Cold War - Review

Aim: What were the results of the Cold War, and how to they affect the world today?

Do Now: Take a Quiz. You Have 10 Minutes.

Lesson Overview:

Item	Approx Time
Do Now	3-5 Min
Mini Lesson	15-20 Min
Activity	15 Min
Discussion	5-7 Min

Cold War Overview

The Cold War is the name given to the relationship that developed primarily between the USA and the USSR after World War Two. The Cold War was to dominate international affairs for decades and many major crises occurred - the Cuban Missile Crisis, Vietnam, Hungary and the Berlin Wall being just some. For many the growth in weapons of mass destruction was the most worrying issue.

Do note that USSR in 1945 was Russia post-1917 and included all the various countries that now exist individually (Ukraine, Georgia etc) but after the war they were part of this huge country up until the collapse of the Soviet Union (the other name for the USSR).

Logic would dictate that as the USA and the USSR fought as allies during World War Two, their relationship after the war would be firm and friendly. This never happened and any appearance that these two powers were friendly during the war is illusory.

Before the war, America had depicted the Soviet Union as almost the devil-incarnate. The Soviet Union had depicted America likewise so their ‘friendship’ during the war was simply the result of having a mutual enemy - Nazi Germany. In fact, one of America’s leading generals, Patton, stated that he felt that the Allied army should unite with what was left of the Wehrmacht in 1945, utilise the military genius that existed within it (such as the V2’s etc.) and fight the oncoming Soviet Red Army. Churchill himself was furious that Eisenhower, as supreme head of Allied command, had agreed that the Red Army should be allowed to get to Berlin first ahead of the Allied army. His anger was shared by Montgomery, Britain’s senior military figure.

So the extreme distrust that existed during the war, was certainly present before the end of the war……..and this was between Allies. The Soviet leader, Joseph Stalin, was also distrustful of the Americans after Truman only told him of a new terrifying weapon that he was going to use against the Japanese. The first Stalin knew of what this weapon could do was when reports on Hiroshima got back to Moscow.

So this was the scene after the war ended in 1945. Both sides distrusted the other. One had a vast army in the field (the Soviet Union with its Red Army supremely lead by Zhukov) while the other, the Americans had the most powerful weapon in the world, the A-bomb and the Soviets had no way on knowing how many America had.

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So what exactly was the Cold War? In diplomatic terms there are three types of war.

Hot War: this is actual warfare. All talks have failed and the armies are fighting.

Warm War: this is where talks are still going on and there would always be a chance of a peaceful outcome but armies, navies etc. are being fully mobilised and war plans are being put into operation ready for the command to fight.

Cold War: this term is used to describe the relationship between America and the Soviet Union 1945 to 1980. Neither side ever fought the other - the consequences would be too appalling - but they did ‘fight’ for their beliefs using client states who fought for their beliefs on their behalf e.g. South Vietnam was anticommunist and was supplied by America during the war while North Vietnam was pro-Communist and fought the south (and the Americans) using weapons from communist Russia or communist China. In Afghanistan, the Americans supplied the rebel Afghans after the Soviet Union invaded in 1979 while they never physically involved themselves thus avoiding a direct clash with the Soviet Union.

The one time this process nearly broke down was the Cuban Missile Crisis

So why were these two super powers so distrustful of the other?

America	Soviet Union
Free elections	No elections or fixed
Democratic	Autocratic / Dictatorship
Capitalist	Communist
‘Survival of the fittest’	Everybody helps everybody
Richest world power	Poor economic base
Personal freedom	Society controlled by the NKVD (secret police)
Freedom of the media	Total censorship

This lack of mutually understanding an alien culture, would lead the world down a very dangerous path - Berlin, Korea, the Arms Race, Hungary, Cuba, Vietnam. It also lead to the development of weapons of awesome destructive capability and the creation of some intriguing policies such as MAD - Mutually Assured Destruction.

NATO

NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)

After World War II the countries of Western Europe found themselves too weak politically and militarily to prevent the spread of the communist "iron curtain" on a national level. The alliance of France and the United Kingdom through the Brussels Treaty was found to be minuscule when compared to the Communist Soviet Union. Very little time passed before this weakness was realized and Western Europe turned to a more inclusive North Atlantic Treaty, an agreement that involved a total of 12 nations including the United Kingdom and the United States. NATO was officially established on April 4, 1949 with the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty. The Western European powers relied on the massive nuclear arsenal of the United States to deter a Soviet ground invasion. Eventually NATO technology rendered the power of Soviet Union’s ground forces irrelevant. After the fall of communism the need for a military alliances diminished and NATO was transformed from a military force to a political force.

Warsaw Pact

Warsaw Pact (originally Warsaw Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance)

Established 6 years after NATO, the Warsaw Pact was formed as communist military alliance to maintain power over Eastern Europe. The Soviet Union gained both control over its neighboring European nations and indicated to other nations that it was a major military and political force. Although the ground forces of possessed by the Warsaw Pact were far superior to those of NATO, their technology soon fell far behind. After many democratic revolutions within the Warsaw Pact it was labeled "nonexistent" in 1991.

Classwork & Homework

Lesson PowerPoint: The Cold War (1945-1991)

Lesson Video:

• The Berlin Wall Speech - Ronald Reagan Music Video
• Two Tribes - 80s Music Video
• TV Commercial - Wendy's
• NATO
• TV Movie Clip - The Day After (1983)

Lesson Activity: Cold War Overview

Homework: Assignments