the dots
Students with dots

Communist spies/members of the

Communist party
 Connecting the dots
Students without dots

Most Americans were not spies nor

members of the Communist party
 Dot game - connections
Students accused others of being dots even
though they never saw their paper

HUAC, McCarthy and others made

accusations against Americans of supporting
Communism, increasing paranoia
 Connecting the dots
Students were to report suspected dots to
teacher

Americans were encouraged to report

suspected Communist activities, increasing
paranoia
 Connecting the dots
Students who were reported had sticky
notes placed on them

Americans who were accused of being a

Communist sympathizer were often
blacklisted
 Connecting the dots
Increase in anxiety as the game went on

Anxieties were raised during the Cold War as

Americans were concerned about the
spread of Communism and a nuclear attack
from the USSR
FEAR & pARANOIA
• Since the USSR was
aggressive and communism
went against the ideals of
the United States, many
Americans feared the spread
of communism
• This was known as the Red
Scare
FEAR & pARANOIA
 FEAR & pARANOIA
• In the late 1940s, several
Americans were charged
and convicted of spying for
the USSR
• The House Un-American
Activities Committee (HUAC)
investigated reports of
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were
executed for spying in 1953 suspicious activity
FEAR & pARANOIA

• In 1950, Senator Joseph

McCarthy made a
(baseless) accusation
stating the state
department had 205
communists in it
• The claim spread fear and
led to his reelection in 1952
FEAR & pARANOIA

• McCarthyism became a
term used to describe
extreme, reckless charges
of a person being a
communist
• These baseless
accusations only helped to
discredit legitimate
concerns
 FEAR & pARANOIA

• The more people McCarthy

accused, the more fear he created
and, thus, power he received
• This resulted in televised trials,
which ultimately changed the mind
of many of his supporters
• McCarthy was seen badgering
witnesses, twisting the truth, and
laughing at peoples’ suffering
FEAR & pARANOIA
 FEAR & pARANOIA
• How do we know if a politician is
telling the truth or not today?
• In general, why is it important to
thoroughly investigate before
making a claim?
• Provide other historical
examples of government
officials using fear to gain power
CONTAINING
COMMUNISM
 REVIEW
• What were some of the differences between the US and USSR?
• Why did those differences lead to a global conflict?
• What was done with Germany’s borders after WWII?
• How did the US promote democracy and capitalism after WWII?
• What was meant by the “Iron curtain”?
• Describe life in the 1950s
• What was the red scare?
• Explain McCarthyism
 CONTAINING COMMUNISM

• Internationally, many American

lawmakers subscribed to the
domino theory
• Domino Theory – the belief
that if one nation becomes
communist, surrounding
nations will also adopt
communism
 CONTAINING COMMUNISM

• Because of the domino

theory, the US followed a
policy of containment
• Containment – American
policy of halting the spread of
communism around the
world, even if it called for war
 CONTAINING COMMUNISM

TRUMAN EISENHOWER
DOCTRINE DOCTRINE
(1947) The US will support (1957) Foreign nations may
nations that try and resist request and receive military
communist takeover aid to resist communism
Containing communism
• What were some of the
major events happening at
this time?
• Think about the different
subsets of Americans that
exist (women, American
Indians, homosexuals, etc.).
How might some members
of these subsets reacted
differently to this news?
 CONTAINING COMMUNISM

• Korean War: The US and its allies

fought with South Korea to
prevent invading North Korea
(communist) from making all of
Korea communist (1950-1953)
– Success – Korea is still split
between North (still
communist) and South
(democratic) today
 TRIUMPHS &
TRIBULATIONS
 REVIEW
• What is the policy of containment?
• Which theory was containment based off of?
• Which policy most directly involved the US
military, the Truman or Eisenhower Doctrine?
• Why did the US get involved in the Korean
War?
 TRIUMPHS & TRIBULATIONS
The Space Race
• The USSR and US began a
technological race to reach
space
• The USSR successfully Above:
launched the first satellite, Sputnik
---------
called sputnik, in 1957 Left:
Yuri
• Years later the Soviet Union Gagarin,
puts the first man in space the first
man in
space
 TRIUMPHS & TRIBULATIONS
• This moral and
technological victory over
the US by the USSR created
a campaign for schools to
focus on topics such as
science, math and foreign
language in democratic
nations
 TRIUMPHS & TRIBULATIONS
• These new educational
initiatives played a vital
role in NASA’s (National
Aeronautics & Space
Administration)
successful moon
landing on July 20, 1969
 TRIUMPHS & TRIBULATIONS
The threat of nuclear war
• Both the US and USSR had
nuclear weapons that could
travel long distances
– These were called ICBMs
(Intercontinental Ballistic
Missiles)
• Mutually Assured Destruction
(MAD): The concept that both
countries involved in a nuclear
war would be destroyed
US ICBM
 01
IMPERIALISM
You can enter a subtitle here if you need it
 TRIUMPHS & TRIBULATIONS
• Cuban Missile Crisis –
The USSR put nuclear
missiles only miles
away from the United
States in Cuba in 1962.
– In response, the US
navy created a
blockade of Cuba
 TRIUMPHS & TRIBULATIONS
• Eventually, the two sides
came to an agreement:
– The USSR would
remove missiles from
Cuba
– The US would remove
missiles from Turkey
• This is the closest the
world came to nuclear war.
So far.
 They sending me to vietnam
• Following WWII,
Vietnam was split into
North (communist) and
S (non communist)
– N Vietnam wanted
to unite all of
Vietnam under
communism
• Korean war 2.0
 They sending me to vietnam
• The S. Vietnamese
ruled (Diem) was
corrupt and
unpopular, while the
N. Vietnamese ruled
(Ho Chi Minh) was
respected
A Buddhist monk protests against the repressive Diem regime
 They sending me to vietnam
• Because of the Domino Theory,
the US provided economic
support to S. Vietnam to resist
communist takeover
• Things escalated, however, with
the Gulf of Tonkin Incident
– In 1964, N. Vietnamese ships
fired on two American
destroyers in the Gulf of
Tonkin off N. Vietnam
 They sending me to vietnam
• In response, Congress
overwhelmingly passed the Gulf of
Tonkin Resolution on 8/7/64
– This was not a declaration of war
– Gave President Johnson broad
military powers
– Authority to take “all necessary”
measures against any armed
combat towards the U.S. (never
had to get war approval from
Congress)
 They sending me to vietnam
• The US began an
airstrike (rolling
thunder) on 3/1965
and sent troops six
days later
• US believed it would
succeed b/c of
superior weaponry
but kept having to
send more troops.
 They sending me to vietnam
• In reality, jungle/guerilla warfare
proved to be difficult
– Vietcong used hit-and-run and
ambush tactics b/c it lacked the
technology
– traveled quickly and quietly with
little gear
– attacked suddenly and then faded
into the jungle
– set booby traps around U.S.
encampments
– were difficult to tell apart from
friendly Vietnamese
 They sending me to vietnam
• US fights back by bombing
and using Agent Orange
and Napalm
• Agent Orange – herbicide
that caused health effects
on American soldiers
• Napalm – gasoline-based
substance used in bombs
that were dropped to burn
away jungle and expose A child and her siblings run from a napalm attack

Vietcong hideouts.
They sending me to vietnam
 They sending me to vietnam
• By 1968, there were more
500,000 American troops in
Vietnam, and over 30,000 had
died. (Many draftees were
poor and disproportionately
African American.)
• In 1969, President Nixon
proposes ‘Vietnamization,’
which was an effort to transfer
fighting to S. Vietnam
Social classes drafted for the
vietnam war

Black Americans were more likely to be drafted than White Americans. At the time, the
Vietnam War saw the highest proportion of African-Americans soldiers. Though
comprising 11% of US population in 1967, African Americans were 16.3% of all draftees.
 They sending me to vietnam
Legislative changes due to war
• 26th Amendment- 18 year
olds have right to vote
• War Powers Act of 1973-
Congress passed to limit the
President’s power. States the
Pres. Must notify Congress
48 hours ahead of deploying
troops.
 They sending me to vietnam
• In 1973, US, South Vietnam
Signed a ceasefire with
North Vietnam and the
Vietcong. This led to the
removal of US troops.
– 58,000 Americans died.
300,000 wounded.
• Was it worth it?
 Song project
• Day 1 Goal:
– Complete the worksheet portion
– Label and begin creating images on your
poster
 Song project

Should be ● Analysis worksheet 32 points

completed
by now
Aim to ● Poster title, pictures with 3 15 points
complete rationale sentences
today ● Impactful lyrics 10 points
 THE
ANTI-WAR
MOVEMENT
The anti-war movement

• How do you think

different groups of
Americans reacted to
this event?
• What event is
comparable to this
(either historical or
current)?
 The anti-war movement
● War divided people.
Around 1967 opposition
started to increase.
Anti-war protests spread.
● Anti-war activism spread
to college campuses as
early as 1964.
○ Ex: War protests went
violent at Kent State
(1970) and the National
Guard fired on
protestors, killing four. One of the four students killed at Kent State
 The anti-war movement
● My Lai Massacre – In 1968
US troops killed more than
500 unarmed civilians –
mostly elderly, women, and
children. Many girls were
raped.
● Life magazine published a
story about it in 1971. Only
one lieutenant was
convicted of a crime. This
further divided Americans
over Vietnam.
 The anti-war movement
● While Americans read reports from
on the ground reporters in Vietnam
that questioned American progress,
politicians consistently issued
optimistic reports
● This resulted in a credibility gap
GUN
○ Those who were against the war
were more likely to believe
reporters
○ Those who were supportive of
the war tended to believe the
politicians
● What is confirmation bias?
 The anti-war movement
● 5 men linked to Nixon’s
reelection campaign are
arrested for trying to bug the
offices of the Democratic
National Committee (DNC) in
the Watergate Hotel
● After Nixon is accused of a
coverup, he refuses the release
of taped private conversations
from the Oval Office
 The anti-war movement
● The Supreme Court rules that
the tapes must be released,
which ultimately show that
Nixon ordered a cover up
● He becomes the first president
to resign on 8/9/75
● This event added to the
already growing distrust of the
government by American
citizens
 The anti-war movement
● Vietnam and the Civil Rights Movement led
to a period of social revolution as the new
generation questioned social norms and
challenged traditional ideas.
● Counterculture movement - a subculture
where values and norms of behavior differ
substantially from those of mainstream
society. Ex: Hippies
● Woodstock- festival in which hundreds of
thousands came to promote peace, listen to
music, use drugs, and engage in ‘immoral’
behavior – opposite of the norm!
 The anti-war movement
Women’s Movement
● Betty Friedan wrote The Feminine
Mystique that suggests that the idea
of a woman being happy and fulfilled
as a homemaker was a myth.
● Women’s Movement- rejected
traditional gender roles and
advocated equality between men
and women.
● NOW (National Organization for
Women): devoted to political
activism and promoting feminist
causes.
 Song project
● Analysis worksheet 32 points
Should be ● Poster title, pictures with 3 15 points
completed rationale sentences
by now
● Impactful lyrics
10 points

Complete ● Criticism 10 points

today ● Comparison 30 points
● Creative title 3 points
**Once you’re finished, staple the worksheet on the BACK of the poster and place
on my desk
 “THE GOOD WIFE GUIDE” (1955)
• Prepare yourself. Take 15 minutes to rest so you'll be refreshed when he arrives.
Touch up your make-up, put a ribbon in your hair and be fresh-looking. He has
just been with a lot of work-weary people.
• Be a little gay and a little more interesting for him. His boring day may need a lift
and one of your duties is to provide it.
• Minimize all noise. At the time of his arrival, eliminate all noise of the washer,
dryer or vacuum. Encourage the children to be quiet.
• Greet him with a warm smile and show sincerity in your desire to please him.
• Listen to him. You may have a dozen important things to tell him, but the
moment of his arrival is not the time. Let him talk first - remember, his topics of
conversation are more important than yours.
• Don't greet him with complaints and problems.
• Don't complain if he's late for dinner or even if he stays out all night. Count this
as minor compared to what he might have gone through at work.
• Make him comfortable. Have him lean back in a comfortable chair or lie him
down in the bedroom. Have a cool or warm drink ready for him.
THE FEMININE MYSTIQUE (1963)
If I am right, this problem stirring in the minds of so many
American women today is not a matter of loss of femininity
or too much education, or the demands of domesticity. It is
far more important than anyone recognizes. It may well be
the key to our future as a nation and a culture. We can no
longer ignore that voice within women that says: "I want
something more than my husband and my children and my
home."
Alignment with Preamble?
"We the People of the United
Aligned Not aligned
States, in Order to form a more
perfect Union,
● establish Justice,
● insure domestic Tranquility
● provide for the common
defense
● promote the general
Welfare
● and secure the Blessings
of Liberty to ourselves and
our Posterity,
do ordain and establish this
Constitution for the United
States of America."