Below you will find information and videos that you may use to fill out your homework. In addition to the information below I have also included a powerpoint that you may use for additional information.
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Lesson 1: Origins of the Cold War
Postwar outcomes · The end of World War II found Soviet forces occupying most of Eastern and Central Europe and the eastern portion of Germany. · Germany was partitioned into East and West Germany. West Germany became democratic and resumed self-government after a few years of American, British, and French occupation. East Germany remained under the domination of the Soviet Union and did not adopt democratic institutions. · Following her defeat, Japan was occupied by American forces. It soon adopted a democratic form of government, resumed self-government, and became a strong ally of the United States. · Europe lay in ruins, and the United States launched the Marshall Plan, which provided massive financial aid to rebuild European economies and prevent the spread of communism. · The United Nations was formed near the end of World War II to create a body for the nations of the world to try to prevent future global wars. The Cold War set the framework for global politics for 45 years after the end of World War II. It also influenced American domestic politics, the conduct of foreign affairs, and the role of the government in the economy after 1945. The Cold War was essentially a competition between two very different ways of organizing government, society, and the economy: the American-led western nations’ belief in democracy, individual freedom, and a market economy, and the Soviet belief in a totalitarian state and socialism. The United States government’s anti-communist strategy of containment in Asia led to America’s involvement in the Korean and Vietnamese wars. The Vietnam War demonstrated the power of American public opinion in reversing foreign policy. It tested the democratic system to its limits, left scars on American society that have not yet been erased, and made many Americans deeply skeptical of future military or even peacekeeping interventions. Origins of the Cold War · The Cold War lasted from the end of World War II until the collapse of the Soviet Union. · The United States and the Soviet Union represented starkly different fundamental values. The United States represented democratic political institutions and a generally free market economic system. The Soviet Union was a totalitarian government with a communist (socialist) economic system. · The Truman Doctrine of “containment of communism” was a guiding principle of American foreign policy throughout the Cold War, not to roll it back, but to keep it from spreading and to resist communist aggression into other countries. · The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was formed as a defensive alliance among the United States and western European countries to prevent a Soviet invasion of Western Europe. Soviet allies in Eastern Europe formed the Warsaw Pact, and for nearly 50 years, both sides maintained large military forces facing each other in Europe. · The communist takeover in China shortly after World War II increased American fears of communist domination of most of the world. Rather than becoming strong allies, however, the communist nations of China and the Soviet Union eventually became rivals for territory and diplomatic influence, a split that American foreign policy under President Nixon in the 1970s exploited. · After the Soviet Union matched the United States in nuclear weaponry in the 1950s, the threat of a nuclear war that would destroy both countries was ever-present throughout the Cold War. America, under President Eisenhower, adopted a policy of “massive retaliation” to deter any nuclear strike by the Soviets. |
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Lesson 2: Major Events of the Cold
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Lesson 3: Homefront During the Cold War
A strong military was the key to America’s victory over the Soviet Union in the Cold War. Millions of Americans served in the military during the Cold War. Their service was often at great personal and family sacrifice, yet they did their duty. American military forces during the Cold War · President Kennedy pledged in his inaugural address that the United States would “pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty.” In the same address, he also said, “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.” · During the Cold War era, millions of Americans served in the military, defending freedom in wars and conflicts that were not always popular. Many were killed or wounded. As a result of their service, the United States and American ideals of democracy and freedom ultimately prevailed in the Cold War struggle with Soviet communism. · President Kennedy, a World War II veteran, was assassinated in 1963 in Dallas, Texas, in an event that shook the nation’s confidence and began a period of internal strife and divisiveness, especially spurred by divisions over United States involvement in Vietnam. · Unlike veterans of World War II, who returned to a grateful and supportive nation, Vietnam veterans returned often to face indifference or outright hostility from some who opposed the war. · It was not until several years after the end of the Vietnam war that the wounds of the war began to heal in America, and Vietnam veterans were recognized and honored for their service and sacrifices. |
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Lesson 4: Outcomes of the Cold War
Both internal problems and external pressures caused the collapse of communism and the Soviet Union. Internal problems of the Soviet Union · Increasing Soviet military expenses to compete with the United States · Rising nationalism in Soviet republics · Fast-paced reforms—market economy · Economic inefficiency · Gorbachev’s glasnost and perestroika (openness and economic restructuring) Role of President Ronald Reagan · Challenged moral legitimacy of the Soviet Union, for example, in a speech at the Berlin Wall (“Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”) - Increased United States military and economic pressure on the Soviet Union - With the end of the Cold War, the United States changed her goals and policies. - Involvement in conflicts in other areas of the world has been an integral part of United States foreign policy since 1988. Selected post Cold War era goals and policies · Foreign aid · Humanitarian aid · Support for human rights President George H. W. Bush, 1989–1993 · Fall of communism in Eastern Europe · Reunification of Germany · Collapse of Yugoslavia · Breakup of the Soviet state · Persian Gulf War of 1990–1991 · First war in which American women served in a combat role · Operation Desert Storm President William J. Clinton, 1993–2001 · North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) · Full diplomatic relations with Vietnam · Lifting of economic sanctions against South Africa when her government ended the policy of apartheid · NATO action in former Yugoslavia President George W. Bush, 2001–2009 · Terrorists attacks on United States soil on 9/11/2001 · War in Afghanistan · War in Iraq |
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